Newport, 3-18-14
 

Arrived at the USCG lot at about 5:15 and the south wind was blowing hard. Waited for Landwhale and was thinking this is going to be a rough day. I was cold, cloudy, and the wind was probably going a solid 25 with a few higher gusts. But, Steve was game and we were on the water by 6:15. Water was pretty dirty, but warmish (FF wouldn't turn on so I don't know the temp then).

Steve got one on his first cast, but it took me a bit to find one. But, what looked to be a snotty day turned out to be pretty decent fishing. The wind backed down by about 8:00 and for me it was a slow pick all morning. Finished with 15 bass; 3 calicoes (big one was over 2lbs), 4 spotties (biggest was about 1.5lbs), and 8 sandies (a few legal, but no girth to them). Broke off a couple and missed quite few on the hook set.

Baits selection was pretty basic. 4" Flurry in Sea Food and a slip jig w/a crawler skirt and 4" New Penny Paddlerz. Also ran were the 4" Flurry in Gold/Chartreuse and 5" Paddlerz in rootbeer gold flake. Hot Sauce was used for flavor.

We were off the water at about 11:00. As always it was a pleasure to fish with Steve and I'm so glad Newport has woken from its winter slumber.

Nice work. Thanks Ed! :cheers1:

If I had gone by myself I would have gotten back in the car and headed home at 5:46 but Ed talked me into it and I am glad he did it was the best day at Newport in a long time. 11 bass and 2 barracuda, all on plastics with the Uni Buttered on the Zoom fluke on a Owner Sled Head, and Savage Gear Slug on the War Baits head being the early favorites with the Halloween 3" Big Hammer on the Warbaits head filled in the late morning Great day on the water fishing with Ed

Steve: Believe me, when my jacket was flapping on my body when we were launching, I was thinking of turning tail too. But, I slept like 3hrs last night because I was too excited to fall asleep. I knew the water had finally warmed up and hoped they were ready to bite.

blitzburgh: Thanks.

Dang guys, nice haul. When I catch 4 fish I call it a good day, I think I need some lessons :doh:

Gotta love days like that when you push forward and are rewarded with some nice fish. I haven't fished Newport harbor in a long time. I need to get back.

Congratulations on a great day!

Thanks Alan. 14yrs ago when I started float tubing Newport 15 fish was a slower day. These days it's good. I regularly had 30 fish days. Granted most were shorts, but spotties nonetheless. Not sure where all the fish went.

Thanks, now go and get some.

You think it was bad inside the harbor? About the same time you guys were launching from the coast guard I took off out of m street and headed out to the rockfish grounds. I did pretty good despite the rough conditions but came in 2 fish short of my limit because I got sea sick. I haven't gotten green on the water in a couple years but I actually blew chunks yesterday. The coast guard vessel was parked out in about 250' and I could feel them watching me laughing haha.

It must've been quite a paddle to get out there too. At least you got your dinner though. Even if you did leave breakfast behind :)

Yeah it was quite a paddle but fun too. The roller coaster up and down doesn't bother me when I'm moving forward, but it's when I'm stationary staring at my fishfinder. That kills me. Glad to hear it was productive inside too! The bass are hungry and aggressive right now. Sunday I drifted two medium size macs (8-10") looking for a Hali and both came up with bass! One sandy and one spotty. Both legal but not by much. Ambitious suckers!

Funny, I got sick on Saturday for the first time. I now understand how those people feel that continually have that concern. I was alright moving around but it was looking at my FF that did me in. I decided it was time to call it when I was putting fish on the baitclip on one side of the yak and chumming on the other.

Sent from my SPH-L520 using Tapatalk

Sorry to hear about the chumming. I've been slightly sick a few times on boats. Thankfully never on a yak.