Got a later start than planned, on the water shortly after 8. Was clear when I got there, then foggy, then clear, then fog,
. Barge only had chovies so I decided to pass. Battery on the FF took a dump, despith showing green on the charger last night so I had to choose between ff and bait tank. Went for the ff as today was the first run on the new (to me) Trident and new Lowrance.
Found bait (6-12 inch smelt) pretty easy by the shallow water warning pilons - easy to see the bait balls on the ff. Used the hand pump periodically through the day to keep a couple pieces fresh and lively. Made more easily when needed. Half of them were on the diamond jig (silver flash 4 oz Ahi Assault) on the bottom of the sabiki. They must have been about to spawn, or they were REALLY happy to see me as quite a few milted once on board. Possibly grunion ready for a run??
Worked the upper part of the rise in the bottom (40/60 to 20 feet), dragging a bait out one side and bounceball with blue/white/silver hoochie out the other. Periodically getting hung up in the salad (pointers/suggestions welcome!!!!). Worked it until about 1:00 and the battery I moved from the tank to the ff ran out. Bothe are older batteries, but I may have also been running it with backlight so I could see it easier. Need to spend some more time with the manual.
Should have come in earlier as the wind picked up making it tough going to get back to the launch, especially dodging all the small sailboats out there. Took about 2 hours, or maybe it just seemed like it since I was dragging a bait and every time i got hung up I lost ground fast. No love from anything worth keeping, did get a tomcod on the diamond jig while making bait and a personal best lizard
on the paddle in, which was rigged and dropped back down as a hail mary.
Did hook up with an old college fraternity bro in his boat and handed off a sabiki, diamond jig and a couple pieces of bait. He got hit hard on the diamond (4 oz mackeral pattern Assault) but it broke off (knot??)
Tired and sore, but always great to get out on the water. Hopefully a few of you can find a couple nuggets of useful info, and any suggestions on how to avoid the kelp hangups are most welcome.