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Old 08-16-2016, 08:01 AM   #1
chris138
donkey roper
 
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Pacific Beach
Posts: 968
Squiddily Yellows

Hey Gang,

Wanted to share some of the footage from the recent flurry of yellowtail we had in La Jolla. As people found out pretty quick, there was a squid nest up inside the hump in about 70-90' of water. Fish were on the bottom which meant dropperloops and carolina rigs were the go to setups. When you get into these bites, it might seem like the skiffs are practically anchored on top of each other. There is very little room on the sea floor between the anchorlines and people's spread. You don't want to be that guy who causes a huge fustercluck when the fish swim through. Here's a couple tips to help you increase your success ratio on the bed.

Fish heavy line. When the yellows roll through 30 fish deep, they are not line shy. I have been fishing straight 50# mono. That way when you get bit, you can button the drag down to full and horse the fish as hard as you can. You have to stay right on top of the fish to keep it out of anchorlines and dropper spreads. Also fishing straight mono makes it easy to retie if your fish goes into the rocks, or gets all twisted up.

Don't be the guy who is flylining a greenback through the middle of the squid bite. Its fine to fish the flyline, but stay outside the fleet or around the perimeter. First off, the fish are biting on the bottom so your mack will be ignored. Second, if you do get bit, your fish is going to dive straight to the bottom in whichever way it wants. This will very likely result in a total disaster with nearby anchors.

Give the skiffs enough space. Carefully observe the drift line you are taking before you go through a crowded bed. Probably that skiff has been anchored in that same spot all night, so you sliding in too close at greylight will never be met with "aloha". Give enough room and don't drift right through their spread, and you will be tolerated. You might even get a piece of bait or two if you are cool to them.

Cant wait to see that big bluefin bring it on guys!

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