Report from Saturday 08-22-15:
Not much change in La Jolla this week. Lots of bait in some places, not much in others. We saw big active schools of greenbacks over the canyon in 500' depth, with larger fish beneath. Our plan was to "go long" and try to find some of the exotics. Ended up finding lots of hungry YT on the way out.
Got a chance to meet Tony and George in person for the first time... Great to see you guys, and thanks for the secret weapon. Had an easy time making bait in the dark with those boys, then we went our separate ways more or less. As soon as we headed outside we started seeing lots of action. Mammals, birds, bait, foamers... pretty much the kind of conditions where you just know there's lots of fish around.
I got 2 early and released them both. First one was ~15ish and the second one was ~22ish. Further outside is was total hammerfest. The sharks were so thick, the dogs were no where to be seen. I had a heavy 60# rig set up just in case we got into the larger pelagics. Ended up hooking an 8-10' hammer and getting an insane sleigh ride. Got her to the boat for a while before she finally chewed the flouro. After that I hooked another YT and decide to keep this one, as I had already released two and the tuna were a no show.
I would really encourage everyone to start releasing some yellows. Pretty much anybody who's been fishing LJ lately has plenty of meat to feed family and friends. C&R can actually be more rewarding and more fun than harvesting every fish you catch. There is no better feeling than watching that big 20# yellow swimming off to fight another day.
Helpful Hint of the Day:
The YT are in medium sized schools and they were showing on the meter in about 150' depth (fishing in 200-300'). They might not look like much on the sonar, but if you see these marks slow down and start drifting and slow trolling in big circles around the area. They are often down deep but they will come up on your bait quickly. The water is super clear and I was fishing straight 25# mono. My buddy fishing w 30# never got bit. Look for this:
Got some sweet YT release and hammerhead sleigh ride video. Sorry I know you guys have got to be pretty tired of all the videos. See 2:00 min for the hammer ride.