hello everyone! haven't visited my old stomping ground/forum here for a while... just thought I'd swing by and give y'all some pics/vids of some fishing I've been doing recently... hope everyone is doing well back in Texas!

these reports were taken from my reports in the SoCal fishing forums:

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well.. had the itch to hit the sand.. so made it to the BU by 5pm to fish till sunset for the incoming tide..

started at the usual AO for the BU crew. A slight breeze, average waves, murky water close in, and manageable salad to start the sesh..

started working the camo crack and walked all the way down south to the big rocks... managed only 1 bsp:



decided to work my way back north using sandcrabs that were plentiful... only got a few short nibbles from dink perch... so when I finally got back to where I started... decided to put one HUGE sandcrab on and cast it out about 20 yards or so... then a few seconds later... WHAMO!!! major BENDO!!! and this thing takes off to the left.. down the beach heading south pulling major drag... and as I'm sure it is for most fishermen at moments like this... I'm by myself today.. so I take out the camera and start recording some clips:

here's the first one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTKGklECh9U

It's walking me down the beach... I look around to see if anybody's there... and sure enough... it's just me either way I look. It takes a lot of line and though it was a struggle, I did manage to gain back some line.. though it kept walking me down south from where I started at the initial entrance to the beach...

several minutes later... I record another clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DetoWJcMXuA

after this clip... another serious battle of give and take... all the while it is surely making its way down south. I'm pretty sure this must be a BIG leopard. I was never able to turn it the other direction.. and I don't think it ever decided to head straight out to Catalina either.. but I only had on 8lb leader, so I could only button down the drag so much...

at this point, I'm having visions of Steve, jscrib, etc. landing a huge leo on light line... and my mind is racing on how I'm gonna tail this thing by myself if I could ever get it in close enough! But as I'm walking south... I see those rocks slowly approaching... and knew that this leo had every intention of continuing south past those rocks!

here's my final clip probably 15-20 minutes later:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yz4fFmlx_E

I never did get to turn that leo around (never got to actually see any part of it either)... I buttoned down the drag a little more, but to no avail... I saw it go past and then around that big rock... and a few seconds later... "snap"! Lost the BIG one

Man what an adrenaline rush! That leo must've walked me down a 1/2 mile or so... I was still shakin a little as I reeled the slack line in and started walking back to the car... that was the biggest drag pulling I've had since I started surf fishin.

well... until next time!
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well, after what Robert said yesterday about it being very windy/cold, tons of salad, and big waves/shore pound, I wasn't expecting to find good conditions this am, but when I first got to the crab depot in the BU, it wasn't so bad.

Air temp a little cold, but almost no wind, and very little salad... made some crabs, then off to Point Dume (got there around 8:45am). High tide was earlier, so wasn't expecting much on the outgoing tide either...

arrival conditions: little wind, clear skies, almost no salad, a little murky close in but clearer further out, and small waves:





I gave robert a call to let him know about the much improved conditions since yesterday...

I put on a sandcrab, and about 5 minutes later, get hit pretty good and land this decent bsp:



taped to a little over 10":



some time and dink bites later... get pulled really hard a few times by this nice one:



short vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HnTwnbkqro

taped to 12 1/2":



quick vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRBGexoKV9E

caught a few more dink sized perch and walleye... and by this time, tide had receded pretty far with only a couple deep areas left that I couldn't get a bite in... switched to crack for a few more casts and nothing... so left at noon!

wasn't a bad morning considering I was expecting the worst! was just great to be out!

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So was gonna meet up with the BU crew (Robert/Bobbie/Steve) at Point Dume at sunrise this am, but me, AC, and my friend Jason decided to hit up the usual AO in Malibu first to see how the action was...

we get there around 7:15am (high tide around 9:30am today), no wind, small waves, no salad, cold air temp (35 degrees to start) and murky water close in... I start casting the MORF and maybe 3-4 casts later, I land this decent BSP:

my friend Jason just bought some Daiwa Saltwater Minnows (LC knock-offs) and after 3-4 casts, he hooked into a nice drag-puller, and saw him land this 14" beauty PB bsp (got to use my new ruler also! thanks Robert for letting us know about this great ruler):







here he is holding up his PB perch and this was his first time throwing a hard bait lure too!





I give Robert a call and let him know that in 5 minutes, we landed a 10" and 14" perch! haha~ so he decides to stop by here first...

a short while later, I feel a decent tug on the MORF, and land this smallish SNGF:



meanwhile... AC keeps catchin them on GCSW (here's a double we had):



here's a 10" she caught (while I was unhooking my SNGF):



she wanted to hold both up--she looks like a fishin DJ???:



I get a smalleye:

AC keeps goin and goin on the bsp (man I taught her well!!!):





Robert/Bobbie/Steve show up and start working the beach... the bite slowed down of course, and I think they each managed a skunk-buster at this location...

so we all decide to head north to Point Dume to give it a try there on the outgoing tide for a couple hours maybe...

nice flowers there:




We all start working the beach... and AC kept catchin small bsp's on the GCSW... down the beach, I see bobbie land something big, and when I get down to her, we're all congratulating her on landing a nice 13" point dume bsp (more pics to come later from Robert/Steve)...

I threw the MORF and LC around for a little while with no takers... my friend Jason also didn't hook up, but AC did well with her GCSW, landing maybe 7-8 perch there.

anyhow, it was a beautiful day, sunny, saw lots of dolphins, and a sealion or two... we left point dume while the BU crew stayed longer~~

great to be out with the BU crew enjoying another great outing on the sand...

more pics and the rest of the story from Robert/Steve I'm sure...

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Well... my dad wanted a change of scenery, so I thought we'd hit up Pyramid lake for some bait/wait on anchovies/nightcrawlers for striped bass... seems they open at 6:30am.

Anyhow, we get there around 6:45am and no line to get in... just 3 or 4 people already fishin the inlet area... so I decide to head a little further in and setup near the dock. Hardly any wind and a cool start to the morning.

arrival shot:


I set up 2 poles with some cut anchovy and the other with nightcrawler...
after about 30 minutes, finally get hit on the crawler and my dad reels in a small striper... not much to write home about, but at least we got bit.

My dad decides to take a little walk back to the inlet.. and he returns about 20 minutes later and says he counted 25 poles against the rail back there and that nobody has caught anything on cut anchovy/sardines.

to pass some of the time.. my dad tries some bass fishin with a lure...
no takers:



This is my dad's other favorite fishin position:


A little while later, we get bit on the nightcrawler again and he lands another small striper. So we change all 3 rods to the nightcrawlers and eventually land 4 small striped bass

my dad walked back to the inlet and said nobody caught anything there... and a few people fishin to the right/left of us didn't get a bite either... I guess the nightcrawlers were the hot bait for the day...

anyhow, here's a pic of the typical size we got:



great to see my dad reel in these fish... even funnier to see him scramble out of his chair once the little alarm bells I attached to the rods started ringing he said he had a great time and enjoyed the scenery... a nice morning out for sure! we left around 11:30am.. he took 2 of them home and said they were tasty off of the fryin pan

hey everyone,

so after my dad had a great time last week landing some trout... I wanted my mom to land her first ever trout this week!

Got my mom a 1-day license online the night before... and so picked up my parents and we hit the road at 5:30am, and got to Jackson a little before 7am. Nice cool, slightly breezy conditions to start. Only one other lone fisherman there casting lures.

As soon as we setup, my dad gets one to bite maybe 5 seconds after he casts in and he lands a decent stocker...



ok, I think it's gonna be a great day fishing and hopefully can get my mom to land some trout!

so after a quick casting lesson, my mom casts and I start recording... here's a quick vid of her first ever trout my dad's net job is pretty good too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSDwujRMFzs

here's her 1st trout trying to give her one more surprise! love her reaction!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB3RSKxkZY0

nice first trout:



well... she pretty quickly gets the hang of it... and becomes a seasoned pro! hahaha
nice little fight on 2lb test and a loose drag!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17IG7vDTyEg

she continues to catch her limit! yahoooooo! I like how this feisty trout splashes her face with some good'ol lake water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LZm6o6q91Y

Well... my dad also caught his limit and he had a great time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AkMWTbsXkQ

More people started to show up and share the bank with us... was a beautiful, blue-sky day... warmed up pretty quickly too. We limited out in about 1 1/2 hrs...

Decided to call it quits... and here's the ONE BIG BENEFIT of bringing mom along... having a feast by the lake! (much better than the ramen noodles my dad and I cooked when just the 2 of us went the week before!)



well, after the feast, we relaxed under the shade for a little bit longer, and then packed up and headed home.

Was so cool seeing my parents fishing together... my dad joked and said we're gonna have to get her an annual fishing license soon good time with my parents today... who, to me, for so long never seemed to be getting older... but as I've been away many, many years in school/training... now I can see their age showing.. hoping to spend more time with them for moments like these~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5jt5hLGpyk

hope y'all enjoyed the report/vids/pics... pardon my enthusiasm during the vids! I get easily excited especially when I see others catching...

With the high surf/large swells at the beaches for the next couple of days, I wanted to put my dad on some trout... so we leave the Valley around 5:30am this am, and take highway 14 up and around to Jackson Lake. We get there around 6:30am, and there are already 4 people fishing from the road side of the lake.

We first setup by the road as well... kinda cold and windy to start (lake is at about 5500 ft elevation I think)... water was pretty clear and the water is deeper on the road side of the lake. I throw out 3 different powerbaits and have my dad try the gold Super Duper... I reeled in 1 taker after 15 minutes, but it was kinda slow after... so we decide to move to the other side of the lake (there's a road that takes you to the other side with a small parking lot/bathrooms-no flush). There's also some picnic tables with nice shade.

We setup there and get some more action... on a mix of powerbaits, super duper, and powermouse... here's a quick vid of my dad in action! haha~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGw9kc1KoyE

Here's another vid of me trying to coach my dad.. haha! I'm just trying to tell him not to reel in so fast.. But to try to do a stop/go retrieve. But.. His method works too I guess:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbzQUJd_3vY

definitely a nice, cozy, beautiful spot: here are 2 views (just feels like you're far, far away from the city)





and for lunch... some ramen noodles on the portable stove! woo hoo!!



the other side of the lake (away from the road) has a pretty muddy edge in places... my shoes and bottom of my jeans got pretty muddy. We caught our limit (the usual rainbow stockers) and saw those infamous orange goldfish swimming around too. Didn't take any pics of the trout since you all know what they typically look like. We just tried different baits/lures... and the trout seemed to lose interest in one particular bait, so we moved on to the next bait/lure. Rainbow powerbait worked ok, gold super duper/panther martin, and powermouse were good... as you can see, I brought the whole arsenal... only thing I didn't try I guess were salmon eggs/power eggs/cheese/bread :EyePop:

definitely would go back to fish there again sometime. Will have to hit up Silverwood next time as well. My dad in reeled in all except the one I caught (and let some of the dinks go)... he definitely had a great time. We left around 12:30pm when the bite shut down and the trout moved to the middle of the lake I guess.

hope y'all enjoyed the report :Big Grin:

by the way, you need to have an Adventure Pass ($5 for one-day) to park along the road or in the parking lot... I bought mine at Sport Chalet yesterday

yeah, it was kind of a slow morning... bite wasn't WFO, but was able to pick a few off here and there.

was great meeting everyone, especially the infamous Mike/Andy with their GoPro cameras!

I got into a really nice YFC bite... before today, I hadn't caught more than one on the same day, but today... got into 5 nice, drag-zipping runs! started off with sandcrabs, but no takers... so switched over to camo crack, and these YFCs were way, way out there... cast as far as I could. At first, I thought they were dink perch... but Bobbie said they were most likely YFCs... and sure enough.. BAM! bendo! hehehe

here's a big one with Mike in the background!



another decent one:



and another:



here's a quick youtube vid of the 1st one caught today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxTcFQtcvsM


thanks for the invite today Robert... was a nice, cool morning... I even liked the light rain we had for a few minutes...

Well, I get Thursdays off, and wanted to see if my mentor Sherman was up for some fishin today... with the flat surf and minimal tide swing, he wants to try hali hunting... so of course I jump at the chance...

we arrive around noon to the spot.. very small waves and very light breeze.. a little murky water close in... no salad other than the kelp beds out further... just a sunny... beautiful day... so we start throwing the LC around after he gives me some pointers... Sherman quickly gets on something and pulls in this small leopard:

quick vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6GfKqW8c3U



a little while later... I manage this smaller leopard on the LC, my very first one (PB!):



AC wants to hold it as well:


feisty little guy... skin is tough as leather...
here's a quick vid of the release!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BfXhcvtL1M

well, no hali takers on the LC after about a couple hours... so we move south to BU, and toss some sandcrabs, crack, grubs, etc.

Sherman tells me he saw a BIG leopard cruising by... and a few minutes later, I look over, and he's BENDO on a huge leopard.... here's a vid of the drag pulling run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42mwU7Wi0OY

this leopard walked him all the way down the beach, and then headed straight out to Catalina before it came unbuttoned... too bad... I was thinking he would land it like Steve did recently on 6lb leader!

Well, we then move a bit further south and catch a few BSP and one walleye...

Just another great day to be out in the surf and sun~

Well, we had to get out for one final session for this year.. and headed straight to Point Dume to fish the incoming tide this afternoon. We get there, and see a lot of ppl fishing, and lo and behold.. I could make out the definite silouhette of Robert and his spare fishin pole off in the distance. There were lots of ppl with the long rods as well.

I finally chat with Robert and he tells me he and Renee walked almost the entire Point Dume beach and haven't got a bite.. and neither has anyone else. Yikes!

Seemed like picture perfect conditions... but after throwing the crack around for 20-30 minutes... there were NO fish around... not even a dink nibble... so AC gets frustrated and says "Let's move!". I say "ok" and so we part ways with Robert/Renee/Mark and head a few minutes south to the crab depot area.

at the crab depot location... the tide was still super low there... so we have fun tidepooling for a little bit, and as the tide filled in a bit more... the action definitely picked up!!!

I, of course, start off with the dink bite/perch:



and of course, AC starts to get into the much bigger perch:



and more big perch for her, including this one which I think should tape out to 12" if I had laid the tape down correctly.. prob her PB bsp:



quick vid:
http://www.youtube.com/user/dkinla1999#p/a/u/2/EpUjqL20PJ8

and the big ones kept biting in the shallow water...





she also got a nice-sized walleye that she said put up a good fight:



a great way to end 2010... Happy New Year everyone... lookin forward to what 2011 has to bring~ more time fishin of course...

and lastly... here are some random pics:

very nice!

Awesome Danny!

Great stuff!

Do you eat the sand perch? The croakers are probably excellent as well!

Hey Brian!

Yeah some ppl do eat these surf perch and croakers... But we catch/release these... SoCal beaches are nice, but water quality not that great.. Especially off of LA/Malibu waters... I think DFG only recommends eating 2 servings/week. But, from others who have eaten them... They report they taste great!

Thx for the comments guys!

wow, that is some report Danny. Looks like a good time.