Catalina Deux — March 2021

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#1
Although two visits to Catalina within such a short time span (two months) is unusual for me, the special conditions at the Mole in 2021 warranted such a trip, especially when it would be helping a friend celebrate his birthday. Unfortunately the second visit would prove far less successful than the first.

Pre-Catalina — Sunday morning comin’ down...as in heading down state Hwy 99 on a lazy Sunday morn. Leaving Fresno, you’re soon passing by the farm fields of the Central Valley, the Big Valley, one of the world’s greatest centers of agriculture. In time you’ll reach Bakersfield and perhaps spot Buck Owens Crystal Palace (and see glimpses of Merle Haggard Drive).

Next will be the Grapevine and the mountains with their dry high desert terrain, mountains that for some separate NorCal from SoCal. Soon you see Pyramid Lake near Castaic and then you’ll drop down toward Six Flags Magic Mountain. More and more houses filling every canyon, more and more traffic, and you’ll be nearing Shakey Town, Los Angeles to those illiterate in the epistemology of trucker lingo. You’ll pass through the maze of freeways and it’s on to Long Beach and the landing for Catalina Express. A four to five hour trip taken many, many times and one that you could seemingly traverse in your sleep. But, there are always differences.

Traffic on this Sunday is light and the drive boring. You turn on the radio and it’s a choice between Sunday morning sermons, country music (or what tries to pass as country music today), Spanish language stations with Mexican music, and a polyglot mixture of other stations with diverse programs and languages sure to comfort and confuse the masses. Unfortunately there’s no Wolfman Jack to add spice and humor to the day. Of course there’s also little “rock and roll.”

But there are those paid health commercials promising an end to pain, the benefits of natural fruits and vegetables, and the drugs that will keep you mentally sharp as a tack (when you’re getting into those twilight years and can’t find your pills). Hogging the dial are all those diet plans and vitamins to make you look great and feel great, and perhaps with the help of a little testosterone you can reenergize your libido. The spokesmen sound about as honest as a politician!

You try to find some sports but first are confronted with a guy who has a surefire way to bet on sports. He has picks guaranteed to win, and he’ll make you rich if you just follow his simple program, his system. Just call for the free, guaranteed to win, introductory game. No thanks.

But finally you hit gold. An NCAA March Madness game that lives up to the hype. It’s Loyola of Chicago going against No. 1 seed Illinois, two prairie state teams with one representing the “Windy City,” the other representing the state. But Loyola has their 101-year-old chaplain Sister Jean Dololres Schmidt who has been to the big show before and Loyola upsets Illinois. The game provided entertainment for more than two hours and makes the ride far more enjoyable.

The reason for the long drive (500+miles round trip) is simple, you’re headed to that special island known as Catalina for some fishing and you want to be ready. The seven P’s—“Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance,” define the pre-fishing planning. A variety of rods and reels, a variety of hooks and terminal tackle. And of course the right bait, so a trip to Big Fish in Seal Beach is needed to pick up the bait you ordered (since live bait can run out quickly on a weekend), a variety of bait—ghost shrimp, bloodworms, and lugworms. You already have some market shrimp you bought divided into baggies, some left over mussels, baby octopus (since you couldn’t find squid), and even a small bowl of garden snails that you want to test out as bait.

Once the bait is in the cooler you also hope to spend a few hours fishing the new piers at Pier J in Long Beach. Unfortunately you reach the site and find its two small piers still blanketed by signs prohibiting fishing. You wonder what happened since the piers were supposed to open in February.

But that’s OK. You’ll go to bed early since you’re catching the 7:05 ferry in the morning and you’re supposed to check in an hour early. Plus, given all the gear and clothes you are bringing for a three-day stay you also need time to properly fix and secure the items on the pier cart, items whose weight undoubtedly surpasses the recommended weight for the cart. You’ll arrive by 5:30 at the latest.

There are two nagging questions. The first is the weather. All of a sudden after some beautiful weather the temperature is projected to fall by over ten degrees, a quick temperature drop that could affect the water temperature. You know that a quick drop in water temperature can affect fish and put fish “off their feed” if only for a few days. But, you only have a few days lo catch ‘em.

The other question is a nagging shoulder and arm that made casting on your last trip, especially any long distance casting, painful and prohibitive. You’ve started physical therapy but a visit two days prior actually resulted in more shoulder pain and it hasn’t improved. Can you cast for the bonito, if they show up, or even cast for an extended length of time? A previous visit, just six weeks prior, had seen fantastic fishing, but will or can it be the same? Que sera sera, what will be will be, you have no control over these questions.

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The Catalina Express

Catalina — Day One, March 22 — After the early morning festivities—waiting in line to park, loading the cart, standing in the line for the tickets, meeting up with Hashem (the birthday boy and companion for the trip), standing in line to board, and carefully loading the cart onto the ferry, you are off. The morning has seen its change from an ebony sky to the mild orange of dawn and finally to the bright daylight that will accompany the ferry on its trip to Catalina.

Naturally there are the warnings on the ferry—keep your masks on and be sure to cover your nose, no eating or drinking on the boat (keep those masks on), try to stay apart (a little difficult given the number of people), and oh yea, this is how you put your life jacket (Mae West) on if the boat starts to sink.

The ride is smooth and in just over an hour you arrive at the Mole in Avalon and deboard the ferry. Straight in front of you, just a few hundred feet away, is your destination, the railings of the Cabrillo Mole. You quickly head over to the railing, quickly stake out your space near the left corner, start setting up your gear and soon are fishing.

Luckily the weather during the first day is fairly calm. Sunny and warm in the morning, a couple of hours of blustery wind, calm once again, and toward the end of the day wind once again.

Unfortunately, the fishing is not the same as what you saw in February. As example, there are no bonito, the main species sought by your fishing companion Hashem aka Mahigeer. No birthday gift of hard fighting boneheads for the birthday boy. Nor are there the usual opaleye, the second species Hashem is targeting. Hashem has made up a concoction of things in a bucket that will attract the opaleye— a mishmash of peas, mealworms, and other items, and some of the fish do show up, but not in the usual numbers. A group of Korean opaleye fisherman are parked out down the pier on the right side but even they with all their specialized equipment and skills are getting few fish.

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The water was clear and kelp, rocks and fish were in evidence.

Worse for me, the resident species of fish are also not in the mood to bite as they were previously. The water is crystal clear, too clear, and you can see the fish but they just don’t seem hungry. Often in such conditions the fishing will pick up later in the afternoon when the pier’s waters are in shadow but you’re going to have to work for the fish today. And that’s how it was for much of the day. A few fish but nothing to get excited about.

Pretty much all of the baits were tried. The bloodworms produced most of the sheephead although some hit on the shrimp; most of the garibaldi hit on shrimp; one scorpionfish hit on shrimp, one on a bloodworm, and one on a garden snail; the halfmoon hit on shrimp, the senorita, kelp bass, blacksmith, giant kelpfish and blenny on worms. One nice–sized fish was a somewhat unusual yellow-colored scorpionfish (they are usually more red) that was filleted for a later dinner.

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California Scorpionfish

Ten sheephead were caught, not a bad number, but only two were legal size.

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Sheephead

The favorite fish, excepting the scorpionfish, was a largemouth blenny, a feisty fish that only showed up in California a few years ago and is still considered uncommon. It is my fourth at the Mole, the prior three being taken in 2017 when they were still considered rare (and I also took one at the Green Pleasure Pier that year). I always enjoy variety and unusual fish.

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Largemouth Blenny

March 22, 2021, Cabrillo Mole
Fished 9-11:30 and 12-6:15 (8.75 hours)
Fish 65, Points 127 (based primarily on size)


26 Garibaldi (all safely released)
10 Sheephead (only two legal-size and both returned to the water)
8 Halfmoon
7 Senorita
4 Kelp Bass
3 California Scorpionfish (one a good-sized fish that will be kept.
3 Blacksmith
3 Giant Kelpfish
1 Largemouth Blenny

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The GDude rod I brought for the first time. It was good but I missed my normal rod.

Overall, a fairly decent day but definitely a step down from the previous trip in February that saw 82 fish the first day, 122 the second, and 90 fish the third. We would head to our hotel a little tired but had an excellent, sit-down fish dinner at the NDMK Fish House. It turned out that apparently everyone on Catalina has received their vaccine shots and the island is more open than the mainland. Good fish and a couple glasses of beer helped provide a good night’s sleep.

The plan for day two was that I would get up early and head down to the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP) for a little fishing. Eventually Hashem would meet up. He needed to give the harbormaster some new fish measurement signs to put up on the Mole and Green Pleasure Pier but wanted to avoid hauling all his gear out to the end of the pier. Hashem would then head out to the Mole and I would join him (depending upon how the fishing was at the GPP).
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#2
Catalina — Day Two, March 23—The day would start with a visit to the Green Pleasure Pier in the harbor. Typically the pier sees more fish than the Mole but with less variety (and far too many small, illegal-size kelp bass).

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The Green Pleasure Pier

Usually the waters at the GPP are saturated with small, illegal-size kelp bass along with garibaldi, halfmoon, blacksmith, rock wrasse, senorita, and sheephead along with smaller numbers of scorpionfish and other species.

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The Green Pleasure Pier at the end — the corner by the bench at the end was affectionately given the name "Skipper's Corner" one year since it is where I normally fish.

This morning for the first half hour no fish are even visible let alone biting. Finally the shrimp starts to produce a few fish, garibaldi, but for the first 45 minutes that is all. Then the rock wrasse woke up. Rock wrasse, senorita and sheephead all sleep at night, the first two even burying themselves in sand at times. Apparently the rock wrasse set their alarm for 8:30 in the morning because all of a sudden they began to hit the bloodworms being used for bait. Still, nothing else was making an appearance, which, in the case of the kelp bass, is almost unheard of at the GPP. I did catch one nice-sized fish. Often times fish will hide under the floats that adjoin the sides of the pier so I carefully cast a worm under the float on the left side. Almost immediately I had a hard strike and eventually pulled out a nice-sized ocean whitefish, the largest I would see on the trip. I didn’t measure or even take a picture of it but it would be filleted, bagged, put on ice and be a later meal.

I did have a chance to help out a young man, Oscar, who was fishing lures but having no luck. I told him about the normal species at the pier, some baits to use, and gave him some shrimp. Eventually before I left he pulled in a small sheephead.

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Oscar and his first sheephead

Eventually Hashem showed up and after giving the harbormaster his measuring signs departed for the Mole. I would spend some time talking to the harbormaster myself, especially in regard to the recent incidents at the Mole and the arguments between the workers and the “opaleye hunters.” Apparently it’s become a problem and the police have been called several times. Given that it seems to be an increasing problem we discussed possibly working together for some ideas on the situation. We’ll see if we can help.

March 23, 2001, Green Pleasure Pier
Fished 7:45-9:30 (1.75 hours)
Fish 13, Points 28


8 Rock Wrasse
4 Garibaldi
1 Ocean Whitefish

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The Casino and Harbor

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Harbor and boats.

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The shoreline
Following our talk I decided to head out to the Mole in hopes of improved fishing.

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Rod, reel and hoop net

Unfortunately the Mole was even slower than the previous day, less fish and less fishermen. The number of sheephead was down as were the numbers of most species. I did start trolling some shrimp for halfmoon mid-day and caught several fishing that style but most of the time the fish just weren’t biting. The garibaldi and halfmoon were primarily landed on shrimp, the sheephead were 50/50 on shrimp and worms, and the smaller species on worms. The best drop was a doubleheader using shrimp that produced two legal-size sheephead. As for the snails they weren’t getting bites and I finally ditched them.

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A doubleheader of two legal sheephead

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Best drop of the day

Unfortunately the wind did become a problem, at times in the morning but especially in the afternoon. It was a stinging wind that was hard on the face (I switched from my hat to a beanie cap) and it made it hard to feel the bite at times. Most unusual was the continued lack of kelp bass and the lack of any fish from the rocks that I like to fish at the left end of the Mole.

Eventually the wind became so strong that I decided to call Evanluck because he had said he would be coming over on Wednesday as would be EgoNonBaptiso. However, he said he didn’t mind the wind and would be there on the next day. We would be having a small Catalina Get Together, the first since 2015.

March 23, 2021, Cabrillo Mole
Fished 10:30-12:30 and 1:15-6 (6.75 Hours)
Fish 35, Points 79 (based primarily on size)


13 Garibaldi
13 Halfmoon
4 Sheephead
1 Kelp Bass
1 Rock Wrasse
1 Senorita
1 Blacksmith
1 Pacific Mackerel

Tired and somewhat worn out from the wind, we headed back to the hotel. After a visit to the beautiful new Vons on the island, Hashem and I had a light meal before retiring to our respective rooms for the night. I took a long shower hoping it would help the arm but I think I needed ice on the arm instead of the warm shower.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#3
Catalina — Day Three, March 24—The plan was for me to head to the Mole early and Hashem would meet me after he got up. He was tired and thought he would sleep late. As it turned out, I slept late and he arrived at the Mole before me.

The morning sky looked great, sunny with no wind. Maybe it was going to be a calm day? Today we would be joined by PFIC anglers Evanluck and EgoNonBaptiso along with Evanluck’s girlfriend Hermelinda, and a few of his friends. They were hoping to watch the expert (me) but would be solely disappointed.

Upon their arrival everyone began to fish but the fishing was slow. It was bright and sunny and the water was crystal clear. I finally advised them that perhaps things would pick up in the afternoon when shade would envelop the pier’s waters.

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The Cabrillo Mole

It was no different for me, the fishing was slow. Unusual was that as the day went on I grew increasingly tired and indifferent to the fishing. The arm was hurting but that’s no excuse, I was simply worn out and content to let others do the fishing (and that’s unusual for me). It had me wondering, is age catching up with me? More likely it’s being out of shape combined with some recent health issues. It was disconcerting. Luckily the others were catching fish, mainly ocean whitefish. The group was fishing the spot where I caught the whitefish in February and using squid for bait. A long cast seemed to produce a steady catch of the whitefish. Where I was fishing a long cast simply produced a lost sinker to the kelp. I moved down to a spot left bare by EgoNonBaptiso a few times and caught three whitefish but was really looking for some more variety—and not getting it. But our new found friends found fish; the whitefish were plentiful and mixed in were some sheephead including at least a couple of keepers. By the end of the day everyone seemed pleased with the fish.

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Ocean Whitefish

Whatever the case, it was my worse day at the Mole since a visit in April 2006 that saw three straight days of slow fishing. My best fish were one solitary legal sheephead, a kelp bass that at 13-inches was an inch too short to keep, and a cute little treefish that was just a baby but a really pretty fish.

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Treefish aka lipstick fish

As said I just didn’t seem to have the normal drive and energy and in time, when it became really, really windy (and the red flag gave warnings to boaters), I stopped fishing even though the ferry wouldn’t arrive for over another hour. I was tired out and cold from the wind. You’re supposed to squeeze every possible minute into the fishing day and normally I would have been on the water by six and fished until six but I just was tired. Time to lose some weight and rejuvenate the system.

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Evanluck and a legal-size sheephead

March 24, 2021, Cabrillo Mole
Fished 7:50-12:50 and 1:15-4:15 (8.00 Hours)
Fish 26, Points 53 (based primarily on size)


6 Sheephead
6 Kelp Bass
4 Garibaldi
3 Ocean Whitefish
2 Blacksmith
2 Senorita
1 Treefish
1 Giant Kelpfish
1 Halfmoon

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A group picture, the first Get Together at the Mole since 2015. From left to right — Hashem, Evanluck, Hermelinda, EgoNonBaptiso, and KJ

Although we weren’t too sure how rough the trip back would be, the catamaran ferry produced another smooth ride. Our small group had the opportunity to discuss PFIC and a little of its history and we could have spent several hours talking—but had just one hour.

We would split in different directions when we arrived back in Long Beach but the short meeting of friends finished off a mostly pleasant three days in a fine manner. I had a short drive to the Vagabond Motel in Long Beach before heading over to Redondo Beach for one more day of fishing.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#4
Post Catalina — The plan was to get up early Thursday morning and head over to Redondo Beach. There I would fish the Hermosa Beach Pier in the morning and the Redondo Beach Pier that afternoon/evening. Friday would see a visit to the Manhattan Beach Pier or Santa Monica Pier. But, sometimes plans don’t go as expected.

I slept late Thursday and didn’t arrive at Hermosa Beach until 9: 30, a late time for a pier visit. Nevertheless I headed out to find only six people on the whole pier. A pier devoid of fishermen is always a bad sign and I would soon find out why they were missing.

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The entrance to the Hermosa Beach Pier

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Entrance Gate

I set up by the end and hoped to use some worms to lure in some fish from the artificial reef. No bites, in fact no hints of a bite in an hour. I moved a little further inshore and caught a small speckled sanddab on the bottom and a couple of mackerel and topsmelt on the top. After that nothing. Other than a few small mackerel and a couple of sardines no one else seemed to have any fish either. Talk about slow!

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Ready for action that never came.

The most interesting aspect of my visit was watching a film crew try to shoot some film on the beach. Not sure if it was a commercial being filmed, one that called for surfers, or it was a film about surfers, but it was funny watching the director tell the actors how to stand on their surf boards.

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Do it this way!

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March 25, 2021, Hermosa Beach Pier
Fished 10-12:30 (2.50 Hours)
Fish 4, Points 4 (based primarily on size)


2 Topsmelt
1 Pacific Mackerel
1 Speckled Sanddab

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The shoreline looking upcoast toward the Manhattan Beach Pier

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The shoreline looking downcoast toward Redondo Beach

I took a few pictures of the area around the pier and moved on to Redondo and my Ramada Motel. I checked in, unpacked the things for later that night, and called Pete at “Just Fishing By Pete” in Redondo Beach. In the early years of PFIC, I got fish reports from Pete. His bait and tackle shop was at the foot of the Hermosa Pier and he always knew what was going on in the fishing scene. Then the city decided to renovate the area and eventually he was forced out of the location by their meddling. He opened a new shop in Redondo Beach and today mainly fixes rods and reels. I still see him occasionally and he’s still my go to person if I need a reel or rod repaired when I am in SoCal. I needed him to look at a reel and he said bring it over. He fixed the reel, we chit chatted, I bought a few things, and I headed back down the hill to the Redondo Beach Pier.

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The Redondo Beach Pier

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I then did something I rarely do. On my pier fishing jaunts I am usually by myself and as quite satisfied to eat cheap as in Jack in the Box and other fast food restaurants. However, one of my favorite fish restaurants is Old Tony’s on the Redondo Beach Pier. I decided that even if I was by myself I would treat myself to a sit down dinner (they had limited capacity seating).

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Old Tony's

I wanted seafood and that’s what I got (following a bloody Mary). Salmon chowder, salad, and the captain’s plate (fish, shrimp, scallops, and linguini in clam sauce). All were prepared perfectly and after the waiter brought me about six glasses of water (I guess I was dehydrated), I left him a nice tip. It was a great meal and I was ready for fishing.

I headed out on the pier but unfortunately it was once again very windy. I first tried to fish the old Monstad section of the pier (where the wooden planks are located) but unfortunately the wind and floating kelp made fishing almost impossible. I finally moved out to the end section where people were using Sabiki’s to catch mackerel and sardines.

I don’t like Sabiki’s but joined the mob in catching the fish. However as the wind increased the warm motel room sounded better and better and then when it started to rain I decided it was time to pack it in. The visit had been short but it was what it was.

March 25, 2021, Redondo Beach Pier
Fished 4:45-6:15 (1.50 Hours)
Fish 9, Points 10 (based primarily on size)


5 Pacific Sardine
2 Pacific Mackerel
2 Topsmelt

It had been an interesting day but not one filled with fish. As in disappointing trips in the past (and there have been bad trips along with good trips) it might have simply reflected the changing of the seasons and water temperatures. But it’s hard to say and that is always frustrating.

Unfortunately the night would not end well. Once back to my motel I caught up on my email texts, watched a little TV, and called my wife before taking a shower. I noticed a rubber shower mat by the tub but ignored it and got into the tub. Almost immediately I slipped in the tub, fell and smashed my arm, side and head on the tub. Then it took a minute or so to get out of the slippery tub. How dumb! Why hadn’t I used the bath mat? Sore and thinking a warm shower would help the body, I put the mat in the tub and very carefully proceeded to take a shower. I was sore but hopefully had gotten rid of any fishy smell I might have.

I then proceeded to not sleep through the night. The motel fronted on Pacific Coast Hwy and I could seemingly hear every loud car and crazy (shouting) person who came along the street. Plus whenever the heater would kick on it would make a loud sound.

Finally about 4:15 a.m., I said screw it, I’m heading out. I dressed, loaded my car, informed the night teller of my accident and left LA amidst light traffic and was back on Fresno by 9:30 in the morning. What a night.

Thoughts — Why was there such a change in the fishing at the Mole from Jan/Feb to March. (1) Perhaps there had been a drop in water temperature this week? That often puts fish off their feed for a few days. (2) It was simply a time of year thing. Past visits to Avalon during March and April had rarely seen spectacular fishing although there was sometimes wide variance year to year. (3) The Mole had been closed for over a year and then reopened in January. The waters at the Mole had not been fished during the closure. In addition, because of the pandemic, the various craft that normally use the preserve fronting the Mole for their trips—the glass bottom boat and the small tourist submarines, had stayed anchored in the harbor. The fish were not fed by fishermen at the Mole and were not being fed by the fish pellets that customers on the boats use to lure the fish up to the boats. The fish were hungry and it was no surprise that when first opened the Mole would see fantastic fishing—which it did. However, fishermen had been coming to the Mole since January and many were keeping any and all fish, legal or illegal, and the larger sheephead in particular saw a reduction in number. This week saw both the glass bottom boat and the submarines in operation and there is little doubt (in my mind) that some of the fish were drawn away from the Mole area into the areas used by the craft. It was though a preserve already intended to protect fish saw itself become a “super preserve” while closed and the anglers who were first at the Mole in January and February benefited from those conditions. Que sera sera.
 

Mahigeer

Senior Member
#5
An excellent write-up. I even read the whole report.

First, thanks for coming to my birthday “party”. This tradition started, when the Catalina Express offered –free trips on your birthday. I continued after that although it was not a free ferry ride.

The weather can never be predicted 100%, but I would have gone regardless. “What will be will be”

I liked the new motel. Next time we should spend some time enjoying the facility and the view of the roof top.

If I may add, I gave the yellow stickers to the maintenance man at the Mole in addition to more laminated copies of fishing regulation to replace any damaged ones. The Harbormaster office got a heavier lamination for maintaining the posts on the GPP.

Rather than my usual post, which basically duplicates yours, I will try to post link to YouTube, if I can upload my underwater recordings.

One last item; at the hotel in Catalina (I should have taken) were ear plugs on the night stand. I usually carry those and eye cover just in case I need them. Some useful items in the toiletry bag.

I hope you can join me again, when the water and the weather are warmer.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#6
Reviewed my report and it sort of comes across as a wimpy report. The bottom line is that the fishing for me was only fair and not nearly as good as the previous trip. Perhaps that's all that matters.
 

Stickman

Active Member
#7
Well, lets do a quick review;
Your report "Catalina- Deux" is found to be:

Detailed (very helpful for those thinking of making the trip themselves)
Full of beautiful pictures ( greatly appreciated by those of us that may well never be able to go)
Generous in fishing "how - to" information (that folks can use to catch some fish for themselves)
Self deprecating, while affectionately portraying fellow anglers. ( humility and kindness to others -like providing the PIFC web site all of these years - are behaviors that are always appreciated - even when we rarely say so)
Honest (most of those who post here - myself included - are inclined only to post the successful outings. When we are honest with each other, and report on the tough days as well, it builds up the community of anglers that gather here because we can all relate.)

You will note the absence of "wimpy" in the above assessment of your report.
I now find myself in disagreement with Ken Jones. Pigs are most surely aloft at this very moment.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#8
Thanks for the kind words. It's just that I don't like to give excuses for having an "off" day and it seemed like this report strayed into that territory. I used to be able to hit 3-4 piers a day and go from sun-up into the night. Just doesn't seem like I can do that any more (and I hate it). But the trip was a great motivator to take off the weight I gained during the past year—and I started a new diet on Sunday. Just wish I could take off a few of the years.
 

Red Fish

Senior Member
#9
Thanks for the kind words. It's just that I don't like to give excuses for having an "off" day and it seemed like this report strayed into that territory. I used to be able to hit 3-4 piers a day and go from sun-up into the night. Just doesn't seem like I can do that any more (and I hate it). But the trip was a great motivator to take off the weight I gained during the past year—and I started a new diet on Sunday. Just wish I could take off a few of the years.
Ken, the part about you slipping was scary. The fact that you hit your head is dangerous. I hope you checked out okay after that.
 
#10
No matter how many times I have told Skipper that we are getting old. And there is not much we can do about it. He does not accept it.

Loosing weight is always a good idea. I am guilty of not being able to do it. Especially recently due to Covid.

As to fishing; Skipper sets a very high bar and if does not achieve it, he feels he failed. Once a 300 count for a three day trip was not up to his satisfaction!

Report was fine and took the reader with him on the journey.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#11
As for falling in the shower, I got back to Fresno in the morning, called my doctor, and went in to see him in the afternoon. I wound up getting a cortisone shot given the pain in my arm (that was actually a pre-existing condition that got worse from the fall). I had gotten a similar shot a couple of months ago but knew it didn't solve whatever is causing the pain, only relieves the pain for a while, and thus began physical therapy. I know it's not good to get too many cortisone shots but decided in this case a shot would help and it is helping. The doctor is thinking that I may have rotator cuff damage and we will cautiously continue the physical thereapy to see if it helps. If not, an MRI is next up. As for the head, it's pretty empty so didn't do any damage that we can tell. The fall was a first that I really do not care to repeat.
 

evanluck

Well-Known Member
#13
Wonderfully written report! Making this trip would be quite taxing for anyone at any age. We certainly appreciated sharing the pier with you and getting to hear your stories of the history of PFIC over the years. I really admire how you've sustained your passion for fishing and for sharing over the years. A love as pure as yours, filled with the richness of your experience and with a noticeable absence of ego is a rare thing indeed. It is no wonder that you have such a following!

It will be interesting to see how the Mole "settles in" now that it has been open for a few months. I definitely will be taking advantage of my proximity to the pier and look forward to seeing how it changes as the weather warms up. I went back on Sunday taking my cousin and his wife. Fishing conditions were similar but it was much more pleasant because the weather was warm and there was very little wind. I'll post my own version of our shared day combined with Sunday trip.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#14
I will be interested to see if the kelp bass return to the Green Pleasure Pier when they put in the dock at the front of the pier for the summer season. I have never seen the lack of kelp bass at the pier as witnessed in both February and March. Or, for that matter, the low numbers at the Mole. Fishery biologists have always told me that it's much harder to explain changes to fish populations in the ocean than in freshwater lakes and streams (making policy more difficult) but given the limited area here it would make an interesting study. Ditto the apparent decrease in opaleye numbers at the Mole, a decrease I would attribute to the decline in giant kelp. The opaleye are hammered steadily by the "opaleye hunters" that seem to come weekly to the Mole but even in February, when the Mole had just recently opened, the number of opaleye appeared to be down from previous years. Pehaps they simply moved on to other areas once their steady supply of food (including the fish pellets thrown into the water by tourists) was missing during the closure of the Mole. And, perhaps they will return now that the food at the Mole is once again available.
 

Red Fish

Senior Member
#15
No matter how many times I have told Skipper that we are getting old. And there is not much we can do about it. He does not accept it.

Loosing weight is always a good idea. I am guilty of not being able to do it. Especially recently due to Covid.

As to fishing; Skipper sets a very high bar and if does not achieve it, he feels he failed. Once a 300 count for a three day trip was not up to his satisfaction!

Report was fine and took the reader with him on the journey.
As for falling in the shower, I got back to Fresno in the morning, called my doctor, and went in to see him in the afternoon. I wound up getting a cortisone shot given the pain in my arm (that was actually a pre-existing condition that got worse from the fall). I had gotten a similar shot a couple of months ago but knew it didn't solve whatever is causing the pain, only relieves the pain for a while, and thus began physical therapy. I know it's not good to get too many cortisone shots but decided in this case a shot would help and it is helping. The doctor is thinking that I may have rotator cuff damage and we will cautiously continue the physical thereapy to see if it helps. If not, an MRI is next up. As for the head, it's pretty empty so didn't do any damage that we can tell. The fall was a first that I really do not care to repeat.
Lol, you’ve got more in your head than a whole lot of people. :)
 

josh

New member
#16
What you call "excuses" are learning points for those of us less experienced. Rather than wimpy your post converted limited success on the water into value for more people.

If you haven't already, try CBD out. My parents (a retired cop and a ohio girl, both FAR from potheads) gave it a shot and it has provided profound relief for chronic back and joint pain issues. Properly formulated CBD is not psychoactive and does not get you high. It does relieve pain and act as a powerful anti-inflammatory without the long term degenerative issues that corticosteroids like cortisone cause. DM me if you like and I'll link you to the brands they use.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#17
I think I will hold off and see how the therapy goes. I'm already taking several different high blood pressure and cholesterol medicines and really am not wild about adding anything more into the mix at this time.
 

josh

New member
#18
I think I will hold off and see how the therapy goes. I'm already taking several different high blood pressure and cholesterol medicines and really am not wild about adding anything more into the mix at this time.
Makes sense to me! Best wishes on quick improvement!