As soon as I saw the post by Adam (baitfish) that they are coming as a family for a visit to Catalina Island, I had to meet and fish with them.
After all, Adam and Rebecca, were the original hosts of the Catalina GTG back in 2006 when it was my first trip to the GTG. After they left for Florida, Ben took over and finally I was given the honor of hosting.
On Friday, I took the early boat and later Ross (Gordo Grande) and finally Adam and family arrived on Catalina Express.
1-I was even earlier than my usual time, around 4:30 AM.
This time the Catalina Express boat was not at the usual gate 3 as it normally does. This made it the second time for me to go from Gate #1.
2-Adam’s lovely daughter landed the Opaleye that I had hooked by herself.
3-Adam lives to his Web name baitfish.
Actually he is a very experienced angler.
4-Adam’s artistic photo shot.
5-We enjoyed a meal at our usual hangout in Avalon, Antonio’s. Home of “mama’s day old spaghetti”.
After dinner I was too tired to pack and un-pack my cart, so I just went with a new toy to keep Adam company while he was fishing the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP). Ross had already left for the mainland.
6-I tried my new underwater light which was purchased for ice fishing.
7-The light spread made it possible to see a lot of fish.
8-Adam at his happy place. The “Ken Jones corner” on GPP. He caught a lot of bass with swimbait and a small piece of squid.
9-Many visitors pass by this little cave and do not notice it. It took me years before I saw it.
Arcadian arrived on early boat on Saturday and fished with us all day.
At one point he saw a lot of boils, and we started casting for bonito.
10-Arcadian with his first bonito.
11-Here was mine which was hooked not long after Arcadian.
Arcadian had one rod with fillet of fresh bonito straight down the railing, and …….
12-First Big Calico bass caught by Arcadian.
We would alternate between casting and bait fishing. Arcadian hooked another bonito on his first cast!
13-The third bonito caught by Arcadian was even bigger.
I believe a whole squid was the bait for his second calico bass.
14-The best catch of the trip was this calico bass by Arcadian.
Around 5:30 PM, we left Arcadian to fish at the Mole and went to our perspective hotels to clean up for dinner.
15-We had a nice dinner the night before Adam and family were leaving the island.
Too tired to night fish, so after having a nice conversation and catching up with Adam, I went to Hermosa Hotel to rest for next day.
Next day Adam and family left on the first boat. I on the other hand, spent the whole day fishing at the GPP.
16-On the way to the pier, I noticed this new addition to the island. It was in front of the library.
On the pier I setup one rod with single hook for bait and one with float and single hook for peas as bait.
The squid was ignored by the fish, but they devoured the old frozen anchovies.
17-One of the possible 50-60 Calico bass that I landed on the Green Pleasure Pier.
18-There were other species caught too. Like this rock wrasse, as well as sheephead and whitefish for example.
Usually on my Catalina trips something unusual or different than before happens. Well this time it started with a disaster, but ended up……you have to keep reading.
19-I had my rod resting against the railing with a green cast-a-bubble hanging and a feathered hook (fly) hanging below it. Since it was not in water, I did not have the rod in a holder.
I was about 30 feet away fishing, and saw a!@##$%^*%$##%^&**(*$#@@@!%^&* seagull take something of the rig. Perhaps a realistic looking fly resembling a baitfish and flow toward the water.
Low and behold my 10 ft. rod and a large reel all went over the railing, and into the water.
After closing my dropped jaw, I ran over to see where the rod was. Well, the water was clear, but too dark due the position of afternoon sun. However, I could see the green bubble.
I devised a heavy lure and hook and proceeded to jig for snagging. After a while, I managed to hook something and I saw the bubble start to come up. Then suddenly it came off. This time the bubble went down and no longer was visible.
I would not give up a $500.00 setup that easy, so I kept jigging.
Not much longer my rod felt heavy, but it came up slowly. That was a great feeling. Then the bubble appeared followed by glimpse of reel and finally the rod appeared. It was in two pieces, but the line was intact, so everything came up together.
Hurray.
A fresh water rinse at the bathroom was my only option, and time will tell if the reel would be fine.
Later in the day I saw a sheriff putting hand cuffs on a man. A young boy and a young lady were sitting waiting to be searched. I heard there was a tip and sheriff was waiting for the boat to arrive.
20-In the distance you can see three sheriff deputies are walking away. They had a guy in handcuffs. Possible drug bust.
As usual it was a great trip to the island for me. Seeing the Adam and the girls and his lovely wife made it better than normal trips.
Hope to see them in Florida in a future date. Report to follow!
THE END.
After all, Adam and Rebecca, were the original hosts of the Catalina GTG back in 2006 when it was my first trip to the GTG. After they left for Florida, Ben took over and finally I was given the honor of hosting.
On Friday, I took the early boat and later Ross (Gordo Grande) and finally Adam and family arrived on Catalina Express.
1-I was even earlier than my usual time, around 4:30 AM.
This time the Catalina Express boat was not at the usual gate 3 as it normally does. This made it the second time for me to go from Gate #1.
2-Adam’s lovely daughter landed the Opaleye that I had hooked by herself.
3-Adam lives to his Web name baitfish.
Actually he is a very experienced angler.
4-Adam’s artistic photo shot.
5-We enjoyed a meal at our usual hangout in Avalon, Antonio’s. Home of “mama’s day old spaghetti”.
After dinner I was too tired to pack and un-pack my cart, so I just went with a new toy to keep Adam company while he was fishing the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP). Ross had already left for the mainland.
6-I tried my new underwater light which was purchased for ice fishing.
7-The light spread made it possible to see a lot of fish.
8-Adam at his happy place. The “Ken Jones corner” on GPP. He caught a lot of bass with swimbait and a small piece of squid.
9-Many visitors pass by this little cave and do not notice it. It took me years before I saw it.
Arcadian arrived on early boat on Saturday and fished with us all day.
At one point he saw a lot of boils, and we started casting for bonito.
10-Arcadian with his first bonito.
11-Here was mine which was hooked not long after Arcadian.
Arcadian had one rod with fillet of fresh bonito straight down the railing, and …….
12-First Big Calico bass caught by Arcadian.
We would alternate between casting and bait fishing. Arcadian hooked another bonito on his first cast!
13-The third bonito caught by Arcadian was even bigger.
I believe a whole squid was the bait for his second calico bass.
14-The best catch of the trip was this calico bass by Arcadian.
Around 5:30 PM, we left Arcadian to fish at the Mole and went to our perspective hotels to clean up for dinner.
15-We had a nice dinner the night before Adam and family were leaving the island.
Too tired to night fish, so after having a nice conversation and catching up with Adam, I went to Hermosa Hotel to rest for next day.
Next day Adam and family left on the first boat. I on the other hand, spent the whole day fishing at the GPP.
16-On the way to the pier, I noticed this new addition to the island. It was in front of the library.
On the pier I setup one rod with single hook for bait and one with float and single hook for peas as bait.
The squid was ignored by the fish, but they devoured the old frozen anchovies.
17-One of the possible 50-60 Calico bass that I landed on the Green Pleasure Pier.
18-There were other species caught too. Like this rock wrasse, as well as sheephead and whitefish for example.
Usually on my Catalina trips something unusual or different than before happens. Well this time it started with a disaster, but ended up……you have to keep reading.
19-I had my rod resting against the railing with a green cast-a-bubble hanging and a feathered hook (fly) hanging below it. Since it was not in water, I did not have the rod in a holder.
I was about 30 feet away fishing, and saw a!@##$%^*%$##%^&**(*$#@@@!%^&* seagull take something of the rig. Perhaps a realistic looking fly resembling a baitfish and flow toward the water.
Low and behold my 10 ft. rod and a large reel all went over the railing, and into the water.
After closing my dropped jaw, I ran over to see where the rod was. Well, the water was clear, but too dark due the position of afternoon sun. However, I could see the green bubble.
I devised a heavy lure and hook and proceeded to jig for snagging. After a while, I managed to hook something and I saw the bubble start to come up. Then suddenly it came off. This time the bubble went down and no longer was visible.
I would not give up a $500.00 setup that easy, so I kept jigging.
Not much longer my rod felt heavy, but it came up slowly. That was a great feeling. Then the bubble appeared followed by glimpse of reel and finally the rod appeared. It was in two pieces, but the line was intact, so everything came up together.
Hurray.
A fresh water rinse at the bathroom was my only option, and time will tell if the reel would be fine.
Later in the day I saw a sheriff putting hand cuffs on a man. A young boy and a young lady were sitting waiting to be searched. I heard there was a tip and sheriff was waiting for the boat to arrive.
20-In the distance you can see three sheriff deputies are walking away. They had a guy in handcuffs. Possible drug bust.
As usual it was a great trip to the island for me. Seeing the Adam and the girls and his lovely wife made it better than normal trips.
Hope to see them in Florida in a future date. Report to follow!
THE END.
