The first thing Jakes and I did when we got back to Los Angeles for the summer was plan out a fishing trip with Dod Shlome. After looking around at different fish counts around southern California ports and available boats, we decided to go with a 3/4 day trip on the Spitfire out of Marina Del Rey. We woke up early and drove over to the dock before sunrise, eager to head out for what seemed like was about to be a really fun day on the water. We rented our gear and boarded the boat soon after first light. The skies were very clear. As normal on these boats, it was colder and windier towards the beginning of the day on the way out before heating up as it got deeper into the morning. We saw multiple Ocean Sunfish near the surface of the water as we made our way west to the first spot, which ended up being off the shore of Malibu. This time, we were able to use live squid, a bait supplied on the boat that I do not recall trying before. Jakes and Dod Shlome were the first to hook up, reeling in some rockfish. That would set the tone for most of the rest of the day, as we would double up on fish at times and reel in fish after fish. Most of the rockfish we would catch would be Salmon Grouper or Vermillion Rockfish. The Vermillion Rockfish were so abundant, in fact, that after a few hours of catching them the captain moved us to a different spot since everyone had caught their limits of the fish. One distinct species of rockfish we caught was the Halfbanded Rockfish. Although small, its black bands and white spots contrasted by a red body makes it distinct. The next spot was not as productive for us, with Dod Shlome catching the only fish there between the three of us. However, it was a species I hadn't seen in a while: a California Sculpin - a different, very interesting red colored rockfish with poisonous spikes on its back. Next to me, a fisherman using the same bait as me (live squid drifting on the bottom) caught a solid Pacific Halibut, which you could differentiate from flounder because of their diamond-like, more pointed fin/body shape. We made our way back at around 2:30 after a nice morning of fishing and full bags. By the end, we had about 12 fish total, 6 of which were caught by me. The drive back in was beautiful, with perfect, sunny weather and views of Hollywood, Santa Monica, Downtown LA, the Santa Monica Mountains, and more areas of LA that I go to often but have never seen from such an angle. We went home and started cooking fish tacos, as we had all anticipated since we booked the trip. It was all around a great day of keeping the annual tradition on the water alive with Dod Shlome.
