Catalina Tuna/400th Fish

    Whenever I am in Los Angeles, my busy uncle Shlome, my brother, and  and I try to find time to go fishing together on a party boat. Something normally goes wrong, but we always end up having a great time on the water. We woke up at 3 AM, eager to hit the water. Despite early complications with another boat, we ended up going on the Sport King out of San Pedro. It was a 3/4 day trip from 6 AM to around 5 AM. We baited up at the live bait station near the inlet of the marina, which is common at California ports, and set out. That is one of the many interesting differences between east coast and west coast fishing. The weather was nice all trip. While it was rather cooler in the morning, it got warmer as the day went on. The skies were sunny and overcast at different points in the day. While I am used to the the frequent changes in conditions being from Miami, what surprised me most was the lack of rain with the presence of the clouds. I'll take it. The weather is almost always nice in southern California.

    The trip started with the long drive out to Catalina Island. This is one of the biggest differences between the fishing in Miami and SoCal; in Miami, reefs and the gulfstream are so close to the shore that fishing spots are need not be more than an hour away. Here, the drive out was over two hours. It was worth it, however. We had some great conversations on the way and, anticipating the arrival, set up the rods with just a single hook with no weight with Palomar knots. The primary fishing method on these boats is fly lining a live bait with no weight at all. The use of the Palomar knot is recommended in South California. It's a local knot, and it was funny to see and hear the reactions of the local deckhands when hearing about the uni and clinch knots often used in Miami.

    We were planning to go to Catalina Island in pursuit of Yellowtail, Calico Kelp Bass, Bonito, and more, but when we got close to the island we were told that the plans had changed because the captain had heard a call about Tuna being caught nearby. Jacob was unhappy about this news because he was looking forward to dropping cut bait near the island for lots of fish to take home. Clearly he is a quantity over quality fisherman. Although Shlome and I were happy with that type of fishing, we were excited to hear about the opportunity to catch a big fish, especially one that had eluded us an a different trip before. We turned west and went towards an area with lots of boats, where we could see the Tuna being caught. The Bluefin Tuna run, which comes here during the summer, has been exceptional in recent years, much to the surprise of locals who have fished the area for years. Given the small amount of people on the boat, meaning more space, we were well equipped to catch these fish. Everyone on board had conventional reels, which was apparently better for the Tuna. The three of us, who are still learning the ropes of this type of fishing, didn't get the memo; we had spinning gear. Regardless, when we saw the first boil (the schools of Tuna busting baitfish on the surface, causing commotion and white foam to look like the water is boiling), we got set and casted out. We fly lined the live bait, hooked through the "nose" most of the time. The plan was to keep enough tension on the line to feel the baitfish swim and to let out line slowly with the bail open. We made sure to always have a lively fish on the hook, and to change it out when it starts to slow down.

    Soon after the first few boils, the captain said that the fish were deeper down in the water column. We then hooked the fish in the back half, on the bottom. This way the bait would swim down, and away from the pressure. It worked. Sure enough, a Tuna took the bait and took off on a huge run. The fish put up a great fight. After tiring the fish out for a few minutes, the Palomar knot held up and the fish was gaffed and brought on board. We caught a Bluefin Tuna! It was a really cool catch. Jacob was especially happy because it was his first Tuna. The three of us were ecstatic to be on the board, and able to bring such a good eating fish home. It was a very fun fight.

    We spent about the first 3 fishing hours looking for Tuna. Towards the end, before we left, Dod Shlome hooked up on a Tuna that went on a huge run before taking the hook off. It once agai8n reminded us of the power and strength of the Bluefin Tuna. The palomar knot on that rod was not very strong because it was made by one of us before we had much practice. Anyways, the boat then turned back to Catalina Island to go for some other types of fish.

    The island, formed from tectonic uplift along with the other Channel Islands, was beautiful. The colors of the rocks and the water, as well as the coves, caves, and mountains on the island served as a great backdrop to the fishing and really made me appreciate being where I was. As for the fishing itself, Dod Shlome and I kept the same rigs with live bait while my brother tried a dropper loop rig at the bottom with cut squid. We spent the rest of the day at two spots on the southeast side of the island trying to catch whatever we could. The fish were biting right away. I was, again, one of those who hooked up.

    The fight with the Yellowtail or Bonito, a smaller but hard fighting type of Tuna, lasted a few minutes. Much like the fight with the Bluefin, I had to play the fish and wait for the right time to reel in so that the tension wasn't strong enough to snap the line. Unfortunately, the knot ended up failing and the fish swam off to fight another day. This loss stung BAD, especially knowing that it would have been my 400th lifetime catch. It was a reminder and a lesson that you can't win them all. I will be sure to practice my palomar knot before coming back to fight these quality fish again.

    Our luck changed about 20 minutes later. Jacob, who had been feeling nibbles for a while, finally hooked up on a fish. He called me over and we reeled the fish in. We caught a Calico/Kelp Bass! It was my 400th! We were all really happy about the achievement, and it's not one that I will forget. The Kelp Bass holds a special place in my heart; it was one of the first fish I ever caught, my first in Los Angeles, when I caught it with my aunt Annette on the Santa Monica Pier. After identifying the fish perfectly because of the research I had done when my interest in the sport was growing, I got the idea of starting this blog with the help of Doda Annette. I could not have been happier with the Kelp Bass being my 400th fish.

    I almost hooked up one more time before we left. Another Bonito bit my bait while I left the rod resting on the bar, and it would have pulled the whole rod over if I had not picked it up in time. The bait came out very soon after, and when I reeled in the hook, I saw that the bait was chopped in half by the fish. It was never hooked. We were also hindered at the island by the many seals that would steal bait and scare off fish. Despite this, the three of us were happy with the result. We had a great time out on the water catching fish and bringing home some great dinner. We also learned a lot more about the fishing in this area. The fact that one learns something new every time they go out, whether they catch fish or not, and that it takes a lot of trial and error and learning for success are some of the things that I love most about fishing. On of the most interesting things we saw on this trip was when a fisherman near us who was fishing with lighter gear for Bass hooked up on an elusive Yellowtail. The fish took off on an unstoppable run, peeling all of the line off the reel until there was a loud snap; the fisherman was spooled and lost all the line on the reel. The Yellowtail is on my bucket list, and I one day hope to catch one of them.

    Instead of the regular fish tacos, we pan seared the Tuna coated with everything bagel seasoning, which tasted great. It was an awesome way to cap off an amazing fishing trip with some really cool people. I just love fishing.

  

 

  

  

  

   

  

      

    

Bass Fishing With Ben

  My cousin Ben and I had been planning to go fishing for a few weeks by now. We finally found a good opportunity to catch some Bass at a pond near Egg Harbor in New Jersey, and set out after dinner during the evening. Ben, who fished the lake relatively often over the last few months, brought black small rubber worms as the lures of choice. Until today I had never used them before, but seeing as how he has experience at the lake, I took his word for it.

    The lures worked perfectly. Sure enough, on his very first cast, a Bass took his lure once it hit the water. He reeled it in for the first catch of the day, and we knew right then that we were going to have a good day of fishing. At the first part of the bank we fished, the Bass seemed to take everything we threw at them. We were hooking up on most of our casts to start off. After only about eight minutes, we had caught about five fish combined. As we kept on going, the fish seemed to stop biting for a bit and we walked over to another part of the bank.

    Ben caught two at the other spot, meanwhile my casts weren’t going nearly as far as they had before. Only after a while did I check my reel to see that there was a small tangle, restricting the range of my casts. I may not have been catching anything for a bit, but at least I came away with the lesson to remember to frequently check my gear.

    We walked over to the first part of the bank to see if we could close out the trip with a few more Bass. Ben said that the best way to retrieve the worms was, while keeping the rod tip down, to let it fall to the bottom after casting, then jerking and reeling up the slack. Not a slow retrieve, but not too fast. Enough to aggravate the fish. I told him that the tactic reminded me of the aggressive Peacock Bass we have in South Florida.

    We were able to catch three more fish at the last spot before packing up and heading out. We caught 10 fish in total, Ben with 6 and me with 4. All in all, it was a great trip to which we had both looked forward for a while, and it was one that I will not soon forget. It was great to just hang out and catch up by the lake while reeling in some Largemouth Bass.

  

 

     

    

   

Bluegills in the Center Of Cherry Hill

  Even though the fishing rod I have in Cherry Hill, New Jersey has served me well over the years, I decided that a new one was necessary. After all, it is old, short, cheap, and it has a baitcaster reel. It is still surprisingly adequate when it comes to fishing itself, but my brother and I figured that another, newer one couldn’t hurt. After all, there were two of us and only one rod.

After buying it and putting line on the reel, Jacob and I went over to the dam at Evans Pond and Wallworth Lake geared with lures and worms. We spent the majority of the morning fishing around the dam with worms, keeping them low at the bottom with sinkers or drifting near lilypads in the current with a sinker. Although we didn’t catch anything near the lilypads, we did get two strikes over the course of the morning. We did, however, catch more fish under the dam. Schools fo fish were on and off, but when they were on, they were really on. We would be able to drop a worm and count on hooking up within a minute. The first fish was caught on the new rod, which worked just fine. Both of us found the spinning reel much easier to use than the bait caster. Perhaps it’s because we’re more familiar with the spinning. By the end, we ended up with about 7 fish total, 4 for me and 3 for Jacob. We had limited time to fish, but it was fun spending the morning catching some at a new lake. At the end I tried casting with a lure but I wasn’t able to get any bass to bite. I may come back to the lake in the future in pursuit of more species of fish.

A Fish Is A Fish

        Despite being the only one (besides my brother) in my family with a passion for fishing, I do tend to find time and opportunities to fit fishing into family trips with the help of my tolerant parents and to the chagrin of my annoyed sister. This time it happened to be Cooperstown in upstate New York. We were here to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame, a really cool museum, and before heading out, I found a place to rent gear. Cooperstown is located at the scenic beginning of the Susquehanna River, at the south end of Lake Otsego. The Susquehanna has always fascinated me; I’ve passed over the longest river east of the Mississippi in many places, each time thinking about the multitudes of vaunted Smallmouth Bass that call the river home. I’ve always seen the Susquehanna River as a great fishing destination and one that I would like to one day try out. On the last morning before we drove out, I found a place that rented out fishing gear in Portlandville, a bit south of Cooperstown. The staff was friendly and helpful, and recommended I head over to Silliman Cove on the south end of Goodyear Lake. Goodyear Lake is connected to the Susquehanna. When I was set up with the rod, reel, jig heads, and curly tail grubs, I went over to the cove. I fished for about 2 hours in total, but was not able to catch any Bass. I did get a few hits, but wasn’t able to hook up with any fish. There were times that I saw big splashes in the water and times when I saw small sunfish swimming close to shore, so the signs of life were there. Before I had to go, I asked the fishermen next to me if I could use a worm. I was determined to, at the very least, not be skunked. They kindly obliged and I quickly tied on a small hook. I hurried back to a spot I’d been at before where I saw the sunfish, and tried to hook one. The fish took the bait multiple times, but only one time was I able to make a solid hook set and bring the fish in. It was a small Bluegill, but I was glad to at least catch something from the river/lake. It was also notably my first fish in the state of New York.

        Even though I didn't catch anything especially big, I was glad to have caught at least something in this body of water in the limited time I had. As they say, a fish is always fish - and that’s your target when fishing. The lake was beautiful, too, and I really enjoyed being out there on the water in the morning. The search for the elusive Smallmouth Bass continues…

New State, New Fish

One of my favorite parts about fishing is the feeling of accomplishment one gets when, after so much planning, analysis, and anticipation, they finally pull a targeted fish out of a researched body of water. This July 4th, I was happy to be able to attain that accomplished feeling once again. My family and I spent part of the day having a picnic on the Brandywine Creek, a river that goes through Wilmington, Delaware. The Brandywine is an interesting river with good rapids and rock/tree cover, and one that I had been scouting for quite a while. Despite living roughly 1,200 miles from the creek and only having seen it a handful of times, using the internet and various apps, I was able to find out the fish species caught in the creek, how to catch them, when, and where. Being a first generation fisherman with few family members that share my enthusiasm for the sport, the internet is the source of most of my fishing information. I can only imagine how much harder it would be if I was born merely 10-15 years earlier.

I made sure to bring a fishing rod and worms that my brother and I had found in the backyard over the past few days. For the future, I recommend taking worms two days (at most) before a trip as they start to smell. After hanging out at the picnic for a bit, I decided it was time to head down in pursuit of fish. The two I had in mind were the Redbreast Sunfish and the Smallmouth Bass. The Redbreast Sunfish is one of the four sunfish found in the northeast, along with Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, and Green Sunfish. My goal as a multi-species angler is to catch all four, and heading into today I had caught only the Bluegill. I started off casting my worm, under a bobber, out into the current near rocks where fish may be hiding. Sometimes I would retrieve the line a little bit so as to guide it into a calmer pool with tree cover. However, I wasn’t catching anything for the majority of the time. While I was fishing, I played the Born In The USA album (a top quality listen) especially because of the occasion, which had me feeling great and ready to catch a fish despite the lull. Coincidentally (or was it), just as No Surrender started playing, I saw a splash over to the left of me, under some trees and submerged branches. I casted the bobber out to the only sign of life I had seen in my whole 45 minutes of fishing, and sure enough, the bobber sunk. Any fisherman would tell you that the sight of a bobber taking a quick sink under the surface of the water is one of the most exciting and satisfying sights there is, and would thus surely excuse me for the awkward fist pump I made while reeling in the slack. As I reeled the fish in past the submerged branches, making sure not to get the line stuck and losing the fish, I saw a flash in the water and knew that it was the fish for which I was looking. I brought the fish out of the water and onto the bank, and it was confirmed: a Redbreast Sunfish! A fish common to the northeast, it seems to me like they are, at least in the Philadelphia area, more common west of the Delaware River and in PA and DE as opposed to NJ. I was psyched with this fish as a multi-species angler. It wasn’t the biggest one out there - most Sunfish aren’t - but it sure was nice to have finally caught a fish I had sought after for years. The fish is very nicely colored, too; it has a bright yellow/red spot underneath the pectoral fins and the gills for which it is named, and a yellow/olive green color with some spotted scales through the rest of the body. In terms of coloring, it is one of the few fish up north that are comparable with the reef fish of Miami that I enjoy catching normally.

After unhooking and releasing the fish, I kept at it for another 10-20 minutes or so. I happened to finish with my last worm right when the album finished, which was a good time to head back and spend the rest of the 4th with my family. Especially after Covid lockdown and not being able to leave Miami for over a year, only able to do research and dream about catching fish the next chance I get, I really enjoyed this trip. A new species, and my first fish in Delaware. Of course, the fishing today was about more than just the fish; the weather was nice and I really enjoyed being able to get out and appreciate the nature of the area, finally somewhere other than Miami. The 4th of July is always a special day, and I’m grateful for being able today to relax, have a good time with family, and appreciate life and the country despite all of their respective problems. As Henry David Thoreau once famously and rightly said, “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” Keep on fishing, and I wish you some tight lines.