Provided by Dana Wharf Sportfishing
Fall action continues for us, with some good opportunities close to home for the fleet.
Along the coast, the water is still in the 71° to 73° range. That’s been perfect for the 1/2-day bass anglers. Flylined live baits fished well on lighter mono for the calico bass. All the usual approaches, from soft plastics to hard jerkbaits, caught fish. Sniper jigs on the long casts were the way to go for the bonito. Sinker setups, like a reverse dropper loop, were a great call for the sand bass and sheephead with the live anchovy, too.
The offshore scene for us was a roller coaster this week. In the first few days, it was long runs and finding the magic kelp to get the schools of yellowfin. We had a day of zero fish caught out there, which, as we all know, is a possibility during the offshore hunt. But again, finding the right kelp, or some days even finding a single kelp, was tricky. Toward the end of the week, everything has been close to the beach, the kelps have been a bit more abundant and the fish bit well again.
Yesterday’s yellowfin tuna caught on kelps were mixed grade, with small fish up to maybe 10 lbs. That current is still cooking uphill, so kelps have been moving through the zone really fast. Again, that speaks to the nature of the offshore game: every day has been different. Mixed skipjack and yellowfin on some troll jig bites helped us get the boat stopped, and some sonar schools were also back in play this week for us.
We’re trying hard to keep the offshore scene center stage on our 3/4-day trips, but we also have a strong contingent of deep-water jig anglers who are chomping at the bit to send their jigs to the bottom out deep on the 14 for the cod, so we may have some of those fish in our counts this next week, too. We’re telling our people to bring some heavier 250g to 300g jigs and a rod capable of fishing 600 feet. Maybe some 16 oz. sinkers, too.
The Dana Pride got the first wahoo today for the Dana Wharf big boat fleet. Super stoked for Capt. Chad and his crew today. The fish went 65 lbs.
Lobster hoop net trips have been fun as well. Lots of crawling lobster in the hoops, with a fair share of keepers in the mix.
