Haha yes that was me and my ol lady waving at you! Good job on those corvinas! We got lucky with some decent rock bass one which was a whopping 1 lbs, pretty good for shore fishing and then a good size bullseye puffer. Was going to bring the kayak but ran out of.time between work and packing to load it up. Tried for corvinas using different rubber jogs and paddle baits. No squid around for sale so we used shrimp which was difficult because it's so soft and can get stolen. But all in all it was a fun trip! You got us talking seriously about a jet ski lol.
Nice! LOL I immediately told my GF that I couldn't recognize who it was but likely someone from the forum. We'll have to meet sometime in CB and talk shop. I saw you put something decent sized in the bag as you were leaving. I actually think the rock bass have the best meat out of any of those inshore fish. It's firm and super white. Problem is they don't get very big so the filets aren't as big which means you need to catch more/clean more... Sometimes a pain. I caught one in Puerto Lobos that I swear was close to 2lbs. It was huge for a rock/sand bass. I would have fileted that one for sure. Threw it back though. If you're able to catch the little ones you can use that meat as a tip instead of squid or shrimp. I'm all artificial all the time. Never use cut bait anymore. Too big of a hassle. Maybe if we were going bottom fishing I might use it to tip the scampi tail jigs but inshore, too big of a hassle. I used to forget about it on the kayak and the next morning the back of my truck would stink like something died back there so it just got to be annoying. These fish will bite anything artificial if it's presented right.
Did you try fishing the other side of the point? The south side? So to your left as you were positioned when I saw you. Where you were is good but I think there are better spots that I would have tried first. 1 or 200 yards to your southeast on those rocks on the south side of Pelican Point is where we were getting hooked up on the first day. So you were definitely in the area of Orange Mouth Corvina but I rarely find them inside the point and you were kind of positioned inside the point. The other two awesome shore spots are at Pinto Point. Check out the pictures in my other thread of Pinto Point. There's two sidewalks that were built years ago that lead you down to the water. You can stand there and cast out into these pockets and plenty of really good Corvina and Cabrilla (Leopard Grouper) have been caught at these two spots over the years. I personally have seen a 12 and 13lb Grouper caught there from shore by this kid during one of the Cholla Bay Fishing Derby weekends.
I have the exact color pattern down now of what the OMC apparently can't get enough of. I have caught the 20lber, three 20" and 2 other shortfin Corvina all on the same color pattern. It's anchovy. Black on top, silver sides, white on bottom with a red spot on the head. I've got a few different plugs with this exact color pattern. I'll post it up so you can see. It's an absolute Corvina killer. Rapala makes them. Problem is, some of these plugs are like $20/pop. Phoenix Fishing Supply has the best prices IMHO and they support the CBFD and the CBSC in general. They are good dudes!
Now, with all of that being said, it was kind of slow IMO and we had to work for the 4 that we got. So don't beat yourself up for not getting any. It's fishing. It happens more than we'd like to share. I can't tell you how many times I've trolled my heart out in the kayak and not gotten a single bite from anything worth mentioning. Sure you're always going to get a rock bass or trigger but I guess the longer you've been fishing those become pest fish. Don't get me wrong, anytime something bites it's always fun but when you start targeting specific species and that's what you're getting it can frustrating. Especially when you're spending time and MONEY.
It's HALIBUT season now though, so let's get our gear switched over and start targeting those! We had bought another nice ocean kayak during covid from OfferUp so now we have two for the winter/spring months of Halibut fishing or just cruising around CB when we don't want to bring the jet ski. Hoping to get down this month for some Halibut fishing inside Pelican Point across to Tucson Beach and all the rocks heading back into the bay towards JJ's. All those rocks hold Halibut this time of year. 5lbers all day. That's what the kayak is great for. Plenty of good shore fishing spots for Halibut if you want some PM me. I don't want to give away ED B's spot to the public but I doubt he'd mind sharing it with some LIKE MINDED FORUM MEMBERS. The shore spots for Halibut are way more accommodating and you don't have to worry about breaking your ankle to get to the water. They're inside the bay west of JJ's.
If you're willing to do the maintenance work you can get one for a decent price but you have to be a little patient. Not much available on the secondary market in the middle of a desert. However, now is the time to score something because winter time is a buyers market, summer time, a sellers market.
We'll get back to this topic later. Football Sunday!
