Brian Kettler, Pete, temporarily Mike and I fished the harbor this evening. Mike took off around sunset. Pete pulled a short halibut before sundown and Brian actually got a spotted bay bass at the second receiver on plastic. As it got darker, we started catching seabass. The bite was pretty good. It lasted for over an hour, heating up at times and then slowing down. Brian got the first fish, a nice 30 incher. Pete got the second, a 29. From there it was a nice pick. Brian ended up with that one legal and 2 or 3 shorts. Pete had the legal and one more legal that flipped right out of his hands before he could stick it on the stringer, and he also had a couple shorts. I had one short and a 35 incher. It weighed in at about 10 (and Rob, "I de-lied it!!!"). It was a pretty eventful evening. The bite was really late, starting at around 8:30 and lasting until around 10. All of our seabass came on plastics. Pete had his 8 inch rainbow trout swimbait, Brian had a 5 inch rainbow trout, and I had a 5.5 inch green sardine. No fastrac fish this time. I didn't throw it that much though, don't get your hopes up Rob... The two seals that were there pretty much stayed off the bait barge. They just floated around in the channel and didn't bother anybody. All in all, a very good night.
-Brian

LAST EDITED ON Jul-12-00 AT 06:34 AM (PST)

Yep, that was fun. Correction - I was using a 6 inch Rainbow Trout Plastic. I did get slammed on an 8 inch Sardine fishtrap Saturday morning though so I think they'll eat anything they can grab. I'm convinced the bigger baits keep the ronkies off even though there didn't seem to be any around last night. Usually you can jig a small plastic along the bottom there and get tons of small hits but not last night.

Brian, did you more carefully measure Brian's fish? I measured mine flat against the board when I got home with my metal tape measure and it was a hair under 30". Brian's was at least an inch (if not an inch and a half) longer than mine.

I couldn't decide whether to keep that second legal fish. It seemed kind of dead so I started un-tying my stringer but when it sprung to life and flipped off my hand I figured it was meant to live.

Pictures coming soon - I NEED a weather proof digital camera!

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You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.

DID ANY OF THOSE NICER ONES HAVE A FIVE INCH DARK ANCHOVY FISH TRAP, WITH A BLUE HEAD. I DID THE SAME THING, THOUGHT HE WAS DONE, PUSSY FOOTED AROUND WITH IT AND IT CAME TO LIFE, SEE YA. I WANT TO GO AGAIN. MY FIVE KIDS ARE STOPPING THAT IDEA THOUGH FOR ANY TIME THIS WEEK. YOU GUYS ARE KILLING ME. TAKE CARE THE THREE OF YOU. GOOD FISHING TO YOU ALL.

Nope. I asked the same thing about Brian's 38 incher as I was busted off last week. I'm convinced the seabass come into the harbor to feed and then leave and continue wherever they go. I'm sure they don't hang out there all the time. So your fishtrap could be miles away :)

I'm actually glad the second one got off. It's cool to know it's still out there. The 30 incher was plenty of meat for now anyway. Hell, I've still got salmon left over from April because I keep catching halibut and seabass.

You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.

DO YOU REALLY EAT THAT NASTY SALMON. TO MUSHY FOR ME. I LIKE FISH THAT IS HEARTY, TUNA AND SEABASS, THAT WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

Are you kidding? - it was great. I love it all - Albacore, Dorado, Yellowtial, Seabass, Halibut, Salmon. I do have to admit that I think the seabass is the best I've had out of everything I've caught.

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You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.

Brian, I used to think that all you float tubers made these stories up about catching halibut and WSB from the Harbor, or Goleta Beach. Believe me, I no longer think that! But, it just amazes me that you guys can catch what you guys catch.

Have any of you ever seen anybody catch a WSB from the rock jetty close to the bait dock (near Sea Landing)? I have tried that spot from shore several times. Even though I can reach the bait dock with my casts, using fishtraps, I have had no luck whatsoever. I do catch a lot of seaweed, however.

Unfortunately, I have no means to realistically store or transport a float tube or kayak... at least for the time being. So, in the meantime, I'm stuck with shore and party boat fishing. The latter being quite costly!

One last thing, I've noticed you guys are quite successful using something called a 5" sardine fishtrap. I have yet to see anything called a "sardine" pattern fishtrap on the package. Could this be the "ki lime" or "green flash" pattern of fishtraps that you are referring to? Of course, I could be checking out stores with limited tackle supplies.

Thanks for your advice, my man!

Angler Dude,

We are lying! :)

Seriously, I've never seen anybody get one off the rocks but the legal that I let go last night could've been reached with a good cast. I heard a 6 lb. yellowtail was caught off those rocks a couple months ago on a little grub meant for perch.

The Sardine Fishtrap is a Dark Green Back with black spots, kind of a pale greenish yellow middle strip, and clear belly. There are actually two versions (one darker and one lighter). Harbor Tackle has the darker Sardine color we use and Hook, Line, & Sinker has both. I've caught fish on them both.

I have also caught quite a few halibut including some legals (I let most of them go) off the rocks at the north end of Goleta Beach on plastics.

I have caught quite a few fish on Keylime Fishtraps.

In my opinion color is typically not crucial as long as you follow the rule: dark conditions - dark color, light conditions - light color.

Pete

You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.

Yeah, green sardine seems only to be really important for the halibut. Pete and Brian both got more fish than I did with rainbow trout color big hammers. Another variation of the green sardine that I really like is kind of a brownish color. It's the basic pattern of green sardine (green back w/ black spots, pale yellow stripe, clear/sparkle belly) except it has more brown in it (brownish/green back, same yellow stripe, brownish/sparkle belly) It's really good for bass and I've also done fairly well on the halibut with that color. Howard just brought anything green that he had and slayed the wsb the other day. So, color doesn't really matter very much for the wsb as long as it represents some kind of bait fish. A brown bait or clear/red flake probably wouldn't produce very well. Pick yerself up some green sardines in 4 and 5 inch (4" for halibut, 5" for wsb). Fish the 4" on 1/2 oz. heads and the 5s on 1 oz. heads. And get some rainbow trout and then get a couple that YOU think look good. If it looks like an anchovy to you, it'll look like an anchovy to a fish.
-Brian

Dude,
I have never witnessed any wsb taken from the jetty. Almost all of our fish last night came from the channel. I got picked up once fishing the plastic parallel to the bait barge, but by the end of the night we all had our backs to the bait barge casting into the channel. If you're shorebound, my advice would be to fish the huge flat between the jetty and the base of the pier for halibut. There's a lot of flatties on that flat and you should get quite a few. (I even snagged a batray the other day...felt kinda like a halibut...) For halibut fish the rising tide, preferably afternoon rising. As for the transportation of float tubes, what you can do is keep it un-inflated until you get to where you're gonna fish and get one of these pumps that plug into the lighter and pump it up within 10 minutes. Hey, Paul from bass-n-tubes straps his pontoon boat to the top of his mustang. It can be done. Good Luck.
-Brian

LAST EDITED ON Jul-12-00 AT 02:14 PM (PST)

E mail me and I will show up for some harbor kayak fishing

thanks

jerry

Jerry,
I'm going out tonight. Brian can't cause he kind of forgot to call his parents last night and they were kinda pissed, but I'll be meeting my friend Daniel and his dad out there. I'll head down there around 6 or so.
-Brian

You'll probably see Tree, Diablo, and myself over at the sand bar. I got a short halibut there before so, what the hell? Thanks for the advice, guys! Knock 'em dead!

Dude, last night was great. We got some quality fish and i'm pretty speachless. all i have to say is i had a great time, and i cant wait till i can get out there again. Well, Pete, and Brian, you guys are pretty cool, and we'll have to go out there and nail um again.

Leggs

hi guys . i have been reading your guys messge and i was wandering if you guys use spectra lines ..and could you guys tell how you feel about it ..because i was going to put it on my calcutta reel. thanks bro

I use Triple Fish or Maxima.

You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.