There’s Something About Fishing
There’s something about fishing that brings us closer together from FAmily, friends and strangers who we’ve yet to call friends. Here’s what I mean.
So, on our FishAholics fishing charter trip, we booked a rock/ling cod trip with the Golden Eye 2000 out of Berekly Marina. A great boat, crew and captain by the way.
We headed out to the fishing grounds north of San Francisco to fish the reefs in the area. On the way there, some FishAholics members already showed signs of insomnia. The waves were rougher than normal but it certainly wasn’t hurricane conditions. Plus the limited sleep the night before didn’t help either.
We get there and as soon as the captain said, ”Alright guys, bait em up!” Everyone was up and about ready to go. Like a light switch had turned on. As soon as the first fish hooked on it was bliss. What had impaired us a few minutes before had completely disappeared.
There’s something about fishing that has this affect. Like opening a gift on Christmas morning. Many couldn’t sleep the night before. Although we each had our own problems to worry about like bills, work and what not. As soon as we hook into a fish, all our worries went away.
Fishing bring out the inner child in us.
I had one guy behind me screaming like a mad man every time he hooked up. Blasting everyone for making fun of him. We had the ladies whom I got real jealous of after a while because they were pulling in more and bigger fish than everyone else. In fact, while some of the guys were laying down knocked out, they were up and about. Fishing makes em tougher than the boys it seems.
Captain Quang drifted us over some coral reefs and the boat pulled out several lings from the location. We also released a lot of smaller lings. While fishing for rock fish, some even pullout salmon. The salmon took them for a ride but unfortunately, California regulation doesn’t allow us to keep any salmon if we’re targeting other species.
We even caught halibut while drifting over the reefs. The fishing wasn’t off the hook but steady. We were using live anchovies and that seemed to keep them biting. I lowered my underwater camera with a swimbait and jig for a while but after a few minutes of nothing, I switched to live bait.
Although. I should have stuck to the swimbaits. After viewing some of the underwater footage, I saw many lings grab and chase it. I think one even bite the camera.
The live bait seemed to work well and the boat caught many lings and rock fish. Later in the afternoon, the captain decided to take us striper fishing.
Again, we used the live anchovies. I wanted to see if any stripers would chase the mini Atlas Rig so I threw that down there along with the underwater camera. And again, after two short passes I gave up and went for the live bait. And again, I would regret it because after watching the underwater footage, I could see halibut and stripers striking at the mini Atlas Rig. If I would have given it a little more time, I would have gotten a few hookups.
With each pass, several people caught stripers. Some even landed halibut. The key was to stay on the bottom and raise the weight just inches off the bottom so you wouldn’t snag. Letting the anchovies do the work allowed the striper time to take it and eventually you can set the hook when you felt a long pull on the other end.
Within an hour maybe two, the entire boat limited out on stripers. About 70 stripers total.
When we left for the docks and finally pulled out the biggest fish to see who won jackpot. The biggest striper of the day was weighted next to a nice and thick halibut. Everyone was rooting for the striper but when the scale settled, the halibut took the win.
But we forgot about a nice ling cod someone caught earlier in the day. We put it up against the halibut and it tipped the scale completely. The ling cod was unquestionably the biggest fish of the day. It later weighed in at about 15lbs.
I want to extend a special thanks to Rayfishing and Qi Fishing for donating a Rayfishing Raptor jigging Rod and Qi Fishing Trident Jigging rod. These rods are made just for rock/ling fishing and they performed flawlessly on the boat. I had over a pound of lead on at one point and the rod held even after hooking up.
Overall, it was a great trip. We definitely ended the day with a bang. Most captains would leave to the docks right away after rock/ling cod fishing but Captain Quang took us right to the striper spot, gave us nonstop striper action. Limited out the boat and stayed longer than what we paid him for.
I should mention the comradery on the boat. I know some are buddies but many did not know each other prior to the trip.
We had people with different background, ethnicity, culture, etc. fishing together that day. Yet through our differences, we shared a common bond: Fishing.
We were sharing gear, food and exchanged stories with one another. It was like a big Family and fishing was the glue that bonded us together.
Fishing does things to us sometimes. Bringing a group of strangers closer together is definitely one of them.
Here’s how the trip went.
Now you know. Go get em!
You can find the same gear and more info about the Golden Eye 2000 Sportsfishing charter using the affiliate links below.
-Qi Fishing Trident Jigging Rod
-Golden Eye 2000 Sports Fishing
–TackleBuilders Atlas Umbrella Rig
