Fishing Trip off California's Coast

[Jmugleston]

I went on a fishing charter off the coast of California for a few days. Every day before our arrival there was an average of nearly 10 barracuda per person. After two days, this is what was in my bag:

Not quite the cooler full of food I was anticipating returning with.

On an interesting note, I was the only one on the boat that knew how to safely restrain birds so when over zealous pelicans, cormorants, or gulls were tangled in lines I was able to help them out.

This guy was a free loader that was trailing the boat looking for unguarded bait.

 

[skippy]

you should have fished with me

we've been getting limits of rockfish every day now since the season opened... no 'cudas though

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1043237051899.8638.1554787753&l=7889ef321b

 

[Jmugleston]

you should have fished with me

we've been getting limits of rockfish every day now since the season opened... no 'cudas though

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1043237051899.8638.1554787753&l=7889ef321b

Ah man. I just looked at your photos. You're right. I need to go where you are next time. I'd prefer not to catch barracuda as I don't like the taste as much, but my brothers and dad were with me and they go for sport not taste. We just happened to be there the two days the weather was poor so nothing of any size was biting. Next time though.

 

[Terry D]

Joey, While I'm sorry the fishing trip didn't quite go as well as planned, I'm glad there was someone out there on the boat to help out with feathered friends in peril. Did you see any interesting birds? Looking forward to doing a w coast pelagic trip one day. Most (actually nearly all) of those I'd see would be lifers.

Thanks for sharing,



T

 

[Jmugleston]

Joey, While I'm sorry the fishing trip didn't quite go as well as planned, I'm glad there was someone out there on the boat to help out with feathered friends in peril. Did you see any interesting birds? Looking forward to doing a w coast pelagic trip one day. Most (actually nearly all) of those I'd see would be lifers.

Thanks for sharing,



T

The main birds were California gulls, Blue herons, Brown pelicans, Night herons, and Cormorants. There were a few other gulls, but I'm not good at identifying gulls by sight. I have to go through my pictures to figure out which is which.

 

[dtknow]

So how do you safely restrain and unhook a bird? I've heard to tuck the head beneath the wings but I assume that is after you remove the hook and then toss it as far from you as possible!

 

[Jmugleston]

A gentle but firm grip below the head (similar to what you do at the vet's office to restrain a parrot for beak trims, and other procedures, and then hugging the bird so that the wings are held close to the body. Since they don't have claws to worry about (at least these species don't...raptors and parrots are a different story) you don't have to worry about wrapping the bird in a towel.

 

[skippy]

I have quite a few scars from seagulls and cormorants and the like. I've found that covering bogus eyes with one hand and restraining the wings with the other is the way to go(makes it hard to unhook/tangle them but I manage)

 

[Jmugleston]

I have quite a few scars from seagulls and cormorants and the like. I've found that covering bogus eyes with one hand and restraining the wings with the other is the way to go(makes it hard to unhook/tangle them but I manage)

One of the deckhands tried to do what I was doing. He will have a nice scar across a few fingers from a nippy cormorant.

 

[Big B]

Joesph,
If you like Salmon, here in the Seattle area/Puget sound we have awesome Salmon runs every other year. Last year was terrible, but this year should be great!

 

[skippy]

One of the deckhands tried to do what I was doing. He will have a nice scar across a few fingers from a nippy cormorant.

They'll get you eventually, no matter what. Quick little buggers they are! And people never believe how hard they can bite!

On a side note, autocorrect is responsible for the word "bogus" in my previous post.

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

Nice! I didn't know you could eat barracuda, I heard they are extremely high in mercury. I'm heading down to Sanibel island, here in Florida, I can already sense I'm gonna have success with the fishing. Last time I was down there I caught a 28 lb beach snook and a cooler full of spanish mackerel.

 

[skippy]

Nice! I didn't know you could eat barracuda, I heard they are extremely high in mercury. I'm heading down to Sanibel island, here in Florida, I can already sense I'm gonna have success with the fishing. Last time I was down there I caught a 28 lb beach snook and a cooler full of spanish mackerel.

Pacific 'cudas are different from Atlantic. Ours don't get as big and they don't have as much mercury. I think that you're not supposed to eat any over 30" or something like that in Florida.