04-08-2003, 02:10 AM
[cool][#000099][size 2]CFO cancelled out on Sunday halfday so I opted for my first trip on the Mission Belle 3/4 day out of Seaforth for a go at Coronados YT & rockfish. [/size][/#000099]
We left the dock at 0530 with 20 tanglers and baited up with some pretty nice medium to large dinos.
Weather was not bad. Breezy & a little sloppy in the AM but it layed down somewhat in the afternoon. Turned into T shirt weather!
Our first stop was North Island for a looksee with the meter. Water was green & 55.5 degrees. No joy on the YT. We tried a couple spots for bottom fish & found a slow pick on whitefish & smaller rockfish. Skipper Ryan wasn't having any of this & after a fair number of mostly whitefish & a few others came over the rail we pulled the hook & headed south for deeper water. We spent the rest of the morning & early afternoon drifting rockpiles a couple miles or so south of the southernmost island in about 300 ft. for a nice pick on Bocaccio & assorted red species of quality rockfish. JP was a toad Bocaccio that looked around 8 lbs. Surprise of the day was a Sheephead around 6 lbs. that ate a dino in 300 ft of water!![[Image: shocked.gif]](http://www.sport-fish-info.com/dcforum/dcpages/Images/shocked.gif)
Not caught by me, unfortunately...
On the way back we patrolled Pukey Point area again for about an hour with the meter & looked under a couple areas of bird activity. We stopped on a few deep meter marks and threw bait & iron but nobody wanted to play. Skipper said they were probly just big balls of bait. Ah well... maybe next time.![[Image: wink.gif]](http://www.sport-fish-info.com/dcforum/dcpages/Images/wink.gif)
It was a good day on the water.
We got back to the dock about 6:00 PM.
I like the Mission Belle. Not as large as the other Seaforth 3/4 day, the San Diego, she's an excellent fishing platform nonetheless. Low to the water & the bow is roomy & the rail height is just right for me to throw the iron from. Nice wide walkways along the superstructure, too.
The crew were great to fish with. Very professional & helpful to the several newbies on board. Deckhand Danny kept busy doing deckhand stuff and Skipper Ryan also helped out on deck & kept us well informed on the game plan & what was working at the moment. And I could actually understand what was being said over the loudspeaker! [shocked] The boat coffee was excellent (I like it STRONG! [
]) and Mikey in the galley kept it fresh all day. I didn't try the chow but it sure SMELLED good!
OK, OK. The wife is making trips with me now, so I gotta mention this. The heads. HUGE! No steadying yourself with a shoulder on each bulkhead here, no sir! And spotless! These are the flagships of ship's heads! [sly] The wife is going on a charter in June with me and she is gonna be PLEASED!
Edit: Here's a link to her website. I'm not affiliated, etc.... [url "http://www.missionbellesportfishing.com/"]http://www.missionbellesportfishing.com/[/url]
Fishslayer
[signature]
We left the dock at 0530 with 20 tanglers and baited up with some pretty nice medium to large dinos.
Weather was not bad. Breezy & a little sloppy in the AM but it layed down somewhat in the afternoon. Turned into T shirt weather!
Our first stop was North Island for a looksee with the meter. Water was green & 55.5 degrees. No joy on the YT. We tried a couple spots for bottom fish & found a slow pick on whitefish & smaller rockfish. Skipper Ryan wasn't having any of this & after a fair number of mostly whitefish & a few others came over the rail we pulled the hook & headed south for deeper water. We spent the rest of the morning & early afternoon drifting rockpiles a couple miles or so south of the southernmost island in about 300 ft. for a nice pick on Bocaccio & assorted red species of quality rockfish. JP was a toad Bocaccio that looked around 8 lbs. Surprise of the day was a Sheephead around 6 lbs. that ate a dino in 300 ft of water!
Not caught by me, unfortunately... On the way back we patrolled Pukey Point area again for about an hour with the meter & looked under a couple areas of bird activity. We stopped on a few deep meter marks and threw bait & iron but nobody wanted to play. Skipper said they were probly just big balls of bait. Ah well... maybe next time.
It was a good day on the water. We got back to the dock about 6:00 PM.
I like the Mission Belle. Not as large as the other Seaforth 3/4 day, the San Diego, she's an excellent fishing platform nonetheless. Low to the water & the bow is roomy & the rail height is just right for me to throw the iron from. Nice wide walkways along the superstructure, too.
The crew were great to fish with. Very professional & helpful to the several newbies on board. Deckhand Danny kept busy doing deckhand stuff and Skipper Ryan also helped out on deck & kept us well informed on the game plan & what was working at the moment. And I could actually understand what was being said over the loudspeaker! [shocked] The boat coffee was excellent (I like it STRONG! [
]) and Mikey in the galley kept it fresh all day. I didn't try the chow but it sure SMELLED good! OK, OK. The wife is making trips with me now, so I gotta mention this. The heads. HUGE! No steadying yourself with a shoulder on each bulkhead here, no sir! And spotless! These are the flagships of ship's heads! [sly] The wife is going on a charter in June with me and she is gonna be PLEASED!
Edit: Here's a link to her website. I'm not affiliated, etc.... [url "http://www.missionbellesportfishing.com/"]http://www.missionbellesportfishing.com/[/url]
Fishslayer
[signature]