It has been too long since an entry was made here, so here goes.
I
finally got back out on the water today and it was a fabulous trip. I decided to try a new (to me) sportboat, the
Enterprise, out of Pierpoint Landing, next to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
The entire day, from the moment I got out of bed until the moment I got home was unbelievably
perfect. 
The alarm went off at 4:15am. I got up and got ready and then headed for 7-11 for a coffee. Nobody in line so I was in and out quickly. Next, I jump on the freeway. I figured the drive down would go smooth and quick and it did. Parking can be an issue at the landing. In fact, parking in Long Beach can be an issue. Not today, unbelievably, there was several designated spaces left in the parking lot. I grabbed my gear and did the short walk to the landing to pay the boat fare. The boat departed at 6am and returned at 4pm (a 3/4 day trip).
This boat is
HUGE. With a length of 85 feet and a width of 24 feet across the stern, the 28 anglers for the day would have all the breathing room they needed. Sportboats are often crowded, elbow to elbow. Not today, not on this boat.
Big bonus!
The weather was really nice on the water once we cleared the breakwater, just a mild ripple due to the 5mph breeze and a 1-2 foot swell spaced out at about 12 seconds. The breeze would pick up in the afternoon, as usual. The group of anglers was great, too. I hit it off with several of them. The Captain and crew were great, also. The Captain even called me over to fish with him and we slayed 'em side by side.
That leads to the fishing...
spectacular. We started on the East Horseshoe Kelp, where barracuda had been biting the past few days. We found them, too. I landed 3 or 4, including some real "logs" (slang for larger sized barracuda). There was also great bass fishing going on and I picked away at a few Calico bass and a Sand bass. When that wore out, we headed out toward the Rigs and anchored up on a few hard bottom areas to target the Sculpin. And they were lickin', too. I must have caught at least a dozen. Once the current picked up, we headed back inside and anchored up on a bass rock, near the barracuda zone. It was like fishing in a fish tank. There was hundreds of bass free swimming in the water. A small live anchovy was an instant hook-up. Guys were getting the bass on plastics,too, as was I. But I wanted one of the bigger bass so I pinned on a large live sardine and flung it out there. I got one nicer sized bass and then a big barracuda. The the barracuda took over and it was exciting again. The surface iron (lightweight swimming jig) was getting all kinds of action and this technique for barracuda is arguably my favorite kind of fishing because it's very exciting when the fish bite. So, I caught another 3 or 4, all big old logs.
When all was said and done, I ended up with the largest fish of the day, and won the cash jackpot. That paid for my fish cleaning tab and it got me a free pass for a future trip.
My only fear about the day was hitting the traffic on the way back home. Imagine driving up the 710 during rush hour.
Well today, traffic was very light, all things considered. I got home in just under an hour.
Like I said earlier, this was a
perfect day.
Classic!
