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Catalina Grand Slam |
- By Mark Wisch
- Published 06/10/2008
- Fishing Reports
- Unrated
Last Friday I had the opportunity to fish with Ali Johnson and Jenny Armstrong aboard the “Surly Mermaid” Ali’s Tiara 3900. The plan was to fish a full day, leaving Newport at 5:15am and targeting the yellows and seabass at Catalina Island. I love it when a plan comes together!!!
We enjoyed a beautiful crossing…very unexpected given the weather we’ve been experiencing lately. Gale warnings were posted for the outer waters but you would have never known as we blasted across at an easy 25 knots. We made a direct course to Avalon to meet up with one of the squid boats to get a scoop of bait before sliding around the back to the bait grounds. Coming around the corner at Church Rock, we were greeted by an impressive fleet of boats already anchored up and catching fish.
We stopped by to visit with some of our friends before we put the anchor down and one look at the grade of seabass they had told us to quit fooling around and get to some serious fishing. There was an open spot between two groups of boats and we laid back in 14 fathoms, marking squid and the occasional seabass on the bottom and the yellows up higher in the water column.
Jenny hooked the first fish and the headshakes told me she had one of the bigger grade of seabass we’ve been seeing recently. Unfortunately, just as the fish had turned and was starting to come quickly, she got the hook back. A lot of good natured kidding was accepted gracefully, but we all felt the pain of the loss. It’s always nice to get the pressure off early in the trip, but it wasn’t Jenny’s turn. The task fell to Ali as she hooked a good one on a dropper loop setup a bit later. She did a great job on a big yellow that later scaled out in the mid thirties. I hooked the next one on a pumped squid just off the bottom and it turned out seabass. The scale told the same tale, but personally… I think it was much bigger than Ali’s yellowtail ☺!!!
We sat on the spot for some time longer as we were marking fish steadily but we didn’t hook any more yellows or seabass. What we did have action with was a steady bite on nice sized halibut. Jenny got on the board with the first legal and we managed several more capped off by a nice 15# flattie to round out the inshore slam.
We fished our way back around the East End for a bunch of calicos but unfortunately, no more exotics. The weather at Seal Rocks in the late afternoon was perfect. A gentle breeze and warm sun made the task of cutting and bagging our catch so much more enjoyable than what we’ve dealt with in the early season. A quick detail of the boat got us ready for the trip back and we again lucked out with very pleasant weather.
I was especially interested in how the boat the handled. Over the years I’ve put a bunch of new boats in this size range together; Uniflites, Bertrams, Hatteras’, TollyCraft’s and others. Some worked and some didn’t. But I was truly impressed with this rig as it feels rock solid and very fishy. We were nearly full of fuel, water, bait water and all the requisite personal stuff and had a comfortable cruise at 2200rpm for a solid 25 knots. Ali opened her up to check some recent prop work and we hit the rated max at 2600 doing 30 knots. The top end stuff is important, but what I really liked was the wake at 6-8 knots. Ali had some success jig fishing last season and I could see why…decent lanes with minimal foam.
I have to admit to taking a personal interest in the fishability of the 3900. There is a brand new one at the Crows Nest docks in Newport Beach…with “Pacific Edge” on the transom. We are in the process of upgrading the bait systems, making some railing modifications, adding rod holders and a few more radios and are soon to be in hot pursuit of adventures offshore. I will be running the boat this season, doing a combination of personal trips, Crows Nest promotional trips as well as fishing some of the marlin tournaments in September. The first test run may be later this week and trust me when I say “I can hardly wait to get started!!!”
Stay tuned for more details…
Mark Wisch
Pacific Edge
Crow's Nest Pro Staff
We enjoyed a beautiful crossing…very unexpected given the weather we’ve been experiencing lately. Gale warnings were posted for the outer waters but you would have never known as we blasted across at an easy 25 knots. We made a direct course to Avalon to meet up with one of the squid boats to get a scoop of bait before sliding around the back to the bait grounds. Coming around the corner at Church Rock, we were greeted by an impressive fleet of boats already anchored up and catching fish.
We stopped by to visit with some of our friends before we put the anchor down and one look at the grade of seabass they had told us to quit fooling around and get to some serious fishing. There was an open spot between two groups of boats and we laid back in 14 fathoms, marking squid and the occasional seabass on the bottom and the yellows up higher in the water column.
Jenny hooked the first fish and the headshakes told me she had one of the bigger grade of seabass we’ve been seeing recently. Unfortunately, just as the fish had turned and was starting to come quickly, she got the hook back. A lot of good natured kidding was accepted gracefully, but we all felt the pain of the loss. It’s always nice to get the pressure off early in the trip, but it wasn’t Jenny’s turn. The task fell to Ali as she hooked a good one on a dropper loop setup a bit later. She did a great job on a big yellow that later scaled out in the mid thirties. I hooked the next one on a pumped squid just off the bottom and it turned out seabass. The scale told the same tale, but personally… I think it was much bigger than Ali’s yellowtail ☺!!!
We sat on the spot for some time longer as we were marking fish steadily but we didn’t hook any more yellows or seabass. What we did have action with was a steady bite on nice sized halibut. Jenny got on the board with the first legal and we managed several more capped off by a nice 15# flattie to round out the inshore slam.
We fished our way back around the East End for a bunch of calicos but unfortunately, no more exotics. The weather at Seal Rocks in the late afternoon was perfect. A gentle breeze and warm sun made the task of cutting and bagging our catch so much more enjoyable than what we’ve dealt with in the early season. A quick detail of the boat got us ready for the trip back and we again lucked out with very pleasant weather.
I was especially interested in how the boat the handled. Over the years I’ve put a bunch of new boats in this size range together; Uniflites, Bertrams, Hatteras’, TollyCraft’s and others. Some worked and some didn’t. But I was truly impressed with this rig as it feels rock solid and very fishy. We were nearly full of fuel, water, bait water and all the requisite personal stuff and had a comfortable cruise at 2200rpm for a solid 25 knots. Ali opened her up to check some recent prop work and we hit the rated max at 2600 doing 30 knots. The top end stuff is important, but what I really liked was the wake at 6-8 knots. Ali had some success jig fishing last season and I could see why…decent lanes with minimal foam.
I have to admit to taking a personal interest in the fishability of the 3900. There is a brand new one at the Crows Nest docks in Newport Beach…with “Pacific Edge” on the transom. We are in the process of upgrading the bait systems, making some railing modifications, adding rod holders and a few more radios and are soon to be in hot pursuit of adventures offshore. I will be running the boat this season, doing a combination of personal trips, Crows Nest promotional trips as well as fishing some of the marlin tournaments in September. The first test run may be later this week and trust me when I say “I can hardly wait to get started!!!”
Stay tuned for more details…
Mark Wisch
Pacific Edge
Crow's Nest Pro Staff
