02-01-2010
Whale Watching Report
This is a report from a naturalists on A Ranger 85 trip. Whale watching is not all about Whales. Can you imagine seeing a mega pod of 2,000 Dolphins?
Morning trip- 2 Grays, 50 Bottlenose, scattered Longbeak Dolphins.
The morning trip was sponsored by KBBY 95.1 FM. Bo Jaxon, the DJ had 70 passengers on the boat.
East of Anacapa, we did see about 50 Bottlenose Dolphins and scattered Longbeak commons on the back side of Anacapa. The two grays were spotted also near the east end of Anacapa.
Afternoon trip- sixteen passengers, Hundred of Bottlenose spread out over a vast area on the back side of Anacapa. A mega pod of approximate 2000 Long Beak Commons and two more Grays.
Peggy & Cal Meuser.
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01-16-2010
Whale Watching Report
Here is a report form one of the naturalists that was onboard a recent whale watching trip.
2 Finback whales
3 -5 Minke whales
1500+ Common dolphins
Ranger 85 crew: Capt. Alex and Ricky Bobby
10 passengers
What a beautiful day to be out in search of whales! We headed out to the east end of Anacapa and within 15 minutes we came across the first pod of Commons that fascinated the passengers. We milled with the dolphins for a little bit then resumed our course. The dolphins were spread out across the area. There were dolphins with us for a good portion of the journey toward Anacapa.
A few miles in front of the east end of Anacapa Capt Alex spotted a spout. We waited and waited. About 10 minutes later we spotted 2 spouts. I commented that they seemed a bit larger than a Gray's spout. Humpbacks perhaps, since they have been seen in the area this past week or so. We catch up to the footprint and wait. About 200 yards from us we spot a spout and a pointy dorsal fin. I told Capt. Alex that I didn't think it was a Humpback and then I muttered perhaps it was a Finback since the spout we originally saw was pretty large. I've never seen a Finback before and know they are hanging out in the Long Beach area. Capt. Alex and I were puzzled, maybe a Minke?
So we waited with binoculars ready and then the sound of a big blow was heard. It was Finback! A fairly large one that we observed then realized the second one had disappeared. In the midst of this were about a couple of hundred Common Dolphins. The second Finback appeared, much smaller than the other one (bigger than a Minke,) but it didn't appear to be a calf and seemed to be doing it's own thing away from the larger whale. We watched the two Fins during a few surfacings but no flukes were seen. About 100 yards from us there were about 3-5 Minkes in the area. The amount of dorsals in various sizes from the Finbacks, the Minkes, and the Commons kept us busy tracking them all.
On the way back to the harbor we visited with the sea lions at the mooring buoy at Gina, where there were a couple of rafts of about 50 and 100.
Had a nice time chatting with the passengers, who were all from the Ventura county area.
What a great morning to be on the water! I'm was pleased. Now I have yet another whale that I've never seen before to check off in my handy dandy "Sea Creatures of the Santa Barbara Channel" guide. Just 2 species left to see, the Orca and the Northern Right-Whale Dolphin, oh and that Sperm whale that was seen in the channel last fall!
Sadly the afternoon was cancelled due to no reservations. :(
~ Carol Celic
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12-21-2009
Well, what more can you say other than what an outstanding day it was Saturday. We fished San Nicolas Island with 33 anglers and experienced some of the nicest weather if not THE nicest weather of the year.
Under sunny skies, flat calm seas, and not a breath of wind, our anglers produced full 20 fish limits by the noon! We ended our day with 330 quality Whitefish, 51 Sheephead (to 20lbs), and 279 Rockfish.
Conditions were so nice, on one particular spot in 20 feet of water you could see several Sheephead at a time fighting over a strip of squid on a baited hook! The many regulars onboard the trip made for an over the top experience.
We’re hoping the weather holds for the remainder of the month as we have a few more trips on the books before we draw 2009 to a close.
Happy holidays to all,
Capt. Frank
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11-24-2009
Great Autumn Fishing!
The fishing doesn't get much better than this. We have been having some great autumn fishing since we returned to Oxnard in mid October. As long as the weather is good we will be bringing sacks full of fish home right up until the close of the Rockfish season.
We ran overnight trips departing Friday night and Saturday night last weekend with a total of 73 anglers. Our total catch was 610 Rockfish, 69 Sheephead, and 354 Whitefish! A lot of these fish are very nice size. About all you have to do is get your bait to the bottom and it isn't long before you are hooked up. It has been a lot of fun on the water and these are some of the best eating fish in the ocean.
It's time to come out and fill up your freezer for the winter. We have trips departing this coming Friday and Saturday nights. Call Channel Islands Sportfishing at 805-382-1612 to get in on the fun.
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11-17-2009We had another good weekend of fishing even though the weather was not that great. We had windy conditions and some big swells but the fish were still biting well.
We got out Friday night with only 15 anglers. We had the most weather on Saturday but with the light load everybody had plenty of space on deck. Since the weather was up we decided to fish closer to home so we didn't get pounded out on the water. It took some hardy fisherman but they all stuck with it and we managed to come back with some nice sacks of fish, limits of Rockfish along with some Whitefish.
We headed back out Saturday for a full day of fishing Sunday. The wind shifted to the northeast and conditions were a little better than on Saturday. This allowed us to head out to San Nicolas Island. We had some really good fishing there. The load was heavier on Sunday, 30 anglers, but on the Ranger everyone still had plenty of room to fish and the fish really cooperated. The group on board caught limits of nice Rockfish, 210 Whitefish, some Sheephead, and some Lingcod. All in all a very nice trip.
We've been having some really great autumn fishing and expect this to continue right up until Rockfish season closes. If you haven't had a chance to get out yet now is the time. Spend a day on the water and bring home a bunch of great tasting fish.
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11-11-2009We are having some excellent autumn fishing this year. Easy limits of big Rockfish has been the norm along with limits of Whitefish over the past several trips. We have also had good fishing for California Sheephead and there has been some good size Lingcod in the mix. Everyone has been leaving the boat with sacks full of some of the best eating fish in the ocean. Light loads and great fishing. It doesn't get much better than that.
We have trips departing this Friday and Saturday night, Nov 13 & 14, and we will be having live squid on board. The morning will probably start out targeting White Seabass and Halibut before moving on to the Rockfish. You'll be fishing around Santa Rosa or San Miguel Island. It looks like the weather is going to be nice so it should be a good weekend to enjoy a day out on the water.
Time to fill up the freezer!
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10-19-2009
3.5 day Trip October 9 - 12
We had a great time on this trip. With just 23 guys at the rail we had a lot of space. Changing this trip to an ultra limited load was a great idea. Not only did we have a lot of space on deck and in the bunk rooms but with a smaller group of guys on this length of trip we all got to know each other. In my opinion it was the
people we had onboard that really made this trip a good one. We had a bunch of fun guys to be around and everyone got along well. We had a lot of cooperation at the rail and the more experienced guys were helping out those with less experience. Everyone seemed to be more relaxed on this trip than on shorter trips. We had a lot
of time on the water and I think most everyone enjoyed themselves from the time they got up until they headed back to bed. It really was a pleasure to fish with this group. I know I had a great time and I didn't fish all that much.
We left the dock a little after noon and headed to the bait barge. At the barge we loaded up with some nice sardines. We were able to get two different size baits, small and large so we had the bases covered for whatever bait the fish would want. Captain Frank gathered us on the bow of the boat and went over what to expect on the
trip along with some tackle recommendations and explaining the "tuna shuffle" so everyone would know what to do when we got on the fish. Since the fish had moved out this was going to be a travel day. Frank wanted us to be well south first thing in the morning. There wasn't much to do but get all of our gear
ready, swap some stories, and eat. Paul in the galley was taking a few days off so we had Nancy from the Tracer filling in. Nancy did a tremendous job! She kept us in snacks throughout the day and cooked up some great meals for us. Not only is she a good cook but she's a really nice person. Everybody appreciated Nancy. There is always plenty to eat on the Ranger 85, sometimes too much. :-)
Our first day of fishing was offshore in search of kelp paddies. The fishing has been kelp oriented for a long time now so if we could find a nice kelp chances were there would be some fish underneath. The trolling rods went in at first light and it wasn't too long before we had a jig strike. Fishing was spotty. We would troll
and pick up a few fish on the jigs and maybe a few on bait at each stop but no schools were found. Kelp paddies were few and far between. The spotters on top of the boat had a long day looking for kelp. We only found a couple kelp that day and there were a few fish but nothing like we were hoping for. We had some jig strikes
that the only fish we picked up was that single fish on the jig. It's frustrating to catch one or two Yellowfin in a stop when these are schooling fish. Where's all their friends? For the day we caught Yellowfin, Yellowtail, some Skipjack, and some good size Bonito. At the end of the day we settled in for a nice dinner as we
headed to San Martin Island where we anchored overnight and got a good nights sleep.
Day 2 was planned to fish around San Martin Island for Yellowtail and other species
out from the Island and then come in close and try for some of the big Calico bass the island is famous for. We managed to pick up several nice Yellowtail on dropper loops off the bottom. In fact we had the best of this kind of fishing of any boats that had stopped at the island over the past several days. We also caught a lot of really nice bottom fish. We counted them up and in all we caught 15 different species of
fish on this trip. We also had all the Bonito a person would want to catch. One guy was throwing a scrambled egg iron and caught a Bonito on just about every cast. Most people aren't out to catch Bonito but these fish were good size, fun to catch, and they smoke up really well. We didn't get into any good Halibut fishing but Frank anchored the boat next to the kelp at the island and the Calico Bass fishing was excellent. It's a lot of fun fly-lining a bait into the kelp and then working the bass out. We caught a lot of Calicos and some of them were big. I don't think
we have any Calico fishing like that left in San Diego. All in all day 2 was a lot of fun. We didn't catch as many Yellowtail as we would've liked but we caught a lot of different fish and I think by the day's end everyone had a good time. Time to settle in and have dinner. Nancy made us a great dinner - New York steak. She did a great job on the steak and the sides.
Overnight we headed back towards San Diego but by morning we were still about 100 miles out. Capt Frank kept us out as far as possible to give us a better chance at hooking up on some fish on our final day. Fishing had died out for the most part within 50 - 60 miles of San Diego so this was going to give us a shot at still being able to catch fish. As it was, we started the day on a school of Yellowfin. They were just there. Breakfast was just starting to be served when the fish started to bite. We got to fish this school for about an hour or so and then moved on. It was an unexpected great way to start the day. As we headed towards San Diego we picked up some fish here and there on the troll and around a few kelp paddies but as we kept getting closer to home the fishing died off. By mid afternoon the trolling rods were still in the water but most people were starting to break down their gear and settle in for the ride home.
As the crew was just finishing cleaning the boat a few of us, Larry, Alex, myself, and a couple others along with some of the crew got into a water fight with the hose. It started out mildly and ended up in a drenching for some of us. We had a blast. It was a great way to end a trip.
Although we did not catch as many fish as we would have liked I think this was a great trip. It wasn't the fishing that made the trip, it was the people we got to fish with. When you can get a great bunch of people together enjoying themselves on the water like we did it makes for a really good trip. Thanks to all for coming on the trip.
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10-07-2009
Not a lot to report on today. There have not been many boats out fishing so far this week. We leave on a 1.5 day trip tonight. Conditions look to be very good. The nasty weather over last weekend has passed and we're looking at winds on the fishing grounds of 10 - 15 knots and seas at 4 to 7 feet. That's a whole lot better than it has been. Water temperatures remain favorable, 66 to 69 degrees or so.
This will be the last report until after the weekend. We get in Friday morning around 6am and head back out at noon on a 3.5 day trip. I'll be going on that trip so I won't have time to write up a report from tonight's trip.
We're hoping to get into some bigger Yellowfin further south on the longer trip as we fish offshore on the first full day. If conditions are right we plan on fishing around San Martin Island on day two. San Martin is known for some big Yellowtail so with some luck we hope to get in on some of that action. The island also has some nice Halibut on the sand flats and big Calico Bass in the kelp. After our day at the island we'll head back offshore overnight to fish the kelp paddies before heading home on Monday.
Overall we have had excellent autumn fishing. The 1.5 day trips are the way to go and the price is right. Try to get out on the water for a final trip of the season.
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