All posts by Pam Sharp

Fish Reports

Commander 1.5 day San Clemente Yellowtail (April 18) BAIT WRAPS Sponsored

April 21, 2015 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

Sheephead bit the plastic for Danny Lynch

When weather conditions and other factors forced the cancellation of a 2.5 day Bait Wraps sponsored trip scheduled on the Eclipse, Captain Mark Gillette was kind enough to move our trip to a 1.5 day trip already scheduled on the Commander, out of Long Beach sportfishing. Fortunately we were able to fill that trip.

Danny and I got to the landing early and had calamari, while the boat ran out to get fuel and bait.

Captain Steve Kugler welcomed everyone on board, went over safety features of the boat, our game plan, and tackle set up recommendations. We’d be headed for San Clemente Island in search of yellowtail and calico bass. After that Danny and I drew sack numbers and gave each of the passengers a Bait Wraps jig. As a bonus, if the jackpot fish was caught on a Bait Wraps jig, they would get to order another $100 worth of jigs directly from Rich Whitaker.

Ed served trays of sliced meat and cheese with crackers as we headed out. It was a little rough heading out, but conditions were nice around the island.

We anchored in the cove, with most of the rest of the fleet around us, I think. Ed was serving breakfast already when I got up, huevos rancheros! It was really good! And right about the time I’d finished scarfing it down, the fish started biting.

Unfortunately for our jigs, today the yellowtail were in the mood for live sardines, and couldn’t be enticed into biting iron. I stuck with my jig for a while, but with fish hitting the deck around me all hooked on sardines, I gave up and switched to live bait.

We had a steady pick at them for a couple of hours, that slowly dwindled. Boats around us gave up and left. We stuck it out for a few more fish, and made an hour long run to the 9.

We picked away at them there, too. Several drifts produced some nice quality calico bass, most of them released.

Ed made us some great burgers for lunch, with pepper cheese, bacon, peanut butter and jelly, with French fries.

Later in the day Captain Steve moved next to island to find a calm place to stop for dinner. Metering alongside the island, though, he found no signs of fish to stop on. He finally settled on a spot to anchor for dinner… Ed made a wonderful dish, of barbeque chicken over rice, with grilled red pepper and green beans, salad, and a chilled corn and black bean salsa. The dessert was absolutely amazing! Cheesecake over a grilled piece of cinnamon bread, drizzled with caramel and balsamic vinegar!

I hear the ride in was rough… I just zonked out and slept the whole way in.

All around it was a great trip! We ended up with 50-something on the yellowtail, the jackpot yellowtail went just ounces under 30 pounds, on bait, so no winner on the extra jigs. The average yellowtail was probably something around 15 pounds. And a few rock fish and some monster sized sheephead in the mix as well.

Fish Reports

Tribute 1.5 day Tanner Yellowtail (March27-29) Blame it on the BAIT WRAPS!

March 30, 2015 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

I fished with Mike Pritchard on the old International Star about 7 years ago and have been dying to get out on the Tribute since he got that up and running. Unfortunately with this trip falling during the Del Mar Fred Hall show, Captain Mike wasn’t with us, but we were in good hands…!

Another long run to San Diego in heavy traffic, Danny and I got to the landing and found several friends on other boats. A number of the Seaforth boats were on their way out, with various destinations.

The Tribute was slated to run offshore. We checked in at the landing office, where we got both our sack number and bunk assignment. It’s always nice to get that out of the way, it creates less panic when boarding all the passengers if there’s not that mad rush for a bunk. We boarded and settled in. There were chili cheese dogs offered as we were leaving.

Captain Jake Hensley called everyone to the back deck for a safety meeting before we left, and introduce the rest of the crew. Our second Captain Jason Zenor, crew Brandon Sawyer, Sean Allen, and Shane Chapman, and we had Jesse Sawyer in the galley.

The trip was slated to return to Cortez bank, where they had been scoring well on the yellowtail, and picking off a few Bluefin as well. Wind late in the week put a damper on that, water was turned, cold, and green on the Cortez, we’d be heading for Tanner bank in the morning, and making an exploration of the Butterfly bank in the afternoon. Shane gave us a brief rundown of the best setups for the yellowtail at Tanner, primarily caught on yoyo irons, and Bluefin; most had been hooked on 15 pound fluorocarbon, smaller hooks, #1 or 1/0, and a very lively sardine.

They had already made the trip to the bait dock, so we were off and running early (but subsequently delayed with a return to the dock… someone forgot their California fishing license…)

Danny and split a chili dog, and I geared up and turned in.

When I got up at o’dark thirty we had troll lines out. As it got light we did a few turns over Tanner metering for fish, pulled in the troll lines, and started hooking a few on our first drift. I put my first yellowtail on the boat right at 7:00 AM, with four other fish on that first long drift.

More drifts, tough fishing in less than ideal weather conditions. There were lots of pulled hooks, a lot could probably be blamed on swell and a rolling boat.

We spent the morning at the bank, as promised. Resetting a number of times, and hanging a few all morning, we ended up there with 27 yellowtail, 5 bonito, and 80-some rock fish. Fishing my same Bait Wrap white squid jig all day, I went 5 for 6 on the yellows, with one lost at gaff due to angler error, and one big bonito.

We spent the afternoon offshore. Saw a few signs of tuna, turned on a couple of meter marks. Bluefin were doing a good job of being Bluefin, and running, scattering, or sinking out as we approached.

The food was great, what I had of it. My daughter had the flu all week and I was feeling less than fabulous. Dinner was pork roast, mashed potatoes, fresh broccoli with cheese and a nice salad, with chocolate cake for dessert… I was feeling better by that time and inhaled it… It was Wonderful!!

All around a very good trip considering the poor weather. The afternoon was decent, the wind came down and it ended up being a decent ride, but the damage was done and spotting fish in white cap conditions was tough. The crew was on top of us when we had a fish hooked to minimize tangles and give us the best chance of landing the fish that were hooked.

Ironically, JP was taken by one of the big bonito…. Deservingly to a guy that had a run of bad luck, with two reels that failed on him!

I’d been on the boat before it became the Tribute, a lot of work has been put into it. Galley seats are comfortable, new cushions in the bunkroom, and the bathrooms nicely redone, and it looks great!

Fish Reports

Eclipse – Epic Winter Yellowail Fishing! January 2015

February 11, 2015 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

I’d never done a trip to Colonet, so I jumped on a chance to get out on the Eclipse for a trip planned to that area.

Packed and ready to go, I checked on-line one more time and found I had a message from Chris Dunn… the Fishing Weatherman. Our personalized weather report for the weekend called for light wind… and rain. Great. I added my rain suit to my backpack and threw it in my car.

Danny and I drove down to Seaforth Landing and parked right in front of the entrance. (Parking at Seaforth is FREE, and always plenty of room.) Sharla arrived and checked us in, confirmed our reserved bunks, and we were on board and ready to go ahead of the 6:00 PM departure time.

Own and Captain Mark Gillette at the helm

We rigged up some, and finished after the safety speech and game plan. Our crew was Captain Mark Gillette, second Captain Adam Williams, with Steve and Ryan (“Chewie”), with Jason in the galley. There was lasagna, brought down by one of the passengers, that was wonderful!!

We loaded bait and I was off to bed and up early in the morning to start fishing. The first drift produced first a large bonito and some big reds, and then the yellowtail started biting full speed. Initial losses were high, but once we got in the rhythm the fish started coming over the rail! First stop was for 15 yellows, all 20-25 pound fish!

As soon as the bite fizzled, Captain Mark was on the move and looking again. One stop after another, each producing 15-20 fish. We didn’t sit long if the fish didn’t bite, or if they slowed up.

Around 10 AM it started to sprinkle, just as Chris had predicted. Then it started to pour! A few of us had rain gear. I thought the jacket would be enough, but the rain soaked my Fishworks pants, gluing them to my legs, and the water ran down from there into my boots. I ended up with ½ inch of water them!! Fortunately the weather was relatively warm, being wet wasn’t a huge issue. Rain was pretty steady until around 3:00, then finally stopped. My pants dried in 20 minutes, but my boots were wet for the rest of the trip. Through it all, the fish just kept coming!

The only way to describe the day was EPIC! With near limits all the way around the first day, Captain Mark was at a loss of what to do the second day.

At night sitting on anchor with the squid lights out, the boat was surrounded with red crabs so thick the sea was clouded with red. Huge numbers of crabs had been around us all day, and the fish were stuffed with them!

We headed back up the coast drifting some high spots for shallow water rock fish, but amazingly, we couldn’t seem to avoid more schools of big yellowtail! Full limits of yellows were quickly finished off, and we had to release the yellows that were hooked, while one spot produce nearly wide open ling cod for a short while! No more rain, but a bit more wind, made some of the drifts a bit challenging but with a little more weight it was still totally fishable.

It was truly an amazing trip! Captain Mark said he had never seen that quality of fishing in this area, and the quality of fish rivalled Cedros! The crew was on top of it the whole time, gaffing, bleeding and tagging fish. We had a wonderful group of anglers who worked together and got the job done!

I can’t imagine how you could top a trip like this!

Chef Jason showing off a bacon wrapped sausage sandwich lunch

Jason was in the galley serving some awesome meals, including a dinner of fresh yellowtail that was delicious, steak dinner another night, and even pancakes on the morning we returned to the dock!

Fish count for 24 passengers was limits of yellowtail, most of them 20-28 pounds with a few into the 30’s, and 90-some lings with plenty of rock fish to go along with it. Most of the yellowtail were caught on jigs, with fishing this good, color didn’t seem to be a factor. The lings were mostly on sardines, but a few of those bit the jigs as well.

Just an incredible trip… and home in time to watch the Superbowl!

Thanks to Captain Mark Gillette and the crew of the Eclipse! I can’t wait to do it again!!

Fish Reports

Chief 2.5 Day – October 17-20, 2014 – Awesome End to Our Offshore Season! Limits YFT, dorado, yellowtail… and WAHOO!

October 21, 2014 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

Danny and I pulled together a few great sponsors for giveaways on this trip…

Yellowfin catches had fizzled, although the dorado were still full speed, if you could find the right paddy… and a few wahoo here and there. The forecast of high winds told me it was going to be an uncomfortable trip… and slow fishing.

The forecasters lied!

We loaded and left with 33 passengers on the 90 foot Chief. Jeff gave a safety speech and a run down on the plans after we left the bait dock loaded with what looked like some beautiful sardines. Danny and I had a gift bag for every passenger (hand towel, finger tape, head lamp) and then a raffle including a nice Tiburon rod, 6 pairs of “Bomber” floating sunglasses, 12 Bait Wrap jigs, and two passes for lobster fishing on the Gail Force!

Overnight was a little lumpy, but by morning it really seemed to be coming down. We started trolling and quickly hooked up! Dorado on the troll, a couple more hooked on bait with one landed. (I had a “special” prize for the first bait fish….)

Off again, and before long we hit a paddy that bit… with what I hadn’t expected: Yellowfin! Wide screaming open for a couple of drifts until we had limits!

Wind up, and look for something else. And within minutes again, we were pulling dorado like crazy! No “neck ties”, all really nice fish! And a huge surprise…. Wahoo!! We hooked a total of four on the boat, two of them were landed, both on megabaits. A third and last drift on that paddy yielded not a single bite, but we had 70 of them on the boat already! It was only a little after 10…

Lunchtime came and went. We wandered looking for more dorado, but now the ocean was like a lifeless desert. Couple of jig stops on bonito. Some late afternoon yellowtail, sashimi afternoon appetizer before an awesome steak dinner!

Morning we were closer to the Coronados looking here and there for yellows. We found a few spots that gave some up, and picked away for 54 of them, and close to home, called it a day and had dinner while we rolled to the dock late Sunday night!

Thank you Captain Chris Randal and the crew of the Chief for an amazing, incredible trip! What a way to end the season!

Cook Your Catch!

Ahi Poke – with Avocado and Cucumber

October 9, 2014 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

Poke is a wonderful to transform some of you fresh tuna into a wonderful summer appetizer! Here’s one of my favorite recipes!

1/2 pound sashimi grade tuna, diced

1/3 cup diced cucumber (I like the Japanese cucumbers for this!)

1/2 avocado, diced

3 tablespoons chopped green onion

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons toasted* sesame seeds (use half black, half white)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/3 cup soy sauce

Optional additions:

Tobiko (flying fish roe)

Green Shiso, minced

In a medium bowl, combine the tuna, cucumber, green onion, red pepper flakes and sesame seeds.

In a small bowl, blend the lemon juice, sesame oil and soy sauce. Pour over the tuna mixture, and stir.

Add the avocado, and gently fold in, so as not to mash the avocado.

Once chilled, serve with toasted bread or your favorite crackers. Baked won-ton chips are also wonderful with this!

* To toast sesame seeds, heat a dry skillet over medium heat, add sesame seeds. Stir and cook until toasted and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.

Fish Reports

ISWAC Pacific Dawn – October 4-5, 2014 – Third Annual Blood Bath!

October 7, 2014 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

ISWAC (Inland Saltwater Angling Club) had a trip scheduled on the first weekend in October again this year. I’d gone the last two years and both trips were epic… this one did not disappoint!!

We boarded 17 anglers on Friday night, and headed out. With a load of really nice sardines from the bait dock, we were off.

Our captain was not the usual, we had “Skinny”, with Moses as second. On deck was Rick and Fernando, with Ana in the galley.

We’d be heading off shore, looking for a huge paddy that had been fished by the group before, expect to be there in the morning. Everyone should be rigged and ready to go, because they expected the fishing to be full speed as soon as we found it.

Up early and troll rods out… no biters on the troll, and we quickly heard “Wind in the trollers” when the promised paddy was located. We pulled up and everyone was immediately bit!! Crazy in the stern, I ran to the bow with a sardine, threw out and within seconds was bit. The crew was gaffing like crazy in the stern when I yelled for a gaff in the bow. My first tuna was the biggest of the trip, at a little over 16 pounds.

Danny's Jackpot Dorado — Danny’s Jackpot Dorado went a little over 26 pounds.

It was crazy nuts for less than an hour… other boats pulled in, then more, and more. The bite quickly fizzled, but we put close to 60 yellowfin on the boat, plus a few dorado! In the mayhem, Danny landed one over 26 pounds! Ana had been spiking, bleeding and tagging fish as fast as she could, and when we took off to look for more paddies, she was off to the galley to make breakfast sandwiches for everyone.

I’d just finished mine when we found another paddy, and within minutes we were all bent again.

When that fizzled, we found a paddy jugged with dorado and loaded up on those.

Lunch was pastrami sandwiches, dinner a delicious tri-tip with home fried potatoes and steamed broccoli, and carrot cake for dessert.

Breakfast sandwiches, and we scratched around for limits of yellowfin and dorado, then ran to the beach to look for yellowtail. We only had a couple of hours to fish, “Skinny” found us a meter mark on a high spot. Danny hooked and landed a yellowtail on a Bait Wrap 6X Junior with a white squid print, and Jim caught one on a sardine. I had a mint green yo-yo that produced nothing. Switched to a blue and chrome. Danny landed another one on that Bait Wrap, and I finally got bit! It wasn’t pulling hard enough… barracuda.. released. Danny was taking a breather from the two yellows he’d already landed and told me to try his outfit with the Bait Wrap still tied on. I dropped it, and wound up a few cranks. Nothing. Dropped, wound up. Still nothing. Dropped again. “This isn’t working for me…” I started winding, and got bit!! After a brief struggle, I had my yellowtail on the boat, too!

Dorado and Yellowtail — One of the Dorado and three of the four Yellowtail

No more biters, and it was time to head for home.

Ana made burgers for lunch, and after that I took a long nap. Got up just in time for late afternoon snack: Veggie plate, cheese and crackers, and spicy tuna rolls! Yum!!

Everyone went home with limits of yellowfin, limits of dorado… and three of us who got lucky went home with the four yellowtail we caught at the end of the trip.

Awesome, as always, on the Pacific Dawn.

Tackle Corner

Bomber Eyewear

September 17, 2014 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

Bomber Eyewear

“Taking your eyewear to the next level…”

Good sunglasses are an essential piece of equipment that every angler should have, however sorting through the list of features can be daunting.

In the market for a new pair, I knew I wanted:

Protection from UVA and UVB rays

Why? Frequent exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun contributes to eye diseases, including cataracts, growths that can lead to cancer, and macular degeneration.

Polarized lenses

Why? Light waves are reflected off of water (or any shiny surface) in a horizontal pattern, which creates a blinding glare and can result in eye strain. Polarized lenses contain filters that block horizontal light waves. Removing that glare can also help with everything from spotting paddies offshore to being able to see structure under the water, and identify where an underwater kelp line runs.

Lens Color

Recommendations are generally grey (or “smoke”) for bright offshore conditions, and brown for overcast conditions. For all around saltwater fishing, brown works in most conditions.

Wrap Around Style

Why? This semi-round frame style allows a panorama view of your surroundings, offering greater peripheral vision, while providing additional protection from exposure to UV rays from the sides, essential elements for those of us spending a lot of time in sun.

I had the opportunity to “test drive” a pair of Bomber Sunglasses, and the Butter-Bombs I picked satisfied all of the features listed above.

For me, the biggest problem with wrap around style glasses is that they always seem to fit too close to my eyes, and my eyelashes brush against the lenses. It’s not really uncomfortable, but it’s annoying. This was the first pair I’ve found that I did NOT have this problem with!

I found these glasses to be very comfortable. The lenses block 100% of UVA and UVB rays. The wrap around style prevents light and damaging rays from coming in from the side, top and bottom, and also minimizes the effect of the wind, both of which can be irritating on your eyes. Plus they have a few extra features that I wasn’t looking for (features vary by models):

They float!

Bomber Floating Sunglasses include patented foam linings that not only make these glasses float, but also provides for a snug fit and extra comfort for longer wear.

Anti-fog

It’s been a warm season. Glasses that fit snug to your face and sweaty conditions can conspire to make glasses fog and impair your view. These lenses are specially treated to resist fogging.

Safety glass

While I don’t plan to get hit in the face with anything, it could be a nice feature with jig fishermen around! Better yet, if you work in an environment that requires safety glasses, Bomber Eyewear’s safety glass is impact tested, OSHA approved and meet ANSI Z87+ standards.

All in all, these are a great pair of sunglasses, and at a great price!

Check out Bomber Eyewear web site for a huge selection of styles and colors!

Boat Reviews

Electra (Reviewed 9/13/14)

Gallery September 16, 2014 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

Statistics:

Electra's huge bow area — Electra’s huge bow area

Size: 75’ x 22’

Capacity: 35 people

Bunks: 35 (in open berthing) – approximately 70” long and rather narrow.

Galley: Seats about 20 (12 indoors and 8 outdoors on a sun deck).

Heads: 2 (one with a shower). Heads are forward and accessed by walking up the rail outside the house near the bow.

Landing: Helgren’s Sportfishing

Address: 315 Harbor Drive South, Oceanside, CA

Contact: (760) 722-2133

Parking: Free. Large public lot across the street.

Some details and additional information:

Hand wells around the bait tank are easy to get to, and a good size to be able to easily grab a bait. They do tend to splash over in rougher conditions, so you don’t want to be standing beside then when the boat rolls.

There are two stairways from the back deck into the bunkroom. The center bunks are open, two side by side, with a low board between them. Outside bunks are the same size.

The heads are large. One of them is equipped with a shower. There’s plenty of room to change, but the shower is exposed to the entire room. Bring a plastic bag to store your clothes while you shower.

Fish are stored in gunny sacks, and tagged and dropped in the hold between bites.

Fish Reports

Electra – Oceanside – September 13, 2014 – Overnight, escape the HEAT!

September 16, 2014 Pam Sharp 1 Comment

Record heat in Southern California this week conspired to make everyone miserable, and make me almost appreciate my air conditioned office job.

So I was thrilled when we got a late invite from Captain Joey Helgren to join a charter group on the Electra for a light load.

After an easy drive to Oceanside (school’s back in – less traffic?), Danny and I grabbed a couple of appetizer plates at Joes Crab Shack. Then we unloaded our gear and I parked in the lot across the street. It was my first time using that lot. It’s huge, nicely laid out, and very well lit. I scored a spot right next to handicapped area, so it was a quick walk back.

(Note that the exit to the parking lot drops you off back by the freeway on ramp, and it’s around the block the long way (several left turns) back to Helgren’s if you’re picking people up again.)

We got our gear on the boat and I picked a bunk close to the doors. There’s no A/C and it was warm down there! All the other passengers boarded and signed in, and we rolled away from the dock with only 19 anglers.

The Oceanside 95 had just come in with over 200 fish from a 2-day, and we headed out to the same area they had fished off of San Clemente Island. Loaded with some nicer looking sardines, we headed out in windy conditions and pretty rough seas, knowing at least it would be downhill all the way back Saturday afternoon.

The sun rose on less than ideal conditions. We trolled around all morning, stopped on a few meter marks, a couple of jig strikes.

By late morning we had just 4 or 5 yellowfin, and a few rat yellows that were too beat up from troll jigs to throw back.

Captain Joey had a line on a spot closer to home where a friend had done well on nice tuna on Friday, so we worked our way back that way through the afternoon, stopping occasionally on a vacant paddy or chasing a spot of birds. It was a long ride with no bites. Even arriving at our destination, there was no signs of life, and no more fish.

Less than ideal conditions all day made for a very slow day. It was an eclectic group that made for some interesting conversations and a lot of novice and first time anglers that would have made a small group on such a large boat a fun experience if the fish had cooperated.

Landing Information

Hengren’s Sportfishing – Oceanside, CA (Reviewed 9/12/14)

September 12, 2014 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

Landing: Helgren’s Sportfishing

Location: 315 Harbor Drive, Oceanside, California

Contact Number: (760) 722-2133

Helgren's Office - Tara — Helgren’s Office – Tara

Web Site: http://www.helgrensportfishing.com/

Boats:

Electra (75′, sleeps 35)
Oceanside 95 (95′, up to 80 passengers, sleeps 35)
Sea Trek (60′, up to 39 passengers)
Sea Star (60′, up to 40 passengers)
Aries
Black Pearl

Parking: Free parking is available across the street.

Helgren's Sportfishing Office — Helgren’s Sportfishing Office, minimal amount of tackle for sale.

Tackle Store: No, a very minimal amount of tackle is for sale in the landing office. Make sure you have everything you need.

Rental Gear: Available. Ask when you make your reservation.

Additional Information:

For most trips, you’ll check in at the landing office.

Space is limited for parking close by in a two hour lot. If you are alone, make sure that you can handle all of your own gear alone, as it is quite a walk from the parking lot to the boarding area.

Tara is in the process of updating Helgren’s website. A calendar of available trips is up, and on-line booking for trips should be available very soon!!

Pam Sharp Fishing

All posts by Pam Sharp

Commander 1.5 day San Clemente Yellowtail (April 18) BAIT WRAPS Sponsored

Tribute 1.5 day Tanner Yellowtail (March27-29) Blame it on the BAIT WRAPS!

Eclipse – Epic Winter Yellowail Fishing! January 2015

Chief 2.5 Day – October 17-20, 2014 – Awesome End to Our Offshore Season! Limits YFT, dorado, yellowtail… and WAHOO!

Ahi Poke – with Avocado and Cucumber

ISWAC Pacific Dawn – October 4-5, 2014 – Third Annual Blood Bath!

Bomber Eyewear

Electra (Reviewed 9/13/14)

Electra – Oceanside – September 13, 2014 – Overnight, escape the HEAT!

Hengren’s Sportfishing – Oceanside, CA (Reviewed 9/12/14)

Hook, Line & Sinker