santa cruz harbour 7/6 11 to 1, just making bait.

My wife surprised me and went out too in the tarpon 160 I got when thornley got his. she liked that boat.

we just sabikied anchovies and smelt and never moved to fishing with them, 

for somebody who fishes very rarely, making bait is a lot of fun. and to tell the truth, I think I like that part too.

anyways, no need to buy bait right now. you can sabiki them just inside the harbour mouth, and just outside too.

The sabikis with the smallest hooks and lightest line (3lb branch) perform the best by far. the heavier sabikis do not catch anchovies as well as the lighter ones.

we kept a dozen or so for some culinary experiments.

J

Alright John, you talked me into it. Are you still in Santa Cruz? Fried chovies sound good. 

Hey John, an easy, quick way to fish the 'chovie is to tie a sharp treble on a dropper loop a foot or two above a sinker. Drop it down into the school and give it a jerk, when you feel one on just let it sit there. it will tremble a lot. You lose your bait, just repeat. You don't even have to get your hands wet.
I've hooked 'buts, salmon, striper, etc., doing this.
Wish I was there.

Juan and Compa, I'm not sure I am even fit to tie on your hooks, so thanks for the comments. I swear I got a hard pull on my sabiki  torpedo weight so that treble tip might be a really good idea here. Compa, got the house till end of this month, then got to give it up to some other lucky people. so come on down!

well, we ate those 15 anchovies....  my 11 year old son ate 5, my 8 year old decided to see if we lived before eating any himself, and my wife and I ate 5 each. We also had a small vermillion,  .

We were pretty impressed with the enviro-friendly anchovies. but maybe it was how my wife prepared them (yep, her name really is Hali, but if you want to live, don't make any comments about hali butts in my earshot,  , I shoot first and ask questions later when it come to that kind of thing).

here's her recipe for "santa cruz anchovies, italian style" (she is norwegian/irish, but can google recipes with the best of them)

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,13765.msg128851.html#msg128851

well, we ate those 15 anchovies.... 

I tried that after watching some cooking show and like them a lot.  The second time around I didnt even bother to take out the backbone, and they are still edible whole.

yep, her name really is Hali, but if you want to live, don't make any comments about hali butts in my earshot

I was on the capitola pier one day and a lady was posing with a halibut.  The 8th grader in me wanted to scream out "NICE BUTT" but the thought of her mates beating me senseless held my tongue.  Also the thought of my wife beating me senseless, as she was with me

a pic of the finished chovies would have been nice----ERRR!~
Thanks for the report John, I've always thought that any sized fish, bait or bluegill would fire up the wifes' inner Madness! I have yet to put mine on anything that pulls back. 
Good work on tappin into it/hers! 

a pic of the finished chovies would have been nice----ERRR!~
Thanks for the report John, I've always thought that any sized fish, bait or bluegill would fire up the wifes' inner Madness! I have yet to put mine on anything that pulls back. 
Good work on tappin into it/hers! 

yeah, those chovies looked good cooked, they looked like butterflied breaded shrimp as much as anything. the taste of the fish was very mild. thing is, I didn't want to take a pic unless they tasted good, and before you knew it, they were gone! 

I would not say that the 'chovies pulled back but believe it or not she felt them hit while paddling around with my kunz rod in the holder.

eugene, yep, for some reason  , the inner 8th grader is never encouraged by the spousal units!