Caapitola WSB Alert

Ed burrrell called me today reporting a sighting.  60-100 WSB just off the wharf.

he reccomends fishing the edge of the 1st kelp bed out to the mile reef (due south of the wharf, at about 70FOW.

I couldn't go today, so bummed!  they are there boyz!!

Allen

I'm now a dock-walkin' 48 lb WSB observin' believer as of 1:30 today.  Rig was two big trebles snelled in line a couple of feet apart, with maybe a 1 oz wieght on the end.  I think he was using squid from a skiff.
Boats were where Allen said. Conditions were still calm, lots of birds working, kids catching macs off wharf. Had a big snort of N wind yesterday pm, but I don't see it today.

 


Allen thanks for the heads up and Tom, thanks for the follow-up intel.

This is "intel sharing" at it's best 

Are you saying he may have snagged the beast? Because that is a very strange type of setup..?

Now I have a dilemma this wknd...do I go to MBK to tune up for the tourney...or do I chase some elusive ghosts in Capitola? Hmmmmmmm!
PK

These guys do the, "Live bait snag and sink" technique.  I have done it for stripers.  I've seen guys do it off the beach at New Brighton.  You cast your rig into surface bait and reel down on it and then snag back.  When you feel the wiggle of live bait on the trebble you let it sink to the bottom and wait.  Nothing more enticing than live, injured, wiggling, struggling, bleeding baitfish.  It works very well.
Dave

I asked the dock guy who was showing off the fish while the angler was packing up how the WSB was able to get hooked with the hooks tight to the line like that, and he didn't have much of an explanation, but told me he'd tied up some and they were for sale at the little shop there on the wharf.
 I guess if the fish doesn't know the line is there and slams into the bait, especially with the light sinker, the fish would get a mouthful of hook.
Is that what a "drop shot" rig is like? 
Thanks for the snag and drop explanation, I'll see how that works in the morning , if it checks out in the regs I read tonite.  Looks like it's going to be great weather tomorrow.

Hi Yakers:

 I googled "Fished White Sea Bass" and found this tip.

Quote from http://www.fishingnetwork.net/wsb.htm
"Right Presentation

     This one is pretty easy. White seabass love live squid. Yes, you can catch them on artificials and other baits but if you want to seriously target these fish you need to have live squid. Either purchase it from bait receivers or direct from "squid boats" or you can spend the night trying to catch your own with a lamp and squid jigs. It's no coincidence that some of the most popular WSB areas are also some of the most popular squid-catching areas.

     So now that we have our live squid we want to use a size 2/0 hook with 20-30 pound test line and a small 1/2 to 3/4 ounce egg sinker that is allowed to slide right down to the hook. This is your typical WSB live squid rig. Sometimes when the bite is hot you can target a larger model fish with a white iron jig with one or two squid attacheded to the hook. Other times you must finesse a lively squid on #15 test in order to get a bite. If live squid is not available, frozen will sometimes work as will live sardines, anchovies and small mackerel. Some WSB are also taken incidentally by anglers targeting sand or calico bass with plastic swim baits and also on iron jigs from anglers fishing for barracuda. But if you want to seriously target the elusive WSB, you need to have the candy bait - live squid. "

I was using my favorite live bait surf rig the other day, ( Snag Rig ) it is called and somebody told me that the warden said it was illegal.  I have not heard of snagging bait and letting it drop to the bottom to be illegal but he said that you can't catch any fish without consent? Huh, I thought . If Snag rigging is illegal then why is throwing a net legal.  If anyone can shed some light that would be great.
Jason

Maybe it is illegal because you have no idea what you have caught prior to dropping it to the bottom. It might be something that you cannot keep and must release right away.
This is just a guess. I imagine if you reeled in and saw what was at the end of your hook and deemed it to be legal then it would be ok. Again, this is just my assumption.

Its been a long time but we used to pier fish with rigs like that in SC.  Throw a crumb ball on a weighted treble and drop into the school.....when they swarm the food rip it through them then drop it down.  This was way before I seen a sabiki rigs used up here.  Technically you're not allowed to keep snagged fish, or even fish hooked on the outside of the mouth (remember that world record bass that guy caught in socal).  How that would apply to baitfish I don't know but its probably that warden's interpretation of "non consent."  Sounds lame.   

I went to caaaaaapitola today, cause you never know. well, I launched from the harbor
and fished the pleasure point area mainly.

no 48lb white seabass for me.  I used live smelt and live mackerel, with a variety
of weights from 6oz to flylined.

making bait was pretty fun today, those mackerel were on a tear.

J

we need the fishes consent?  Do we have them sign on the dotted line?  What if they said yes to start but then change their mind?

I though it was bad enough with the fisheries biology degree required to ID a fish and a surveyors license to know where the MLPA boundaries are but now I need to understand the intent of a fish?

"Consent", I don't see in the regs.   But the definition of "angling" in 1.05 includes the phrase "...in such manner that the fish voluntarily takes the bait or lure in its mouth."  "Angling" is additionally defined  as being "to take fish by hook and line"
   "Take" (1.80) is not defined that same way as "angling". It seems to be a more generic activity than "angling" [To] "Hunt, pursue, catch, capture or kill fish, amphibians", etc. etc. , "or attempting to do so."
  Obviously,Bow and Arrow Fishing Tackle (1.23), and Spearfishing (1.76) do not involve "voluntary" action on the fish's part ( but there are specific regulations permitting those activities- see below).   
27.70 requires that trout in the ocean voluntarily take the bait or lure in its mouth (so even if it voluntarily got in the way of a hook that snagged it somewhere else, it's not legal)
It's good that you can "fish" for squid (27.83 (b)(2), rather than "angle" for them, so you don't need to determine the squid's degree of voluntariness, and can disregard the fact that the jig doesn't wind up in its mouth.
The sections related to Striped bass (27.85) and sturgeon (27.90) repeat the "voluntarily  takes the bait or lure in its mouth" language, but on quick reading, none of the sections specifically dealing with other species (except trout) require that.
   The provision dealing with gaff hooks (28.65 (d)) seems to imply the legality of "taking" "fish"  " ...in such a manner that the fish does not take the [gaff] hook voluntarily in its mouth".
   28.80 & 28.85 permit "taking" certain species (including achovies and squid, among others) with nets.
  28.90 specifically allows for the "take" of fin fish (with exceptions) by spearfishing.
  Hell, even "slurp guns" can  be used to "take" finfish (except those with minimum size limits).
   28.95 authorizes the "take" of certain species by spears, harpoons and bow and arrow fishing tackle, and bow and arrow tackle can be used to "take" finfish with some major exceptions.
   I still don't know if you can snag any kind of fish, though it's pretty clear that you can't snag certain species. And if it is legal to snag a fish, it would seem to be a "take"
and not "angling".
    I afraid the reg book might be an abridged version of the regs (Title 14, California Code of Regulations (regulations are adopted by state agencies, not the legislature)).  In addition, state and federal statutes might apply that aren't listed in the booklet, and our amazingly detailed state constitution probably has some applicable sections not listed in the booklet, and these all might have been interpreted by court decisions not laid out in the booklet.