Islander 2014 - REPORTS

Shortly after I took those pics I tied off to a piece of kelp and that is when the insanity began.

I tossed down a live squid and instantly started getting classic little goat nibbles. Now that I was tied to the kelp I was able to give it just a bit of slack and let it nibble on my bait a bit before setting the hook. This was the ticket. I lifted my rod tip ever so slowly, felt the tension on the line, and set the hook hard. BAM! Fish on and it's bulldogging back for the bottom. After a great battle up pops a medium sized goat. As I'm re-baiting I'm looking down at the bottom in 37 feet of water and I see a bit of movement. It's a big ass goat! I toss my bait down and it gets nailed hard. A brutal fight ensues but after a few minutes it spits the hook. I'm glad it did because someone said something about moving and I said that I was staying here to catch this hog goat.

Well I stayed clipped to that one piece of kelp and fished the same 40' or so diameter pothole for the next three or four hours and caught no less than forty sheepshead, including the monster that broke me off (he still had my set-up in his mouth), and his identical twin. Kiel was there, as well and we both just sat there and hearded goats all day. The bite was so hot that I never drank anything, ate anything, pissed, or took any pictures for like 3 hours. We skipped lunch and didn't paddle back to the big boat until we were fried from the sun and had tired arms from battling dozens of goats.

We had a quick lunch and the big boat moved back to where we had started because there were folks there who also never made it more than a few hundred yards all day. I took a group out to try to get them in on some of the action I had, but the honey hole was too far of a paddle, and the holes we hit just weren't as wide open.

I paddled back to the Islander just before sunset. I admit I was pretty let down with the results of my efforts over the first two days, but day three made the whole entire trip worth it.

NONE of the crew had ever seen anything like the goat bite we experienced that day.

Shortly after I took those pics I tied off to a piece of kelp and that is when the insanity began.

I tossed down a live squid and instantly started getting classic little goat nibbles. Now that I was tied to the kelp I was able to give it just a bit of slack and let it nibble on my bait a bit before setting the hook. This was the ticket. I lifted my rod tip ever so slowly, felt the tension on the line, and set the hook hard. BAM! Fish on and it's bulldogging back for the bottom. After a great battle up pops a medium sized goat. As I'm re-baiting I'm looking down at the bottom in 37 feet of water and I see a bit of movement. It's a big ass goat! I toss my bait down and it gets nailed hard. A brutal fight ensues but after a few minutes it spits the hook. I'm glad it did because someone said something about moving and I said that I was staying here to catch this hog goat.

Well I stayed clipped to that one piece of kelp and fished the same 40' or so diameter pothole for the next three or four hours and caught no less than forty sheepshead, including the monster that broke me off (he still had my set-up in his mouth), and his identical twin. Kiel was there, as well and we both just sat there a hearded goats all day. The bite was so hot that I never drank anything, ate anything, pissed, or took any pictures for like 3 hours. We skipped lunch and didn't paddle back to the big boat until we were fried from the sun and had tired arms from battling dozens of goats.

We had a quick lunch and the big boat moved back to where we had started because there were folks there who also never made it more than a few hundred yards all day. I took a group out to try to get them in on some of the action I had, but the honey hole was too far of a paddle, and the holes we hit just weren't as wide open.

I paddled back to the Islander just before sunset. I admit I was pretty let down with the results of my efforts over the first two days, but day three made the whole entire trip worth it.

NONE of the crew had ever seen anything like the goat bite we experienced that day.

Sweet bro! Glad that honey hole made that trip for you...........thanks for the report and pics 

Sheephead pull way harder than rockfish. My forearms are sore just thinking about 40 of em!

RIGHT ON DUSTIN FOR TAKING AL THOSE PICS!

He thumbed the spool and that's when it broke.  Rookie move 😜.  Happened to me on my big Hali on the islander last year.

   I thumbed the side of my reel not the spool!!! 

-Kiel

Any WSB or YT?

Any WSB or YT?

While no WSB or YT were caught, it was not due to a lack of effort.  I think a big part of why few fish were caught on day one and two was because most of us were probing deeper water for the big game.  This actually speaks volumes to the ambitions and dedication of our group. It wasn't until day three; do or die, that we settled to tangle with the Calicos and Sheepheads.

In retrospect however, these smaller species were incredibly scrappy and fun to catch.  I wouldn't change any aspect of the way the trip played our...except for a Halibut bite.

I didn't do good in the first 2 days, not even a bite for me! but in  the last day I got my  limit of Sheepheads. 



-Kiel

Sounds like the sheep were in Jim Jones mode.......suicide mission.

Sounds like the sheep were in Jim Jones mode.......suicide mission.

You realize 80% of the people here are googling jim Jones

Hmmm... they did have Kool-aid on the boat.

Looks like a great trip, thanks for sharing all the pics!!!!

Sounds like the sheep were in Jim Jones mode.......suicide mission.

You realize 80% of the people here are googling jim Jones

We fly high, no lie, you know this. BALLIN'

++Added to Tournament Archives Sticky++ 

Looks like an awesome trip!  Thanks for the reports and pictures guys.