Santa Cruz Bonito Rumor Confirmed

Thanks for reading guys. These are really good eating too. Id like to get on them one more time if they stick around after this storm. This time on the yak of coarse.

i actually also really like em grilled, saba style.  good going

They are still here BTW.  As of yesterday 120
FOW outside Lighthouse Point.  Who knows what will happen after this storm though.

Bushy

Nice Catch!!!!
Great view, great workout and fishing!!
You can't really beat that.

Tasty!
I need to get out there and catch me some

As a kid we would troll in southern CA waters small Rapalas and catch those fast fish by the dozens. We would filet when ice cold and then cut the dark lateral meat out.The white flesh was incredible when freshly cooked. Then again, I would eat almost anything then. I do not want to thread jack, but I am heading to Southern CA at Xmas time and wondering if I should bring a couple of kayaks down to Dana or ? Anyone know where an easy launch is near OC ? or anything to be had?

I gutted mine right after catching and surrounded/packed with ice. Like on Wicked Tuna but tiny.      They are fantastic grilled. I have grilled 2, gifted 1, and have only 1 left.  I wanted to try smoking them but its not worth it with only one left.
I know nothing of the socal scene. sorry.

That is interesting Matt. I grew up in SCAL and caught a zillion of them on party boats. Never thought they were good eating however most 1/2 -3/4 day party boats don't have refrigeration so it's in a gunny sack for several hours. In October, I fished the Coronado Islands with my son and we caught several 10-20 class bonies. Never seen them that big and they were pulling 10# drag like a YT or YFT. Then we would get them to color and your kidding me, a bonie? I brought a couple home for crab bait. I bring a kill bag and ice with me on party boats now so I will try bleeding one and icing right away next time. I don't usually bleed them because I use them for bait. Like skippies, they are cool looking and fun to catch.

Nice intel Matt.  I like the taste of strong fish.  One of my favorites is  grilled saba. 

Hope they stick around!  Winter fishing in Santa Cruz often includes huge schools of big Mackerel, including Spanish Macks.  Maybe the bonita will stick.

Ultra-lights, anyone?

Bushy

Hope they stick around!  Winter fishing in Santa Cruz often includes huge schools of big Mackerel, including Spanish Macks.  Maybe the bonita will stick.

Ultra-lights, anyone?

Bushy

Yes, I want some!

Post a hook up or PM, coming from Oakland .....but its a long winter.

Tsuri

1/17/2015

The weekend prior to writing this update, I peddled the Hobie out of the SC harbor looking for more beautifuls. I trolled from the buoy to Natural Bridges and found bait, birds, seals, dolphins and a whale, but no beautifuls. It felt so promising; they must have been there.

Today, with my wife Chelsey, I again rented a skiff (this time out of Capitola) and continued the hunt. We hit the water about 7:30 and set lines just past the kelp. Within 30 minutes of trolling directly out toward deeper water, we hooked up into a beautiful beautiful which was unfortunately fumbled at the boat.  No bother, I figured we were in for bountiful day. We circled around the area a few time trying to reconnect but nothing happened.  After a few turns, we continued our way to deeper water. Two whole hours went by before another hookup, but we finally had a fish in the boat. We trolled for another two hours before finally boating fish number 2.  It was really starting to feel like the beautifuls were getting the best of us.

By noonthirty we were feeling kinda discouraged when I noticed a flurry of bird activity straight out. I slowly increased the speed until the rods could just barely hold the tension without pulling drag, and aimed directly toward the action.  Within 3 minutes of speeding up, we had a triple hookup on two weighted rigs and one subsurface rig. The flatline escaped, but the two weighted lines each yielded a feisty beautiful. That gave me an epiphany.

We continued the high-speed troll and were able to boat 6 more in the next 90 minutes. It got truly chaotic at times. We had double hookups that ran into each other, and hookups within seconds of setting lines. In total, we took 8 beautifuls by 2:15, and returned the rental skiff by 2:30.  I know nothing of these fish other then what I have learned in the last couple months, but am extremely enthusiastic about chasing them. It is a blast and is quite a challenge to successfully take via kayak; which I will continue to attempt.

Awesome report, Matt.  Way to get on it!   

Wow look at that crazy flasher rig!
High speed seemed to be what made it work, could be hard to get going that fast on the yak...how fast is a "high speed troll"?

Wow look at that crazy flasher rig!
High speed seemed to be what made it work, could be hard to get going that fast on the yak...how fast is a "high speed troll"?

I didn't have a way to gage speed on the skiff but if had to guess Id say close to 10 mph. At least 8 that's for sure. It was way faster than anyone could paddle or peddle. Those spinner harnesses also put up considerable drag on the kayak.

That's not to say a low speed (kayak achievable) troll didn't work. We caught 4 of them the this way the first day and two the second day. But when I increased the speed on the second day, the bite dramatically improved.

With the assistance of the fishfinder on the kayak, at least you could more quickly identify bait and possibly even Bonito. Possibly mooching for them if you could find them.

Thanks for the extra info, fascinating.