I actually crashed my FireFox while trying to post these report on 5 different forums at the same time
May 9, 2009 – Day 21: Poisonous, tasty morsels
Continuing from Oahu 2009 and San Diego 2009…
After a great Chinese dinner the night before, my aunt and I were going to fish on a ¾ day boat around the water of Catalina Island. However, we both missed our 5am alarm and woke up at 8am. All the ¾ day boats left at 6am. Instead, we had a wonderful American brunch of eggs, sausages, toasts and fruits with my cousin then my aunt and I boarded the City of Long Beach for a ½ day of bottom fishing. My cousin, unfortunately, had an exam next week due to bad timing…so she missed out on the fishing.
We left port at 1:30pm because the boat was 30mins late. We had a 1.5hour ride ahead of us. During our ride, the deckhands showed everyone what has been working. Everyone was busy re-rigging their rods after…including me
The rig composed of an 8oz torpedo sinker with two ½ to 1oz jigheads about 1 foot and 3 feet above the sinker. To the jigheads, you attached 5” plastic swimbaits (Big Hammer or the like…or Scampi). I only had 3” Big Hammer with me. I found that the size really didn’t matter
My aunt
Me
While we were rigging, the deckhands kept busy by cutting up enough squid strips to last a while. After I finished rigging the two rods, I spoke to a guy who was trolling for bonito with a tuna feather. I had a 2.5” tuna trolling lure perfect for bonito, but since I was already rigged up, I didn’t want to cut my rig. The guy took one quick strike but didn’t hook up. Finally at 3pm, we started dropping our lines into 200 feet of water onto a sand bottom.
Our target fish today were California scorpionfish (aka sculpin or rattler) and Pacific sanddab. The spines on the scorpionfish are poisonous. A puncture wound would hurt and burn for a day if it was not treated quickly (place puncture wound into hot water…hot…not burning). However, the flesh of the scorpionfish is said to be very tasty.
My aunt and I fished near the bow of the boat to avoid the 15 other anglers fishing at the back of the boat. We didn’t want to bother with line tangles. Almost immediately after our rig hit bottom, we took hits. My aunt, who had never fished a heavy rod and “large” conventional reel, worked very hard to bring her fish up. I actually had the heavier rig consisting of a 10’ fibreglass Daiwa Beefstick and a Penn 650SS. I didn’t want to rent a rig…so I took a surf rod to fish on a bottom boat
It did get the job done though…
My aunt and I had multiple double headers (so did everyone on board)…and a couple of times, we had a double-double headers (each of us hand double hook ups on our rods). We caught many short sculpins (legal length was 12”) but we did find some legals.
We also caught many sanddabs with a few that were between 12-14” as well.
My aunt with a bendo. She preferred by UglyStik/Jigmaster over the heavy Beefstick/Spinfisher
Initially, I asked the deckhands to unhook the scorpionfish for us. After a while, they were too busy unhooking everyone’s fish and I decided to unhook them on my own. Basically, I pinned the fish on rail with the dorsal spine against the rail. Only the lips were exposed above the rail. With the dangerous spines out of harms way, I could unhook the fish without getting jabbed. However, there were a few deeply hooked fish that still required the skills of the deckies.
At the end of the day, my aunt and I took home a limit of sculpins (5 per person) and 7 sanddabs. My aunt also had sore arms at the end of the 3 hours of fishing.
My aunt called her friend and we had a seafood dinner with sculpin soup, steamed sanddab, stir-fried sculpin with vegetables and fresh abalone. It’s a meal I will not forget, especially the fresh steamed sanddab (the sanddab was better than the abalone )!
May 10, 2009 – Day 22: Griffth Observatory
We were going to take a ¾ boat today…and missed it again by sleeping in. I don’t know…maybe it was 3-hour time difference between Hawaii and California…I just couldn’t get up early!
Since we missed the boat (literally), we moved the plans forward one day. My aunt knew I like astronomy so she planned a morning at the Griffth Observatory.
This observatory is one of LA’s most recognizable landmark. It was build in Griffth Park on the side of Mount Hollywood, at an elevation of 1,134 feet above sea level. From the grounds, you could see the Hollywood sign and downtown LA.
The smog of LA prevented me of getting a picture of downtown LA
Inside the observatory, there was a huge Foucault Pendulum (it proves that the Earth actually rotates) housed inside the W. M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda. As the pendulum swings in place, the Earth rotates on its axis. Relative to the earth rotation, the swinging direction of the pendulum appeared to shift to the right slightly swing by swing. This angle change could be seen when the pendulum knocks over the pegs on the bottom of display. The swing of the pendulum actually doesn’t move…it is us that is moving with the Earth. Pretty cool.
And the roof of the rotunda, with the steel cable of the pendulum visible.
We also visited various displays in the observatory, Ahmanson Hall of the Sky.
The outside of the observatory was very beautiful as well with its many arches.
And of course one of the domes housing the telescopes…
And the hillside
It was such a cool place with a peaceful surrounding. The best thing about this place is that it is absolutely FREE!
We spent quite a few hours exploring.
May 11, 2009 – Day 23: Meeting Batman
Don, a friend I met on a Southern California fishing forum (www.scsurffishing.com), had expertise in targeting bat ray and sharks off the beaches north of LA. Don offered to take me fishing and maybe add a new species on my list. After a morning grocery trip with my aunt, Don picked me up and off we went to find some toothy critters. Don actually drove south to pick me up and now we’re headed back north. Much thanks to Don!
We stopped at his place to grab the big game surf gear. The set up consisted 13’ heavy surf rods, Newell reels with 30lb main lines, 6oz pyramid sinkers and 150lb mono or heavy stainless steel leaders. Next we stopped at Marina Del Rey for some live sardines for bait. At the marina, I saw two round rays. If I had a rod rigged up and bait available, I would drop some bait for them
We took it easy since there was still a lot of time left until prime time. During prime time, the fading light coincided with the peak high tide. Today, the sun set at 8pm and the peak high occurs at about 10:30pm. We were a couple of days late on the prime period. But we give it a try anyways.
We picked up some Taco Bell near our AO (Area of Operation) and had our snacks before rigging up. Once on the beach, Don showed me how wet the line and took a few practice casts before putting on the sardine and bombing the rig 100 yards. He made casting the big rod looked so easy.
I practiced a few times with my rod because I didn’t want to get a horrible bird nest on Don’s reel. Once I got the hang of it, I practiced on Don’s rod.
I was getting a bit more confident, so I finally put a sardine on the hook. When I went for the real cast, it went all wrong
The added sardine affected the aerodynamic of the rig. The cast not only lost momentum too early, it also flew off to one side. Of course a bad bird nest was the result.
This was after 5min of pulling some line out…
So after pulling out all the line and spooling it tight again, I asked Don to cast the rod out for me
Soon, Don’t friend Gary showed up. He won a rod at an earlier long cast contest at one of the Fish-Off M&G. Don wrapped the rod for Gary. It was a beautiful wrapping job that reads SC Surf Fishing.
Gary was ready to go very quickly as well. Now, came the wait.
We had the spool on free spool but with the clicker on. When a fish picked up the bait and run with it, we would hear that clicker scream! We heard a few clickers and picked up the rod just in time as the fish dropped the bait. When that happened, we held the rod in hand and felt for the next pick up by holding the line with our fingertips. For most of the evening, the fish didn’t commit on a solid take. Most were picking it up, dropping it, picking it up again, then dropping it again.
At about 9pm, Gary had a screamer. He got to the rod and the fish was still there. He waited until the fish was still running, and laid the law to the fish! Alright! Fish on!
Gary played the fish for 15 min before we could see a wing flapping in the surf. It looked to be a bat ray (aka batman). The fish stayed in the surf zone fore quite a while. The trick to landing a fish in the surf was to time the incoming wave and surf the fish onto the beach. With a big fish, it was easier said than done since the fish often feel the sand below them and it would head for deep water again. It was especially hard at night since it was hard to see where the fish was located.
After quite a few attempts, Gary finally got the fish far enough up the beach, and Don ran down to grab it on the receding wave. The bat ray had a 38" wing span. I don't know the estimated weight though...but they can grow as larger as 100lbs.
Close up
Jumping in for a picture
The fish was released back in the surf and it took off no problem. They are very resilient, as long as you don’t lift them vertically.
After Gary’s fish, we each had a couple of good screamers. I had a fish that was taking line as well, but just as I was engaging the reel, the fish dropped the bait. It was that close!
At about 10pm, we called it a night and packed up. It was a great evening meeting two awesome people, and surf fishing for sharks and bat rays was such an experience! Thanks Don. I’ll practice casting at home and next time I’ll be ready. Thanks to Gary for driving me back to my aunt’s house as well.
At my aunt’s house, she prepared a great hot pot meal with oysters, abalone, mussels, 3 types of mushrooms, beef, and a whole lot of other goodies. Thanks Aunty!
May 12, 2009 – Day 24: Flying home
I had a 1pm flight, but my aunt and my cousin needed to work early, so I took the taxi to the airport at 9am. It was good that I arrived early since I caught an early flight home. Time always flew by when you’re having fun…and the 24 days of travel definitely went by in a blink of an eye. There were many promises made pertaining the next visits. I hope to visit Hawaii again in 2 years since I would have collected enough points for a free ticket after this trip. San Diego and Los Angeles have to wait until cheap tickets are found. However, I would definitely split Hawaii from California next time so I could spend a solid 3 weeks in each place.
I was happy that my family was doing well. I was especially happy that my grandma continued to be very active, even though babysitting for my little cousin was tiring her out. I hope she remains healthy and I’ll see her again in 2 years.
Fishing wise, I had big plans. In Hawaii, I had a lot of species to check off my prepared list. Many of my targets were not met, but I caught quite a few surprise species. Most importantly, I was able to allot time to fish with old friends and new friends. In California, I met half of my target species and met 4 great guys. I had a very grand fishing schedule for California but the jet lag affected my plans. It was still a lot of fun though. In Hawaii, I caught 15 species in total with 10 species being new on my list. In California, I caught 9 species in total with 7 species being new on my list.
Here’s a quick recap.
Hawaii (15 days total)
Mahimahi (dorado) *new
Yellowfin tuna
Skipjack tuna
Hawaiian flagtail
Cornetfish *new
Saddle wrasse
Christmas wrasse
Black-throat talipia *new
Elegant coris *new
Hawaiian gregory (demselfish) *new
Red devil cichild
Jewel cichlid *new
Convict cichlid *new
Cigar wrasse *new
Sleek unicornfish *new
Bluegill sunfish
Great barracuda (on topwater too...it was a super blast!!!)
Green Jobfish *new
California (7 days)
California needlefish *new
Shortfin weakfish (corvina) *new
Pacific mackerel *new
Kelp/calico Bass *new
Xantic sargo *new
Spotted bay bass
Barred sand bass
California scorpionfish (sculpin) *new
Pacific sanddab *new
After this trip, my life list increased to 99 species! Just one shy of the big 100!
Thanks for reading everyone. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed sharing it.