2 day on the Orion

DavidE · Feb-23-2009, 10:16 AM

Headed out Friday afternoon from Seaforth on board the Orion to San Martin.

The ride down was smooth and the group of guys on board were awesome.
Everyone had a good time BS'ing and hanging out. Being the new guy to this fishing group, I made a couple new friends on the stern.

Saturday morning we hit our first spot for a 400FT drop. On goes the black 16oz jig. Drop and sink and sink and sink and sink. Then THUD!! Wind and wind and wind and wind then .... wind some more and wind and wind ... then a big @ss boccacio is on my jig. Up and over the rail and wind em boyz we're moving.

Second spot is not as much winding and we get plenty of reds and assorted rockfish. The reds were running 5-7 lbs with a mix of 2-3 pounders as well.

Third drift, the shrimp has defrosted and from then on Big Big ... Did I say BIG Whitefish!!! Some of these things looked like they could go 12-15 lbs. I don't know if the did but these were HUGE!!

In addition to these beasts we got into a group of Goats that loved the shrimp. Big Goats 10 lbs, 7 lbs, etc ... then the females 2-3 lbs, etc ....

We did manage 1 yellow that hit a megabait with a squid strip attached. That fish went 20-25lbs.

Day one ended with everyone tired and lots of fish.

Day two was drifting for more of the same but heading north. The current was ripping pretty good both days so staying on the bottom was tricky sometimes.

Anyways I didn't fish as hard on day 2 pretty much because I was beat and had a ton of fish. I think I ended with:

10 whitefish
4-5 Reds
10 assorted rockfish
4-5 sheephead
1 Big Boc

That looks about right.

Anyways way good times on the Orion!! Capt Bryan is a fish killer for real !!!

Later

kerncat · Feb-23-2009, 12:24 PM

I enjoy that boat...small and friendly and with the size loads they carry it's sort of like fishing a big 6 pack...Used to fish it when Tom had it ...it was great then and I understand it is even better now..try it if you haven't fished it before.

Iceberg · Feb-24-2009, 10:05 AM

That's awesome. Did you just use the frozen shrimp you buy at the store?

DavidE · Feb-24-2009, 11:33 AM

Ya, straight market frozen shrimp. #1 flyliner was the hook I was using. We were lucky to have had some small bait mixed in with the bigger 'dines. (That was the ticket catching the big Reds.) So when the shrimp thawed switched to target Goats. Got them and those Big Whitefish.

One_Leg · Feb-24-2009, 12:06 PM

David, I'm glad to hear that you guys nailed some nice size fish.

The Orion is a nice boat.

Bryan is a great skipper.

If I wasn't commited to other trips I would definitely consider going on it again this year.

DITCH CLEANER · Feb-24-2009, 12:40 PM

Good post Sounds like the skipper is Good! !0lb white fish thats great eating.

BowBoy · Feb-24-2009, 01:40 PM

yo D,

sounds like a great trip! cant wait till end of july. 2.5 days on that boat with brian is a win win combo. good job bro.

Danny

ShamWow · Feb-24-2009, 02:05 PM

Good stuff man.

AssPirate of LJ · Feb-24-2009, 05:09 PM

hell yeah... ive been ichen to go rock fishin

DavidE · Feb-25-2009, 08:43 AM

What up Alan ... I saw you have some nice trips planned this year ... WTG!!

What up Danny .... Can't wait for that trip either!! Any luck on your family fishing trip??

Hater, Sham, and Ditch .... this trip was a blast. Always have good trips with Bryan!!! And the rockfish is soooooo tasty !!

afraser · Mar-01-2009, 11:24 AM

Want nice reds without losing your bait on the bottom (without knowing it of course), use a starry for cut bait. Nice long meaty strips. I doubled up the next closest total last time I fished for reds using this technique. Don't be afraid of throwing a sardine or shrimp on top of the cut bait too. BTW, the cut strip should be good for 4-5 fish at least. I used one for like 10 fish in a row.