Another great fishing trip to the Channel Islands means a great Father's Day for some happy anglers


by Frank Ursitti - Ranger 85
6-19-2012
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Another great fishing trip to the Channel Islands means a great Father's Day for some happy anglers

This past weekend's Father's Day Annual 2 Day was a great trip. We decided to spend one of the days fishing for game fish. There had been rumors of fish caught the day before and all were excited at the prospect of catching a few Seabass.

We baited our tanks at the receivers prior to departure with live squid as we discussed strategy with our anglers. As we headed offshore, the calm added to the excitement in the air. We anchored up around 3am with squid and fish under the boat. If you've ever fished the Channel Islands, you know how incredibly beautiful some of the areas are that we fish, and to wake up with island scenery and bitin' fish, well it just doesn't get any better than that.

At 5:30, the clickers went off, and a 54 lb Seabass was engaged. Eliazar Villegas battled what seemed unconquerable, until the cold steel of the gaff welcomed his 54 lb Seabass aboard.

Shortly after that, a 35 lb Halibut was landed. Things went quiet, and while the clock ticked on, we became anxious. The anchor came up and we were on the move. After a couple more fruitless stops, we decided to vacate.

As we headed west, I kept tabs on the area with a couple boats in our fleet, and after getting 7 miles away, the area started to come to life. We abruptly did a 180 and raced back as fast as the Ranger 85 could hustle. We slid back into the area and instantly we were on. Stop after stop we pieced together a morning amassing 24 Seabass in a couple hours. What a thrill.

From here we headed west again fishing our way to San Miguel Island. After a couple halibut drifts, we dropped a bit deeper to lump up the bags before dark. Aaahhh, the beauty of a 2 day, such flexibility.

We all decided to spend the next day rounding out our catch, and round out we did. We ended up with a trip total of 630 rockfish, 30 lingcod, 1 halibut and 24 white seabass.

We wrap up the month with a 3 day trip departing Sunday night June 24th. On this trip, we will definitely be on the hunt for big game fishing those areas that have been kicking out a few WSB, Halibut and Yellows. Currently, the trip has but a few handfuls of reservations and we are a go. Don't miss out on a great opportunity to fish with a light load on a great trip targeting island species.

Hope to see you onboard.

Capt. Frank

805-382-1612

Photos: There are some great photos here, including an eagle and some shots of a whale besides some great fish shots. Enjoy!