I just thought I would give you guys something to read since there hasnt been a post on this board in a few days. My dad and I launched at sunrise and I trolled the Fasttrac around the harbor for bonito but all I caught were a few mackeral. We then bounce balled hoochies(I didnt think my dad would get a bite because he had 50# main line and a 30# leader) towards Palos Verdes and my dads pole started singing. After a few long runs and about 11 minutes(he had his rock cod reel) he brought up a 80-100# thresher! It was the first one he has ever hooked up and the first one I have ever seen. Unfortunately, since it was tail hooked and we were on kayaks, it busted off on the second attempt to subdue it. Wow! A bounce ball thresher! I plan on going after them next time when the fishing is slow. Does anyone have any suggestions on tackle when fishing them?
Thanks,
Tommy

Hey, didn't you get broken off by some mystery fish in King Harbor on the fastrac??? Maybe it WAS a thresher. I've actually been getting into thresher fishing lately. We plan on doing some sharkin this summer from the skiff. A lot of threshers are caught incidentally around here while salmon trolling. I'd suggest finding a big ball of bait and trolling a bait-o-matic, or rapala through it. Sounds like your dad had the right gear afterall... Use heavy line for sure. Those incidentals while salmon fishing pretty much always spool the salmon gear. I'd say 40# minimum. Hey, give the fastrac a try too, you never know. That 5" one might do the trick. Put those VMC hooks on it first though.
-Brian

Fastracs would definatley be a fun way to fish for threshers, Im going to try that this summer with 30 lb test. Do you think fastracs would work for yellowtail too? Do you think you would have to reel them in as fast as irons? I would imagine a lot of threshers would be tail hooked because of those sharp little trebles. Good luck with your skiff. My dad had a 23' Parker center console but we just recently sold it because the kayaks cost much less to launch. I sure do miss those trips to the islands though :-(

I've often dreamed about yellowtail on the fastrac... As long as you put strong hooks on em, I don't see why you couldn't catch one. I wouldn't rip it quite as fast as the iron, but I'd definitely pick up the pace a little bit from the white seabass/halibut retrieve. 30# may tweak the action a little bit, so that could present a problem. For yellowtail you could probably throw em on 20, but the threshers would need at least 30. We'll see. I'm gonna do some messing around with em this summer too, so we'll find out what happens.
-Brian

Hey I just scored a kayak and need some tips on how to rig it so I can fish e-fish-ently. I want to hit up some inshore salmon, flatfish, and rockfish in the santa cruz/ monterey area. And what is bounceballing? Will my Hobie Maui 11' be sufficient?

For halibut I have to admit live bait is the way to go, especially in the winter when they are out deep. I have a Plano Trolling bucket which has no aeration system but instead it has holes in it so you can keep it areated by kepping it in the water. This tank is good for strickly drifting bait, if you want to troll alot you should get an aerated one. You can also fish with plastics in shallow in the summer and catch a ton of halibut. If you just fish plasdtics all you need is your PFD, a net, a rod and a reel, a seat and a paddle. On my kayak, I have two cheap rod holders in the back and two CKF rod holders by my feet. I also have paddle clips that I use to store my rods when launching and exiting. I have never seen a hobie maui, but if it has a big enough hatch you might want to store your rods there. I have yet to fish for salmon but Jeff "Rhyno" Krieger seems to know what he is talking about. You can find him at this website. www.kayakfishing.com Go to the west coast Bulletein board. Is this spam?
Hey if you are going out this summer, I MIGHT be able to get up to Santa Cruz to visit my Aunt and get some fishing in as well.
Good Luck,
Tom Cod

Thanks for the link. Some of those pictures are tremendously inspiring! I'm a little freaked out though because I'm such a novice (although I'm a open water distance swimmer). I don't know jack about tides and such so post when you are coming up and we'll head out of santa cruz or something. I've got finals over the next three weeks and then some med school graduations to attend down in LA but after that, I'm up!!