Hey, thanks Tree and Diablo for backing me up! For those who don't know, these two guys went with me on the recent Stardust trip. But, keep in mind that after their Lenbrooke disaster (one of the most horrific local fishing experiences that I've ever heard of), any boat trip would be a gem! Thank goodness that I didn't get the message in time on Sunday to join them!

As for my original posting, I think both Rob and Brian's responses were valid. I was a bit miffed that the bite wasn't very good but hey, I will be one of the first to admit that "fishing is fishing." I never go out expecting to slay 'em every time. Sometimes you can go out and do nothing wrong, bring fish in all day, and sometimes you can't buy a bite. And... I will reiterate that I think that Jason and his crew on the Stardust are one of the FINEST crews around and will do just about anything to increase their passengers' chances of catching fish! Saturday was simply a day when the fish just weren't biting very well. However, I think the numerous prowling sea lions were a very big factor in keeping the bite subdued.

I guess the main point that I was trying to get across was that I thought that the Stardust was a bit overpriced for the time spent out there. Brian mentioned that we still get 6 hours of fishing time on the 1/2 day boat. Unfortunately, that isn't true. 7:00am - 12:00pm is only 5 hours! But, that isn't 5 hours of fishing time. On our trip, we spent a good hour in boat travel and another half hour in getting bait, prepping for departure, etc. That leaves about 3 and a half hours of fishing for $27! Now, I have asked several different fisherman if they thought that this was a reasonable price. EVERY one of the them thought that it was overpriced. After all, most 3/4 day boats are only a few dollars more ($30-35) and you can often fish 6:00am to 4:00pm or 5:00!

Of course, I do realize that Santa Barbara is one of the most expensive places to live AND play. That's why I live in Ventura...