Rob and I met Mr. Tree on the Stardust this morning. Just when you think it's going to be a normal trip on the Stardust, something always happens. This time Jason was chanting "we're gonna have live squid today, we're gettin live squid...". And this we did. I caught a sandie on plastic at the bait receiver and Rob got a ronkidor. We headed for the armpit/4 mile with one tank of squid and one tank of chovies. At the first or second stop, Jason went to move the boat and fires up the engines. I set the hook on something but am sure it's the bottom. Drag is slowly and evenly coming off my reel so I figure it's just the boat moving, but it kept going and going and going and I knew we weren't moving THAT much. Then I feel a little THUMP THUMP and I'm all "OH $HIT!!!" Just then..... DINK!!! ARRRRR. 20# P-Line snapped like nothing. The fish didn't even feel me, he was just cruisin away. My guess is a big ling, about 20, 25#s. I hooked him on the new Blam plastic in clear/red flake. After that we hit a couple spots and lots of BIG 7, 8lb. reds were comin over the rail. Many short lings too, and a couple legals. Rob and I kinda sucked. The folks on the side of the boat seemed to be right over the rock cause everybody at midship was gettin bit while us in the stern couldn't buy a biter, besides the little ones that got kicked off of the rock... I could only manage a normal sized red (actually it was a REALLY BIG starry) and a smaller rockfish on the morning run.

In the afternoon, we had a lighter load, and Rob and I were determined to use our new jigsticks. We did a little rockfishin, and I stuck a nice 4# calico (on bait though...) which of course was released. Later in the day Rob got a nice one of about 3#'s. We headed to the gap and soaked squid on the bottom for awhile until Jason suggested we fly line here to see if the bass want to wake up. So, getting bored of rockcoddin, I flylined with 1/4oz. for a cast and remembered that I hate flylining with any kind of weight, so I dropped the weight and hooked a zinger of a cuda on the 10# bass rod. Good fun. That one sucked on the gaff, and I got my jigstick. Threw jigs next to Rob for a good while but neither one of us could get a jig fish. Rob got a couple biters, but I didn't get touched. Back to the 10# flyline. Hooked another cuda and got him in the sack, and then got another one. The fish must've been line shy cause I was the only one fishing 10# and the only one, I think, that caught more than 1 or 2 koods. Some guy farmed a seabass because he was pumping on it with his rod at 12 o'clock, but lots of sandies were comin up along with an occasional calico and short ling. Mackerel were kind of thick, but not too bad. The cudas kept em at bay I think. The koods were kind of staying near the boat and the chum, and when your flylined bait would get to a certain distance away from the boat you'd get mack attacked. So, it turned out after a little politics (not involving me...) that one of my koods won the JP (went to the crew) so that was cool. Good trip, as always. Wish I coulda gotten that ling off the bottom quicker (doubt I would've no matter what...) and wish I coulda gotten one of those big reds, but the surface action and the big calico made up for it. Rob will have pictures when he gets home, hopefully.
-Brian

Here are the pics

Brian with a nice 4lb calico
http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/User_files/3b2cea3c71c71818.jpg

Me with a smaller one http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/User_files/3b2cea62720ae781.jpg

Brian wasn't kidding when he said the reds were HUGE
http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/User_files/3b2cea92725671b2.jpg

http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/User_files/3b2ceaab726d4dbd.jpg

Jackpot Ling on the AM run http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/User_files/3b2cead072c05e32.jpg

It was really good to meet you and Rob. Been reading your postings for quite some time now and it was awesome to put the name with the face.

Those big reds really came out of the woodwork when the live squid dropped down. I pulled up a pair of pretty descent ones in the morning. It was funny because one of my friends was all bummed that he hadn't caught anything. I told him to break out his secret rockfish weapon (a blue and white hand tied feather with a squid strip). As soon as he dropped down he got whacked and brought up one of those seven pounders. He dropped down again and brought up one the exact same size.

I didn't do so well on the afternoon round. Nice calico Brian and kudos on the new jigstix - those are some big guns - custom wrapped?

Diablo and Angler Dude and myself are talking of planning a Stardust charter in August or Sept. We chartered this boat last year to Conception and the Red Snapper fishing was absolutely unbelievable. Most of us had half limits of fish after the first 90 minutes of fishing. Unfortunatley, we had to turn around immediately because one of our guests became deathly ill. Anyway, we'll keep you posted when we get organized.

Nice meetin ya too. Definitely keep us posted on the charter. I wrapped my jigstick myself, and Rob got his done by Pete at Wilderness Outfitters in Arroyo Grande. I'm camping up at Cachuma right now, and just came down for the day to take care of some stuff, but I brought the jigstick up there to throw trout plugs with ;-) and we kind of had some time to kick around at the campsite today, so I took the treble off of a jax jig, wet the spool on the newell and messed around a little bit in the field. Longest toss was 194ft. according to my very accurate measuring method, of baby stepping, one foot in front of the other... I think once I get used to the stick I can get 50 more feet at least.
-Brian

wut cha using for a jigstick? i'm gunna get eiher an 800H, 900H, or maybe an Ulua 93, and put a trini 20 on it.

My stick's a T540, Rob's is a T100. Both are 10' sticks. Mine's a little thicker at the butt, and I guess is more suited for yellowtail while Rob's is more for the koods and calicos. Someday when I need to double up on my rods, I'll add a T100 (aka 100J) to my collection, but for now, I've got my jigstick. If you're looking for the smaller rod, I'd suggest the Ulua. Afterall, it is the hawaiian war club, right??? Ya gotta have one of them, just so you can say you've got a hawaiian war club!!! IMO, you don't need all the tip action of a graphiter for tossin jigs. A fiberglass rod will have a more parabolic bend to it, and let you cast the jigs better, as well as driving the hook home on the fast crank rather than hookset. Of course, I've never fished the heavier, H rated graphiters so I don't know exactly how they behave, but if they've got the graphite tip, I'm assuming it'll be a little light in the tip. JMO.
-Brian

Ya, I originally thought about glass, but after reading rich holland's article in western outdoor's it got my mind rolling about composite rods. And I've heard that you want a rod with a fast tip for tossing jigs, while other guys say you want a rod that can load up, so who knows. Maybe I'll just get both...hehe.

I thinks I want a rod with a lotta ballz, since I'll only be using it for albies up here, and then whatever on an LR trip.

If you consider 9'3" short, then maybe I should step up to the 10fter. But that thing would be a little scary if I were to hook into anything. But then again, the 540 IS the classic jigstick. I dunno, it'll be a winter project to have for next year, guess I'll have to go pull on a few.

Yeah, definitely pull on a couple and see what you like. With the 10' stick, you do get better distance, but the fish will work you, so if you're gonna use it for albies, you may be better off with the 8 or 9 foot rod (unless you're up for a challenge...). Check the Ulua, check the Calstars, pull on some rods, see what ya like.
-Brian