Fished Newport on thurs and had 12 spotties. 1 was small, 2 were bigger, and the rest were normal size. 1 was caught on a 3" gold and chartruese swimbait, the other 11 were on my new favorite bait, the Berkely, 4", smoke/sparkle powerpulse worm. Mon. I'm trying Crystal Cove if anyones interested.

Also, I'm looking for one other tuber who feels the need to do something new (and slightly nuts). I'm looking to find a small boat to take me and ? out to fish paddies for dodo's. The plan is to have the skiff drop us off upswell and follow behind ready to help if needed. It seems a bit crazy, but also very fun. Imagine the fight if you hooked one. I think that yellows though would be too much though. Their propensity to head straight down would make it really hard just to hold on let alone bring up. The cost would be about $80 and would include fuel and compensation to the skipper for having to have their fishing come second. It will probably happen either the last sun. in aug. or the second one in sept.If there is anyone interested let me know.

Ed

Ed,
Wait a minute, me and Pete were just talking about that!!!!! Nice to see somebody's on the same brain wave... Well I'm into it. Depending on the boat maybe we could squeeze another guy in there and cut down the cost a little bit. I've often thought about doing something like this with yellows, tuna etc. Only problem w/ tuna is there are often sharks around. Know of any chain mail waders? Alright, let me know if you get a boat together, I'll see if I can find somebody too. Later.
-Brian

Sounds great.The only reason I thought of 2 people was space, but I for one would feel more comfortable with another piece of bait in the water. So, I'll look around for something that can hold three of us. I'll check around and talk to a few people I know who dive the paddies, their boats are set up for this kind of thing. I'll also ask about mako habbits. I know that they have all been chased off paddies, but I'm not sure why, or how, though ideas abound. I think all the incidents involved speared YT or dodo's. I'm not too worried, but it can't hurt to ask. Maybe the yellowfin will also be around by the time we can work out the details. I'll keep you up to date. By the way are your schedules pretty flexible? Let me know.

Ed

Ed,
My schedule's wide open until September 5, when I start school. But, I'll still be open on the weekends. Where are you planning on going out of? I've got a couple two way radios that would be a must. We could have one on the boat and one in somebody's tube. The shark thing did cross my mind also. I think if we're gonna keep any fish, we either stash em in the boat, or put em on a really long stringer, like 15 ft. We could also bring a float and tie the stringer to that or something.

I just talked to my parents- I can use the car to drive down there on the 2nd Sunday of September, and possibly, but probably not the last sunday of this month. If we can find a boat to take more than 2, I could go with my friend in his truck, assuming he's not doing anything.
-Brian

Ed,
I've been thinking about this shark thing. I think if there are, or could be sharks in the area, it would be a good idea not to keep the fish on a stringer or in the water at all. A bleeding, dying yellowtail will attract sharks from all over. So, we could either put em in the boat which would be a pain to have the boat come over every time we catch a fish, or we could get a big styrofoam cooler and either attach it to somebody's tube or put it on an anchor or something. It'll float cause it's styrofoam, but we'll have to fill it with a little water for stability when they're floppin around in there. We should also have a bungee on the lid so it doesn't pop off. I think makos eat mostly fish (just look at their teeth) and rarely attack anything the size of a human. I'm just worried about em getting riled up from dead fish hanging in the water everywhere. If they get amped enough, who knows, they see a couple fins flicking up and down... As long as the fish are away from the float tube, it'll probably be fine, but I'd still feel safer with em out of the water. Besides, I don't want my dodo to get sharked on the stringer... Tigers and whites are the two responsible for the most attacks and I don't think either one is in the area we'll be at. So, if we're careful and not provide chum for the sharks, I don't think it'll be a problem.
-Brian

Yeah, there will be sharks in the area, but like you said they are fish eaters. As far as storage (of the fish) goes I think that the boat is the best bet. I was thinking that the boat should just gaff the fish and take it aboard. I've watched a mako bite yellow tail off at the head like it was eating butter. This happened while the fish was only a couple inches below. Now this is only one instance I've seen in hundreds of trips, but I'd rather tread lightly on their home turf. Plus, storage space is sure to be an issue aboard the boat, and I think that the speed in which we can enter, exit, and move on to the next paddy will be a factor. Another deckhand I work with said he would take 2 out and I'll ask him about 3. I think that whoever does this should be paid, so that the incentive is there to watch us and not be concerned about catching their own fish right away. And in a good bite it could be hard enough just chasing us down, imagine 3 fish going all in different directions. I'm thinking that we should shoot for splitting fuel and food, plus $30 each for the skippers efforts (not much, but something). The above mentioned friend's boat holds about 50 gallons of fuel, but I don't know at what rate he burns it. As far as launching goes, it would be from Dana Point. I work at the Wharf, and should be able to get bait free, and this is where I know people with boats. Let me know what you think. You can also call me at (714)658-8895.

Ed

I forgot to add that I think that the boat should also be close at hand to run interference between us and other boaters. If they can't see paddies when another boat is fishing right next to it, they probably could miss us. Way more probable than any shark trying to play tagg. maybe we could attach those flags you put on kids bikes?

Ed

Ed,
Sounds good. I wasn't sure how far away the boat was gonna be, but hell, if it's right there, might as well throw the fish up there. That's a good point about other boaters also, I didn't think about that. Do you have a rod holder on your tube? If you do, we should both (or all) leave one holder open and stick some kinda pole in it with a flag, like you said. Not only for boaters but so that we'll automatically know where everybody is. Man, I'm gettin amped already... How sweet would it be to hook into a yellowfin from the float tube... Oh man. Alright, there's halibut waitin for me, talk to ya later.
-Brian

I think you guys are going to have a ball. The biggest problem on a weekend is going to be the other boaters. I dont know if you have ever been out on the local paddies, but there will be a hundred boats on each one. I have been off dana when dorados have jumped and hit other peoples boats because there to close. there are always reports of getting sawed off by some other boat driving over hooked fish. Some folks dont respect other boats, I dont think you will be able to fight them off in a tube. you will have a better chance on a week day. I keep good thoughts that you find a paddy with no boats in the area. Be safe, and dont be suprised by some rude boaters.

I agree about the weekend boat problem, and if we could do a weekday that would be much better. I fished 3/4 day today and outside it was pretty empty(in comparison to the week end). On a side note the sandies were W.F.O., even with a sea lion on us. I fished straight plastic w/ no squid and pulled in 30-40 of the horny little fish. Limits by 10am and then out to find the dodo's. 5 on the boat, but none for me. Also 5 yellows for the boat.Any ways, let me know if a week day is possible, and as I ask around I'll try to find multiple options.

Ed

Ed,
Well, as of sept. 5 I'll have school on the weekdays, but... Consider it open. For something like this, ##### school. Geeze, school hasn't even started yet and I'm already sick of it!!! However, my parents both work so I won't have a car on the weekdays (unless we can work something out) so basically, for it to happen on a weekday, It'd have to be for 3 people so I could get a ride down there. We'll see what happens.
-Brian

Brian,

Well in my search for a vessel I went to the web. The address below is my post. The reponses are not too helpful, but many are funny. There is one post which caused some worry and that is the one about blue sharks. Also, some where else was a post ab out mako #'s being up. With out the right boat we won't have a problem, but assuming we find a vessel we should think more on how to prevent any toothy problems.

Ed
p.s. if you ever want to try out inshore tubing down here give me a call.

http://www.sport-fish-info.com/dcforum/dcpages/private/4695.html