Lobster Opener in Catalina 09-27-2013 to 09-29-2013

So I decided to go along with my friends Hashem aka Mahigeer and John aka Redkorn to Catalina for the lobster opener this year. Season opened at 12:01 AM on 09/28/2013. Mahigeer and I arrived around 7:30 AM on 09-27-2013 and John came in on the 9:00 PM boat. We all left on 09-29-2013, me on the 10:15 AM boat. Lots of fun was had, many fish were caught (including my first ever bonito from shore), lots of eye candy was enjoyed and most importantly I did come home with one lobster (thanks to John ;))! A very detailed report of the trip can be found here Catalina Mole, lobster opener 9/27/2013 which is the PFIC (Pier Fishing In California) website we all met on many years ago. Below are my pics from the trip and a few comments, but make sure to check out the link for the detailed report, it is a beautifully put together report of the trip. BTW, I was up for close to 90 hours straight between the day before and this trip, so I was a bit tired when I got home, lol.

09/27/2013

Cruise ship parked outside of the bay

 Mahigeer with triple Mackerel hook up above and double bonito below

 

My first ever Bonito caught from shore!

 

Tree Rockfish above, horn shark below

09/28/2013

 Casino at Night

 Sunrise

 Local Lobster Poacher in red shorts, called Cal-Tip on them, but no one ever showed up.

 Redkorn aka John fishing hard!

 Nice man named Bill we met on the trip with an Eel he caught

Lots of short lobsters below

09/29/2013

 My first ever legal that I actually pulled up!

 Another small tree rockfish

 Parting Shot

Days of work for this, but it was worth it :)

Palos Verdes 08-26-2012

Brian and I each caught one small Leopard shark on squid. I caught an eel on squid, abd we both caught a bunch of lobster which were released of course. I had a large shark that broke my 40 pound test after jumping about 20' from me, very disappointing.

Pictures from Mahigeer - Catalina March 2012

Cat Harbor Fishing 03/24/2012

We all slept from around 2:00 A.M. till 6:00 A.M. at which time we all got up and got ready for the day of fishing. After a quick breakfast at the local restaurant we proceeded to the other side of the island, Cat Harbor. We first stopped not too far in to the harbor and fished that for an hour or so with me landing a few shovelnose, my dad landing a few as well and John landing a 4 1/2 foot leopard shark (all released except one small shovelnose which was kept for an artist to use). We then proceeded further up the harbor to a jetty near where a yacht club was at previously (currently abandoned). My dad hooked into something big that broke his line and I caught my very first eel which was also returned after being freed from my line by Hasheem. After moving because there was too much kelp we went to the top of a hill near the mouth of the harbor and took a short snack break of carrots and dip provided by Hasheem. There was too much kelp at the harbor entrance for us to fish it productively so we went back to the jetty near the yacht club and fished the harbor and a small inlet. There were lots of jumping fish in Cat Harbor by the way! After fishing the jetty and inlet for a while we moved up to a small pier on the other side of the harbor. Hasheem caught a short 18" halibut and John caught a sole about the same size. We then moved a little up the coast after receiving a tip from a local. John landed a pretty big shovelnose and my dad landed a small bat ray. At about 6:00 P.M. we went back to the restaurant on the other side of the island for dinner then back to camp. After relaxing a bit and having a Raki party we went back to the pier in Isthmus Cove but the water was dead so we did not stay too long.

Pictures of the day below: