# Just a little bumpy 1-30-12



## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

We left the dock a little after 5 am and spent about 15 minutes trying to pick up croakers. We only got a few and headed out. I had my father-in-law and Ramon, a co-worker of my wife's. Ramon had only been out the sea on a cruise ship. I offered him a dramamine, but he turned it down. I told him that at the slightest hint of a headache or any strange feeling, he needed to tell me and he would not be in violation of boat rule #1 (rule #1: Don't be a vagina) and I would have him drive the boat and take the dramamine. All was good for the hour ride out, but shortly after stopping to fish it hit him like a ton of bricks. I told him I would take him in, but he declined. I started fishing and quickly hooked up on one of my knife jigs. I tried to get Ramon to reel it in, but he couldn't. It ended up being a bull red. I kept asking if he was ready to go in, and finally he said OK (I was about to call it myself, but later he thanked me for giving him the chance to try shaking it off). I ran him in and my father-in-law decided to stay on land too.

I picked some "ledges" I've never fished before, but couldn't find any actual ledges. I picked up a couple triggers, a flounder, and a few squirrel fish on the bait pole and a shark the AJ rod. The numbers I have for those spots are not very precise and I decided that I would spend more time searching on a calmer day. I picked out a wreck I had never been to and set off. When I got there, my fish finder lit up so I started jigging. The wind was moving me about a knot to a knot and a half and i was worried that my jigs wouldn't be heavy enough to get to the bottom, but they did.

I was using the plain knife that Millertime had caught 7 or 8 AJ's on a couple days ago and I had caught the bull red with earlier. First drop down I hook up. I landed the him and wouldn't you know it, he was just legal. I tempted the fishing gods, throwing him back because I wanted a bigger one. I reset for another drift and dropped down a second time, and hooked up a second time. This one was undersized. That makes 10 or 11 AJ's and 1 bull red, for those keeping score. Third drift, third drop, third hook-up. This was the fish I was looking for. He was strong and I knew he would have been big enough to put on ice. I had drifted quite a ways off the wreck and thought I was safe, but I just couldn't get him turned around. Despite my best efforts, he made it to the wreck and broke off. After a moment of silence and salut4e to a fine jig that gave it's life for the cause, I tied on "The Tiger" and reset my drift. Once again I quickly hooked up. Again this was a nice fish. When I got him to the surface there was no doubt he was a keeper so I gaffed him. He may not have been huge by some peoples' standards, but at 36" he was a personal and boat record.

After getting him bled and on ice, I tidied up the boat for the ride home and decided to do a little catch and release for the camera. I hooked into another monster, but again I just couldn't gain much on him. He eventually broke off. I made one last drift and again hooked up. I boated and released this one and decided it was time to head for the barn.

I noticed there was a lot of weeds and an occasional turtle. I was only able to make about 11 knots so I figured I might as well troll. I set out two poles with dolphin lures with bonita strips, but the only thing I picked up was a couple bonita (both his at the same time).

I decided to make a quick stop at the Thomas Hayward since I have not been there in a while as see if it was still holding AJ's. My fish finder was showing a lot of fish but I did a couple passes without getting hit. On the third drift I hooked up, but I had no idea what it was, it just felt different than normal. Once I got him up I saw why. I had snagged a juvenile AJ in the tail. After that it was really time to get home. I had a great time out there, sometimes it's fun to be out fishing alone.


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## sniperpeeps (Mar 5, 2011)

Nice report, sounds like those knife jigs are money


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## still flippen (Oct 6, 2007)

Very cool vidieo:thumbup: Looked like fun!!


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

sniperpeeps said:


> Nice report, sounds like those knife jigs are money


I can't believe how well they work. I'll be building more.


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## MillerTime (Jul 6, 2011)

That was one hard working and successful jig. Too bad it is lost forever. Sounds like you had a great time today. I gotta go find me some used knives to make some of my own.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

MillerTime said:


> That was one hard working and successful jig. Too bad it is lost forever. Sounds like you had a great time today. I gotta go find me some used knives to make some of my own.


That was a great jig. Good thing there are more. I caught another fish on the top hook too. Since it was a little smaller it bent, so both top and bottom will be getting the 7/O hooks.


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

Nice, I like it alot!!!


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## MillerTime (Jul 6, 2011)

Trophyhusband said:


> That was a great jig. Good thing there are more. I caught another fish on the top hook too. Since it was a little smaller it bent, so both top and bottom will be getting the 7/O hooks.


I like the one hook at the top and bottom. The jigs I had bought have two assist hooks at the top which is really a pain when you get back hooked near the same place.


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

Nice what lb test do you put on your jigging reel also what lb leader?
I'm thinking of getting into it just trying to get an idea of what I need.

Nice video, I wonder how big the beast that stole millertimes favorite knife was! 
Thanks


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## MillerTime (Jul 6, 2011)

I use 65lb power pro and a 80 lb leader. I have had a few break offs on the leader but never broken the main line.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

I use 85# braid main line with 100# leader. I think with these fish abrasion resistance is more important than tensile strength though.


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## osborne311 (Aug 1, 2011)

Great Report! Glad you had a great day.


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## 1pescadoloco (Dec 2, 2011)

Great video. Conditions looked a little sporty out there.

Time for some AJ burgers


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

TH great post! Sure looked like you were having fun out there and I have to tell you my hat is off to you.

I watched you fishing by yourself and it was a bit sporty but you had your life vest on. If I had to bet a dollar or two, I would say that you probably have a boat bag on board. In it I would probably find up to date signaling devices, some kind of locator device, probably a hand held VHF and a first aid kit. You most likely have more than the required goodies in there. I'd also have to guess that you filed a float plan. Tight lines to you!


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## Remy (Dec 28, 2010)

Nice post man, what where you using to video?


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

Kim said:


> TH great post! Sure looked like you were having fun out there and I have to tell you my hat is off to you.
> 
> I watched you fishing by yourself and it was a bit sporty but you had your life vest on. If I had to bet a dollar or two, I would say that you probably have a boat bag on board. In it I would probably find up to date signaling devices, some kind of locator device, probably a hand held VHF and a first aid kit. You most likely have more than the required goodies in there. I'd also have to guess that you filed a float plan. Tight lines to you!


You might be giving me a little too much credit. I do have in date signal flares, flare gun, and two first aid kits. I don't have a hand held VHF yet, but my dash mount does have AIS and I have an MMIS number so my distress button would broadcast my position and boat info. I do give someone a time to expect hear from me and I always make a phone call when I hit the no wake zone in the pass but since I usually don't know myself where I'll end up its hard to file a float plan. 

I don't normally wear a life jacket unless I'm alone. As you can see the sides of my boat are low and it really wouldn't take much to fall out. I figure that if someone else if with me they can come back and get me should I fall out. 

It's funny that a couple people mentioned that it looked sporty. I'm sure that if I had said what size the waves were, someone would have said "no, those were two footers at best." One thing I'm surprised at is how much calmer it looks on video than it does in person. I'm guessing that it was about 4 to 5 foot seas, but the period was long enough that I wasn't taking much over the bow or stern. Occasionally a little would come in, but definitely not enough to worry about. I've been in smaller seas and went in because the period was shorter. Believe me though, I was keeping a close eye on things. I was expecting that the seas would pick up enough to send me in, and in a way they did, but not because of the danger. My back started to protest pulling in that last fish.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

Remy said:


> Nice post man, what where you using to video?


I'm using a Gopro. It was suction cup mounted for most of the video, but I used the bicycle mount to attach it to the net handle. I'm hoping to start getting more video from different angles. I would love to get underwater video of an AJ hitting a jig, but that would be nearly impossible to get unless they were really worked into a frenzy near the surface.


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## Deeplines (Sep 28, 2007)

Nice post and Video. Thanks for posting.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

Thank you.


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## Texasgator (May 2, 2008)

Watching you fish it makes me realize that the next time I fish by myself I need to take more precautions and wear a lifevest. You should always prepare for the worst case situations and enjoy the day! Great job!


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## PorknBeans (Nov 21, 2007)

love "the tiger"!! looks like it drives the fish nuts!


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## grey ghost (Jul 24, 2011)

trophy, awsome viedo! Dude they owe you big for takeing them back, LOL they woulda had to tough it out with me!! haha lol nice fish, ive never tried jigging, i have bought some,they still in pack never opened, you just convinced me to start jigging!! and maybe make some!!


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

PorknBeans said:


> love "the tiger"!! looks like it drives the fish nuts!


I've never pulled one out of the water without a fish attached. Tomorrow I'm taking my father-in-law out fishing so I'm going to test some of the other ones. Once I catch a fish on a jig, I'll swap it out for the next color. I also want to play with different camera angles. I'm going to drop down my underwater camera rig and get video of the action of them too (hopefully). If I'm feeling really confident, I'll see if I can get video of an AJ taking a jig. When I pull them up, sometimes several other fish follow. I thinking that if I have the camera about 15 feet down and a second rig ready to go I can drop the jig in front of the camera and possible get another hookup. That would be insane.


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

Nice look forward to seeing that!! 
Lemme know when you can help with mine ill have the brews rdy lol


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

grey ghost said:


> trophy, awsome viedo! Dude they owe you big for takeing them back, LOL they woulda had to tough it out with me!! haha lol nice fish, ive never tried jigging, i have bought some,they still in pack never opened, you just convinced me to start jigging!! and maybe make some!!


I had to take them in. Ramon was absolutely miserable and the trip was for him. There was no way he was going to get past it. He said he puked again when he got home and then slept for several hours

I've never caught an AJ on my store bought jigs so obviously my recommendation would be to make some yourself. Even with the time I've put into making them, I've spent way more time chasing bait.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

oxbeast1210 said:


> Nice look forward to seeing that!!
> Lemme know when you can help with mine ill have the brews rdy lol


Pretty much any afternoon this week except tomorrow. I'll have a boat and maybe fish to clean tomorrow afternoon.


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

Sounds good can you send me a pm with your contact info . That way we can set something up.


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