Captain and crew of the Clemente kept anglers within reach of Catalina’s top targets from beginning to end
BY MIKE STEVENS
DANA POINT – The annual Dana Wharf Sportfishing full-day WON charter may have hit Catalina the day before the yellowtail bite really materialized for Dana Wharf boats last week, but it was still a great trip where anglers were always within casting range of big, breezing mossbacks while also picking off decent numbers of quality calico bass.
Captain Chad Steffen motored away from the bait barge in Dana Harbor with a tank consisting of pinhead anchovies and stocker-trout sardines. Not ideal, but conditions were pretty solid as the Clemente shot across to Catalina over calm seas. Captain Chad really liked what he was seeing as far as conditions and “sign” at his first stop on Catalina’s West End.
With a cell signal at the island, I texted WON all-things-charters guy Landon Thomas a photo of the ‘chovies (that would be perfectly-sized for crappie, a simple matter of that’s what’s available right now) and “time to separate the men from the boys!”
The fish were there. Fish of all Catalina flavors and at various levels of the water column, and conditions were ripe for some drag-scorching action. A few calicos cooperated first, then a yellowtail was hooked and battled for a spell before coming unbuttoned. A sea lion ramped up its aggression around the Clemente, and Captain Chad pulled anchor and moved to the next spot, bookmarking that one for a potential second try later in the day.
Despite the fishy conditions and perfect weather, that was basically how each stop on the trip played out, but when it comes down to it, at least one yellowtail hookup per stop is pretty favorable on a trip where everyone has forkies on the mind. Steffen wouldn’t keep the Clemente at a spot if there wasn’t activity in the form of bend rods or promising marks on the electronics. There was enough of that to keep angler’s upbeat and “in the game” and the fishing did improve with each passing hour which also keeps spirits high. There were also multiple stops on kelp paddies both on the way out and back in as the crew of the Clemente never stopped fishing.
In the end, my unofficial count was 8 yellowtail hookups and none landed. Most of those tussles went on for 10 to 15 minutes before the fish came off, and there was no rhyme or reason for it. In fact, several other boats fishing the same area that day had the same thing happen. According to the crew of the Clemente, breezing yellows were clearly keyed in on micro baitfish, so an angler’s best options were targeting big fish with tiny bait and light gear, trying to “match the hatch” with similarly-sized artificials, or rolling the dice with a full-sized sardine.
Over the course of the day, big calicos came over the rail with increasing frequency along with some log barracuda. Most of those pinhead anchovies were used as chum, and the big sardines that the sea lion didn’t munch actually ended up working well for the yellowtail, big bass and ‘cudas. Not only did Captain Chad keep the boat moving in hopes of hitting the motherlode, he added “one last stop” before heading back to the barn that resulted in the best bass fishing of the day, and the final mossback hookups.
That strong finish on the “extra” final stop paired with the fact the right kind of bendos were happening at a respectable clip throughout the day really eliminated the grind factor.
In part because the ever-present sea lions smoked most of the larger barries that were hooked, a nicer calico wound up winning the jackpot for Toby Egbert, the last angler to sign up for the trip. Egbert not only earned the J.P. cash from the Clemente, but also a prize jackpot prize package from WON highlighted by an AFTCO gift card, P-Line pliers and other sponsor items. Prior to boarding, every angler on the Clemente was handed a “supply bag” from WON containing Gamakatsu hooks, a spool of Izorline, Costa Gear, a P-line jig, and even a free Cancun or Orlando vacation voucher. Pete Wolf of Big Hammer was also on board with “The Bait Tank” (his big tub of loose plastics all passengers are free to dip into) was also aboard the Clemente, which was another nice touch.
Fishing being fishing, it’s worth noting that the Clemente was back at it in the days that followed, and they hammered the yellows on the 5 to 5 trip a day later, and again on the local ¾-day after that. – DanaWharf.com
