Tackle Debrief

We followed Pete's advice on gear and felt very well equipped.

For Big Hammer fishing, my favorite setup was:

Okuma Guide Series Swimbait Rod 7'11" XH - Shimano Calcutta TE 400 - 50lb Triple Fish Braid

65lb braid works fine as well. 50 just gets you more line capacity and a little more casting distance. We used the Trilene knot to attach the line to the lure and had good success. No superglue needed on the knot. My only break-off on a yellow was with 200+ feet of line out and I suspect the fish just found something sharp or had me through so much kelp that the line abraded.

For surface iron, a good 9' jig stick is in order with 40lb mono. I was using:

Calstar 850M - Shimano Trinidad 20DC - 40lb Triple Fish Mono (perlon) clear

The 8 and a half footer was on the short side for good casting. You could fish 30lb or 50lb, but it seemed like 40lb hit the sweet spot. I tied the jig on with a San Diego knot. Alan was using a piece of 58lb single strand wire on his jig and it seemed to work well - generating more action from the jig and allowing you to cut through some kelp. The rig went mono -> split ring -> split ring -> wire -> jig. I'd consider that for future trips. The Trinidad Digital Control reel was a slick little setup. My casting with iron is not that great and it felt like the computer assisted casting really helped with distance and (more importantly) with the backlash control.

For yo-yo fishing a 7 or 8' heavy action rod with 50 mono seemed about right. We fished with:

Shimano 6' tuna rods - Shimano Torsa 20 - 50lb Big Game green

We were over-gunned for the yo-yo fishing, but it was fun. If the big grade yellows had been eating it I may not be saying that though. Those Torsa reels have insane gearing. I caught some of the smaller grade yellows on the Torsa and they didn't pull a single foot of drag! When we fished sand bass on the first fishing day I was being lazy and dropping down my yo-yo jig with this rod and it was great - the only problem was that I kept ripping the lips off the fish when I went to reel them in. Oops.

In regards to terminal tackle - I'd break the fishing down in to three categories:

Swimbaits: 3 to 6.5" Big Hammers all worked. The yellows preferred baitfish patterns like Rainbow Trout, Mackerel, Shad, or Baitfish although a few of the fish caught close to the beach were on the red/orange patterns. The 5, 5.5 and 6.5" models all got bit by the big yellows. If I were to pick one bait for yellows I'd fish the #13 Baitfish in 5.5" on a 1oz head.

For bass it seemed like the browns and reds were working well along with the baitfish colors. Calico Hunter red flake is hard to beat. Hot Karl caught a lot of fish on this trip as well. A red or yellow leadhead is good and you want a selection of 3/4 to 1.5oz heads. For the smaller bass a 5" bait seemed best since you didn't get as many short strikes as the larger sizes. When the bigger calicos were chewing - size didn't matter a bit. If it came down to one bait for bass I'd toss a 5" Calico Hunter Red Flake on a red 1.5oz jighead.

If it's in this photo - it got bit on the trip

Pete had recommended bringing 125 baits per person, but we found at the end of the trip that we'd only used 40-50 baits each. If you superglue the head you can get 6-10 bass per bait no problem. With the yellows you either hook them in the lip and they destroy the bait rampaging through the kelp stringers, or you hook them inside the mouth and the bait is just fine. With the braided line we used 10-12 heads the entire trip. You lose a few but not many. Fishing the Hammer is definitely cheaper than senko fishing for largemouth.

Iron: From the big boat I'd have two jigs; a Salas 7x (which I didn't have on this trip) for surface iron, and a Salas CP-105 for yo-yo fishing. When the grande sized yellows showed around the big boat you had to make a long cast and keep your surface iron down a few feet below the surface. From the skiffs you were closer to the water so the Tady 45's didn't tend to plane to the surface as much. I'd have a selection of 45's along with the 7x and the Tady Starman 112 (which is also called a Candybar) for the skiffs. Pete also had good success with a Kicker Candyman SS from the skiffs.

Blue and green colors worked the best for yellows by far. Turquoise and teal colors in particular. Nico did well on chrome and blue. Bass were less picky.

Bait: 4/0 Mustad hooks and a selection of torpedo sinkers from 3 to 12oz is about all you need. There's just no other way to fish halibut on a fast drift in 70' of water but you will want to catch them once you see the first 20 pounder go over the rail.

Things I forgot

Neosporin, hydrogen peroxide and tape that will stay on when wet. Hands take a beating on these trips. By the fourth day, my hands just hurt in spite of the fact that I wore good gloves the entire trip. Washing your hands with the anti-bacterial soap on the boat takes the sting off after handling fish.

A good scale would have been nice to have as well. My old Stren 50lb scale ripped apart on the first day when we put a 30lb yellow on it. Nico's 55lb Salter Digital worked great.

The veterans brought folding chairs for the back deck. A must have item for long evening runs between islands. Something to read might have been nice too.