Congrats to Brian for making the local paper with his prized WSB catch! Nice toad! Unfortunately, the word has gotten out quick. Tree and I went to the Harbor yesterday to throw some plastics from shore. Got a few bites here and there but nothing big. We even tried throwing bait from the jetty but still didn't get anything. Anyway, you should have seen the armada of small boats and kayaks fishing around the bait dock area! And the jetty and breakwater were mobbed like a day after Christmas sale! Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit but there were a ton of people out there. If any of you are planning on fishing the Harbor this weekend, I suggest going real early or in the evening. Brian, I'm beginning to think this seabass thing is a myth (just kidding).

It's great that the fishing folks on this board share info but at times you wonder if it isn't better keep quiet about some things. The sea bass are breezing through the Ventura Harbor too. Very like SB, they come through, bite for a short period and then they're gone. It's been more spotty here. Two days in a row then nothing for a while. I don't think it's a case of the bite shutting down, I think they're just passing through. If you're there when they are it's hot. I've got them on Kroks, Pirk Minnows, Kalin grubs, Wham Fisheeze and a Minnolure.

Hey, you guys saw that huh? Yeah, I'd imagine after Mike's column on harbor fishing, the harbor would get pretty pounded. Oh well. We don't mind giving out info on this site. Granted, for bass fishing it can come back and bite us in the butt in a tournament when somebody's been reading our reports and beats us at our own game, but what can ya do. Saltwater's no big deal, it's just about everybody having a good time. All we ask however is that when we post about, for instance a hot bass lure or hot seabass lure (fastrac minnow), that you release all fish that are under the limit and release all bass, at least from carneros. Half of that is just following dfg, the other half is sportsmanship, so it ain't much to ask. I got busted by my parents so they confiscate all my fishing gear, my driver's license, my fishing license, and I can only be on the comp. an hour a day, so I'll be out of it for like 2 to 4 weeks. Bummed. I don't want to talk about the reason I got busted however...
-Brian

Bummer, Brian... So, now that you've brought it up, what exactly did you do wrong? Hey, remember... we're all one big cyber family here. Fisherman are a tight-knit group, right guys? Right? Anyway, you can think of this as being somewhat therapeutic. We've all been there before!

The ocean is a different story than enclosed bodies of water like small lakes, streams, etc. Anyone who keeps fish from an area like Los Carneros or the Santa Ynez River (Bass - I'm not talking about the stupid stocker trout - that is what they are there for) is pretty selfish.

Adding to Brian's comment I would like to not only encourage people to release all the illegal sized fish but also release a few legals now and then. Only keep what you need even if it's legal. I've released 1 of my 3 legal seabass out of the harbor, about half of the legal halibut I've caught this year, and of course all the bass - legal or not.

One thing about harbor fishing which is probably more important than over-fishing it (because I do believe the seabass "breeze" through at different times so it's really not a place that can be "over-fished") is to be courteous to other boats using the harbor for what it was intended for. It is a small area and with too many float tubes, kayaks, or god forbid sportboats tying themselves to the receivers for hours could also develop into a problem. Complaints from people using the harbor for launching about fisherman becoming a nuciance can only be bad.

*******************************

You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.

Well said Pete. I should've mentioned to encourage people the release of legal fish also. Especially calico bass. Halibut are ok, that's your call. Calico bass, especially the big ones, you should really consider releasing. White seabass, if it's around the harbor or whatever, you might want to throw back those barely legal fish so you can have fun with em another night. Ok, as for my grounding, let's just say it involves barbed wire, night time, camouflage clothing and fishing. Rob knows exactly what I'm talking about. Just for kicks, I got a 2.5 largemouth and a 2 lb. smallie, both on black buzzbaits. A bunch of dinks too. So, how many of you are police officers as your day job? :-) I guess if anything good is coming out of this punishment, I'm working on putting a casting deck w/ livewell on my 12 ft. aluminum, so it'll be ready for margarita expeditions and also one mile/camby's. I could also ship it to catalina...
-Brian

Oh come on brian, lets not lie now, the bass were probably only 1.5 and 2 lbs as much as you'ld like to elorbrate. Well, i got busted to, just to let you all know. But brian got ripped on by his parents and i only got slightly reprimended. Well since brian cant fish for a while, i might be the one posting some of the reports that he used to post.

Leggs

PS:Barbed wire sucks!