With Capt. John King
Sleep Walking
It has been an odd year. The
weather has been 'interesting' to say
the least, but more than that, things
are happening
out there that
defy the laws
of nature. I
am not sure
whether any-
thing that I
have learned
about fishing.
appliesthis
season. John King
Traditional Columnist
wisdom is not
so wise this year. I cannot even
answer a simple question such as
"What's biting?" without qualifying
my answer with a lot of 'usually',
'maybe' and 'probable' elements in
my answer.
It is common for callers to ask,
"Which is better for fishing, morn-
ing or afternoon?" I have always
found this to be an easy question
to answer. "Mornings. There is
often a good bite early and if there
is going to be wind, it will be in the
afternoon." It's my stock answer.
I should say "was" my stock
answer.
For at least the last 15 years I
would venture to say that our fish-
ing charter customers caught more
fish, and better quality fish, when
they opted to take an early morning
charter.
I cannot say this is true this
season.
We have run over a hundred early
morning charters this year, and all
have caught fish. Sometimes many,
sometimes a few, but always there
was something to catch.
Afternoon charters have tradi-
tionally been less predictable. As a
result, fewer of my customers have
chosen to book an afternoon trip.
This year we have had a number
of last minute callers looking to
book a trip for the next day or even
later the same day. As a result, we
seem to be doing more afternoon
trips and we have been scoring well
on these.
In just the last two weeks we
have had eight charters leaving the
harbor at noon, and four of those
have come back with White Sea
Bass." WHITE SEA BASS!
Afternoon charters are more
commonly casual affairs. Most are
filled with novice anglers of fami-
lies looking for a fish and tour trip.
Calico Bass and maybe Bonito are
the usual targets for such trips, not
White Sea Bass.
White Sea Bass are supposed to
be nocturnal feeders. They bite in
the wee hours of the morning and
usually seem to shut off by sun up.
In most years, we leave the harbor
in the dark and head for the back
side where we will usually find 150
other boats on the squid grounds in
search of these fish.
On my recent trip with a bunch
of first time anglers I found myself
alone at The Slide. Not another
boat within a mile. The kids caught
41 Calico Bass and hooked 5 or 6
White Sea Bass, at 2:30 p.m not
a.m
A day or two later Capt. Charlie
had a gent with his wife looking to
have a little boat tour and maybe
toss in a line. That line got bit and
that customer caught his first White
Sea Bass.
A couple of days later I got a call
from a potential customer looking
to book a trip during his two-day
Capt. Charlie is on fire, nabbing another nice set of White Sea Bass for an afternoon charter aboard Gustol Courtesy photo
stay at the island. We were just too all caught within a one-hour span. As I am writing this, I just
booked to fit him in to a morning Capt. Charlie is on fire! received a text from a regular cus-
slot. It would have to be an after- For many local anglers these tomer looking to book a trip this
noon trip or none at all. fish are known as the Gray ghosts, weekend. Our morning slots are
He booked a trip for July 8th and they are haunted by the pros- filled, so I suggested a later time
from noon to three pm. I told him pects of catching a big one. I have slot. He texted back, "Afternoon
not to get his hopes up, and his friends who are regular fisherman fishing is poor, what is your price
response was "Don't worry Capt. who have never caught a White Sea for that time slot?"
John, this is a trip for my son. He Bass. I sent him a few pics and sug-
has never caught anything of note, It is hard for our guests to under- gested we should be charging dou-
but I am trying to get him out on stand what they have accomplished, ble.
the water just for the fun of it It would be like shooting a hole-in-
it doesn't matter if we even catch one on their first try at golf, or roll- Capt. John runs Afishinados
a fish." ing a 300 game at their first game of Charters and Catallac Tours -
They came back to the harbor bowling. Not impossible, but very john@afishinados.com- 888-613-
with three nice White Sea Bass, unlikely. 7770.
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6 Friday, July 13, 2018 THE CATALINA ISLANDER
