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Since we're on the topic of "incidental" catches. We gotta talk about the Bonefish! We love these fish, they are like being hooked up to a lightning bolt. They make spirited runs and are complete chaos at boatside. We make it a point to not touch these fish as they are pretty delicate, and extremely slimy! So we net, picture and release. These fish are a local subspecies called the "Cortez Bonefish" and are a relative to the warm water version found in tropical destinations l

Another occasional catch for us in the bay is the Black Sea Bass. It is protected in California waters. We catch a handful of these a year from juvenile to about 50#. We net these fish, never lift them out of the water, and leave them better than we found them! How so you ask? Well, for some reason these fish get a lot of arthropod (think rolley polley) parasites on their fins. These parasites chew on the fins until eventually the fish has no fins, possibly gets an infection

They call em’ Angel cause they taste like heaven! Occasionally we will catch one of these during our trips and they are truly delicious, however cleaning them is quite the chore! You can make boots out of their skin and they will definitely eat up your knife. When you bring them on the boat, they are extremely aggressive and have a formidable set of dentures. Blind taste test, people will choose these to Halibut 50/50! San Diego Fish Processing does a great job of cleaning th

Two things Diamond Dogs doesn't leave the dock without. One is Jax, unless of course we forget him on the dock. He's so chill sometimes we forget! The other is the gyros. I never thought I needed them, until I demoed them. They aren't just for offshore use, they work great everywhere, and frequently in the South Bay we are going from bird school to bird school. Nowadays, there are more affordable versions from Sig Sauer and other brands. There are also "baller" versions from

Well, that's a simple yet complex conversation! There's a few things that are noteworthy. While there are definitely more Halibut around during the Spring and Fall, I've caught these fish every month of the year. My biggest one came on March 31, back when I was younger and my hair wasn't gray! Early spring is when the big mamas are around, but there are far fewer of these, so be prepared to put some time in, and strike out often, but you gotta stay in the game. I'll share a f

As you may have heard, we have an El Niño coming this year. To add to this, we have a marine heatwave known as The Blob happening as well, Those Yellowfin and Dorado you heard about down the coast are a product of The Blob, not the El Niño. The El Niño will exert its influence later this year. What happens then, all bets are off! In the meantime, let's enjoy the awesome fishing we have so far this year!

No secret that our Bay trips are the most popular trips we run. They are affordable and a lot of fun. The fish are super cooperative, but there are a few things that improve your success. Fish like grandpa! First of all, grampa, he's chill and he lets lots of line out, he's patient about it. This makes it so grandpa's lure stay on the bottom covering lots of ground, right where the bass and halibut are! Grandpa also reels in nice and slow to help his lure stay down. He fishes