Checking the weather and swells on the internet this morning at three, I saw at the Marineland Ledge I would be greeted by a three-foot swell -- with eight footers hitting the outer main points -- to go along with 15-mile-per hour winds.  These conditions are the edge of the envelope for me as the ledge and bluff block most of the buffeting.  What broke the opaleye's back was the fact that there was no algae bait at Colorado Lagoon this morning.  We'll try again in two weeks.

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Search for man shifts to ocean 2/25

Search is under way for fisherman swept off RPV rocks Sunday night 2/24

Marineland update:  in the photo you can see one of my favorite opaleye spots, Long Point.

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Report From Mike B.

Dear Du,

Finally... I was able to go fishing again. My grandson Eli and I went to Laguna Niguel Lake. He seems to be an expert with this Pondisimo. We arrived around 9:30am and during the course of the day, I tried several different colors of Gulp, and plain olde Power Bait; even tried Power Worms and salmon eggs. No tickie, no laundry. 

Well, around 4pm I was starting to lose hope. (The lake closes at 5) I turned to Eli and asked; which one of these baits do you think I should use? He pointed to one that I hadn't used yet. I asked him why he picked it, and he said it was a neat color. It was Gulp-Orange Pulp. I rolled some into a ball then shaped a little tail from it and cast it out. You guessed it Mike, not 5 minutes had gone by and the rod suddenly bent sharply downward. I said, "that's your fish, big guy." Eli took the rod out of the rod holder and tugged at it slightly to set the hook. This fish was a real fighter, so I stood next to him and showed him how to use the drag to keep the fish from breaking the line. The spool had 4lb mainline with a 2lb short (8in) leader, tipped with a #18 treble hook with a 1/8oz. sliding sinker. 

After about 10 minutes he brought the fish in close enough for me to net. I weighed it with my new

Berkeley digital fish weigher chingadera. It weighed in @ 2lb11oz. He's caught bigger ones, but he said he had alot of fun with this one.

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Funny from Chuck L.:

A man was on the water for his weekly fishing trip.  He began his day with a 8 Lb walleye on the first cast and a 7 Lb on the second.   On the third cast he had just caught his first ever walleye over 11 pounds when his cell phone rang.  It was a doctor notifying him that his wife had just been in a terrible accident and was in critical condition and in the ICU.  The man told the doctor to inform his wife where he was and that he'd be there as soon as possible.  As he hung up he realized he was leaving what was shaping up to be his best day ever on the water.  He decided to get in a couple more casts before heading to the hospital.  He ended up fishing the rest of the morning, finishing his trip with a stringer like he'd never seen, with 3 walleye over 10 pounds.  He was jubilant....  Then he remembered his wife.  Feeling guilty he dashed to the hospital. He saw the doctor in the corridor and asked about his wife's condition.  The doctor glared at him and shouted, 'You went ahead and finished  your fishing trip didn't you?  I hope your proud of yourself!  While you were out for the past four hours enjoying yourself on the lake, your wife has been languishing in the ICU!  It's just as well you went ahead and finished because it will be more than likely the last fishing trip you ever take!  For the rest of her life she will require 'round the clock care.  And you'll be her care giver forever!  The man was feeling guilty so he broke down and sobbed.  The doctor then chuckled and said, 'I'm just messing' with ya. She's dead. What'd you catch?

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