Great day fishing

luckydude

GreatGrady Captain
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
Messages
1,289
Reaction score
602
Points
113
Age
62
Location
Santa Cruz Mountains, CA
Website
mcvoy.com
Model
Seafarer
Well, great for me because I'm so new to my 228 this is only the second time I've put fish in the boat (first was a couple of days ago, we got 4 rockies).

Against my better judgement, we went to the Santa Cruz harbor (July 3rd seems to be a holiday) and as expected, it was a zoo. Long line, etc. We decided to bail but as we were pulling out, my son Dylan said "we are here, do we want to try?". As a dad, having your kid want to go fish with you is perhaps the best thing ever. How could I say no? So we looped around, paid for the launch, "We're committed now, Dylan". They were launching 5 or 6 boats side by side. I'm a newbie at all this so I waited a bit to get a spot next to the dock, tried to launch, got both axles completely in the water to the fenders, did the go backwards and stomp the brakes thing, nothing. Oh, crap, I remembered the plug but forgot the straps. Fixed that, drama free launch.

We are motoring north towards Davenport, it's a 20 mile drive so it gets less pressure, the swell is 5-6 feet and the boat is pounding us. Funny story, in the previous trip, also with Dylan, we had the same thing and he said "This sucks dad, I don't like this". But we got a few fish and the next morning he was "When are we going fishing again?" and that night at dinner we were talking about it and he swore that he never said "This sucks". Funny how you remember the good bits and forget the bad bits. He said "this sucks dad" again today.

We are n00bs so we didn't know where to go but we have figured out a plan. Find a party boat and go there. And we did, today it was a really small one, maybe 8-10 clients, but we went where they did and Dylan got into a couple of fish, me, nothing. It was around 8:30-9, slack tide was 10:30 or 11. We fished and fished, it was slow. Around slack tide the fish lit up. We doubled twice. It was on. I was telling Dylan "it is super fun when you start getting them" and we were getting them. The weird thing was the party boat had left before things lit up. Shrug. We found a nice spot and we drifted over it a bunch of times.

Things got slow so we headed in. The 228 was a champ, I've learned I like to trim the bow down as far as it will go, gas mileage not so much, though I was over 2, but ride is better. We hit 40mph coming in. The whole 20 mile trip in was 30-40, I'd guess average was 36 or so.

I think this is about my 6th trip in the 228. I bought that boat without having driven one, couldn't find one to drive but everyone said you will love that boat. It is a good boat and a safe boat. I'm not experienced enough to say all of that but I can tell you I frigging *love* that boat. It's a great boat, it is the last boat I'll ever own.

We did not limit, we got 1 ling cod and 14 rockfish. That's enough, I just got done cleaning all of them, that's enough.

Epic day. Pics at http://mcvoy.com/lm/boat
 
Last edited:

luckydude

GreatGrady Captain
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
Messages
1,289
Reaction score
602
Points
113
Age
62
Location
Santa Cruz Mountains, CA
Website
mcvoy.com
Model
Seafarer

Attachments

  • 2020-07-03-08.59.14.jpg
    2020-07-03-08.59.14.jpg
    713.3 KB · Views: 22
  • 2020-07-03-09.09.10.jpg
    2020-07-03-09.09.10.jpg
    746.8 KB · Views: 24
  • 2020-07-03-10.51.24.jpg
    2020-07-03-10.51.24.jpg
    712.4 KB · Views: 23
  • 2020-07-03-10.51.25.jpg
    2020-07-03-10.51.25.jpg
    706 KB · Views: 24
  • 2020-07-03-12.12.54.jpg
    2020-07-03-12.12.54.jpg
    909.4 KB · Views: 22

Sparkdog118

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
629
Reaction score
134
Points
43
Age
54
Location
Ft Myers, fl
Model
Offshore
Awesome looking fish. They kind of look like the grouper that’s we catch here in fla. How deep do you fish? Is that in the pacific or on a lake?
 

RussGW270

GreatGrady Captain
Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Messages
1,761
Reaction score
253
Points
83
Age
57
Model
Islander
Happy people and fish... can't get better... wait.. more fish? lol ;)
 

Sparkdog118

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
629
Reaction score
134
Points
43
Age
54
Location
Ft Myers, fl
Model
Offshore
That is awesome. I’ve never fished on the west coast. Only Atlantic from South Carolina to keys. I fish sw fla gulf a few times a month. It is great to see the kids having fun.
 

luckydude

GreatGrady Captain
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
Messages
1,289
Reaction score
602
Points
113
Age
62
Location
Santa Cruz Mountains, CA
Website
mcvoy.com
Model
Seafarer
That is awesome. I’ve never fished on the west coast. Only Atlantic from South Carolina to keys. I fish sw fla gulf a few times a month. It is great to see the kids having fun.

You'll be jealous of this then. I can be over deep water in 10 minutes or less. The Soquel hole is 1500 feet, so is the start of the Monterey Canyon (it goes over 3000 feet but that is further out). I've heard you east coast guys have tens of miles of shallow water before it gets deep, one guy was telling me it was 50 miles out.

I've only been on our Northern California ocean. I have a friend who lives in, as he says, a Florida drinking town that has a fishing problem. I'd fit right in, so I might go fish there :)

Yeah, as a dad, having my kid *want* to go fishing is just the best thing ever. I love it.
 

Sparkdog118

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
629
Reaction score
134
Points
43
Age
54
Location
Ft Myers, fl
Model
Offshore
Absolutely jealous. I went 70 miles offshore to only get to 165 ft of water on Fri. That is gulf water. On the Atlantic side, it drops to 100 ft at 5 miles. 10 miles is about 300 ft. At 30 miles you are in 1800 to 2400 ft. Gulf is so different. lol.