Friday September 5

What a beautiful day to go fishing! But I haven't really seen many days that weren't good enough for fishing!

Today it was just Christopher Leslie and myself on board. Leslie hasn't been able to go with us for awhile because her kids have been out of school for the summer, so her last time was when we went tubing!

So.......... We started out going deep! We went past the kelp beds off the point and drifted through there for a little while. Chris caught the first fish there, it was a calico bass or a kelp bass, most fish have many different names. There is even a Yellow Tail and a Yellow Fin, both different but both are tuna! Unfortunately we probably won't see either of these tuna on our boat because they don't hang out where our boat can go safely! Whenever we "go deep" I always think, "This is it! I'm going out and I'm not stopping till we get to the islands!" Then I get just a little further than the last time and I turn around and find a spot to stop! Today was no different! I would like to go up off the La Jolla coast where some of the fishing boats go, but I don't know the area well enough to know of a launching area. Oh well! I guess we'll just stick to what we know untill Nemo gets up the nerve to go just a little further!!

On with today's catch! Among Chris's tags he pulled in a Mantra Shrimp! They are also called boxing shrimp and have been known to punch out the glass in an aquarium!

I don't know if I talked about the first one I ever saw. Earlier this year we were out in the bay and I started reeling in and realized there was something dragging my line. When I pulled it in it was the most interesting colorful thing I've ever seen! We were all mesmerized by the color and the oddity! That day there was Leslie, Chris, our friend Kevin and myself.

Kevin took this thing and pulled the hook out and held it for pictures and even licked it's under side where it was blue and yellow and pink and very vibrant and mesmerizing! Then when we were all done looking at it and laughing at Kevin's silliness he threw it back and we moved to another spot asking a nearby fisherman what it was. These are his words....

"Don't mess with that! They're poisonous!" I still laugh when I think of Kevin licking his belly! We all looked at Kevin and Chris took his vitals just to make sure! Kevin started spitting over the side then he said.... "That's a shrimp?! I'm allergic to shrimp!" Still laughing! Now you know he had to turn out ok if I'm still laughing at it! It was just one of those funny things!

So, anyway Chris caught one today and his was bigger than mine as was the one Vicky caught Monday. But we actually got Chris's in the boat and got plenty of pictures!! He also caught a nice size Halibut and a couple of bass. His total for today was four.

Leslie was the first one to catch something once we moved back into the bay. She caught a small halibut and a few bass and one cute little sculpin!

Do you remember me saying anything about the sculpin are poisonous? They have venum glands on the tips of their fins. They are ugly fish, but when they are so little you can't help but think how cute they are! He was released without harm! She caught a total of five.

As for me.... I was skunked for the first half of the day and then as soon as I changed my lure to one of my favorites I was able to get the F, G, H, and I fish right close together! I ended up with seven total, (the most!)

I got a nice halibut and a couple of bass and a little baby halibut that was as cut if not cuter than Leslie's sculpin!

All in all it was beautiful weather, beautiful people, cute fish and a fun day!

Let's all try to have a REEL good Fall!!

It was a spinnin' good summer!!

Until next week...... Fish On!