Mac Arthur Park Event

This past saturday we had our annual free kids fishing event at Mac rthur Park, the westher perfect and the fish werre hungry. Over 400 kids and their familis were at the event, you can see pictures from the event on our Face book fan page, thatnk you all that showed up and helped us make this suck a great event for all the kids.

Today's Event at Mac Arthur Park

Today's free kids fishing event that was co-hosted to day by my Youth Foundation, LA Parks & Rec and the CA Dept of Fish & Game went perfect today. Over 400 kids and their families enjoyed an awesome day at the park. It was the first time in over 20 years that the State has regularly stocked Mac Arthur Park with fish, From now on Mac Arthur Park will be stocked with fish twice a month. Most of the kids who were at our event today and never been fishing before. I'm not sure what it was, but today just felt perfect, the weather was great, the park was filled with families having a great time and the fish were hungry. for more information about my youth foundation, please visit our website at www.danskids.org.

More Lobster stuff

I guess the last tip I can give you about lobster fishing is that, when you start to lift your net up from the ocean floor, don't stop pulling. You can give a lobster any slack or it'll jump right out of your net. I hope these last blogs have given you some insight on lobster fishing. I have been really hitting it hard the past few years and I have really enjoyed it. The weather that we have had in in So Cal has been awesome, last week i was lobster fishing in a T-shirt. Get out there and have some fun!

lobsters!

Make sure you have a good supply of light sticks in your boat, something always seems to happen and you never seem to have enough of them. it's also the law that everyone in your boat have their own lobster/crab gage. you'll need these to make sure your lobsters are legal to keep.

Helpful Hint
Don't drive by areas that you think hold lobsters, what I mean by that is that I often see people travel to far spots hoping to catch a calico bass, when they could have just stopped at the breakwater and nailed a limit. Lobsters live anywhere you can find rocks for them to hide in. Also don't give up on an area too sooon. I've fished areas where we only caught one or two shorts for the first few hours and then, bam! they started to crawl and we had ten legals within a hour. Fishing is fishing, you just have to saty at it to get them. Also the more you go lobster fishing.the better you'll get at it. get out there and try it, i'm sure you get hooked on it like I am.

Bait for Lobster fishing

Baits
There are lots of different things you can use for lobster bait, I have heard of all sort of crazy baits that people are using, but for me the best bait has been mackerel, second choice would be sardines, I like to take a mackerel and cut it into 5 or 6 pieces and them stuff them into the bait cage,

Bait cages
There are several different types of bait cages out in the market, I really like the hard wire type or the soft cages because of seals. I had two trips were I used soft cages and I ended up going in early because the seals stole my bait cages and all my bait. Every since that night I've only used the hard wire type and I've never had that problem again. make sure you use a strong zip tie to tie your bait cages into you nets.

Hot Tip
the hot tip is to cut your bait and fill your cages at home before you ever get on the water. Better yet is to fill them days before you're heading out and store them in your freezer, that way you can spend your time fishing and not cutting bait and filling bait cages.

Before you head out for lobster

Some basic things you need are your fishing license and lobster card, even if you plan to fish for lobster from a public pier you're still going to need a lobster card. You can buy them at most fishing tackle shops and even on-line. With your license in hand you're now ready to go lobster fishing.

Like I said earlier you're going to need a good fish finder and GPS, if you're traveling any distance you should also have a radar unit too. I use a Raymarine E 120 and soon will be upgrading to their Wide Screen digital Raymarine unit.

What I like about my E 120 is it's large screen and the detail it shows me of the ocean floor. One of the hardest things about lobster fishing is knowing where they live. You wouldn't fish for calico bass out in the mud so you have to fish for lobsters around rocky areas where they live and  hide durning the day. Using my E 120 I can find the rocks and mark them on my GPS at the same time. One hint, don't drop your hoop nets right on top of the rocks, all you'll do is get your nets hooked up on the rocks. They will never lay flat that way and you'll never catch any lobsters. I've had great luck fishing areas outside of large rocky areas.

In your boat you'll need a gaff or boat hook to grab the line from your nets and you're going to need some lights too. I really like the wireless spot lights from Stanley. I have a large one for finding my nets at a distance and a smaller one that I use in the boat for things like re baiting my bait cages and checking to see if a lobster is legal or not. I really like no having to keep the hand held lights plugged in all the time.
I have used both styles for several years now, but the wireless Stanley units are the best I have ever used.

New Law Change About Lobster Fishing

Fish and Game Q&A: Will I be in violation if I clean lobsters once the boat is docked?

In support of the California Department of Fish and Game and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Outposts, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly Q&A column:
Question: I run a six-pack charter boat business and we often hoop net for crab and lobster. My deckhands and I make money by cleaning our passengers' catch. This includes both rock crab and lobster. We always wait until we make landfall before we tail the bugs. This year the new regulations say: "(e) Spiny lobsters shall be kept in a whole, measurable condition until being prepared for immediate consumption." What is the definition of immediate consumption? Will I be in violation if I clean the lobsters for my passengers after hitting the dock? (Captain David Y.)
Answer: Yes, prior to this law, there was a big enforcement problem with people who were already on the shore tailing undersize lobsters before the Department of Fish and Game could contact them to measure their catch. Because lobsters must be measured across the back of their carapace rather than the tail region, this was allowing them to get away with possessing short lobsters when the carapace and tails were separated. This is one of the reasons why this section was changed.
According to DFG Lt. Eric Kord, captain of the San Diego-based patrol vessel Thresher, by the letter of the law, "prepared for immediate consumption" means cooked and on a plate ready to be eaten immediately. Or in the case of sushi, it means ready to be eaten immediately raw on a dinner plate. He advises not cleaning or tailing the lobsters for your passengers as doing so would be a violation. If they are stopped by a game warden on the way to their car, they would be cited for illegal possession of tails under this section.

Lt. Kord suggests the following: "You may want to consider 'preparing' them a different way, like perhaps putting the lobster in a container with some ice where the melting ice water can drain out of the container and not drown the lobster, or maybe keep them loosely wrapped/covered in a moist, saltwater towel. By doing this, your customers can enjoy fresh lobsters when they get home or they can just freeze them. If the folks have a long way to drive, I would consider putting them in a wood box with wood shavings. Lobsters are imported from Mexico in this way and survive a surprisingly long time. I personally use ice packs in a cooler when I transport my lobsters a long way. I have left them overnight like that with the cooler lid cracked and they are still quite alive in the morning. "You could also de-vein the lobsters, bleed them and then freeze them on the boat in a whole condition [carapace still attached to the tail]. At the end of your trip, you can hand the passengers their frozen bugs for their rides home and they are already somewhat cleaned. Then they just snap the tails off of the rest of the body when they get ready to eat them at home."

Lobster Fishing 101

Then first piece of equipment that I would make sure I had on my boat before I headed out lobster fishing is a good fish finder. You are also do to need a GPS too, for too reasons, one to mark the spot you find with your fish finder and two, to help you get back home in the dark. I don't think i'd even try lobster fishing if I didn't own a fish finder.

Now that I know you have a fish finder, you need to use it to find the rocks where the lobster will be living in, remember, they live in these rocks during the day, but at night they come out and take long walks looking for food. What that said I would try not to drop your traps right on top of the rocks,  If you do your nets will not lay flat on the ocean floor, I try to find a nice rock and then place my hoop net right next to it and if I have several rocks in one area I'll place my nets in between them. Remember they come out of the rocks and walk, let them walk to your nets. As far as how long to let them sit before checking your nets? I personally don't wait, by the time I drop all 10 nets in the water I start checking them. I know people say let them sit for a hour, I don't and its worked for me.

Lobster Fishing

Over the next few days I'm going to be talking about lobster fishing here in So. CA. I'll be covering some of the gear you'll need to get started and give you a few ideas on where to find them too. If you have any questions, please feel free to send them to me and i'll try to answer them for you.

Hook selection for fishing offshore

Here's a video where I talk about hook selection for fishing offshore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Y9lm7OvgA

Go Fishing!

It's hard to believe, but that are saying it's going to be 80 today. it looks like the rest of the week is going to be warm too. You need to take advantage of this awesome weather and go fishing! There are plenty of bass to catch, both calico and sandies, I'm heading the bonita bite at Catalina is still good too and yes rock fish is still closed. I have also seen a lot of boats heading out lobster fishing, a fiend told me he got several legal bugs off the Long Beach break wall. You can't catch any fish inside your home so get pout there and have some fun. You pay the same price for your fishing license if you use it daily or once a month.

Gamersaver, it's not just for your fish

Here's a video blog talking about how I use my Gamesaver unit and why everyone should have one in their home too.

We need your help

Volunteers Still Needed for MacArthur Park Free Kids Lake Fishing Event

The Daniel Hernandez Youth Foundation will be hosting a very special Meet Me at the Lake event at MacArthur Park.

The event date: Saturday January 29, 2011
Time: 6:30 am- 1:00 pm

All volunteer must have their Live Scan done prior to the January 29th event
Please call our office at 562-865-3764 if you can help.

Fishing the wall in the winter

This video blog is all about how-to catch bass along the wall in the winter.

Lobsters are walking....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFXr-uXzsXg

time to go fishing

With the warm weather it's now time to go fishing. there's pretty good fishing taking place everywhere. friends of  mine fished over at Catalina Island over the weekend and had good calico bass action, I also talked to people that fished the break wall today any they had decent fishing for both calicos and sand bass,  also the bugs are walking too.  There seems to be great lobster fishing going on right now too. The weather sounds like it's just going to keep getting better so get out there and have some fun.

Sticker Shock

Today I went and bought my 2011 California fishing license, I was a bit taken back when I was told how much it cost. I bought both fresh and saltwater license, plus a two rod stamp and a lobster card, the total cost was over 70.00! That's a lot for anyone, but for a 16 year old kid, that has to look like a fortune. I know the state needs every dime they can raise but this just seemed like a lot to me.ZEBCO 33 Spincast Combo Fishing PoleZEBCO 33 Spincast Combo Fishing Pole

Winter time Fishing For Sand Bass

Here's a video blog on how to catch sand bass in the winter months, you need need to stop fishing just because the water is cold, use this tip this weekend and go fishing.

Speaking in San Diego Tonight

Just wanted to remind you all that tonight will be speaking at the SD rod and reel fishing club tonight at the Point Loma Yacht Club. I'll not only be talking about how to catch fish, but I'll be doing some cooking too.Make sure to follow my blogs, I have a bunch of fun things planned for this year and hope to help you catch more fish this year and make sure you enjoy your time out on the water.

Winter Fishing

I know a lot of you think that there is no good fishing in the winter, but that just is not true, there are plenty of bass to catch and halibut too, plus surf fishing can be great too. Here are a few tips for sand bass fishing this time of the year. Use heavier B 52 bucktails and fish slower, right along the bottom. Here is a picture of a friend of mine with a large sand bass he landed last winter fishing with me on my boat, the key is to fish slowly. you need to bounce your bait from stone to stone, rock to rock, you just about have to hit the fish in the head with you jig in order to get them to bite.Remember in cold water the fish aren't going to chase your baits so just work your bucktail slowly and you'll catch fish. This time of year make sure you spend your time fishing close to structure. Get out there and have some fun.

Next Free Kids Fishing event will be Jan 29th

Our first free kids fishing event for 2011 will be on Jan. 29th at Mac Arthur Park in Downtown LA. the lake will be stacked with lots of rainbow trout! Bring the whole family and join us for this special event.

My New Year's Day

I spent a great morning in Pasadena watching the Rose Parade, it was my first time watching it live and in person. I enjoyed it all the floats and the fly over by the stealth bomber was really cool. It seemed like everyone there had a great time, the weather was perfect too. I hope 2011 is going to be a better fishing year for us all.