So this last weekend I went down to San Diego to fish on the San Diego with my buddy John. The opening of rockfish season in California is this coming Friday, March 1st. However, we got a jump on the season and rockfished in Mexican waters by the Coronados Islands off Northern Baja. These trips are unique because we not only get to rockfish early, we also get to fish deeper waters than we are able to in the U.S.
I’ll have a full trip report shortly, but I had to get this one off my chest. Over the course of the weekend, I caught the cute little pinkie sheephead pictured below. John had just caught a decent one when I got bit. “I bet it’s a 10 and 3/4 inch sheephead” (legal is 12″) he says in reference to the one last year that was barely legal and he so joyfully tortured me over for 7 months! Pull it up and guess what? Groan. Seriously?!?!
Haha. Ok, take a picture and enjoy yourself. Snap! And then I successfully released the fish.
“You know what this means?” John asks me. What? “10 months, 5 days” What does that mean? “10 months 5 days I get to harass you for that fish.” Hold on. I didn’t keep the fish. “Doesn’t matter, I’m going to enjoy it anyway.” He did and he will. Shaking my head. Life is not fair. The sooner I can catch a legit one, the sooner I get to shut up John.
To be continued…
10 months, 5 days
at 6:25 pm
Joe, you need to hop on a trip early to San Nic on the Freedom, Eldorado, or Toronado. You can keep reds out there now and you saw how good the sheephead fishing was on your PI/Nic trip last year. I’m pulling for ya to catch a big one early this year!
at 6:59 pm
You’re one step ahead of me Jimmy. I was thinking San Nic too! Plus there is the change in regs that makes it that much more enticing. I’ll let you know what I find out.