For this year's Rockfish opener I jumped aboard the Aloha Spirit out of Captain Hook's Sportfishing in Oxnard. Captain Shawn Steward and Crew welcomed the eager and excited anglers as we were greeted by beautiful flat calm conditions. The weather and water was so nice Captain Steward couldn't resist going the distance to fish the West End of Santa Cruz Island. This is my favorite time of year as our sport boat fleet returns to the water after spending many days in the boat yard undergoing maintenance and upgrades. Captain Steward and Crew put in countless hours giving the beautiful vessel a new deck, a paint job, new tackle racks, new vinyl decals, new props, new grill, an all stainless anchor system, and much more. They even removed those cleats along the sides giving anglers more deck more space to follow and land their fish. All that hard work paid off guys, the Aloha Spirit looks great!

Our open party season opener was a blast. We had great scores of Chuckleheads, Reds, Blues, Treefish, Barber Poles, Gophers, Whitefish, and we even chiseled some ice off of a stray Calico Bass that was safely released. The water temp was about 54.5 degrees but the fish were biting full force. We had a great day with easy limits and a good time was had by all. Call up Captain Hook's Sportfishing at 805-382-6233 and book your next trip with the Aloha Spirit. Experience the Channel Islands with style and stuffed sacks of fish!

That's the word on the water, see you at the rail!