With the lingcod opener just a few days away, and hearing that the STARDUST was heading north off the coast from Hollister Ranch to St Augustine, was all I needed to hear. With an early departure of 5am, I had to leave early for SEA LANDING and was greeted by Capt Luke and the crew, who were getting things ready. As we headed up the line it was a little breezy, but the sun was shining and things were looking good. We arrived a few hours later and were greeted with pretty breezy conditions, and we were soon hauling some nice reds and bolina over the rail. The lingcod had other ideas for today and were not willing to bite like we wanted them to. We did manage to get a few legal lingcod and many shorts, which were returned to the water to grow for another day.

Everyone fished hard all day and we ended up just shy of limits of rockfish for everyone, the winds made it difficult for us to set up our drifts the way Capt Luke wanted to. But that is what fishing is all about, some days are better than others. For more information on fishing aboard the Stardust, give them a call at 805-963-3564.