Our first charter of the year aboard the MIRAGE out of CHANNEL ISLANDS SPORTFISHING was a huge success, with 22 anglers ready to do battle with some island exotics. This excitement was caused by the fact that there was live squid in the bait tanks to get the adrenelin pumping thinking about tomorrows bounty. For this overnight night trip we had Captains Tucker and Vinny in the wheelhouse, on deck would be Ryan and Dan and in the galley was Andrew. Capt Tucker gave us the safety talk and told us the game plan for tomorrow. We would be heading to Santa Rosa to try and get some more squid in the area they got them in yesterday, then we would try for the exotics through grey light and then go get some rockfish to top off the bags. If time permitted we would head to some shallower water for a chance at some whitefish.

We arrived in the squid area and started to snag while waiting for them to float, we were bringing up 5 to seven on almost every drop. After about 30 minutes we could see them making there way towards the lights, the crew managed to get one quick try with the net before they disappeared thanks to our local seal population. The quick work of the crew got about 4-5 scoops out of their try. We stayed in the area soaking some squids in hopes of a white seabass, halibut or a local home guard yellowtail, but it was not to be on this morning. As the sun started climbing, Capt Tucker announced it was time to go look for rockfish and it would be about an hours run. This gave us time to go in and get some much needed nourishment for the rest of they day.

As we got close to the area the announcement came for everyone to get ready and bait up, soon the call came to let em go. Many of us got bit as soon a we hit bottom and some really nice reds, chuckleheads and lingcod were on there way up. My first bite turned out to be a double with a 15lb lingcod and a chucklehead, not a bad way to start the day. This ling would turn out to be the eventual jackpot winner. The fishing got tougher as the day went on, with us picking our way to limits for the day. We ended the day with 220 great quality rockfish and 20 lingcod. All in all it was a day on the water with a great group on anglers and a great crew.

We have several more trips scheduled aboard the Mirage this year, just click on SFR Charters on the home page to get all the details. If you would like to book a spot on an open party trip aboard the Mirage you can give the landing a call at 805-382-1612 or for charter information you can call the Mirage office at 805-983-0975. If you would like any of the pictures you can email me at john@sportfishingreport.com and I will gladly forward them to you.