Hi Anglers,

We just returned from another Northern Channel Islands 2 day trip aboard the Ranger 85. The water is still cold so we decided to put off our search for Seabass and other exotics and build a trip around a quality catch of Rockfish. Having 2 days to accomplish this we headed west to legendary San Miguel Island.

For those of you who are not familiar with this extreme region it is the furthest west of the Northern Channel Islands. Situated approximately 30 miles off the California coast, where our state takes a turn to the east and forms the upper portion of the Southern California Bight. At this latitude, and its exposed position, San Miguel is often buffeted by high winds and choppy seas making it accessible to only the most determined of fishermen.

In addition, there are many reefs, foul areas and rocky out croppings demanding ones full attention when navigating the waters surrounding the island. All that being said, this seldom visited island offers some of the best Sportfishing in the region.

On this particular trip we had a window of opportunity where the winds were forecast to drop to a dead calm and we took full advantage. We headed out Sunday evening and began the 65 mile journey to the west.

At day break we rolled up our sleeves and went to work. As the day progressed we went from spot to spot working diligently to put together sacks full of the best eating fish one can catch. With calm conditions and what felt like unlimited time we never fished the same rock or ridge twice amassing one of the best catches of Rockfish this season. We spent the afternoon back in the shallows fishing some of the foul areas for Lingcod using artificials...what a great time!

By dark all were ready to call it quits. We had dinner and changed zip codes overnight.

On our second day we concentrated on rounding out our catch by targeting different species. We managed to catch 48 Sheephead, 20 Whitefish, 78 Lingcod and 620 Rockfish. It was just an incredible time and great weather.

We have several trips yet available aboard the Ranger 85 fishing the productive Northern Channel Islands. As the water warms up we will begin our quest for game fish so stay tuned as we head offshore on our next multi-day adventure aboard the Ranger 85.

We'll see you at the rail,
Captain Frank