I'm going on my first trip to Colonet at the end of the month and it's being advertised as a yellowtail, rockfish and lingcod trip. I need help pairing my rods and reels for this trip so I can limit the amount of gear I bring but still be prepared in case some tuna show up. Here's what I have for rods and reels....
Reels:
Extra narrow Tanked Penn 501 with 50# braid
Extra narrow Tib'd/Tanked Penn 4/0 Senator with 65# braid
Shimano Speedmaster 12ii (2 speed) with 65# braid
Shimano Speedmaster 16ii (2 speed) with 80# braid
Penn Fathom 40NLD2 (2 speed) with 80# braid
Rods:
Tsunami Airwave Elite 661XHJ (jigging rod) lure rating 2-8oz line rating 50-130#
PCH 801H line rating 20-50#
PCH 801XH line rating 30-60#
UC GP80 Predator line reading 50-100#
PCH 741XXH line rating 60-100#
PCH 741XXXH line rating 80-130#
What would you pair up for a trip to Colonet to yo yo YT and catch rockfish / lingcod?
I think I'd take the 501 with the 801H 20-50 rod for rockfish and the fathom 40 with the 741 60-100 for yo-yo. Maybe the speedmaster 12 and something long for surface iron in case the yellows show up on the surface. You got an ulua or something long?
Quote from: Swami805 on February 14, 2021, 04:50:02 AM
I think I'd take the 501 with the 801H 20-50 rod for rockfish and the fathom 40 with the 741 60-100 for yo-yo. Maybe the speedmaster 12 and something long for surface iron in case the yellows show up on the surface. You got an ulua or something long?
Thanks for the suggestions..... I'm bringing a 8ft spinning setup for surface irons
How many rod/reel combos and spare reels you wanna limit yerself to?
In my opinion on a trip like that you don't need a lot of gear. I like swami's matchup since you have the spinning gear for surface iron. I''d set up the fathom 40 with the 50-100 rod in case you happen to go out and look for early season bluefin tuna. I'd also take the speedmaster 12 matched to the 30-60 rod for vertical yoyo iron. So I would take four setups one to fish 30 lb for bait and rockfish the spinning gear for surface iron, the speedmaster 12 for yo-yo iron and the fathom 40 in case you happen to run into the big bluefin.
Quote from: Gfish on February 14, 2021, 03:10:56 PM
How many rod/reel combos and spare reels you wanna limit yerself to?
I'd like to keep it to 3-4 setups including the spinning setup.... So far I'm thinking...
Fathom 40 with the UC Predator (yoyo/tuna)
Speedmaster 12 with the PCH 801xh. (yoyo)
Penn 501 w with the PCH 801H (bait)
Saragoza 10000 with the Black Hole CB 801H (surface irons)
I want to know how the EX Narrows work out....
I would say you got it right w/your 4 combos. They make the most sense for 25/30, 40 & 50 topshots. Doubt you'll need the heavy artillery.
Quote from: Rocket Dog on February 14, 2021, 05:34:36 PM
I want to know how the EX Narrows work out....
Which extra narrow are you referring to? I've used both for rockfish out of Morro Bay and they performed great.....
Just changed my profile avatar. These are bottom grabbers that you will not see at the Colonet but there around my place in Loreto.
Wow! When did you get that fish. What kind is it? I might go down to Loreto mid-March or early April. Dominick
Quote from: pjstevko on February 14, 2021, 04:58:08 PM
Quote from: Gfish on February 14, 2021, 03:10:56 PM
How many rod/reel combos and spare reels you wanna limit yerself to?
I'd like to keep it to 3-4 setups including the spinning setup.... So far I'm thinking...
Fathom 40 with the UC Predator (yoyo/tuna)
Speedmaster 12 with the PCH 801xh. (yoyo)
Penn 501 w with the PCH 801H (bait)
Saragoza 10000 with the Black Hole CB 801H (surface irons)
You should be good. I think it's mostly going to be a dropper loop/rockfish bite. However, if the YT want to play with the yo-yo you should be ready. When the boat stops I start with dropping a JRI 66 to get to the bottom first... the first worm gets the early bird!
For dropper loop rockfish can i use the same shrimp fly rigs we use up here on the central coast? Or are dropper loops different down south?
Dom that's a grouper, not caught by me but on my friends panga/sportfishing operation. I'm not sure which grouper species is was but from the pic you can see it's not a broomtail.
Quote from: SoCalAngler on February 19, 2021, 07:22:40 PM
Dom that's a grouper, not caught by me but on my friends panga/sportfishing operation. I'm not sure which grouper species is was but from the pic you can see it's not a broomtail.
it looks like a gulf grouper or local name is "Baya", really nice meat, too bad the fish grow pretty slow and sportfishing have reduced their numbers lately.
:) Looks like a Warsaw grouper , nice fish !!!
SoCal can verify, but from my experience, pretty much any super jumbo grouper out of Loreto is going to be a gulf grouper (Mycteroperca jordani) There are some other possibilities, but usually you have to go farther north or south.
Gulf grouper has been on the enviromentalists endangered species lists for awhile. In 2019, it was designated as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in the USA. By my non-legally trained reading of the act, it is illegal to bring into or possess the USA, or even for a US citizen to take on the "high seas" (whatever that means) when outside of the USA. There are hefty maximum fines listed, but no minimium. See section 9 and 11:
https://www.endangeredspecieslawandpolicy.com/assets/htmldocuments/blog/4/2019/04/Fed-Reg-listing-rule.pdf (https://www.endangeredspecieslawandpolicy.com/assets/htmldocuments/blog/4/2019/04/Fed-Reg-listing-rule.pdf)
Last time I checked, the Mexican sportfishing limit was still two. ??? While gulf grouper (once common) are now a very rare catch, US citizens still catch the odd one in Baja and bring home.
Just a matter of time before somebody gets nailed. It could get ugly.
-J
With the news of massive amounts of bluefin near Colonet and the SD fleet attempting to target them this past weekend I'm gonna go ahead and bring 6 setups....
Tanked Extra Narrow 501 on a PCH 801H
Shimano Speedmaster 12ii on a PCH 801XH
Shimano Speedmaster 16ii on a UC Predator
Penn Fathom 40nld2 on a PCH 741 XXH
Penn International 16Sii on a PCH 741XXXH
Shimano Saragoza 10000 on a Black Hole Challenger Back 801H
Just noticed you have the new GP Predator. That rod should do very well. With a Fathom 40 that rod will dish out anything the 40 can give & then some. That reel will blow out well before the rod.
I have an intense interest in your thoughts after fishing this rod... Jeff
I'm thinking about:
Switching the Speedmaster 16 for the 40nld2 on the Predator...
and
Leaving the International 16S at home
Thoughts???
Thoughts? Yeah, you really need to go fishing!
I'd take the 16s on the 741xxxh if you think there's a shot at good size BFT, otherwise, yeah. it should stay home.
I'd put the 40nld2 on the Predator. On my last trip one of the guys got a 150# on his Talica 16 fishing 40#. He was glad for the extra capacity of the 16 over the 12.
Since it's the first trip were they are searching for bluefin this season I'm gonna bring it all since theres no way to tell what size fish we could stumble upon
Good call since at this point you have no idea what you'll be fishing for and neither do they!
I think it is pretty safe to say on a day and a half trip to Colonet, which I think you said it was, you will spend little to no time searching for BFT. If you happen to run into them they boat MAY take a shot at them but don't expect to spend much time in trying to hook them. I say this because of a few reasons, first the distance needed to travel to Colonet and the length of the trip. Second, trips like this are known for bottom fishing mostly and maybe some yellowtail and that's what the guys signed up for, not to do a recon trip looking for tuna. Also, most people bring gear and tackle for the type of trip planned, sure some of it crosses over for different applications but gear targeting rockfish and tuna are pretty different. How would you like to show up for a tuna trip only to go and rockfish? Well, the same could be said for the guys that are set on catching bottom grabbers. I bet you would have some PO'ed people on the boat if the whole game plan got flipped. Lastly most of your travel will be done at nigh not giving the captain or crew a chance to spot tuna off in the distance such as foamers, jumpers and bait balls.
Good luck on your trip.
I've had that experience going the other way. On a 10 day and end up at San Clemente or the Tanner bank fishing next to the overnight fleet for BFT. If I wanted to do that I'd have saved money by just doing an overnight trip. I caught BFT, including a cow, doing that but I'd rather have had a few more Wahoo from further south!