Unlike last year when double-digit opaleye counts were a daily post in every landing’s dock totals from Santa Barbara to San Diego, this year I think I have seen about 20 of the blue-eyed cuties in print all season, which for me starts November 1^st.

    Two factors come to mind, one being a no-brainer, there were more of them around twelve months ago.  One couldn’t discern that fact by reading stories from that period in this column.  The Breakwall Crew caught the majority on one boat trip aboard the SS Chaparral.  From shore we had maybe four.

    The second is the fact that California instituted an emergency rockfish closure in waters over 120 feet deep, south of Cape Mendocino, for several months last year.  To earn their keep party boat skippers were fishing shallower waters than they normally would for this time of year, which placed them butt-up against near-shore and island bluffs, smack dab in opaleye country.  At least anglers were filling their bags with something tasty.

    This year the California DFG decided to postpone the closure until I believe January, 1st, so after then until April we might again see more opaleye in the counts.

    To get this season off to a belated start I stopped by the Colorado Lagoon slime pit in Long Beach this morning at five to see if any of the recent rains had triggered a much anticipated enteromorpha algae bloom – The Breakwall Crew’s favorite opaleye bait.  Last time I was there the mud banks were barren.  Today we can rejoice as the whole lagoon is plum full of fresh, gooey algae of the long strong green strand variety.

    With a bucket load of that I was merrily on my way to Opaleye Point along the south shore of Palos Verdes.  The air was correct, slight overcast with no breeze but the water was a little off, clear and calm.  We seem to do better when we have a constant two-foot swell rolling in with the opaque green color water.  Today we had sets of three one-footers every fifteen minutes.  Otherwise it was like Lake Tahoe or someplace.

    With my ol’ opaleye bobber rig I stood there for about twenty minutes on a rock to the right of the point before I had my first nibble not sticking to the hook.  I could tell that and the next few bites interspersed within the next hour were little guys. Even they disappeared after a while with a constant chum line in the water.

    Hiked up the hill and drove down the road, the next place I tried was Long Point.  There's a spot to the left of the pillar rock where we have historically garnered many bites.  It took 30 minutes of patient chumming; finally I hooked what felt like a sizable fish.  It fought like a three-pounder but ended up to be an opaleye weighing in at two pounds three ounces, or three tacos.

    With more chum in the water and perfect casts I announced to myself, they’re here, hundreds of two pounders in the water, in my face.

    I had only two other small hits on the green bait in the next hour.

    Followers of the Solunar Tables will enjoy hearing that this one fish hit exactly when the moon was underfoot, or right on schedule.  I keep track of the moon position with my Casio Forester Fishing Timer wristwatch.

    Just about bored to death, the outgoing tide was down enough for me to hop out to the pillar rock.  From there I caught another fish but not an opaleye.  It was a fifteen-inch kelpfish, which looked like it had enough beef for two more tacos.  These guys are usually on the small side, making this the first of the specie to come home with me, and it’s the only one I can remember that ate green bait.  Usually we catch these incidentally on live red shrimp.

    Somewhere around a quarter past patients with bait, I switched to the fan casting from the pillar rock of the five-inch Fish Trap for twenty minutes.  I had one nice strike on that, but nearing ten o’clock, it was way too late for any feverish action on said jig.

    The kelpfish made barely 2 tacos.  Tasted okay but the filets shrank to ½ original size.

*****

From Jim L.:

One very happ fisherman.  Had a wonderful adventure in the Sierra's with my friend Kerry.  It was a great weekend, no crowds as it's nearing the end of the season.  The weather was great, the fishing was excellent, the food was superb. One couldn't ask for anything more...  Only my second time up there this year.

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