This is the second part of my Catalina Island fishing trip! After a long 3 hours of getting there, Mr. Takeuchi and I started fishing. At first I cast the FM120DD and went from low, medium, then to fast retrieving. By checking how the lure swims at each speed, you can see how the tide currents and waves have an effect on it. Mr. Takeuchi started off aiming the surface with the FM110/130) and I aimed in a deeper range with the FM120DD. After only couple casts, Mr. Takeuchi caught a very large Bonito!! And I got a hit too~! (In result… I was so close to getting the Big Fish of the day.)

The time went by and when the sun was starting to go down, I aimed deeper from the surface. And by doing that, with the FM120DD, I kept catching so many Bonitos. And not only that, I discovered something new!! Without realizing, I was retrieving from low to mid-speed with the FM120DD. That is when I realized the lure would swim very irregularly. In a way I’ve never seen such swimming action with the Flash Minnow 110 & 130 before. When retrieving in mid-speed, not only did it do the usual flashing and rolling, it widely swam left in right. When it rapidly swims in such irregular motion, it is thought that it creates a very high appeal towards the fishes, which led me to fishing a lot! And by taking advantage of the capability of it going deep water, I cast towards the kelp beds and was able to catch some Calico Bass which were under bottom areas. The Flash Minnow 120DD has such high potential of being the almighty lure!!

See you all very soon!!

Sandy
Catch: Bonitox10 Calico Bassx3 Barracudax1

Place: Catalina
Select Lures: Flash Minnow 120DD / 110

It’s been a week since my last fishing trip and as I mentioned last time, my next destination became Catalina Island! YES!
As for the result, I will mention it at a later time… First, I would like to talk a little bit about Catalina Island!!
Catalina Island = Santa Catalina Island, which is the official name. The island is shaped kind of like a gourd or a pear and you need to either go on a boat or a plane to get there.
It is an island located near the southern California, America. From the Los Angeles port, it is located at south-southwest 38km away. Due to this close distance; they provide fast cruise ships which is very convenient for vacationing. It takes about 45minutes to an hour one way.
However, by going there for fishing purposes, it was a bit more difficult. This time we had to port from Newport (Davey’s Locker), and to get to our fishing point it took us 3 hours! I’ve never experienced such a long way to a fishing area before.
But we wanted to use this time wisely, so we made a film explaining a little bit about the lure we were going to use that day. It was the Flash Minnow 120DD and we talked about its function and color variations. The Flash Minnow 120DD will be sold in Spring of next year. Towards the end of the filming, a fisherman who is interested in lure fishing came up to us and said, “Oh~ you guys are from Lucky Craft!” And then I had told him, “Yes, and I always use this Flash Minnow 110”. There was actually a lot of Lucky Craft fans on the boat!
And fortunately until we arrived at the fishing spot, we were able to gain information on other good fishing locations as well as explaining our new products to some people and did a little bit of business. We got to use our traveling time very productively by getting to know the local anglers.
In the year 1547, Joao Rodrigues Cabrilho discovered this island and at the same time it used to be a pirate’s home base. And this island that used to be a pirate’s base is now a high-class resort where many people come for their honeymoon.

For my fishing report, it will be in part 2!!!
So please stay tuned for the next report! See you soon!

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

Date: 2010/10/8
Place: Newport Beach
Select Lures: Flash Minnow 110 ,130MR

This time I went rock fishing for the first time in Newport Beach. I walked about 15 minutes along the rocky tract and finally arrived at the point of the peninsula. There were only about 3 fishermen and I thought, “cool~!”. I then started to cast.
I kept casting since early morning and I didn’t even get a hit. I was in an awful condition. The fishermen around me were only catching about 2 to 3 Mackerels and were disappointingly saying, “can’t really fish today~”. This time I couldn’t even figure out the reason… what do I need to do? After passing 1pm and feeling pretty awful, I decided to go back the road I came from. I didn’t want this fishing day to go to waste, so I started to practice other fishing techniques as long as I could. I head towards the rocky area and on the left hand side there was an inland sea, where I decided to challenge on Top lure actions for the very first time. Surprisingly it was extremely fun!! Instead of the fish reacting to it, the birds in the sky were more curious! If I continue to practice on Top lure actions, it will definitely come in use in Bass fishing. So I kept practicing with a spinning reel for about an hour, then I ended my fishing day.
Next time, as long as the weather is good I will be heading towards Catalina Island for fishing, so please stay tuned for my next trip!

See everybody next time!
Sandy
Catch: 0

It’s been 2 weeks since my last fishing trip! With this extreme weather change that attacked California with this very high temperature and to understand this type of sea condition, I went fishing.

Initially I thought, “Since this hot weather is continuing, it should heighten the activity of the fishes!” With that hope in mind, I caught a Halibut last time and so I continued heading towards Alamitos Bay.

When I arrived at my destination, an unbelievably strong wind came right at me from the ocean! Unlike last time, the sea surface was rough, the waves were strong, and were at a 2 o’clock high tide.
It was in a very bad condition (a thought of no catches!?). This time the tide is rising, so I decided to cast very far and perform a long retrieve. And since I wanted to catch them while they are swimming upwards, I decided to cast the FM130. I kept rotating colors, but the turbidity of the water was really bad. I kept trying for over 3 hours and ended my fishing day!! In result… caught nothing! Well, thinking about the condition of the weather, I guess it was no surprise. Since I had a bit more time, I want to share the audience who reads my Daily Flash Minnow something special! A new Lucky Craft product!!! It is planned to be released in 2011! It is the Flash Minnow 120DD (Deep Diver)! So I tried this new lure out. Hmmmm… a very good pulling resistance!! And there’s a vibrating effect!! I think it’s a great product!! This longing Flash Minnow Deep model!! This will be on display for sale by next year (may vary by location). Please be waiting!!

I am sorry this fishing trip ended with no catches and couldn’t leave any exciting comments! But I would still want to talk about the lures used on this trip. The Pointer 78 (Color: Nishiki), Flash Minnow 130 (Color: Candy Sardine & Metallic Sardine), and finally the new Flash Minnow 120DD (Color: Kibinago).
Flash Minnow is a type of lure that will keep growing. There are so many other colors, so please use these as an example for your very own color rotations.

See you soon!
Sandy

Date: 2010/9/16
Place: San Pedro

I was able to catch this month’s fishing theme: catching a Halibut. So this time, I decided to go to San Pedro and departed from 22nd Street Landing. I went fishing with my friend Mr. “K”, who previously went to Redondo Beach with me when we couldn’t catch anything.

We departed from San Pedro and took 1 ½ hour to the fishing spot! There was no wind and the boat barely swayed so we didn’t have to worry about getting motion sickness! On this boat ride, there were only about 10 people on the boat so we also didn’t have to worry about having enough space! I was full of hope and excitement!

Unlike last time in Redondo Beach, our target fish isn’t from the surface area so we weren’t able to use the Flash Minnow. Instead, we used the Butterfly and dropped it 360ft deep underwater and waited until we got a hit.

Once we dropped the Butterfly down to the bottom, we felt couple small hits. But since the waves were going so fast the Butterfly kept streaming away. And that meant no hit. So the couple minutes we had after we drop it was all we got!!

We then changed our spot and tried again! We waited patiently for a hit… We continued getting small hits, but to pull up a fish, it was a little hard because it needed to be the right moment in time. So we gave it a little thought and we decided to pull it up right at the same time we felt a hit! In result, we caught so many! The sizes were small… but I believe out of all the people on the boat, we probably caught the most fishes. We were saying to each other, “I want to catch a bigger fish~!” with much more confidence. But of course, we just kept catching small sizes and wasn’t able to catch any big Rockfish.

This was my 2nd time fishing from the 22 Street Landing, and I learned that using the fishing technique I used last time didn’t work this time. And how you get hits from fishes and the timing of when I need to pull also differs each day!!
I wasn’t able to use the Flash Minnow this time, but I think I had an excellent experience on this fishing trip.

I will see you all next time!

Sandy
Catch: Rockfishx7
SLS:

Hello all Lucky Craft fans across the world~! It is again time for the Daily Flash Minnow Report.
This month’s fishing theme, as you all know, is to catch a Halibut. I had gotten some information through the internet about a place called Alamitos Bay in Long Beach city. According to today’s tide condition, it will be in high tide right before noon. So I left a little later than usual!
Once I arrived at the location, I realized how different it was compared to other places where the waves were very calm. Unlike Redondo Beach, even the rocky area wasn’t so bad; a child could walk through it.

Immediately, I cast the most reliable FM110 in Metallic Sardine. Then right away! I got a bite that I’ve been longing for. At first I thought, “Huh? Did it get caught in a kelp?” Then I realized, “It’s a Halibut!” I finally caught a Halibut~! In an area where there was absolutely no body, I was screaming for joy by myself. Hahaha

From the bite I got right when I started fishing, 2 hours went by. From North to South I kept going back and forth while I continued to cast, but I got no response. So I decided to go back to the spot where I got my first catch and changed my lure to a Pointer in a different color as well.
Then again, after couple casts I got a HIT!! It was my second Halibut of the day!!! Now I’ve achieved my goal!!!
The second one seems a bit bigger than the first, but it didn’t meet the legal size so I had to release it…
I believe because it was a little bit passed high tide, changing the lure to a Pointer would aim a deeper range and that probably led me to catching one!

After 3 weeks of trying to catch a Halibut, I’ve finally achieved my goal!
Instead of using a bait, with a hard lure!! And it means so much that I caught it with a Flash Minnow!!
This time the area was chosen freely and to catch one Halibut was the goal. So next time I might go fishing at where Halibuts inhabit or maybe I’ll aim higher and try to catch a legal size!
Flash Minnows are such an exceptional lure~! And I’ve decided that Pointers are going to be one of my most reliable lures.

See you soon!

Sandy
Catch: Halibutx2

This month’s fishing theme is to catch some Halibut. Without going to Redondo Beach where I go pretty often, I went 15 minutes more south to a place called Malaga Cove. It is in the Palos Verdes (PV) district where it is known to be a high class residential area. This day, there were thick fogs from early morning and the water quality was very cloudy as well! Meaning this put me in a position where it became a harder challenge for me to catch a Halibut because it was much more difficult for them to see my lures underwater! As for the lure, I decided not to use the usual FM110 Metallic Sardine, and instead used the FM110 Aurora Mackerel color. I started to cast while moving along the beachside and luckily there wasn’t any wind coming from the ocean to effect my lure while performing a long cast. But then the waves were getting pretty strong and it was hard to control my lure actions, so I decided to change my fishing point closer to a rocky tract. And from there, I started off casting to an area with less kelp, but after every cast during my retrieve, it hooks on to a bunch of weeds and I loose time. I kept casting until noon but ended up fishing nothing… Again I was neglected by the Halibuts! By next week I want to catch a Halibut!! To which location should I go next time!? Still researching…

P.S. Right next to me was a man who caught 5 Halibuts! So I was observing how he was able to catch so many and he was basically using the same pattern as a drop shot. He cast behind a kept bed and was able to fish a Halibut about 15cm above from the bottom. Hmmm I see, in a setting like today Halibuts don’t come up to the surface so you got to aim the bottom!! Next time I might try using the Wander 95!! I will slooooowly sink it and try to catch one!!

Well, see you all soon!

Sandy

Today I will like to talk about a tournament held in Southern California called the Salt Water Bass Anglers (SWBA). The main tournament is held in 6 cities of Southern California and it is a huge saltwater fishing tournament.
Every round the rules and fishing regulations is decided, and you need to be in a team of 2 people of entry.
There are no restrictions to who you team up with. There were entering teams who were both pros seeking for the championship prize to father/son and husband/wife teams to have a more bonding experience with one another.
Our Lucky Craft saltwater pro staff, Gerry and Nick has also entered in this competition.

SWBA Official Website:
http://www.saltwaterbassanglers.com/index.htm

Date: 2010/8/28
Place: Redondo Beach, CA
Select Lures: FM110 FMSLIM133
Select Colors: Metallic Sardine

Lucky Craft fans around the world~, it’s again, time for the Daily Flash Minnow Report. From now on, I will be changing up my report style a bit. I am first going to limit the type of fish to target and then keep trying until I catch my target fish. Of course I’m only going to use lures!! No other tricks and nothing else involved!!! This time my target will be Halibut! At the seacoast, I got information that we can catch a lot around here. So I headed to the actual spot (I will give more detailed information on locations as long as I catch something!), and I first cast the FM110. And within 30min, I caught several Bonito! After that, I stopped getting anything so I started migrating by walking but no hits… The sun was going down (becoming low tide) so I used this time to go to the best spot of the day and resumed fishing! Changed my lure to a Sea Finger! Because when you use the FM110 during low tide, it will drag against the bottom and can cause too much pressure on the Halibut. So by using the Sea Finger 133, I can let it swim on surface. I cast for about 90min and my fishing mentor, Mr. Takeuchi caught a Barracuda. We caught an Octopus as well. After that, it was starting to get pretty late so we ended our fishing day there. Our catch was pretty good today, although we didn’t catch our target Halibut. However, another friend of mine who also came along with us got close to catching one so we know that we are at the right spot. It will be another challenge for next week as we have more hope now. I will try my best~! Maybe I will change up my colors next time??
Well then, see you soon!

Sandy
Catch: Bonitox3 ; Octopusx1 : Barracudax1
SLS: None

Date: 2010/8/21
Place: Redondo Beach, CA

Lucky Craft fans all around the world~! It is time for the Daily Flash Minnow Report.
It is again another fishing report from Redondo Beach, CA. This time I went with Mr. Iwaki!!
As same as last time, our destination was to the rocky point where it is also a kelp area!
I starting casting with a FM130 and a Barracuda kept chasing after it, but it realize what it was. What a disappointment.
I changed the size to a 110, but the Barracuda seemed to not chase after it anymore. Instead, I kept fishing Mackerels!
Hmmmmm! Since I got bad memories from last time, I’m not satisfied yet!!
Mr. Iwaki as usual, didn’t run into any difficult situations and caught a Barracuda with a FM110!! He had caught it with a slow retrieve. So I also casted and performed a slow retrieve, but caught nothing! And then our fishing day has ended!
This time I actually tried speaking to other fishermen and asked, “Why can’t I catch anything?” And then he advised me, “Well, lately the atmospheric condition hasn’t been good with the tides and due to the rapid change in water temperature the fishes are migrating elsewhere!”
He also mentioned that in 2 weeks it should be in good condition! We promised we’ll see each other next time and he is my very first fishing buddy, who is also a Nikkei (Japanese American), that I made since I started fishing!
Mr. Iwaki brilliantly caught a BIG Sting Ray as well!!

Next time I’ll come back here in 2 weeks~!
Next week I want to catch some Halibut, but I need to be more cautious about the tide condition!! Ok now, how will I research that! I forgot to ask the most important thing!

See you next time!

Sandy
Catch: Mackerelx4 : Sting Rayx1 : Barracudax1
SLS: None