ORB and ORB Jr. Take on San Diego Bay

When Bryan went public on SD Fish, and asked if anyone would take care of his Pop, and show him a good time on the bay, I knew I had to step in. Especially when Bryan mentioned that John was retired military. In fact, being retired is something John is very proud of. His nickname is ORB, an acronym meaning Old Retired Basser (or something like that). Bryan, working his way there, likes to be called ORB Jr.

These two men can really catch fish. Something they displayed right off the bat, when we rock-n-rolled onto our first spot. ORB was hooked up on the first cast, and set a positive tone for the rest of the day.

After both gentlemen caught several bass, and I made some bait (mackerel), it was time to try some Halibut fishing. Knowing the Macks we caught were a bit big, we decided to see what EBBCO had. The Sardines in the tank seemed prefect little bite sized 4” morsels. Having just gotten off of Mission Bay, and seeing what these little ‘dines can do, we got half a scoop, and raced to one of my San Diego Bay spots for Halibut.  

Even though the bait was small, both ORBs were getting short bit. If not for using double hook rigs, I think there would have been even less fish caught on bait than there were. In fact Bryan had started to go back to fishing plastics, and scored some more Sand Bass, so he went back to the bait in hopes for Halibut. Then he got the pull he was looking for (so he thought). This fish dogged and stripped drag, and finally came up from his 70’ lair only to show his true colors. A beautiful specimen of the Sculpin familia he was too. Not tossing it on the scale, I’d still wager three pound mark. Can you say ceviche?  

We hopped back into the bay for one last look at the empty carrier slips (as some of you know, still my favorite spot for big Sandies, and Halibut alike). Then John (ORB) got a yank right under the boat. The drift, and wind were fighting each other, and this fish took advantage of that. I had hoped that both hooks popped out of John’s ‘dine well enough to hold this fish while I gathered my wits with the trolling motor to keep from having this fish plow any more line under the boat. John sat there good and strong, and kept a solid bend on this fish. Could this be the big Halibut of San Diego Bay we were looking for? What seemed like minutes was probably just long seconds, and John soon had this fish to color. It was impressive enough for me to net it verses swinging. It was round, not flat; very round, pudgy, and pushing four pounds, another beautiful Sand Bass. John got high fives from both Bryan and me, for that one. What an awesome Bass.

A few more casts here and there, and we wrapped what turned out to be a beautiful day of Bass fishing on San Diego Bay.   

Final: 36 Bass released, 3 Bass kept, 1 Halibut released, 2 Sculpin kept, 24 (est.) Mackerel released, 24 (est.) Mackerel kept (Bryan likes to fish for Catfish)

Thank you for reading, James