Great Team Tournament Finish for Capt James Nelson and Partner Robert Schneider

Sept. 20, 2011 - PRLog -- Robert and I had wanted to prefish for this event, but had a hard time working around our busy schedules. We felt we could get some fish around some structures off of Imperial Beach. We also really wanted to try other areas, La Jolla Kelp, Point Loma Kelp, and Sunset Cliffs. But with miles between each area, we simply lacked the time to do it all.

I had been taking clients to the Imperial Beach spot for awhile, and knew it had a consistently good bite. Throughout the summer, I had clients that wanted to try our other various kelp beds; and from those trips, I had learned these areas also lacked consistency. Not that our minds were made up, but we had started making our list.

I got a call on the Sunday before the tournament from my buddy David Ischy. He had been deployed on the USS Ronald Reagan, was now back home, and wanted to do some fishing. Robert and I convinced him to come out to the pipe with us on Tuesday. We had a ball. David, Robert, and I caught lots of Calico Bass, and Sand Bass. Most of all, the fish were big. These were the fish Robert and I needed for the tournament. We did rumble around some other rock piles, and the Imperial Beach Kelp, but decided the offshore structures were going to be it for Saturday.

On Friday, I had the boat checked out at Fish'n' Marine Center out in Lakeside, CA. Mike (the mechanic) had told me that I needed to run the motor wide open more often, so as not to build up carbon, and this would keep the fuel to oil mix burning more properly. Knowing that Robert and I needed to make a long run the next day from Mission Bay to Imperial Beach, I figured no problem. There was one minor issue. The transducer was looking worse for wear. With no time to get a replacement, Mike and I zip-tied it back together, and crossed our fingers.

Saturday came, and as Robert and I idled to position, we noticed the fish finder was not reading temp nor bottom. This meant we were to be fishing offshore structure blind. Not knowing exactly what was down there, or what mood these cold blooded fish would be in, scared me. As soon as I started to come up with a change of plans, Robert (being the valued partner he is) reminded me we had waypoints and icons marked on the GPS, and that we were sticking to our plan. We did just that. Then we prayed.

The fish were there, and we stayed in the same area the whole time. We had upwards of fifty fish, and were culling out three pounders. We did have a mixed bag for awhile, but many of the calicos were small, and even the bigger calicos were still lighter than our sand bass. Most of our fish were caught on squid looking baits. Robert mostly used the Berkeley Gulp! Squid in the New Penny color, while I mostly used the Western Plastics Dancin' Squid in the Western Penny color.

We brought in our five sand bass for weigh-in, and the scale went 20.16 pounds. Our big bass was five pounds - five ounces. Our total sack earned us third place for the day, and our big fish earned us the wildcard seat at the finals in Newport on October 8, 2011.

As always, thank you for reading.

God Bless,
James (ya doesn’t hasta call me ‘Captain’) Nelson

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