MAN ON A MISSION FISHING TRIP

YOUR MISSION: CATCH BAY FISH

POPULAR SAN DIEGO WATERS PRODUCING HOT BITE

By Capt. Bill Schaefer

With all the great fishing going on right now, choosing what to chase can be hard. But weather can change in an instant, or sometimes your schedule doesn’t permit an all-day tuna trip, yet you still need to have a tug on your line and catch some fish.

Bay bass fishing can be that outlet for you, especially with San Diego’s Mission Bay on a red-hot bite right now. There is a ton of bait and the bass and other species are attacking lures.

GREAT ACCESS

With five different launch ramps, it’s easy to get in and out of the water quickly and back to that appointment you may have. Check the tides; as long as there is moving water, you should catch fish.

The types of fishing you can do in Mission Bay are endless. There are a lot of docks to flip, along with rocky shorelines, sandy beaches and weedbeds that go on forever. On a recent outing to the bay, we found that the bass were really schooled up in the thicker weeds. Watch for the weedbeds on your meter and fish those areas thoroughly.

THE FRESH APPROACH

Freshwater techniques really work well in this bay. Light tackle, spinning gear or casting gear will do the trick; think a 6½- to 7½-foot rod with braid

This San Diego Padres fan, Dan Johnson, has a lot to be excited about this fall. His team made the playoffs and he got in on the hot bite in his own backyard. Mission Bay offers some great opportunities to catch spotted bay bass and other goodies. (BILL SCHAEFER)

and a fluorocarbon leader. I like my Daiwa Back Bay setups for the two bays I fish most.

For jigheads, ¼ ounce is all you will need most of the time, as most of the bay is only 10 to 12 feet deep. A straight jighead or underspin will do well with your choice of a 3- to 3½inch swimbait or grub.

For colors, experiment with different paint schemes and size tails, but variations with chartreuse are a favorite of many Mission Bay anglers. Big Hammer’s City Shrimp can do well, as will tails from MC Swimbaits, Reyes Swimbaits and Yamamoto. But experimenting is half the fun.

CRANKING IT UP

Don’t leave your crankbaits at home either; they do work well in this bay for the bass. I like floating ones better than neutrally buoyant plugs as, on the pause of your crank, they will float up in an erratic motion. Nine times out of 10 you will be bit on the pause or just as you start up winding again. It takes a little practice to learn to bring the bait in just above the weeds, but once you get it, the fish will bite hard.

The hard jerkbait, a cousin of crankbaits, will also do well in the bays, as it looks almost exactly like an anchovy if you get it in silver with a black back. It can be red-hot at times. It also takes practice to work well, but once you get it down the bass will come, as will halibut and shortfin corvina.

The soft jerkbait will also do well over thick weedbeds when the tide is up. Its random floating and darting action drives the bass nuts and coaxes them into biting it.

Jerkbaits worked over the grass can really attract some giant bass in this San Diego fishery. (BILL SCHAEFER)

SPIN CYCLE

Spinnerbaits are another favorite of Mission Bay bay bass anglers. As previously mentioned, the bay is full of giant weedbeds and a spinnerbait run just over the top of the weeds can attract some giant spotted bay bass. Willow or Colorado blades will work well, and I actually run a large willow and small Colorado blades on my favorite spinnerbaits. You might want to even build your own and experiment. There’s nothing like catching a bass on a lure you have built.

One of the lures that has been redhot lately is the umbrella rig. I use the

Author Bill Schaefer, who knows how to entice fish at Mission Bay as well as anyone, shows off a nice spotty he caught on a swimbait. “Check the tides,” he advises. “As long as there is moving water, you should catch fish.” (BILL SCHAEFER)

Yumbrella rig and along with the baits it has small spinnerbait willow blades that add to the illusion of a small group of anchovy swimming along. For Mission Bay, you will definitely want to keep the weight of your jigheads down to 1/8 or ¼ ounce, because you want to stay out of the weeds.

Tails are usually the standard 3- to 3½-inch swimbaits, but some anglers will dress them with curl-tail grubs. This rig in 10 to 12 feet of water must be retrieved perfectly over the weeds, but if done correctly you will score some giant spotties.

YOU’LL FLIP FOR IT

Finally, let’s talk about flipping. Attacking the docks and their pilings can be a lot of fun and produce giant bass. Don’t forget that Paul Weintraub’s IGFA-record spotty came from Mission Bay and weighed in at a whopping 4 pounds 15 ounces. And Paul was flipping docks from his kayak.

You may want to go a bit heavier in line size; some anglers feel that you should also go up in lure size. I like to use the lightest jighead I can get away with and still get it to the bottom. The slow fluttering sink of the bait, I feel, attracts more bites.

A couple of other ways to have fun in Mission Bay is to micro-fish; that is, fish with small trout gear. Use 2- to 6-pound-test line, crappie jigs and grubs or micro cranks. For bait, use a small jighead, 1/64 to 1/8 ounce, and bait it with bloodworms or ghost shrimp. You will catch everything from sand dabs to croaker and maybe even an occasional bonefish.

SHARKS AND BATS OF THE BAY

The other way to have fun out here is at to the other end of the fishing spectrum: bat rays and sharks. From shore or boat they can test both you and your gear. Use heavy tackle, such as a heavy bait stick with a reel that can hold 25- to 40-pound test, and throw a half to a whole 1-pound mackerel. The bat rays in the bay reach 125 pounds easily and have wingspans of up to 6 feet. When you hook one of these, it’s a fight two or three fishermen can share. They just don’t give up!

Sharks of various shapes and sizes frequent the bay as well and will eat the same bait.

MISSION LAKE?

Mission Bay Park is like a giant lake and you can almost fish it like one. The center of the bay and main area has no speed limit and can get crazy in the summer, and there is a section of Sail Bay and a small bay behind Fiesta Island that has water skiing and is marked with sign. But the rest of the entire bay is limited to speeds up to 5 mph, or a no-wake speed limit. Early mornings are usually quiet and you can explore a lot more area, but as the crowd grows, be careful of all the boats and jet skis as you’re enjoying the hot bite. CS