1) Mary Thompson from Oxnard caught a 16lb Yellowtail on a full day trip aboard the Island Tak. (caught on live Sardine with no sinker)
2) Erin Villareal from Oxnard caught a 14lb Yellowtail on a full day trip aboard the Aloha Spirit. (caught on live Squid with a 3/4 oz egg sinker)
3) Ron Odell from Woodland Hills caught a 24lb Lingcod on an overnight trip aboard the Pacific Islander. (caught on a flat fall jig)
October fishing in the Channel Islands
Ending the month of September on a high note and heading into October, we here at Cisco’s have high hopes for an exciting fall fishing season!
This entire past week was much like the entire month of September. All of our local island trips have been going out targeting Yellowtail with good success. The fish have been constant in our fish counts for months, with no real sign of slowing down. This is why we are so excited about the upcoming month. They are biting everything from a flylined Sardine to Yo Yo jigs and even plastics. They are a manageable size for most anglers, so the heavy tackle isn’t really necessary. But just because they are smaller models from 10 to 15 pounds doesn’t mean we are recommending light line. If you’re feeling “sporting” we will say 20 pound line is ok, but really, we are hoping everyone comes setup with at least 25 pound line or even better 30 pound. Even though these fish are smaller, they are fighting hard and breaking anglers using light line left and right.
Yellowtail fishing typically continues through the fall
The upcoming month of October should continue to be good fishing for Yellowtail. Unless the weather takes a drastic turn, conditions should remain stable with only a gradual cooling of our island waters. In fact, sometimes late in October we get a run of our “home-guard” Yellowtail which will require a big change in tackle. But until then we will keep our tackle recommendations the same as they are now.
Surface fishing such as Calico bass, slows down some
The Calico bass fishing has slowed a bit but should also continue to be a staple in our counts in the coming weeks. We may see a return of some species we have not seen much of the past few weeks like Bonito, Barracuda, and even White Seabass. They do tend to show up when the water cools to the low 60’s.
Rockfishing aka known as bottom fishing continues to be good
Bottom fishing is always good here at the Channel Islands, but as the waters cool it will only get better. Our overnight trips that fish the outer islands will be very popular again as we move later into the year.
Fall weather is usually great!
Another thing to look forward to is the outstanding fall weather we get this time of year. Not that the weather has been bad the past couple months, but it is always amazingly flat in October. In fact, among local anglers, its regarded as the nicest time of year to fish this area!
To see our daily fish counts visit – http://www.channelislandssportfishing.com/fish-count
To book your trip online visit – https://ciscos.fishingreservations.net/sales/
Call us at 805-382-1612 for live bait information, current tackle recommendations, or to book a trip.
