radiosilencefishing.com

Messing around with Afran all day…

Fished with a good crew tonight…Jake J, Jake T, Justin H, Justin R(me),Chris A, Chris L, and Brian. WOW.
The spotties didn’t stand a chance!
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I won’t be sleeping well until the time comes!!!

v e r s i o n 1

Thanks to Ben Florentino and his team for putting these two events together…It should be a couple of stellar days of fishing and for such a great cause!

Enjoy our family photos….the door is a xmas present from my amigo who watches our casa down there.

Fisher’s 10 1/2 and Ruby just turned 9….

Later Squig
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Powershot 4″ wacky crawler in purple and blue-12lb. Seaguar Fluro
‘Little Nadine.’

I fished Newport Harbor with the gang last night for a steady bite on quality spotted bay bass…Bino got the big fish of the night and made his 70 mile drive worth every minute!
The strong incoming tide made for a good set up on the inside dock pilings.
I fished a 3/8oz. Arkie prism head matched up with a 3″ Gulp! Shrimp in Camo colorway.
Had the night vision on the camera rolling and pulled these frame grabs from the PM footage!
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CLICK for the report!

Dodged the rain for some spotted bay bass!

It is next to impossible to keep these images private long enough to complete a full feature without any spoilers…But the creature in me has to let it out…Sorry and Enjoy a piece of my dreams!
No in, No out…Just a vision of what is coming.

Fished really hard for a slow pick on lobsters all night and chased the ghost all morning…No big bites, but I had a ton of fun with Curtis and Joe on ‘Honey Girl.’ There was good volume of squid on the front side of the island and despite the recent storms, the water temp was still above 60 on the backside. The dying swell and lack of wind provided a good window to get over there. Not sure what kept the bugs from crawling, but I can’t wait to get back out there again for another shot at em’ and need some seabass in my life. Good to get out there and clock some more time on the water with good friends and soak up some ’salty’ knowledge as well! » Continue Reading…

Here’s some photos from our filming mission at Catalina this last weekend.
All Photos-Afran Abutin
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Here’s some new pictures of my rod that was created in JAPAN by Capt. G
Haven’t had the chance to touch it yet, but I can’t wait to see it in person.
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The IGFA announced that Manabu Kurita’s fish is a World Record tie with George Perry’s fish…What a fish!
CLICK.

JT from Inside Sportfishing put these pictures up in a year in review post…Stoked. Add em’ to the memories.
Thanks JT!

This morning a fleet of 10 boats hit San Clemente Island to bring in the New Year!
On 1 of the boats, was my amazing wife.

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Yesterday I fished San Clemente Island with The Other Justin…
Conditions were pristine for our channel crossing in the absence of light.
Half way from the backside of Catalina and our destination, we were greeted by the Golden Sun that lit a fire in the morning winter sky.
Watching the day begin on the Pacific never gets old…I make a point to be observant of all goings on in every direction around the boat. It can be easy to zone out during a long mission. I’m always reminding myself to be grateful for each adventure and the things we see on the water.The Island was at rest when we arrived, the tide slack and swell in a lull.
We fished the pearly foam to start, in wait for a building breeze out of the South West that would set up long kelp drifts.
Fishing was fishing…any hunt is a good hunt.
We found fish tight to the boilers and sluggish in the 56 degree, almost invisible water. It was like we were floating along some astral plane above some thriving alien forest, in search of a historic prolific species of fish. I know it was just that.Cautious of the building swell, I kept us fishing the dark spots off the beach as the wind began to sing. (Resonance on fishing line is a sign of a good bite to come.)
We checked several spots looking for better conditions on the outside kelp, and finally settled in for a 300 yard long drift through theopen lanes.
There were productive pockets with micro conditions that yielded some good fishing.
The calico in the kelp seemed to prefer the royal treatment, eating only the golden offerings, while the foam dwellers wanted the blues and greens.
We left the island at 12:15pm headed toward Avalon for some fuel and a burger…(no burgers the day after Christmas?)
The crossing home was no different than our crossing over…it was laid down and made for some good conversation.
I think I have a better idea of what I’ll be talking about at the Basstravaganza…hope to see some of you there.
I hope everybody enjoyed a good holiday with friends and family. I spent some time with my pops going thru footage and talking fishing and motorcycles before rigging the boat up and gathering my arsenal.

Geno and I, Christmas night…post bass/bike build rant. Thanks for the inspiration POPS.

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A picture from our last date…

My buddy Currie Wagner from New Jersey is coming to California this weekend…i’m taking him out for his first Calico session.
He caught these two stripers on Thanksgiving day…see you soon bud.

Beat the weather and made it to SCI out of Oceanside yesterday…
Fishing was great with good friends Mike Lane and Eric Abrahamson. Played some FOLF at the finest Country Club on the Pacific.
Here’s some cut frames from yesterday’s mission.
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Afran has been working hard on some hand crafted jointed swimbaits along with some topwater plugs!!! » Continue Reading…

After a brief stint of not fishing for a few weeks, I bring to you my triumphant return to Striper Season. This is not the biggest by any means, but after some bad luck of stolen waders and a blue fish ripping off $20 dollars worth of teasers and metal I landed two of these on my first night back…I love you both and look forward to driving through the desert with you.

got it on a jr treefish #4 w/ a 1 1/2oz revenge brown jig. my neighbor shot this from the balcony of my house. i been really grinding lately but at least i have the stones. miss ya j and i hope all is well. todd

Mike Stembridge of P E A R L swimbaits, ‘The Other’ Justin, Greg, and I fished Catalina Island today.
We started around the back side of the West End in the Lobster Bay area.
We fished points with boilers and kelp and looked for current with off colored water for a slow but steady pick at the Calicos.
The water temp dropped off a bit and ran between 60 and 63 with a good tidal swing that offered pretty decent fishing conditions for the first half of the day.
Around 10am, we hit the front side around J-Rock and spot hopped our way toward Starlight.
There was a meager uphill current with good looking water, but only a few short bites and a PIG that followed my Pointer 125 to the boat.
We continued around the corner, and there were birds (multiple species) diving and crashing on the shallows of the beach while bait exploded all around us. There was a ripping uphill current, and lightly stained water.
The calicos went on a feeding rampage for about 30 minutes and the fishing went full speed.
Most of my fish were caught on a #4 PEARL swimbait that mimicked the small smelt that the calicos were spitting up.
I straightened out the hook on a nice sized fish and missed another shot at my big fish for the day.
Mike on the other hand made a long cast with a #5, and had repeated bites on the retrieve.
From about 40ft. away, I saw a dark shape and I started yelling, “Don’t stop winding, just keep winding!”
A big brown football followed his bait all the way to the boat, and ate it 3ft. away from us!!! It was impressive!
Mike never let the fish turn it’s head, and lipped it within seconds.
The fish had a notch missing from it’s head, and was an old warrior for sure.
She measured out at just over 25 inches long…
We shot some photos and footage of her, and released her unharmed.
We crossed the channel at 4200rpms in 48 minutes and without a splash!
Good times with the boys and Good Job Stembridge!!!
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Something Crazy Inside of the calicos at San Clemente Island makes them absolute killers.
Fished with ‘The Other’ Justin and Bino last Saturday…
Beat the fog to Catalina, and faced a howling East wind as we arrived at our fishing destination (NW Harbor-SCI) just before 7am.
Conditions were good every stop we made, the kelp laid out off the beach and provided perfect lanes for luring ‘Alley Calis.’
The swell was up and the waves were good, but it made for some ballsy boiler fishing.
They bit the whole kit.
Hardbaits, swimbaits, Iron, Slugs and thumbs…
We got into a good number of solid fish and assassinated most of the bigger followers.
We fished until just before Noon and headed home in ‘All Time’ crossing conditions.
Left the East end of Catalina just before 1pm and pulled into Alamitos Bay at 1:40pm.
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Capt. G from Japan/LB put up some progress pictures of the rod that he is building me…I can’t wait to see the final product, and then whale on some bass! See you in January Capt.
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Halibut are biting pretty good in the bay. Fished the tide swing from 230-430P near the bait receiver. They bit good on the slack low. Bumped the sand on long casts, going with the tide. 1oz War Head with a 5.5″ Big Hammer #10 – Surf Smelt.

The halibut I kept went 10lbs @ 31″.

‘and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max and he sailed off through night and day’
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Some scenes from within the editing lab…
I fished SCI this passed Sunday with S.W.B.A. tournament Director, James Shamblin, and self proclaimed ‘deadbeat’ Zacknife Big Rig.
The early AM crossing ranks highly in the ‘grease’ category…no wind and no swell had us fishing at sunrise on the West End.
There was little to no current and a minor tide swing, but we still had some wind driven kelp that helped create some decent fishing condition.
The water temp was 65-67, air felt like it was in the mid 60s until the sun poked it’s head out in the late morning hours.
We had a steady pick at decent fish for the most part, fishing P E A R L swimbaits along with various other plastics for a majority of our fish. The hardbaits: jointed swimbaits and rip baits put some hurt on quality fish in the pockets that held their own little micro conditions.
Zack got a beautiful fish on the beach to end an hour long drift thru the lanes.
James kept us laughing the entire day…if you’ve never heard him ‘Microphone Command’ a tournament, it’d be worth your time coming to an awards ceremony just to hear him go off.
I learned so much just from watching his ‘fishing mechanics’ throughout the day. He would torque on those fish so hard and his reaction to a bite was entertaining to witness. His impersonations of many of the best anglers in the S.W.B.A that accompanied his fights only added to the comedy factor.

Conditions, or lack there of, pretty much stayed the same throughout our fishing time…if not for the minor West wind helping the drift, we may not have scored like we did. We really had to pay attention to the areas that seemed to have the aforementioned ‘micro conditions.’ The areas that had just the smallest variance from surrounding pockets really seemed to be holding the active fish.
Take it for what it’s worth, but pay attention next time you have tough conditions and look for similar variables.
We got some good clips to load into the archives and the crossing home is in the top 3 ‘Clemente Crossings.’
This rain will no doubt change things for some time, but I’ll keep dreaming of SCI until my next voyage…
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Uncle Butch holds it down in San Diego County…He lives just above Mission Bay and has been doing this forever.
Punk Records, Legendary Stories, Hardcore Surfer, Family vibes!!! See ya soon Uncle Butchie.

Zack and I are featured in an S.W.B.A showcase in the current issue of Fish Taco Chronicles.

We had made some plans to run up the line and do some filming for Ceez’s Radio Silence video part…Last second change of plans saw us running for the West End under the Big White Light In The Sky. Another surreal adventure to file in the archives, no doubt.
We made our first casts at 6:30am, in an area of Lobster Bay that has been biting well for the last couple of months.
Water temp was 66+ and we had a bit of current running up and out of the beach.
The fish did not want to interface until the sun burned through the mild cloud cover.
We found ‘HOT POCKETS’ of fish that wanted the hard baits at first.
The bite was steady with mostly rats for the first hour or so…
We moved into an area with an emerald to blue color break that was loaded.
I made a long cast to a deep boiler with my trusty Strike King ‘King Shad’ in Sun Perch (Good Price, Good Hooks, Kills em’, Free Dope for those of you who actually read this banter)…made two cranks and got absolutely detonated on!!!
Bass Detonation is a process of combustion in which a supersonic shock wave is propagated through a fluid due to an energy release from a reaction bite and transmitted into whichever one of your hands is closest to the water.
The fish pulled line from my buttoned drag a few times on my little green Curado 200 (these new ones do not perform as well in the salt as the older silver ones, I don’t care if you tell me they are exactly the same reel of a different color.)
I brought the net today hoping we’d need it, and Ceez put it to work with a nice ‘up and over’ assist.
Don’t care how big the fish looks, his tail was a broom and he kicked my ass on a hard bait rod I borrowed from Marc Higashi.
Light rod, lotta backbone, and a perfect match for the Curado.
The steady wind got them going until the bite switched over from the hard plastic to the soft swimmers.
Ceez had them patterned quickly and put on a rubber clinic to round out the session and put a gang of quality Quellicos on the boat.
We fished our way from point to point until the bite slowed down.
We finished the session on the outside kelp at Triangle Rock…there was a ripping down hill current and it probably went wide shortly after we left.
I straightened out a hook on a fish I never saw while Ceez got his last licks on some bass that were threatening WAR. It was looking fishy and it felt wrong to leave, but we left for home at 11am. Smooth slidin’ on the downhill ride back toward LONG BEACH.
Back on the trailer by 12:15pm, washed her down, and hit the road.
The Quellicos have been gorging on fin bait over at the island, doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon. Get yourself over there and give em’ a good whoopin’…Stay SILENT and keep your eyes peeled for more visual leaks from the crew. » Continue Reading…

I read for a living…
I read emails…
This is the balance to my travel and creative freedom when I play to my strengths at work.
Not everybody cares about the information superhighway and it’s abilities of mass communication and hard copy documentation…Most people do.
Being held accountable for your responsibilities and your salary should not require a box.
It should be measured by your intelligence, work ethic, and ability to see beyond the box, then how well you can execute the implementation of a strategy.
We are approaching the year 2010. This is a fact.
The institution and acceptance of the OFFICE and it’s antiquated existence shall completely die someday.
I am personally approaching the death of this life with faith that I will return to the joyous days of doing as I please.
Swimming south on the 405 with the rest of the school is heinous.
Something has to change.
I go to bed at 1:30am after making sure all of the necessary measures have been taken, only to wake up at 3:00am and implement my own strategy.
I meet up with a couple of guys who agree that the world is round.
As we come to plane just outside the mouth of the harbor, we take note of how the stars have lit up and put on a show for us.
There is a mutual respect between us and a genuine appreciation for the opportunity and blessing of this experience.
This is a large planet, full of many Human Beings…crawling all over every square inch of livable terrain.
There are only 3 Human Beings on this boat, on their way to San Clemente Island.
Thanks LIFE.
Fuck the rat race and the rats.
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The Sea Rapist and I left work a bit early last Thursday and launched out of Marina Del Rey in hopes of getting some Calicos before the sun set. We got to The Blue Ox, a spot just south of The Malibu Pier with about an hour of fishing time left before dark. I got a couple of fish on the number 5 Pearl Swimbait and WAR slayer swim jig. We ran into Chris Fischer and his wife Melissa of ‘Offshore Adventures’ on the water. Apparently their show got picked up by The National Geographic Channel, so there won’t be anymore middle of the night tweaker sessions to catch an episode…nice, they deserve it.
Chris filled us in on some interesting information regarding an impressive number of juvenile White Sharks they had been catching, tagging, and releasing in the area. Surfing Malibu would be so much better if most of the crowd knew how many sharks were actually in the water up there!!! Following our short session, we picked up some friends back in the harbor and cruised around enjoying a few drinks and some good company. » Continue Reading…

I fished with Randy Spizer and Matt Florentino yesterday in the 4th annual St. Jude’s Fundraiser Tournament…We ran up the line to PV and got into a steady bite on the beach for a quick limit. Once the tide started filling in, we ran further North and were able to cull a couple of our smaller fish. We weighed our three bass limit for 10.87 to finish in 1st place in the Calico division. We donated the $240 pot winnings to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. It’s always a wonderful feeling to be able to contribute to modern medicine, especially when CHILDREN are the beneficiaries! Thanks to Ben Florentino and his crew, and all of the generous sponsors that made this event possible again.
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This is a promo/preview of the full length R A D I O S I L E N C E angler features…Stay SILENT!

radiosilencej

This morning on FOXSportsWest, Inside Sportfishing aired the second (in a series of 3) episode featuring the S.W.B.A.’s California Calico Offshore Challenge. Todd and I got some minor air time, but it was cool to see how far the S.W.B.A. has come. Here’s some frame grabs from the show…Of coure, I was eating when they interviewed us. Thanks to James and Eric for holding the tournament, Shea and JT for doing what they do and thanks Todd-O for always fishing with me.
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Gearing up, for what we call…getting down! » Continue Reading…

I turned 32…I had the chance to get in a pre-work fishing session with a good friend. I caught some fish, but broke off my birthday spottie…see you next time Mrs. Piggie.

My younger brother Garrett recently returned from a road trip through Big Sur. While stopped at Ragged Point, a baby Great White shark had washed up on shore in some kind of sack…Whomever found it placed it on ice and had this cardboard explanation of what it was. It’s a phone photo of the polaroid he shot, I’ll have a better image once he scans the original…For now, it’s pretty cool to see the little bugger, at what looks to be about 3ft. long!!! Shark week for real, it appears from what I can make out of the text, that they found it still alive.

Arrived home safely from a few work weeks in Australia (no fishing) last Sunday…Took the week off to handle some personal affairs and spend time with the girls/try to get some time on the water. The family time was of the highest quality, spent at the beach, and in the bay paddling around and staying active. The wind came up just as my plane landed, and kept the boat off the water until Saturday. Randy and Bino and I had a beautiful 4:15am crossing and arrived at a new fishing destination just before Sun Up. The fishing was good, really good…I went 3 fish for 3 casts to start the morning, quality 4 pound golden chinned beauties. Randy caught a nice fish just under 8 pounds later in the day. This fish was an 8 pounder-but was missing some meat where there was a notch taken from just behind his head, not the first I’ve seen, but definitely the biggest. We fished until 11am and rode home on a nice downhill angle that kept us dry and brought us to port just passed NOON. Thank the UNIVERSE for another splendid adventure on the water with good company. » Continue Reading…

Not only are my thumbs destroyed, but after fishing all night on Saturday…my whole upper respiratory system is shredded…We weighed in 22.08 lbs. for 9th place!!! I would have never imagined being that far back in the pack with that bag, but the big fish were biting, and the same old sticks found them…much respect to the teams that weighed in 30+ lbs. sacks!!! I wish I had the energy to write about our tournament night…but I’M SHREDDED.

07/10/09 We made an evening run out to the Pt Loma Kelp in search of big
calico bass on deeper reef structures. Before the sunset, the bass were
boiling and pushing back on the outter kelp line, so we threw swimbaits and
hung several fish in the 2 lbs range. As darkness fell, we started hopping
from structure to structure. The bite was a little slow, but we managed a
few nicer fish. A few high lights for the trip were: a pair of 5.5oz & 7lbs
calicos, a 60 BSB (which was an amazing battle), and a short lobster. A fun
adventure with good friends… » Continue Reading…

Thanks to everybody from Honest Tea for supporting Team Radio Silence and the S.W.B.A in 2009!

I met up with Joey Marshall from BLISSS Magazine at 11pm on Thursday the 2nd. We loaded the truck and left for Mission Bay where he keeps his Panga. The drive down was a flash, filled with the typical banter that helps time fly. After hooking up the boat, we filled up with 60 gallons of fuel and then launched out of ‘Campland.’ 2AM…As soon as we cleared the jetties, The BeatDown began. Three and one half hours of old fashioned Mother Nature’s ass whooping ensued through the darkness of the night. Never more than 200yards of minor visibility, and no depth perception added to the shock of the full force air drops and bottom outs. We’d clear a wave, then hit the flats, only to meet with another short interval Westerly born wave to the bow. The violence of the residual affects of the wind was not inviting in anyway, but we charged on in hopes of making it to SCI. The Surreality of traveling on the water in a skiff, lacking sleep or any rest at all, blanketed with darkness and the sound of the humming outboard is what I enjoy most about such crossings.
5:30AM…Clearing the mixed up seas of the East end lead us into Pyramid Cove just in time for the Grey Light. The fleet of cattle boats and private boaters marked the area in which we would drift while fishing for the jumbo YellowTails that beckoned this adventure. Ten minutes into our morning and Joey’s rod bends over bringing the news that the fish are cruising through. Following a nice steady fight, I gaff his fish in it’s head and swing it into the panga. The fish is a pig headed toad of a tail with a stout frame in the 30 lb. class. Job done, the rest is bonus…we thought. As we set up another drift, Joey has me kill the main engine while we continue fishing. When we set up for a third drift, the engine won’t even turn over. The countless, unsuccessful attempts at diagnosing what has gone wrong brings a different vibe into our day. I attempt to hail Vessel Assist more times than you should have to when in distress, but get no copy.
Another boater in the cove helps over the radio, but receives no copy from them either.
We drop the anchor and settle in for the long haul, noting to ourselves that we have 3 days of food and water (but not beer) if we find ourselves stranded at the island.
Soon we are approached by a private boater in a familiar Hatteras…coincidentally it turns out to be Orange County fireman Joe Enterline, a man I met through Curtis Owens at Performance Tackle, and with whom I’d collected 48 lobsters on a two day mission at Catalina last year. (Stoked)
Joe runs through his diagnostics, and over an hour into it, hot wires the engine with a screwdriver.
We’re up and running again, thanks to Joe and his crew on ‘Honey Girl.’ They wait for us to pull anchor and put the boat back together before they head off to Catalina. It’s always good to have knowledgeable friends on the water, especially when you’re stuck.
We head a couple hundred yards up the line and reset our anchor just ahead of our friend Ben Knight on ‘Bongos.’ After a few beers and no further bites, we pull the anchor and decide to head home before the wind picks up again and serves us up another drilling. (TOO LATE.) I set course for Mission Bay and throttle up to 25mph. 20 minutes into our ride, we pull up on a couple of large kelp paddies that end up being lifeless besides the mini macs that are holding below them.
Throttling back up I decide that if we are to escape what would for sure become a worse westerly, we need to charge home.
Coming down swell doesn’t ever mean you’ll have a smooth crossing, for sure you won’t if your coming home down swell with 15 mph of wind coming from your port side like we were.
The BeatDown that was the evening before picked up right where it had left off. This time, I would not settle for cruising and got what I had deserved. We ended up back in the bay in just over two hours and were greeted with the chaos that Mission Bay becomes the weekend of the fourth of July.
Every adventure is worth the sacrifices you make in order to go…as long as you make it back alive.
The sore muscles in my back are a sign of life this morning that I welcome for the rest of my days here. » Continue Reading…

Not much has changed for this kid…

This was my first time fishing the LB and it was richter. The fishing environment is super sick with the nastiest structure a jig could swim through. We had quad hook ups at times with fish ranging 2-5+lbs. Pretty steady all night! » Continue Reading…