Pro-Fishing Secrets to Catching Calico Bass (2/2)

The single hook surface iron works great thrown in channels in the kelp, but when the current is running and the kelp is laying just under the surface in the current, this is the best time to catch calicos on iron. The lure can be cast way back over the kelp beds and the bass will follow it and blast it as it passes over the holes in the kelp. Another great lure for this is the five inch floating Rapala in the mackerel pattern, I remove the two treble hooks and attach a single 6/0 Owner hook to the rear split ring with the hook point facing up. With this lure you can cast back into kelp beds and the lure runs only a few inches deep, when you come to a hole in the kelp stop your retrieve and just wiggle the lure in place for a couple of seconds ( little one inch pulls on the rod tip does this ) then resume the retrieve.

A good strategy for this kind of fishing is to anchor the boat just to the outside of the kelp in a spot where you have many channels to cast to, always fish the channels first because it is much easier to get the fish to the boat through an open channel in the kelp. Only fish back into the kelp beds as a last resort when the fish refuse to hit in the channels. Usually before I begin casting I will spend about five minutes tossing live and dead chum into the surrounding kelp beds, this will usually get the fish in a feeding mood. After running from the launch site to the area you intend to fish about ten percent of your live bait will have died, I clean them all out of the bait tank and cut them in three or four pieces, then I take two or three packages of frozen squid and cut them in three pieces and put them in a pail with the cut baitfish, now you have lots of chunk bait to chum.

Throw out a couple of handfuls of chunks then five or six live baits, this will really stretch your live bait. Now just throw single chunks to channels in the kelp and occasionally a single live bait. By now you should see bass feeding on the chunks or chasing the live chum, when you see fish flash on the chum or bust a fleeing sardine on the surface immediately cast the iron past where you saw the fish and reel it by the fish and hang on, as these fish will try to rip the rod from right out of your hands.

I usually make a cast , then throw a couple of live chum, then make another cast. After I cast the surface lures, I will switch to plastics, a four to six inch green or brown bait is my personal favorite. Look into the water and try to see the bait the fish are eating, try to match the color and size of the bait in the water. Nine times out of ten I will use the green swimbait as the calicos just eat it up!

If you haven't caught any fish after ten minutes move to a new spot and start again. The first thing I look for in a kelp bed to fish is the presence of seagulls, or turns in the area, this indicates fish are chasing bait to the surface, or I may see cormorants diving, this tells me bait fish are in the area. I always prefer to fish areas with gulls and terns diving or sitting on the water as this tells me there must be fish present to chase bait to the surface. Cormorants just tell me there
is bait but maybe no fish. If there are no gulls I will fish the spot with Cormorants before a spot with no birds unless I know from experience that this paticular kelp bed holds calicos.

The calicos when active are usually suspended in the top third of the water column, and are actively chasing bait, this is where you want to use a 1/4 or 3/8 oz. lead head on your swim bait as this will let it sink slower and keep it in the strike zone longer. When the fish are inactive and holding near the bottom a 3/4 to 1oz lead head needs to be used to get past the unproductive upper water and down to the bottom where the fish are holding.

When the fish do not seem to want to eat the artificial lures a whole squid on a 1oz white leadhead sometimes seems to be just what they want. When fishing this rig during slow times, be sure to give the fish time to get the whole squid and leadhead in his mouth before setting the hook. When fishing squid as opposed to plastic on the jig, you must set the hook hard as you may need to penetrate a balled up squid as well as the fish's bony mouth. Always use premium leadheads with laser sharp wide gap hooks, you will double your catches with these super sharp hooks.