Success at Otay!!!

[Pourboy]

Thanks all for the recommendations on where to fish on Sunday. I did end up going to Otay and met Corsoenthusiast (SP?) out there. Shortly after the sun came up we and about 30 of our closest boats, tubes, yaks and shore guys were on the fish. It seemed that everyone was hooked up (except me for a bit). I heard one family say their son got his PB (5lb) on a Rattle Trap and the other son got a 4lber. Lots of clones were being caught too in the 1.5-2lb range. All fish were super healthy and fought hard. It did not feel like a winter bite at all.

I did decide to teach myself the "Strolling" technique and watched "C" put on a clinic out there. I used the Jackall Drift Fry 4" with a Range Roller head (1/0 hook) that I picked up at Slugg Fishing in Poway. After a bit of getting used to I started to get bit. I ended up landing 5 nice healthy bass with the biggest around 3lbs. I missed a bunch more including a ~5lb fish that jumped and spit the hook (on the video). I'm sure I'll do better next time when I get that opportunity. Around 7:30am the bite just...stopped. Everyone there said that it stopped way sooner than other days, but oh well. I was totally satisfied getting a few nice fish on a new technique and basically a new lake for me (This was my 3rd time fishing Otay, ever).

One of the things I loved out there was that there were a bunch of people fishing one area and nobody got fussy. We all just fished the boils and had fun. It mostly cleared out once the bite died down and I ended up staying till 10:30 enjoying the view and Facetiming with my brother with a beautiful background.

I will definitely be out there again, hopefully before the bite dies off. Check out the video for more details and for the "Beer of the Day". I am up for any advice on how I can improve my technique as I am sure this will work at other lakes too. Cheers!

[CorsoEnthusiast]

Thanks all for the recommendations on where to fish on Sunday. I did end up going to Otay and met Corsoenthusiast (SP?) out there. Shortly after the sun came up we and about 30 of our closest boats, tubes, yaks and shore guys were on the fish. It seemed that everyone was hooked up (except me for a bit). I heard one family say their son got his PB (5lb) on a Rattle Trap and the other son got a 4lber. Lots of clones were being caught too in the 1.5-2lb range. All fish were super healthy and fought hard. It did not feel like a winter bite at all.

I did decide to teach myself the "Strolling" technique and watched "C" put on a clinic out there. I used the Jackall Drift Fry 4" with a Range Roller head (1/0 hook) that I picked up at Slugg Fishing in Poway. After a bit of getting used to I started to get bit. I ended up landing 5 nice healthy bass with the biggest around 3lbs. I missed a bunch more including a ~5lb fish that jumped and spit the hook (on the video). I'm sure I'll do better next time when I get that opportunity. Around 7:30am the bite just...stopped. Everyone there said that it stopped way sooner than other days, but oh well. I was totally satisfied getting a few nice fish on a new technique and basically a new lake for me (This was my 3rd time fishing Otay, ever).

One of the things I loved out there was that there were a bunch of people fishing one area and nobody got fussy. We all just fished the boils and had fun. It mostly cleared out once the bite died down and I ended up staying till 10:30 enjoying the view and Facetiming with my brother with a beautiful background.

I will definitely be out there again, hopefully before the bite dies off. Check out the video for more details and for the "Beer of the Day". I am up for any advice on how I can improve my technique as I am sure this will work at other lakes too. Cheers!

was great to see you out there man! I can't wait to get some more of that bite!

[VinnyBass]

Nice job out there and enjoyed the video as always!
It’s fun to try something a little different, especially when it works. Actually @CorsoEnthusiast the other year told me using Damiki and hover rigs and I was picking up some bass on those rigs also. It’s amazing how many fishing techniques can pop up through a lifetime of fishing. Glad you had a nice time and tight lines always!

[Pourboy]

Nice job out there and enjoyed the video as always!
It’s fun to try something a little different, especially when it works. Actually @CorsoEnthusiast the other year told me using hover rigs and I was picking up some bass on that unusual rig also. It’s amazing how many techniques can pop up through a lifetime of fishing. Glad you had a nice time and tight lines always!

Much appreciated! I'm always excited to learn and try new stuff. The day I stop learning is going be a...well that's not happening! I just learned what a Donkey Rig is the other day. I've never done that either.

[1Fishdude]

Nice job out there and enjoyed the video as always!
It’s fun to try something a little different, especially when it works. Actually @CorsoEnthusiast the other year told me using hover rigs and I was picking up some bass on that unusual rig also. It’s amazing how many techniques can pop up through a lifetime of fishing. Glad you had a nice time and tight lines always!

Much appreciated! I'm always excited to learn and try new stuff. The day I stop learning is going be a...well that's not happening! I just learned what a Donkey Rig is the other day. I've never done that either.

Speaking of the donkey rig I have used it for a few years with ok success with flukes but
knowing you fish the bay Is where this technique shines. I use hook up baits or similar to fish for spotties and when the bite is on you will be surprised on how strong they are with double hook ups. Its wild !!!

[JWall]

Good stuff. Thanks Chris!

[CorsoEnthusiast]

Nice job out there and enjoyed the video as always!
It’s fun to try something a little different, especially when it works. Actually @CorsoEnthusiast the other year told me using Damiki and hover rigs and I was picking up some bass on those rigs also. It’s amazing how many fishing techniques can pop up through a lifetime of fishing. Glad you had a nice time and tight lines always!

Yeah the blades have been good down there too, blade baits or a lipless like an LV500 yo-yo’d off the bottom. I got one on a mid diving crank Sunday too. Seen guys chucking a rigs and chatterbaits out there too.

[KillinTime]

Nice bite for this time of year. Great Video! Is Otay Arm the only bite or is Harvey going off too?
Thanks for the post and video=)

[Pourboy]

Nice job out there and enjoyed the video as always!
It’s fun to try something a little different, especially when it works. Actually @CorsoEnthusiast the other year told me using hover rigs and I was picking up some bass on that unusual rig also. It’s amazing how many techniques can pop up through a lifetime of fishing. Glad you had a nice time and tight lines always!

Much appreciated! I'm always excited to learn and try new stuff. The day I stop learning is going be a...well that's not happening! I just learned what a Donkey Rig is the other day. I've never done that either.

Speaking of the donkey rig I have used it for a few years with ok success with flukes but
knowing you fish the bay Is where this technique shines. I use hook up baits or similar to fish for spotties and when the bite is on you will be surprised on how strong they are with double hook ups. Its wild !!!

I guess that I will have to give that a go in the future! Thanks for the recommendation.

[Pourboy]

Nice bite for this time of year. Great Video! Is Otay Arm the only bite or is Harvey going off too?
Thanks for the post and video=)

Thanks! I am totally an Otay newbie so I don't know where else the bite is happening. I heard Harvey had an algae bloom but not sure if that is still going on or not. I only fished the Otay arm on that day.

[CorsoEnthusiast]

Nice bite for this time of year. Great Video! Is Otay Arm the only bite or is Harvey going off too?
Thanks for the post and video=)

There’s fish back in Harvey’s too. It’s pea green soup back there right now.

[Dannicus]

Thanks to Jeremy's ( @CorsoEnthusiast ) posts here I'm gonna give the technique a try too, albeit at Murray today. It's been pretty slow there but gonna see if I can coax a few nibbles with these lol. As always thanks for sharing your excellent tips and videos!

[CorsoEnthusiast]

Thanks to Jeremy's ( @CorsoEnthusiast ) posts here I'm gonna give the technique a try too, albeit at Murray today. It's been pretty slow there but gonna see if I can coax a few nibbles with these lol. As always thanks for sharing your excellent tips and videos!
IMG_20241218_084850683.jpg

Get em’!

[Pourboy]

Thanks to Jeremy's ( @CorsoEnthusiast ) posts here I'm gonna give the technique a try too, albeit at Murray today. It's been pretty slow there but gonna see if I can coax a few nibbles with these lol. As always thanks for sharing your excellent tips and videos!
IMG_20241218_084850683.jpg

Good looking baits! I hope that you do well out there.

[KillinTime]

Thanks to Jeremy's ( @CorsoEnthusiast ) posts here I'm gonna give the technique a try too, albeit at Murray today. It's been pretty slow there but gonna see if I can coax a few nibbles with these lol. As always thanks for sharing your excellent tips and videos!
IMG_20241218_084850683.jpg

Those baits do look good. Making me hungry=)

[Dannicus]

Well no luck on the strolling baits at Murray, but to be fair I didn't give them a great try. I ran into some equipment issues and had to cut my morning really short lol

[VinnyBass]

Well no luck on the strolling baits at Murray, but to be fair I didn't give them a great try. I ran into some equipment issues and had to cut my morning really short lol

Hope your equipment issued gets fixed and those baits do look awesome!
And adding my 2 cents regarding Murray... if 10 sticks of dynamite were detonated at different areas of the lake, it may not produce a decent bass these days. I thought my Lowrance was broken on my last tripsince only schools of bluegill were showing up on the screen...

[KillinTime]

In your defense. When the bass at Otay get the threadfin corralled in the back of those arms, the bite can go stupid. Sounds like they are feeding so hard right now that they are not scrutinizing baits and the bite is going wide open at times. I seen this a lot in the past a Otay, but normally during the shad spawn or earlier in the Fall frenzy. I do remember having great days in December at San V on breaking fish. Back when the lake had a shad population. They need to restock that lake with shad. IMHO??

Way to get out on the water and live your best life! Keep it up=)

[Dannicus]

Well no luck on the strolling baits at Murray, but to be fair I didn't give them a great try. I ran into some equipment issues and had to cut my morning really short lol

Hope your equipment issued gets fixed and those baits do look awesome!
And adding my 2 cents regarding Murray... if 10 sticks of dynamite were detonated at different areas of the lake, it may not produce a decent bass these days. I thought my Lowrance was broken on my last tripsince only schools of bluegill were showing up on the screen...

Well after almost 3 years of absolute worry free reliability, fishing an average of 3-4 days per week, and countless hours of use, my Bixpy motor finally just stopped. I got off the water and called Bixpy and they told me to bring it in (they are located right here in Mira Mesa), which I did that same morning.

The motor cord sheath started to separate at the battery connection several weeks ago and it continued to work fine, but evidently water finally made its way down the cord and into the motor housing and fried the internal circuit board. They were going to fix it for a very reasonable amount (they are a great company with excellent customer service).

My battery and remote were fine, but I have had my eye on the bigger battery for some time, so I opted to purchase an entirely new Pro Angler K1 kit. They gave me 25% off my purchase for trading in my old unit.

I can't say enough good things about Bixpy. It has been an absolute game changer in how I fish, and I never really worry about wind with it. As I'm sure Chris can attest with his motor setup, the ability to go forward and backward is extremely handy in positioning too.

[VinnyBass]

Well no luck on the strolling baits at Murray, but to be fair I didn't give them a great try. I ran into some equipment issues and had to cut my morning really short lol

Hope your equipment issued gets fixed and those baits do look awesome!
And adding my 2 cents regarding Murray... if 10 sticks of dynamite were detonated at different areas of the lake, it may not produce a decent bass these days. I thought my Lowrance was broken on my last tripsince only schools of bluegill were showing up on the screen...

Well after almost 3 years of absolute worry free reliability, fishing an average of 3-4 days per week, and countless hours of use, my Bixpy motor finally just stopped. I got off the water and called Bixpy and they told me to bring it in (they are located right here in Mira Mesa), which I did that same morning.

The motor cord sheath start to separate at the battery connection several weeks ago and it continued to work fine, but evidently water finally made its way down the cord and into the motor housing and fried the internal circuit board. They were going to fix it for a very reasonable amount (they are a great company with excellent customer service).

My battery and remote were fine, but I have had my eye on the bigger battery for some time, so I opted do purchase an entirely new Pro Angler K1 kit. They gave me 25% off my purchase for trading in my old unit.

I can't say enough good things about Bixpy. It has been an absolute game changer in how I fish, and I never really worry about wind with it. As I'm sure Chris can attest with his motor setup, the ability to go forward and backward is extremely handy in positioning too.

Yeah, the guys are great up there at Bixpy. They have always offered excellent customer service to me also. One time the battery was making a humming noise and they took care of it at no cost.
Then earlier this year, I couldn’t understand why the bracket kept slipping on the motor mount and part of the plastic broke when I was forcing it shut, and I didn’t know that. So the guy went in the back took my mounting unit back there put a new one on at no charge.
He showed me where the plastic had broken and that’s why it wouldn’t lock in the place. I have one of the older Bixpys, but I am very happy with it and can’t say enough about their customer service.