December Mack

It was warm and calm Saturday afternoon in early December. I went fishing to Willows pier with my daughter. I carried a few frozen mackerels and a crab net, too.

I set a high-low bait rig with 1/2 oz sinker, put pieces of mackerel meat and casted from the pier. I used 12’ telescope light rod and small Daiwa reel with 15 lb power pro. Hooks were Gamakatsu split shot/drop shot #2. For fishing with bait, skinny hooks work better because they hold bait much better than heavier hooks. It is especially important when silversides are nibbling the bait. There were lots of people in November but none to be seen this time. We also set a crab net and got some crabs. She was excited and we kept them in a bucket for a while.

Soon after that, a fish hit. Rod tip ran. Should be a mack. I set hooking and asked her to reel in. She struggled at the beginning but got a nice one around 11’’. In an hour, she got two more. She reeled in much better at the time of the third one.

I carried a pocket size video camera so could take really cool movies. I couldn’t believe it was December!