With the great weather of the past few days, I took the liberty of playing hooky and spent my day on the Stardust, Santa Barbara’s local sport fishing boat.

I headed out Tuesday morning with 10 other passengers and hopes of trophy fish on my mind. The day was hugely successful as we returned to the dock just shy of limits of Cod, one Lingcod, and a Rock Sole.

Pulling on a fish

After our 9:00 am departure we made a quick stop at the bait barge to grab some live bait. And once underway to the fishing grounds Deck hand and Chef extraordinaire, Sal, began cooking up some scrumptious breakfast burritos while Capt. Luke told everyone what the plan was for our day.

The Stardust runs half day trips (9:00 am – 3:00 pm) during the week, and Friday to Sunday are three-quarter day trips (7:00 am – 4:00 pm). The three quarter day trips run out to the local islands more often then not targeting large, delicious rock fish. Half day trips on the other hand tend to stay closer to home, and will fish the waters from Carpentaria to Naples.

Tuesday’s trip was of the shorter variety and since fishing on the coast has been slow Capt. Luke opted to make a slightly longer run then normal and go looking for some deep water Rock Cod and Lings.

Greg Pauloff of Santa Monica with a nice Bosco

We had an hour and a half ride to our first stop of the day and with the weather so nice everyone settled in to enjoy the morning sun. I made my way from group to group to see who was on board fishing with me for the day.

The day’s trip appeared to be one for the out-of-towners since there were no Santa Barbara locals other then myself. There was however a father and son duo from Massachusetts, as well as a mother and her two boys from New Jersey.

As we neared our final destination, Sal gathered everyone up in the rear of the boat for a tackle demonstration. He had tied everyone’s lines on the way out and now it was time for a crash course on how to use the reel’s and hook on a bait. We spent the majority of the day with our lines dangling in 300 feet of water so proper technique was of the utmost importance.

Everyone in the stern just after Sal's demonstration

I foolishly thought my status as a regular on the boat meant I was exempt from this lesson in fishing, but it appears I was wrong. The two brothers from New Jersey, Dane and Grant Chodos, 15 and 12 years old, were the hot sticks on the boat for the day.

Each line has two hooks on it, and while most people only catch one fish at a time, Dane and Grant consistently hauled up two at a time from the briny deep. They even managed to catch the trips two most exciting fish, a Lingcod, and a Rock Sole.

Pictured from left to right: Grant (12), Barbara, and Dane (15) Chodos of New Jersey with the day's only legal Lingcod

Some may think it was simply beginners luck, but I say it was pure talent. You can’t teach someone to fish that well.

For the rest of us it was standard rockfish such as, Bosco’s, Strawberries, Salmon Grouper, and Sand dabs, all great table fare.

On the way back to the dock Sal cleaned everyone’s fish and I returned home with enough to make fish tacos for my girlfriend and her roommates.

If you want to go fishing on the Stardust, call Sea Landing at (805) 963-3564.

Jake Worden, 9, and his dad and a Bosco rock fish

For more of our Santa Barbara’s Fresh Catch, go to independent.com/fresh-catch

You can contact Chuck with any questions, comments, or reports at tunachuck@gmail.com