Went out with Steve and Jerry last night. I wasn't sure if I would be able to go but decided it's always better to give it a shot than not and arrived after them just past dark. The outgoing tide was in full swing, with the salad and surf conditions not looking promising. I cast out and my first bait comes back neatly bitten off below the 8/0 J hook I was using. I recast with a different bait and the same thing happens in five minutes. Just as I'm suspecting it might be Leopards Steve's rod goes off. He fights a nice sized Leo up to the beach. After a couple photos and an easy hook removal it goes back. I see that Steve was using a stinger hook rig with smaller hooks so I asked to borrow one of his to try and keep any more drive-bys from happening. I cast out hoping to get one of the Leos that had been mauling my baits but almost as if they knew about the stinger hook they stopped biting. For the next couple hours we fish without much action, moving north a little bit to position ourselves in a better hole. The currents started acting very weird as the tide continued to go out; our baits would get moved north and south in equal turn and there were a couple of clicker runs that came up empty and with the baits untouched.
At about midnight-12:30 I was standing with Steve and Jerry by Jerry's rod when my rod at the very end started screaming. It was nearly 50m away and I sprinted to go grab it. About halfway there and it started running faster and so did I. I finally got to the rod and set the hook as hard as I can. First run took me deep into the backing and with a couple of head shakes I was thinking shark. I didn't want to jinx myself after the previous day though so I didn't say anything and kept reeling. I had gained about half of my line back when a big tangle formed between my line and Steve's, but we were luckily able to clear it while staying tight to the fish and I stayed connected. Eventually the fish came through the breakers and Steven got a hand on the tail. A nice 68'' female soupie, the one I had been looking for over the last couple weeks. We notice it's hooked deep so we got to work removing the hook, measuring, and photographing as quickly as possible. She was looking pretty exhausted but after a few minutes reviving her in the surf she swam off. We fished for about another hour after before heading back. Great fish and great session! Always a pleasure to fish with you guys!
Photos are here:
https://imgur.com/VL9cWG1https://imgur.com/aC3yBZQhttps://imgur.com/MCjuTMy
