Author Topic: Almost Heroes (6/19)  (Read 1821 times)

Latimeria

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Almost Heroes (6/19)
« on: June 20, 2020, 06:36:54 AM »
Squatch and I finally got out in the Curmudgeon after 4 months.  Only thing I asked is he wear a mask the entire time since spacial distancing isn't much of an option on my boat.

Everything was going well.  apparently the island had 100 boats all crammed in down there, but we went to LJ and it had 10 boats and 60 kayaks! lol

For the first time in what seemed a while for me, mackerel were around.  I've been having a hell of a time finding them this year up in this area, but at least we had fresh bait in the livewell.  Hardly any birds around and no breezers to see.  We were making bait when a kayaker rolled ny with a big tail hanging out of his bag.  Said he got it slow trolling, so that's what we started to do.

Water looked amazing.  Almost blue and free of weeds.  After an hour of slow trolling, we were about to try another spot when my rod bounces like crazy.  I grab the rod and see a 6+ foot thresher go airborne!  Entire body and tail out of the water!  Absolutely amazing, but the circle hook sisn't stick and it got off.  We were hoping it would hit Squatch's bait, but the small weight he had on it probably kept it out of view.

That made us troll the area for a few hours more, but couldn't get anything else to commit except for a cormorant. We decided to try the kelp for bass, White Black or Calico.

Steve started to get cuda slashing his swimbaits and it was too thick to let out a live mack.  I got a few calico on the weedless swimbaits as we trolled around the edge looking for something more substantial.



Finally a seal came in and harassed us.  Friggand pain in the asses, so we went back out looking for lingcod with the live macks.  Unfortunately, the deep current was ripping so hard that 12 oz couldn't hold in 80' of water and we were spot locked!  Unfishable....  Went back in the kelp to realize we didn't want to try for halibut, so moved really close to shore.  so close in fact that a lifeguard boat cale out and made a B-Line right at us to shoo us out of there!

We hit a little deeper water and started drifting for halibut.  I saw my buddy Randy and watched him catch two right away before Steve got a big hit.  Bam!  Big Halibut for sure.
Took his time... everything looked good, then after a short fight *poof* pulled the hook and gone!

Had some greedy bass also trying to take down macks that were too big for them.

Tried the drift again and he must have dropped it right on his noggin, because he was on again with another definite halibut!  I was grabbing the gaff when it undulated real hard and pulled the hook again!  WTF!  Any one of our farmed fish would have made it a great day out on the water.

We moved slightly and the drift started swinging directions, but Steve was on again!  Got it half way up and Gone!  This is all he came back with!



Not long after and I had a strange really bouncy hit which looked more shark like.  I gave it a little time and waited for the line to come tight when it all gave.  i reeled up to see this!



Not sure what that was, but the winds started cranking up to 15-20 and white caps everywhere.  We fished a few hours past where we would normally come in, so made one last drift in an old hot spot for nada so we called it the day.

Man, we had some golden opportunities, but the rusty joints and muscle memory along with some bad luck just made it a Zro day instead of a potential Hero day.

In any case, it was great to get out and actually hang out with a friend for the first time in 4 months.

Thanks for reading and I'll get my revenge the next time!
You can't catch them from your computer chair.

sasquatch

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Re: Almost Heroes (6/19)
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2020, 06:55:55 AM »
 Lots of disappointments on this trip. Still the best boat trip I've had in ages.

 Cant believe we farmed every big fish that bit. Argh.

 Thanks for the invite. Its been a long time.

BenCantrell

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Re: Almost Heroes (6/19)
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2020, 04:25:47 PM »
Damn, that's a lot of action and a lot of heartbreak.

I was out kayaking Pt Loma yesterday, and that wind was no joke.

vdisney

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Re: Almost Heroes (6/19)
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2020, 03:35:06 AM »
In any case, it was great to get out and actually hang out with a friend for the first time in 4 months.

Glad you guys got out, sometimes it ain't all about catching   ;)
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Tim524

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Re: Almost Heroes (6/19)
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2020, 08:59:37 PM »
Looks like the big fish were social distancing ::) Redemption coming soon 8)