Or at least sort of. And this one was the right kind.
I headed out yesterday morning with Chris Oak and Tanc to try to find the reported great white sharks and prove how brave were were. Well maybe anyway. I was willing to go in the water if they checked it out first.
It was very foggy so it was hard to tell how the vis was from the boat, but we stopped on a place where I got a personal best 62 pounder a few years ago. Vis turned out to be around 15 to 20 feet in most spots, but there wasn't much bait and it seemed pretty dead. Chris finally saw one that he thinks was over 50 pounds, but it was a bit too far away for a good shot.
So we moved on to another spot. I jumped in and gasped at how blue and clear it was. It would have been top to bottom vis if it hadn't been slightly hazy near the bottom, but I could still see the bottom from 15 feet. The kelp wasn't very thick, so I felt like I could probably see any big fish from the surface. I only dove every 5 minutes of so or when I came to a patch of kelp that seemed thicker. After a while, I saw a big white sea bass about 20 feet down just cruising slowly. It drifted down behind a patch of kelp, so I dove to the other side, but then never saw it again. I thought I would have at least seen it leave.
I continued out to the up current end of the bed, then went over to the side nearest the boat and came back down, planning to give it up and get back in the boat. I saw nice schools of Spanish and green mackerel, and as I came abeam the boat, saw a big school of sardines. When I got near to them, all of a sudden they just hauled ass and vanished. Of course I looked at the direction they were running away from and didn't see a thing. Then I looked back down, and saw a nice white sea bass right under me. I was afraid I'd spook it if I dove, and I was afraid it might be a bit deep for an accurate shot, so I took the easy way out, lined up as carefully as I could, backed up the butt with my left hand, and shot it.
At first is swam off pretty slowly, and I thought I'd be able to stop it easily. Then it accelerated and pulled float line through my hand no matter hard I tried. Before I knew it, all 120 feet of float line was gone and I had the mini-carrot in my hand and was being pulled under water. I kicked as hard as I could and was on the verge of turning loose when I managed to get up for a gasp of air, then another one, and then it seemed to have tied up. After I made sure it wasn't pulling anymore, I clipped the gun to the rear end of the line and went off following it through the blue water. After the initial vertical section, it was mostly running horizontal, and it was very easy to follow that bright white line though the blue water. I don't think I got over about 15 feet on any dive, and then it started going uphill. Finally I looked out and saw the fish wrapped in kelp just under the surface. When I swam over to it, I couldn't reach it from the surface, so I had to duck my snorkel under water to grab it. I guess that means it was maybe 3 to 4 feet deep?
This was really my style. None of that messing around in the murk at 50 feet. This was a true old man's fish, and the old man appreciated it. I inflated my float and attached it to the slip tip Spectra so the fish couldn't sink, then swam over and detached the shooting line from the float line. From there it was easy to follow the float line back to the gun, and then take gun and fish to the boat. Just like I knew what I was doing.
When I got the fish in the boat, I really did think it might weigh close to 70 pounds, but the scale bounced between 60 and 65, so I decided to wait until I got home where I could hang it up and get a good weight. It turned out to weigh 62.14 pounds. My previous best was 62, but I think that was an estimate of the midpoint of a bouncing scale on the boat, so this may or not be a new personal best. I guess its at least a tie. Then I gutted it this morning. It was spawned out and didn't have much in the way off eggs, but it still lost 10 pounds with a gutted weight of 52.11
Since I got a personal best 40 pound yellowtail on May 4, I'm going to take the liberty of calling this fish a personal best wsb so that I declare it a hell of a week. When you're lucky, you're lucky, and I'm lucky. I can't believe how happy I am.
Chris saw a pair of 30 pounders but didn't get a shot and Tanc didn't see any, so they wanted to move on. I took off my suit, showered, and said I'd be their bitch and take the anywhere they wanted to go.
At the next spot, Chris got a nice fish, but it wasn't nice to him. The surface vis was nice, but the bottom had about 4 feet of vis, so he took a long time down there at 50 feet cutting it out. I felt just a little bit guilty at the contrast with my fish (but I won't loose any sleep over it ). He didn't weigh his on the boat, but but I think he said it was 45 pounds after he got home.
We were going to move to one more place to give Tanc a chance to get even, but then the boat wouldn't start. After messing with it for an hour or so I gave up and called Vessel Assist, and we saved a lot of gas on the trip home. It was sort of downer at the end of a nice day, but if would have been even worse without the fish in the bag. I suspect I'll be without a boat for a week or so, so get out there while things are red hot.
I shot my fish with a Wong 60" Super Magnum hybrid with four 5/8" bands, a 7.5 mm plated shaft, a Wong 9/32 tip rigged with Spectra, and a Neptonics 120 foot float line. I got this gun late last season. Its a beast of a heavy gun, and I fully intended it to be a once or twice a year gun for yellowtail in clear water. But when I got it in the water and shot a yellowtail, I was surprised how easy it was to handle, and thought I just might be able to use it in a kelp bed on a clear day. Since it looked so clear at our second spot, I thought this was as good as any a time to try it. My only hesitation was that I was afraid I might not know how to shoot it, but apparently I shot it well enough.
Chris used a Gil gun (not sure of length and model) with 5/16 shaft and Mori tip and a float line.
Tanc used a Riffe Euro 130, but it didn't matter what he used.
I can't believe how frigging lucky I am. If my boat is in the shop for a week, it will be bearable after the fun of the last few days.
I headed out yesterday morning with Chris Oak and Tanc to try to find the reported great white sharks and prove how brave were were. Well maybe anyway. I was willing to go in the water if they checked it out first.
It was very foggy so it was hard to tell how the vis was from the boat, but we stopped on a place where I got a personal best 62 pounder a few years ago. Vis turned out to be around 15 to 20 feet in most spots, but there wasn't much bait and it seemed pretty dead. Chris finally saw one that he thinks was over 50 pounds, but it was a bit too far away for a good shot.
So we moved on to another spot. I jumped in and gasped at how blue and clear it was. It would have been top to bottom vis if it hadn't been slightly hazy near the bottom, but I could still see the bottom from 15 feet. The kelp wasn't very thick, so I felt like I could probably see any big fish from the surface. I only dove every 5 minutes of so or when I came to a patch of kelp that seemed thicker. After a while, I saw a big white sea bass about 20 feet down just cruising slowly. It drifted down behind a patch of kelp, so I dove to the other side, but then never saw it again. I thought I would have at least seen it leave.
I continued out to the up current end of the bed, then went over to the side nearest the boat and came back down, planning to give it up and get back in the boat. I saw nice schools of Spanish and green mackerel, and as I came abeam the boat, saw a big school of sardines. When I got near to them, all of a sudden they just hauled ass and vanished. Of course I looked at the direction they were running away from and didn't see a thing. Then I looked back down, and saw a nice white sea bass right under me. I was afraid I'd spook it if I dove, and I was afraid it might be a bit deep for an accurate shot, so I took the easy way out, lined up as carefully as I could, backed up the butt with my left hand, and shot it.
At first is swam off pretty slowly, and I thought I'd be able to stop it easily. Then it accelerated and pulled float line through my hand no matter hard I tried. Before I knew it, all 120 feet of float line was gone and I had the mini-carrot in my hand and was being pulled under water. I kicked as hard as I could and was on the verge of turning loose when I managed to get up for a gasp of air, then another one, and then it seemed to have tied up. After I made sure it wasn't pulling anymore, I clipped the gun to the rear end of the line and went off following it through the blue water. After the initial vertical section, it was mostly running horizontal, and it was very easy to follow that bright white line though the blue water. I don't think I got over about 15 feet on any dive, and then it started going uphill. Finally I looked out and saw the fish wrapped in kelp just under the surface. When I swam over to it, I couldn't reach it from the surface, so I had to duck my snorkel under water to grab it. I guess that means it was maybe 3 to 4 feet deep?
This was really my style. None of that messing around in the murk at 50 feet. This was a true old man's fish, and the old man appreciated it. I inflated my float and attached it to the slip tip Spectra so the fish couldn't sink, then swam over and detached the shooting line from the float line. From there it was easy to follow the float line back to the gun, and then take gun and fish to the boat. Just like I knew what I was doing.
When I got the fish in the boat, I really did think it might weigh close to 70 pounds, but the scale bounced between 60 and 65, so I decided to wait until I got home where I could hang it up and get a good weight. It turned out to weigh 62.14 pounds. My previous best was 62, but I think that was an estimate of the midpoint of a bouncing scale on the boat, so this may or not be a new personal best. I guess its at least a tie. Then I gutted it this morning. It was spawned out and didn't have much in the way off eggs, but it still lost 10 pounds with a gutted weight of 52.11
Since I got a personal best 40 pound yellowtail on May 4, I'm going to take the liberty of calling this fish a personal best wsb so that I declare it a hell of a week. When you're lucky, you're lucky, and I'm lucky. I can't believe how happy I am.
Chris saw a pair of 30 pounders but didn't get a shot and Tanc didn't see any, so they wanted to move on. I took off my suit, showered, and said I'd be their bitch and take the anywhere they wanted to go.
At the next spot, Chris got a nice fish, but it wasn't nice to him. The surface vis was nice, but the bottom had about 4 feet of vis, so he took a long time down there at 50 feet cutting it out. I felt just a little bit guilty at the contrast with my fish (but I won't loose any sleep over it ). He didn't weigh his on the boat, but but I think he said it was 45 pounds after he got home.
We were going to move to one more place to give Tanc a chance to get even, but then the boat wouldn't start. After messing with it for an hour or so I gave up and called Vessel Assist, and we saved a lot of gas on the trip home. It was sort of downer at the end of a nice day, but if would have been even worse without the fish in the bag. I suspect I'll be without a boat for a week or so, so get out there while things are red hot.
I shot my fish with a Wong 60" Super Magnum hybrid with four 5/8" bands, a 7.5 mm plated shaft, a Wong 9/32 tip rigged with Spectra, and a Neptonics 120 foot float line. I got this gun late last season. Its a beast of a heavy gun, and I fully intended it to be a once or twice a year gun for yellowtail in clear water. But when I got it in the water and shot a yellowtail, I was surprised how easy it was to handle, and thought I just might be able to use it in a kelp bed on a clear day. Since it looked so clear at our second spot, I thought this was as good as any a time to try it. My only hesitation was that I was afraid I might not know how to shoot it, but apparently I shot it well enough.
Chris used a Gil gun (not sure of length and model) with 5/16 shaft and Mori tip and a float line.
Tanc used a Riffe Euro 130, but it didn't matter what he used.
I can't believe how frigging lucky I am. If my boat is in the shop for a week, it will be bearable after the fun of the last few days.