And its about time.
No one ever seems to post about getting white sea bass any more in spite of the fact that anyone who is half way plugged in knows that some very big ones have been taken lately, so I hope this won't piss off too many people when I actually report a fish.
Last year I heard of walls of wsb at PV and lots of fish at La Jolla at various times, but since I'm lazy and cheap, I kept waiting for it to happen in my stomping grounds half way be in between. As far as I know, it didn't. Its not as if we didn't get a few, but even the studs like Dam struggled when they went with me. So I resolved to be more aggressive about traveling.
Today Dam Nguyen and I went out and got my season started, or at least my boat's season started. It was only my second trip if you don't count the first two when I was towed back from right outside the harbor with an overheated engine. The last few weeks I've been tied up with a house remodel, but today I told the contractor that the back door was unlocked.
The best vis was 10 feet or so at the first spot, and then it went downhill from there. The water temp was constant though- freezing everywhere. At the second stop I was heading back to the boat, cold, tired, and disgusted, when I saw that Dam was already there. Being a wise ass, I shouted "how big is it" but I really thought he had just given up before I did. And the ******* replied "about 40 pounds."
He was close- the median bounce of the scale was around 44. He said he shot it at around 20 feet deep, and the line went slack so that he thought he missed. Then it went up to the surface and thrashed around, and he went up and grabbed it. I guess that it isn't a classic stone shot where the fish just rolls over, but it beats the hell out of going to the bottom in the murk. When he cleaned the fish later, he had to cut the slip tip Spectra because he couldn't pull the slide ring through the bone.
I think we tried three more places. Of course he was limited out, but he kept pushing me over the side and making me keep trying. He was jumping in too with his video camera, but neither one of us saw another fish.
At the end, I asked him if I could just pose holding his fish with the other side toward the camera while he took pics, but he wouldn't go for it. He can be such a prick!
I don't know how you guys in open boats hack it. The only way I could keep at it was to run hot water down my suit after every stop and then run the cabin heater on the way to the next spot. Even then, when I got home I spent about 30 minutes under a hot shower before I could function.
But it was worth it to see a fish on the boat. Maybe next time it will be my fish.
No one ever seems to post about getting white sea bass any more in spite of the fact that anyone who is half way plugged in knows that some very big ones have been taken lately, so I hope this won't piss off too many people when I actually report a fish.
Last year I heard of walls of wsb at PV and lots of fish at La Jolla at various times, but since I'm lazy and cheap, I kept waiting for it to happen in my stomping grounds half way be in between. As far as I know, it didn't. Its not as if we didn't get a few, but even the studs like Dam struggled when they went with me. So I resolved to be more aggressive about traveling.
Today Dam Nguyen and I went out and got my season started, or at least my boat's season started. It was only my second trip if you don't count the first two when I was towed back from right outside the harbor with an overheated engine. The last few weeks I've been tied up with a house remodel, but today I told the contractor that the back door was unlocked.
The best vis was 10 feet or so at the first spot, and then it went downhill from there. The water temp was constant though- freezing everywhere. At the second stop I was heading back to the boat, cold, tired, and disgusted, when I saw that Dam was already there. Being a wise ass, I shouted "how big is it" but I really thought he had just given up before I did. And the ******* replied "about 40 pounds."
He was close- the median bounce of the scale was around 44. He said he shot it at around 20 feet deep, and the line went slack so that he thought he missed. Then it went up to the surface and thrashed around, and he went up and grabbed it. I guess that it isn't a classic stone shot where the fish just rolls over, but it beats the hell out of going to the bottom in the murk. When he cleaned the fish later, he had to cut the slip tip Spectra because he couldn't pull the slide ring through the bone.
I think we tried three more places. Of course he was limited out, but he kept pushing me over the side and making me keep trying. He was jumping in too with his video camera, but neither one of us saw another fish.
At the end, I asked him if I could just pose holding his fish with the other side toward the camera while he took pics, but he wouldn't go for it. He can be such a prick!
I don't know how you guys in open boats hack it. The only way I could keep at it was to run hot water down my suit after every stop and then run the cabin heater on the way to the next spot. Even then, when I got home I spent about 30 minutes under a hot shower before I could function.
But it was worth it to see a fish on the boat. Maybe next time it will be my fish.