This story is not really totally current. Some people asked me to delay, an I respected their wishes, particularly since they threatened to cut my balls off.
But anyway, at a time long ago and a place far away, or something like that, I went out with Dam and Austin (Cecille B.) Derry as crew.
At our first stop, the water temp was 55 and it looked pretty green. We almost moved on, but decided to give it a look. Or at least they decided to give it a look, and I decided to keep my clothes on until I heard a report. Dam dove behind the boat and reported that viz was a "hazy 7 feet." That news did not move me to suit up. Some time later, from out in the kelp bed, he shouted that it was maybe 15 feet down the bottom. Since I don't do much hunting at 60 feet, I still kept my clothes on.
Then about 10 minutes later he shouted to Austin that he had one on. Damn, I should have suited up. Why didn't they make me?
I got my suit on and was tempted to just jump in, but I thought I'd wait until they brought the fish back so I could take photos and keep them honest with the scale. However, they seemed to be taking forever, so I pulled anchor and moved to boat close to them. Austin came over and traded his gun for his video camera and started giving direction to Dam on how he was supposed to bring the fish up, how they would shoot video, etc. I began to think I wasn't going to jump in very soon after all.
Finally they got the fish videod and on the surface, and I could see that it was a big one, but still they wouldn't bring it back. It appears that even though they had the fish in hand, the shooting line was so tangled down below that they couldn't even find the swivel to separate the shooting line from the reel line. For any newbies who haven't considered the reality of retrieving fish in thick kelp, keep in mind that they are very experienced and skilled divers, and it still challenged them.
Anyway, I estimate that it must have been an hour and a half from shot to boating the fish. Otherwise of course I would have shot a fish of my own if I had not been waiting.
The boat was rocking quite a bit while we weighed the fish, and Dam is pretty wimpy and can't hold the scale still, but we decided on an average bounce of about 61 pounds. Not a bad way to start the season.
Austin and went in, and the vis was pretty bad. There were huge streams of sardines, lots of smelt and mackerel, but no wsb for us. Dam's fish was full of sardines by the way.
Lest you think Dam is any good at this stuff, I want to report that the fish swam under him while he was on the surface. Of course I'll have to admit that he was at least in the water, and I wasn't.
Notice the photo shows a hole in the fish. Dam shot straight down at the back and out the bottom, and you can't even see his holes. That hole in the photo is an old wound, and there was a dimple on the far side as if a tip had not quite made it out.
If that sounds familiar, last year I shot fish from the right side but the tip came back out without deploying. The next day, Dam shot a 64 pound fish with a hole on the right side and a dimple on the left, and ever since I've accused him to taking my fish. Now this new fish shows the same hole pattern, but I only lost one, so I can't claim both. I guess I'll stick with last year's fish since it was heavier. But on the other hand, this fish was skinny with very thin roe sacks, and I bet it could have gone around 70 if it had been fat.
Feel free to call Dam a prick if you would like. I'm just feeling some guilt for being an enabler so soon again this season.
BTW, Jeff Bonisa and I got a ride on a beautiful 36' Luhrs today. It was pretty rough, windy and cold most of the time. No one got any fish besides the sand bass that Jeff took for dinner, but it was a very nice ride. I'm just afraid Jeff won't want to go on my boat any more.
But anyway, at a time long ago and a place far away, or something like that, I went out with Dam and Austin (Cecille B.) Derry as crew.
At our first stop, the water temp was 55 and it looked pretty green. We almost moved on, but decided to give it a look. Or at least they decided to give it a look, and I decided to keep my clothes on until I heard a report. Dam dove behind the boat and reported that viz was a "hazy 7 feet." That news did not move me to suit up. Some time later, from out in the kelp bed, he shouted that it was maybe 15 feet down the bottom. Since I don't do much hunting at 60 feet, I still kept my clothes on.
Then about 10 minutes later he shouted to Austin that he had one on. Damn, I should have suited up. Why didn't they make me?
I got my suit on and was tempted to just jump in, but I thought I'd wait until they brought the fish back so I could take photos and keep them honest with the scale. However, they seemed to be taking forever, so I pulled anchor and moved to boat close to them. Austin came over and traded his gun for his video camera and started giving direction to Dam on how he was supposed to bring the fish up, how they would shoot video, etc. I began to think I wasn't going to jump in very soon after all.
Finally they got the fish videod and on the surface, and I could see that it was a big one, but still they wouldn't bring it back. It appears that even though they had the fish in hand, the shooting line was so tangled down below that they couldn't even find the swivel to separate the shooting line from the reel line. For any newbies who haven't considered the reality of retrieving fish in thick kelp, keep in mind that they are very experienced and skilled divers, and it still challenged them.
Anyway, I estimate that it must have been an hour and a half from shot to boating the fish. Otherwise of course I would have shot a fish of my own if I had not been waiting.
The boat was rocking quite a bit while we weighed the fish, and Dam is pretty wimpy and can't hold the scale still, but we decided on an average bounce of about 61 pounds. Not a bad way to start the season.
Austin and went in, and the vis was pretty bad. There were huge streams of sardines, lots of smelt and mackerel, but no wsb for us. Dam's fish was full of sardines by the way.
Lest you think Dam is any good at this stuff, I want to report that the fish swam under him while he was on the surface. Of course I'll have to admit that he was at least in the water, and I wasn't.
Notice the photo shows a hole in the fish. Dam shot straight down at the back and out the bottom, and you can't even see his holes. That hole in the photo is an old wound, and there was a dimple on the far side as if a tip had not quite made it out.
If that sounds familiar, last year I shot fish from the right side but the tip came back out without deploying. The next day, Dam shot a 64 pound fish with a hole on the right side and a dimple on the left, and ever since I've accused him to taking my fish. Now this new fish shows the same hole pattern, but I only lost one, so I can't claim both. I guess I'll stick with last year's fish since it was heavier. But on the other hand, this fish was skinny with very thin roe sacks, and I bet it could have gone around 70 if it had been fat.
Feel free to call Dam a prick if you would like. I'm just feeling some guilt for being an enabler so soon again this season.
BTW, Jeff Bonisa and I got a ride on a beautiful 36' Luhrs today. It was pretty rough, windy and cold most of the time. No one got any fish besides the sand bass that Jeff took for dinner, but it was a very nice ride. I'm just afraid Jeff won't want to go on my boat any more.
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