Actually, he is a *%&#@, but I wasn't sure the moderators would let me get away with it in the title.
This should actually be Dave's big fish thread, but since the fish was weighed on my scale in my boat, and the photos were taken with my camera, I figure I earned the right to tell it first from my POV.
I set out this morning with Jeff Bonisa. We first stopped at a place that shall be called Kelp Bed A so that we can keep them straight as the story unfolds. The vis was 10 feet at best, and much worse on the surface or below 15 feet, so we gave it up after not too long.
We decided to head for Kelp Bed B. That spot had 30 feet of vis when I was there Monday, and while I didn't see any fish, I know that some big ones have been taken here recently. On the way we passed Kelp Bed Blue, named because today the water looked very blue there. However, there were some head boats fishing the spot, and I felt confident that B would be hot, so we pressed on.
B was at least acceptable, with maybe 15 feet vis or a bit more here and there, but all the bait hat had been there on Monday was MIA, and it seemed very dead. About the only thing it had in common with Monday is that we didn't see any wsb.
We were on the way to try another bed in the B area when Dave and a buddy come up on their skis and stopped in the middle of the bed. It wasn't all that big, so we decided to leave it to them. However, we stopped and chatted a bit, and I mentioned that Blue had looked pretty good earlier, and we might go try it. I don't know if Dave had ever even been to Blue, but he thanked us for the info and said he might try it later.
So Jeff and I went to Blue. It was still blue, and I would have liked to set up on the outside up current end of the bed, but a big head boat was anchored there, so we had to go around to another spot inside. When I jumped in, I got all excited because I could almost see the bottom at 45 feet from the surface, but the excitement was premature. Jeff and I worked the hell out of the bed for an hour or two. There were a few schools of salema, some blue perch, and a few mackerel, but it wasn't very lively.
While we were diving, the head boat left and then Dave and his friend arrived on their skis and set up right at that outside up current end where I would have liked to be. Jeff was back in the boat before me, and he said he had heard Dave shouting over there, so we pulled anchor and idled over.
Dave can correct me if I have it mixed up, but here's the way I recall the story, Dave borrowed his friend's gun which had a flopper shaft and made his first dive. A big school of large white sea bass went under him, so he shot one. I went to the bottom and tied up. Dave was afraid it would tear off, so he took his own gun and was going to put a second shot in it.
On the way down for the second shot, another large school of large wsb came under him, so he shot one. Now he had two fish to deal with. He gave his friend back his gun and worked on getting the second fish cut out. Sometime in this process, the first fish was lost.
So when we came by later, Dave showed us the fish he got, and said it was much smaller than the one lost. He asked if we had a scale, and when I said we did, he jumped in and swam the fish over. Jeff held it up as best he could in the rocking boat, and the average bounce seemed to be around 52 pounds. Of course this is peanuts compared to Dave's recent 70 pounder, but very nice nevertheless.
So, since I try to be a full service stop, I asked if he wanted some photos. He said he did and jumped in the boat and posed with the fish. I managed to get the skis in the background just to add to my humiliation.
So lets sum it up. I told Dave where the clear water was, he went there and anchored on the spot that I wanted to anchor on, shot a fish where I wanted to be, used my scale to weigh it and my camera and boat for photos.
Did I mention that Dave is a jerk?
Jeff and I considered staying, but we had worked the hell out of the rest of he bed and Dave and his friend had worked the hell out of that point and were still there, so we tucked our tails between out legs and ran back to Bed A.
The water had really cleared up quite a bit, there were lots of barracuda and bait running around, and we heard some croaking, but we still couldn't see a white sea bass.
We were so damn tired that we headed for home about 5:30. For all I know, Dave and his friend completed their limits at Bed Blue before sunset.
If so, they will have to take their own damn photos and weigh their own damn fish on their own damn scale.
This should actually be Dave's big fish thread, but since the fish was weighed on my scale in my boat, and the photos were taken with my camera, I figure I earned the right to tell it first from my POV.
I set out this morning with Jeff Bonisa. We first stopped at a place that shall be called Kelp Bed A so that we can keep them straight as the story unfolds. The vis was 10 feet at best, and much worse on the surface or below 15 feet, so we gave it up after not too long.
We decided to head for Kelp Bed B. That spot had 30 feet of vis when I was there Monday, and while I didn't see any fish, I know that some big ones have been taken here recently. On the way we passed Kelp Bed Blue, named because today the water looked very blue there. However, there were some head boats fishing the spot, and I felt confident that B would be hot, so we pressed on.
B was at least acceptable, with maybe 15 feet vis or a bit more here and there, but all the bait hat had been there on Monday was MIA, and it seemed very dead. About the only thing it had in common with Monday is that we didn't see any wsb.
We were on the way to try another bed in the B area when Dave and a buddy come up on their skis and stopped in the middle of the bed. It wasn't all that big, so we decided to leave it to them. However, we stopped and chatted a bit, and I mentioned that Blue had looked pretty good earlier, and we might go try it. I don't know if Dave had ever even been to Blue, but he thanked us for the info and said he might try it later.
So Jeff and I went to Blue. It was still blue, and I would have liked to set up on the outside up current end of the bed, but a big head boat was anchored there, so we had to go around to another spot inside. When I jumped in, I got all excited because I could almost see the bottom at 45 feet from the surface, but the excitement was premature. Jeff and I worked the hell out of the bed for an hour or two. There were a few schools of salema, some blue perch, and a few mackerel, but it wasn't very lively.
While we were diving, the head boat left and then Dave and his friend arrived on their skis and set up right at that outside up current end where I would have liked to be. Jeff was back in the boat before me, and he said he had heard Dave shouting over there, so we pulled anchor and idled over.
Dave can correct me if I have it mixed up, but here's the way I recall the story, Dave borrowed his friend's gun which had a flopper shaft and made his first dive. A big school of large white sea bass went under him, so he shot one. I went to the bottom and tied up. Dave was afraid it would tear off, so he took his own gun and was going to put a second shot in it.
On the way down for the second shot, another large school of large wsb came under him, so he shot one. Now he had two fish to deal with. He gave his friend back his gun and worked on getting the second fish cut out. Sometime in this process, the first fish was lost.
So when we came by later, Dave showed us the fish he got, and said it was much smaller than the one lost. He asked if we had a scale, and when I said we did, he jumped in and swam the fish over. Jeff held it up as best he could in the rocking boat, and the average bounce seemed to be around 52 pounds. Of course this is peanuts compared to Dave's recent 70 pounder, but very nice nevertheless.
So, since I try to be a full service stop, I asked if he wanted some photos. He said he did and jumped in the boat and posed with the fish. I managed to get the skis in the background just to add to my humiliation.
So lets sum it up. I told Dave where the clear water was, he went there and anchored on the spot that I wanted to anchor on, shot a fish where I wanted to be, used my scale to weigh it and my camera and boat for photos.
Did I mention that Dave is a jerk?
Jeff and I considered staying, but we had worked the hell out of the rest of he bed and Dave and his friend had worked the hell out of that point and were still there, so we tucked our tails between out legs and ran back to Bed A.
The water had really cleared up quite a bit, there were lots of barracuda and bait running around, and we heard some croaking, but we still couldn't see a white sea bass.
We were so damn tired that we headed for home about 5:30. For all I know, Dave and his friend completed their limits at Bed Blue before sunset.
If so, they will have to take their own damn photos and weigh their own damn fish on their own damn scale.
