Yesterday I was sitting around wondering if I should try to get together a crew for a trip today, and I got a call that got me moving. Eric Klemowicz was down here from Pismo Beach to watch his son play in a soccer tournament, and he called Joe Nguyen to ask if Joe knew anyone who might take him diving. Joe gave him my number, and we arranged to meet at Dana Harbor.
After such a long dry spell, my luck sure has improved. I've seen fish on my last three trips and have taken three fish.
The best part is that three fish in a row have chosen to run horizontally rather than making it hard on me by going down to tie up on the bottom at 50 feet or more. I short-lined the hell out of this fish today, putting on as much pressure as I could while still getting some air, and it didn't get too far before tying up. Eric was back in the boat by then, but he jumped in and came to offer help. By the time he got to me, I was straight over the fish with shooting line in my hand. He held the line while I made a couple of dives to cut out the fish, and when I came up, my D3 said that I hadn't been deeper than 23 feet. My kind of diving!
For those who insist that we have to use big guns and thick shafts, I got this with my 57" Wong magnum hybrid with a 9/32" shaft, a 9/32" slip tip rigged with Spectra, and three ⅝" bands. I was using a 120' white Neptonics floatline.
Eric was feeling a bit bad in the belly before we even got on the boat, so we came in early. Otherwise I'm sure that we both would have limited.
It was great to dive with a new buddy who was so personable, and who also has a boat and goes to the Northern Channel Islands. Maybe I'll finally get to go Lumming again.
After such a long dry spell, my luck sure has improved. I've seen fish on my last three trips and have taken three fish.
The best part is that three fish in a row have chosen to run horizontally rather than making it hard on me by going down to tie up on the bottom at 50 feet or more. I short-lined the hell out of this fish today, putting on as much pressure as I could while still getting some air, and it didn't get too far before tying up. Eric was back in the boat by then, but he jumped in and came to offer help. By the time he got to me, I was straight over the fish with shooting line in my hand. He held the line while I made a couple of dives to cut out the fish, and when I came up, my D3 said that I hadn't been deeper than 23 feet. My kind of diving!
For those who insist that we have to use big guns and thick shafts, I got this with my 57" Wong magnum hybrid with a 9/32" shaft, a 9/32" slip tip rigged with Spectra, and three ⅝" bands. I was using a 120' white Neptonics floatline.
Eric was feeling a bit bad in the belly before we even got on the boat, so we came in early. Otherwise I'm sure that we both would have limited.
It was great to dive with a new buddy who was so personable, and who also has a boat and goes to the Northern Channel Islands. Maybe I'll finally get to go Lumming again.