Today I had the rare treat of going out on someone else's boat. Jim Anderson invited me to come down and go on his Parker, and I jumped at the chance to avoid the hassle of dealing with my own boat. I had tentatively invited Jake Wright to come on my boat, so Jim let me bring him along.
The day was frigging gorgeous, with calm air and seas, and the vis at our first stop turned out to be about perfect for white sea bass, the water temp was 64, so we had high hopes.
I didn't see anything notable for about 45 minutes, and then I was amazed to see a 30 pound yellowtail come by up in the middle of a big kelp bed. I've seen yellowtail come up channels in the kelp before, but I don't recall seeing one so deep in a thick bed. Unfortunately, I took a shot that wasn't so sure, and hit it about an inch from the top. After a few turns in the kelp, it tore off.
I had instant remorse and wished that I had waited. White sea bass never come back after they swim away, but yellowtail often do. I have high hopes that it will recover since the shaft just went though some meat.
After another 10 minutes or so, I got what was probably the number one easiest shot ever on a white sea. It came swimming straight up to me and turned broadside. I put the tip about a foot from its head the strung it on the shooting line. Of course it was a tiny thing, just 22 pounds, but I rationalize that fish that stupid should be removed from the gene pool. Also, while I finally did get one fish last week, it was a late start, so getting one more just to prove to myself that last week wasn't a fluke seemed reasonable.
Since the other guys were seeing a few fish, I went back in to cruise the outside of the bed and see if I could find another yellowtail, but I didn't. However, I did see a black sea bass of about 200 pounds, and a pair of baby black sea bass, maybe 30 to 40 pounds, that came up to examine my Mori tip. I'm just thankful I didn't see an 80 pound white sea bass to test my character.
The fish that the guys saw didn't turn out to have a death wish quite like mine, and Jim had a big tear in the crotch of his suit which was testing his manhood, so we came in early. While I wished that the guys had taken monster fish, it was just a hell of a nice day for me. I didn't have to mess with my boat, the weather and water were just about ideal, and I had a great time with good company.
The day was frigging gorgeous, with calm air and seas, and the vis at our first stop turned out to be about perfect for white sea bass, the water temp was 64, so we had high hopes.
I didn't see anything notable for about 45 minutes, and then I was amazed to see a 30 pound yellowtail come by up in the middle of a big kelp bed. I've seen yellowtail come up channels in the kelp before, but I don't recall seeing one so deep in a thick bed. Unfortunately, I took a shot that wasn't so sure, and hit it about an inch from the top. After a few turns in the kelp, it tore off.
I had instant remorse and wished that I had waited. White sea bass never come back after they swim away, but yellowtail often do. I have high hopes that it will recover since the shaft just went though some meat.
After another 10 minutes or so, I got what was probably the number one easiest shot ever on a white sea. It came swimming straight up to me and turned broadside. I put the tip about a foot from its head the strung it on the shooting line. Of course it was a tiny thing, just 22 pounds, but I rationalize that fish that stupid should be removed from the gene pool. Also, while I finally did get one fish last week, it was a late start, so getting one more just to prove to myself that last week wasn't a fluke seemed reasonable.
Since the other guys were seeing a few fish, I went back in to cruise the outside of the bed and see if I could find another yellowtail, but I didn't. However, I did see a black sea bass of about 200 pounds, and a pair of baby black sea bass, maybe 30 to 40 pounds, that came up to examine my Mori tip. I'm just thankful I didn't see an 80 pound white sea bass to test my character.
The fish that the guys saw didn't turn out to have a death wish quite like mine, and Jim had a big tear in the crotch of his suit which was testing his manhood, so we came in early. While I wished that the guys had taken monster fish, it was just a hell of a nice day for me. I didn't have to mess with my boat, the weather and water were just about ideal, and I had a great time with good company.
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