The visibility along the Southern California coast has been absolutely awful lately, with some sort of greenish/brown plankton bloom making it very difficult. I had planned a trip with Joel Olenik and Matt Smith for Friday (yesterday), but Thursday evening we got some reports that indicated that it was still horrible at our favorite spots. We discussed it and someone observed that he had never shot any fish sitting at home, so we decided to give it a try.
It was very foggy as we ran down the coast from Dana Point Harbor, and we almost ran into an aircraft carrier. I doubt that they would have even noticed a bump on the carrier, but it might have been a disaster for us.
When we arrived at our spot, not much of the kelp was making it to the surface and the visibility looked doubtful, but it was hard to tell in the poor light. Water temperature was 57°F. We anchored and sat around in the cabin daring each other to check out the conditions and hoping the fog would burn off soon. Finally we decided to man up and give it a try.
The visibility was a green 6 to 8 feet in most places, but only on the surface. If you got below about 10 feet, it got steadily worse, and I didn't even want to know what it was like on the bottom at 50', but I was afraid I might find out if I shot a fish. I have a new wet suit without three years of compression, so I need more weight, but hadn't added enough. I had to get down to where I could hardly see the end of my gun just to be neutrally bouyant, so I was heading back to the boat to add some weight to the belt when I heard Joel yelling that he had a fish and needed help. The boat was between us, so I clipped off my gun to a line hanging over the side so that I would have both hands free to help. Matt had also heard Joel shout, so he showed up about the same time I did.
It turned out that Joel had just been turning over to start a dive when the fish swam right under him, and he figures his fins were barely under water when he took the shot. He was using a breakaway float line 120 feet long, and the fish took every bit of it. When it got to the end, he clipped the butt of his gun to the end of his line, and was holding onto the bands and being pulled down now and then when he was shouting to us.
Permit me to digress for a brief sermon. A lot of beginners think they can get by with a 50 or 75 foot float line because they won't be diving in deep water. This fish ended up wrapping in the kelp at 14 feet deep, but it took all the line by weaving back and forth through the kelp. While Matt and I tried to help, Joel kept coming back and forth in every direction following the line. His gun on the end of the line had been pulled down until it hung in the kelp, and at one point he was confused and was following line back toward the gun rather than following the other end toward the fish. I happened to be at the end near the gun, and told him to go in the other direction. You really do need a long float line in the heavy kelp, even if the fish doesn't go to the bottom.
OK, end of sermon. The story had a happy ending when he landed a 58 pound white sea bass. After helping weigh and photograph the fish, Matt and I got back in the water. I ended up diving very little since I felt that I had a better chance seeing a fish from the surface then getting down in the murk where I would just spook fish that I couldn't see. But we didn't see any more fish, so decided to get home at a reasonable hour for a change.
Notice the weight on the scale back at my house. This is the first time I can recall weighing a fish before and after gutting, and I'm surprised how much weight it lost. After weighing the fish at 58 pounds on the boat, Joel gutted it and cut the gills out. The gut was full of squid, it lost a lot of blood on the deck of the boat, and the gills themselves must have had significant weight.
The last photo is an underwater shot of my gun hanging off the side of the boat, and you can see how yucky the water looked.
It was very foggy as we ran down the coast from Dana Point Harbor, and we almost ran into an aircraft carrier. I doubt that they would have even noticed a bump on the carrier, but it might have been a disaster for us.
When we arrived at our spot, not much of the kelp was making it to the surface and the visibility looked doubtful, but it was hard to tell in the poor light. Water temperature was 57°F. We anchored and sat around in the cabin daring each other to check out the conditions and hoping the fog would burn off soon. Finally we decided to man up and give it a try.
The visibility was a green 6 to 8 feet in most places, but only on the surface. If you got below about 10 feet, it got steadily worse, and I didn't even want to know what it was like on the bottom at 50', but I was afraid I might find out if I shot a fish. I have a new wet suit without three years of compression, so I need more weight, but hadn't added enough. I had to get down to where I could hardly see the end of my gun just to be neutrally bouyant, so I was heading back to the boat to add some weight to the belt when I heard Joel yelling that he had a fish and needed help. The boat was between us, so I clipped off my gun to a line hanging over the side so that I would have both hands free to help. Matt had also heard Joel shout, so he showed up about the same time I did.
It turned out that Joel had just been turning over to start a dive when the fish swam right under him, and he figures his fins were barely under water when he took the shot. He was using a breakaway float line 120 feet long, and the fish took every bit of it. When it got to the end, he clipped the butt of his gun to the end of his line, and was holding onto the bands and being pulled down now and then when he was shouting to us.
Permit me to digress for a brief sermon. A lot of beginners think they can get by with a 50 or 75 foot float line because they won't be diving in deep water. This fish ended up wrapping in the kelp at 14 feet deep, but it took all the line by weaving back and forth through the kelp. While Matt and I tried to help, Joel kept coming back and forth in every direction following the line. His gun on the end of the line had been pulled down until it hung in the kelp, and at one point he was confused and was following line back toward the gun rather than following the other end toward the fish. I happened to be at the end near the gun, and told him to go in the other direction. You really do need a long float line in the heavy kelp, even if the fish doesn't go to the bottom.
OK, end of sermon. The story had a happy ending when he landed a 58 pound white sea bass. After helping weigh and photograph the fish, Matt and I got back in the water. I ended up diving very little since I felt that I had a better chance seeing a fish from the surface then getting down in the murk where I would just spook fish that I couldn't see. But we didn't see any more fish, so decided to get home at a reasonable hour for a change.
Notice the weight on the scale back at my house. This is the first time I can recall weighing a fish before and after gutting, and I'm surprised how much weight it lost. After weighing the fish at 58 pounds on the boat, Joel gutted it and cut the gills out. The gut was full of squid, it lost a lot of blood on the deck of the boat, and the gills themselves must have had significant weight.
The last photo is an underwater shot of my gun hanging off the side of the boat, and you can see how yucky the water looked.
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