Special- two trip reports for the price of one

I have two trips to mention, so I might as well do it in one thread, with two separate posts.

Thursday I went out with Alex Ray and his friend Brian . Conditions have been so bad at my spots for so long that not even Dam has been getting fish, but things finally looked better Thursday.

At the first stop we had at least 15 feet of vis, with some patches better. Brian and I gave it quite a bit of time with no sightings, and then went back to the boat. Then we spotted Alex coming from way over on the other side of the bed, towing something white. It turned out to be a 38 pound wsb. Hallelujah!

Generally I don't like to leave fish to find fish, but we had a couple of reports from friends of fish at a nearby spot, so we moved. The water on the outside bed was bluer and clearer, with big schools of sardines and barracuda, although a lot of the kelp was down in the current. I finally decided that I needed a rest and some food, so returned to the boat.

I looked around for the guys, and saw then near each other way south and inside. One waved an arm, so I though they might want help, and I pulled anchor and motored down. It turned out Alex had waved just so I could see where they were, but when I arrived he had a 39 pound wsb, and said he had seen a total of 10 in the area. I dropped anchor.

After a rest and some food, we went back in. The vis was not nearly as nice as on the outside edge, but still doable. Brian and I worked a wide area around the boat, then gave it up. When we looked for Alex, he was coming from way outside, towing something. This one was 28 pounds, and completed his legal limit of three white sea bass.

Brian and I didn't see a single fish all day. Oh well, it was sure nice to see some fish on the boat, and it was nice to find two new dive buddies who can go during the week.

I usually need a rest after a day of diving, but I made the mistake of telling Dam how we did yesterday, and he insisted we go again today. Also, I had seen the thread from Chris Maingot looking for a ride,

Need anchor puller/gear sherpa?? Fri/Sat LA/OC - Spearboard Spearfishing Community

and I hated to see him go back to Florida without trying our diving, so I decided to pry my old ass out of bed for another trip.

Chris is a very good diver, and I loaned him a gun with high hopes that he could be the 20th guy and the 4th from out of state to get his first wsb on my boat, but pickings were slim and the vis was a bit worse. He did see a 70 pound black sea bass coming straight at him but had the presence of mind to wait for it to turn so he could see that it wasn't white.

He did get to experience some of the rush though. He was about 20 feet from Dam when he heard Dam take a shot, so he went over and helped recover Dam's fish from the bottom. In fact he may well have saved it, since it was a poor shot and on the verge of ripping off. It weighed 52 pounds, but was 55 inches long and skinny.

I hope someone will take Chris out tomorrow. He's a great guy to spend the day with on the boat.