EricU
05-31-2008, 08:02 PM
We stopped for a scoop of sardines as an alternate to squid this trip. Our plan was a quick stop on the Shoe for anything that would bite and then proceed to Catalina. Seeing how the WSB reports seemed to peter a bit this last week we did not expect to land on them. We were just hoping on a day of getting on some fish.
Nothing at the Shoe, so onward to the island. There was a fair swell almost all the way except maybe the last mile; the water laid down nice. After 3 stops with no bites and many metered, we were off to the jackpot X 2 spot.
Play-by-play:
My brother Joel, "whoa this could be a yellow, nah, it is pulling like a ray". Sure enough, one the size of a manhole cover.
Steve, "oh, this one is really pulling, it could Joel's ray again". Nope, a 3 foot shovelnose.
Joel, "oh no, not another ray"? Yep, the other ray's twin brother.
Steve, "this one feels like another ray". Nope, it is another shovelnose.
I ask if anyone wants to pull the hook to find other fish. Their response was merely, yeah, anytime.
Not but a few minutes later my dad thinks he has landed on something big. This fish was taking line off of his $20 Walmart surf rod and reel like a yellowtail. He says "I'm going to get spooled, I broke off twice already and there isn't much line left". We both look down and we can see his bare spool peeking through what might be ten or twenty revolutions of line left. He starts cranking and getting back some line. Over the course of this fight I can see his pole bend in half three times, each time losing more line to this fish. We are all thinking it was another ray or shovelnose since he said it didn't feel like a yellowtail. I was waiting with the gaff hoping to see color (yellowtail) when I see it is just all silver. On 12lb test he landed a 42", 24 pounder WSB! Jackpot!
Well, now we decide to stay on this spot to see if there are any relatives about. We are still metering fish on this spot, but no more takers for about an hour.
Joel, "oh man, not another ray"? He is fighting with this fish for awhile trying to get more of his line back and trying to fight this fish between the two outboard motors. I raised the engine out of the water and gets untangled and I asked him if he wanted me to cut this one off, thinking it was another ray. Joel just kept winding until the next jackpot WSB came to the surface. This one taped out at 46" and 30lbs.
My dad joked that his record fish for the boat didn't even last an hour and a half...
We moved around a bit the frontside hoping for some warmer water, but only managed to hold at 59 degrees most everywhere.
While were around the the WSB spot we did see a private boater land a decent size yellow.
Back at the Cabrillo breakwall for a photo op. Too bad Joel is standing further back and holding his fish at a bad angle, because this one was fat! These guys need to learn to pose with their fish.
Nothing at the Shoe, so onward to the island. There was a fair swell almost all the way except maybe the last mile; the water laid down nice. After 3 stops with no bites and many metered, we were off to the jackpot X 2 spot.
Play-by-play:
My brother Joel, "whoa this could be a yellow, nah, it is pulling like a ray". Sure enough, one the size of a manhole cover.
Steve, "oh, this one is really pulling, it could Joel's ray again". Nope, a 3 foot shovelnose.
Joel, "oh no, not another ray"? Yep, the other ray's twin brother.
Steve, "this one feels like another ray". Nope, it is another shovelnose.
I ask if anyone wants to pull the hook to find other fish. Their response was merely, yeah, anytime.
Not but a few minutes later my dad thinks he has landed on something big. This fish was taking line off of his $20 Walmart surf rod and reel like a yellowtail. He says "I'm going to get spooled, I broke off twice already and there isn't much line left". We both look down and we can see his bare spool peeking through what might be ten or twenty revolutions of line left. He starts cranking and getting back some line. Over the course of this fight I can see his pole bend in half three times, each time losing more line to this fish. We are all thinking it was another ray or shovelnose since he said it didn't feel like a yellowtail. I was waiting with the gaff hoping to see color (yellowtail) when I see it is just all silver. On 12lb test he landed a 42", 24 pounder WSB! Jackpot!
Well, now we decide to stay on this spot to see if there are any relatives about. We are still metering fish on this spot, but no more takers for about an hour.
Joel, "oh man, not another ray"? He is fighting with this fish for awhile trying to get more of his line back and trying to fight this fish between the two outboard motors. I raised the engine out of the water and gets untangled and I asked him if he wanted me to cut this one off, thinking it was another ray. Joel just kept winding until the next jackpot WSB came to the surface. This one taped out at 46" and 30lbs.
My dad joked that his record fish for the boat didn't even last an hour and a half...
We moved around a bit the frontside hoping for some warmer water, but only managed to hold at 59 degrees most everywhere.
While were around the the WSB spot we did see a private boater land a decent size yellow.
Back at the Cabrillo breakwall for a photo op. Too bad Joel is standing further back and holding his fish at a bad angle, because this one was fat! These guys need to learn to pose with their fish.