fish_sauce
06-08-2008, 09:12 AM
The weekend finally came around and i couldn't wait long enough to ditch work early and hit the surf! Checked the tide charts, water temp, wind speed...and called a buddy from Alhambra to shoot down and meet me at our spot in OC. Made the hour drive down from San Bernardino...
Got there around 6pm, water condition was terrible! Swells were light and warm, but the water looked to be almost murky brown. Very low visibility, and a lot of vegetation. My hour or so attempt at landing a halibut with crankbaits and plastics yielded nothing! Not wanting to go home feeling defeated, i wagered a bet with my buddy to see who could catch more YFC's within an hour on a cheap $1.50 lure we both got at a local flea market the week before...one beer a fish :D The night ended well with me being one fish shy of a six-pack. As for my buddy.. although he hooked up to two YFC's, they both broke off before he could land them...:ROFL:
I guess you can say i ended up catching a light buzz...;) All fish were released.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/IMG_4639.jpg
I wasn't entirely satisfied with catching only YFC's, so saturday morning came around and i debated about making the long drive back to OC again...finally mustered up enough determination to pack my gear and got down to the water by 6:30am.
Hit a beach in southern OC, and conditions appeared to be promising...very warm, clear water, light gentle swells, a slight onshore breeze, and light overcast. From the distant, i could see the ocasional croaker breaking water surface to feed...but i stay focused on landing myself a big halibut...fished around til 11:30am, and had absolutely no takers....by then, the high tide had already receded into minus low tide. On the way back to the truck, i came across a patch of seaweed washed up to shore...with a birdnest of fishing line still attatched to it. I usually hate seeing fishing line laying around where i fish---it makes me feel almost guilty for some reason...so i went down to pick it up and put it in the trash but to my surprise i came across an old beat up LC Flashminnow 110 entangled in the whole mess! It had been out in the water long enough for the hooks to have completely rust off...a few patches of missing paint, but still in useable condition! :D
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/IMG_4638.jpg
After lunch, some Vietnamese coffee, and half a pack of cigarettes later, i got the urge again to hit up a different beach. This time, i didn't bother with the charts. Whatever goes, i guess. I found out that it was DFG's free fishing day, so i invited a couple friends who's never fished before to come with me, but got no takers. They were more anxious to watch the big game ;).
Got to the beach just before 6, and conditions were surpisingly nice! On the third or forth cast......WHAMMMMM!!!!! fish on! It felt like i had snagged onto a ray of some sort...the occasional drag-screaming runs, and then nothing but dead weight...I could feel that it was a nice sized fish...but then again, i had on only 8lb test flourocarbon on a cheap *** Eclipse reel i got at Sports Authority on clearance for $7....hahahha...anything could have felt big!
Fifteen minutes (seemed like an eternity) later, i finally got the fish close enough to see it....the unmistakable tail and the white underside....and this fish easily tops 30 inches...if i manage to land it, it would be a personal best...but as the waves were crashing and as the water got shallower, it broke out in bouts of violent shakes; further straining not only my arms but the light 8lb line, and bending the stock hooks on the flashminnow...so when the waves finally pulled out...i took a chance and grabbed onto its tail and ran for higher ground....
Final measurements came out to be 32 inches, weighing in at almost 15 pounds. A new personal best! You know how the old saying goes...."if at first you don't succeed, try, try again...."
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/Fishy010.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/Fishy009-1.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/Fishy012.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/Fishy014.jpg
Got there around 6pm, water condition was terrible! Swells were light and warm, but the water looked to be almost murky brown. Very low visibility, and a lot of vegetation. My hour or so attempt at landing a halibut with crankbaits and plastics yielded nothing! Not wanting to go home feeling defeated, i wagered a bet with my buddy to see who could catch more YFC's within an hour on a cheap $1.50 lure we both got at a local flea market the week before...one beer a fish :D The night ended well with me being one fish shy of a six-pack. As for my buddy.. although he hooked up to two YFC's, they both broke off before he could land them...:ROFL:
I guess you can say i ended up catching a light buzz...;) All fish were released.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/IMG_4639.jpg
I wasn't entirely satisfied with catching only YFC's, so saturday morning came around and i debated about making the long drive back to OC again...finally mustered up enough determination to pack my gear and got down to the water by 6:30am.
Hit a beach in southern OC, and conditions appeared to be promising...very warm, clear water, light gentle swells, a slight onshore breeze, and light overcast. From the distant, i could see the ocasional croaker breaking water surface to feed...but i stay focused on landing myself a big halibut...fished around til 11:30am, and had absolutely no takers....by then, the high tide had already receded into minus low tide. On the way back to the truck, i came across a patch of seaweed washed up to shore...with a birdnest of fishing line still attatched to it. I usually hate seeing fishing line laying around where i fish---it makes me feel almost guilty for some reason...so i went down to pick it up and put it in the trash but to my surprise i came across an old beat up LC Flashminnow 110 entangled in the whole mess! It had been out in the water long enough for the hooks to have completely rust off...a few patches of missing paint, but still in useable condition! :D
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/IMG_4638.jpg
After lunch, some Vietnamese coffee, and half a pack of cigarettes later, i got the urge again to hit up a different beach. This time, i didn't bother with the charts. Whatever goes, i guess. I found out that it was DFG's free fishing day, so i invited a couple friends who's never fished before to come with me, but got no takers. They were more anxious to watch the big game ;).
Got to the beach just before 6, and conditions were surpisingly nice! On the third or forth cast......WHAMMMMM!!!!! fish on! It felt like i had snagged onto a ray of some sort...the occasional drag-screaming runs, and then nothing but dead weight...I could feel that it was a nice sized fish...but then again, i had on only 8lb test flourocarbon on a cheap *** Eclipse reel i got at Sports Authority on clearance for $7....hahahha...anything could have felt big!
Fifteen minutes (seemed like an eternity) later, i finally got the fish close enough to see it....the unmistakable tail and the white underside....and this fish easily tops 30 inches...if i manage to land it, it would be a personal best...but as the waves were crashing and as the water got shallower, it broke out in bouts of violent shakes; further straining not only my arms but the light 8lb line, and bending the stock hooks on the flashminnow...so when the waves finally pulled out...i took a chance and grabbed onto its tail and ran for higher ground....
Final measurements came out to be 32 inches, weighing in at almost 15 pounds. A new personal best! You know how the old saying goes...."if at first you don't succeed, try, try again...."
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/Fishy010.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/Fishy009-1.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/Fishy012.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/Fishy014.jpg