gavin310
09-14-2008, 10:02 PM
My only camera right now is my iPhone, and I just had to get a new one becuase my old one got too much sand stuck in the speakers. I'm not going to make the same mistake :Smile: But I did take some pictures when I got home for you.
After my failed catfishing attempt, I needed to feel something a little more powerful than a nibble on my line. Went to bed at 3am, woke up at 5:30am, got to the spot in Malibu around 6:30am. Sky was overcast, surf was mild, water was nice and clear, but a bit of salad. Noticed a kelp paddy off in the distance. Started off with an LC and 15 or 20 minutes in got a hit. Short butt, maybe 16". While taking the hook out I wasn't paying attention. Part of my finger went into its mouth and he closed and opened it real quick. Those things have some power! Thank god it was a short one. NEVER put your finger in a halibut's mouth!!! Continuing on... couldn't find any other takers for about half an hour, so switched to the American Shad LC. Few minutes later I got a small calico. Probably 11 or 12 inches. The surf started getting pretty heavy and the salad got thicker. It was hard to get a cast without bunching up with stringy seaweed right off the bat. The salad continued for the rest of the day, but varied in how much there was. Worked the beach quite a ways without any action. Some pretty big sets of waves would come in every now and then, and then it would be relatively mild for a bit, then some more big sets.
I was having a hard time casting out as far as I wanted. I was trying out 10lb. P-Line CXX for the first time and it seemed like it got really wet and heavy. Is this typical of P-Line?
I knew it probably wasn't a good idea with all the seaweed, but i had to try a kroc. That lasted for about 10 minutes before I realized it was futile. Switched back to an LC for a while. Eventually got another short butt in the 19 inch range. I haven't caught too many butts, but this was the first time I really experienced the "head shakes". Not sure why the others I've caught didn't do it, but this one did and it was a cool feeling.
After getting hit by neck-high waves a few times, my waders had a bit of water in the feet. Sometimes when a thigh-high wave is coming and i know it's going to slap me and possibly splash my reel, i'll just jump over it. (Yeah you should see me out there, it's quite a scene!) So, a thigh-high wave came and I was prepared to jump over it. Only I forgot about the water in the feet of the waders weighing me down. I jumped pathetically and the wave slapped my feet, flipping me forward..... god i hope no one was looking. That was swim #1.
I was cold at first, but the water finally warmed up a bit in my waders. About 30 minutes after the previous butt, I got a nice bite but my line just stopped. There was still tugging every now and then though. I thought maybe a halibut grabbed in and went back to sit on the bottom. Pulling on the line it felt like I was on a rock. But I'd still feel the tugging every now and then. I figured maybe I got another calico, but was snagged on a rock. Not sure. I tried wading out to unhook it, but got taken out by a wave. Swim #2. I pulled the line back pretty hard and it eventually came free, lure and all. So there may be a calico swimming around with no lips.
By now I was pretty near the large kelp paddy and the surf really died down. A few more casts and I got a very nice hit. It didn't feel like a butt, so I was curious what it was going to be. Put up a nice fight. Got him in and I'm pretty sure it's a calico bass, but a darker mating male I'm guessing? All the pictures I've found of calicos are lighter than this one though. It was a nice size. I guessed about 18" and I was right. This guy swallowed the whole LC. I wasn't planning on keeping any fish, but my bag was about 10 minutes down the beach and I left my pliers in there. By the time I got to my bag he wasn't very responsive, so I figured I'd keep him. I still had some watery ice in an ice chest in my trunk from my catfish trip. So that was the end of my fishing day. Left at 12:00pm.
I ran into some spear fisherman on my way back. They had a smaller calico and a bunch of nice sized perch. I have to say, spear fishing looks like fun :Twisted: Although something about killing EVERYTHING you catch seems kinda... kinda.... i don't know what the feeling is.
Here are some pictures I took of the calico (it IS a calico, right???) when I got home:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/gavin310/photo1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/gavin310/photo2.jpg
What's the correct way to measure these?
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/gavin310/photo3.jpg
Kinda hard to see it, but this spine got me:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/gavin310/photo4.jpg
So, a nice recovery from my catfishing skunk. I've never caught a catfish and I'm so intrigued but how archaic of a species it is. I really want to eat one. (I can't explain that feeling either... :LOL:)
After my failed catfishing attempt, I needed to feel something a little more powerful than a nibble on my line. Went to bed at 3am, woke up at 5:30am, got to the spot in Malibu around 6:30am. Sky was overcast, surf was mild, water was nice and clear, but a bit of salad. Noticed a kelp paddy off in the distance. Started off with an LC and 15 or 20 minutes in got a hit. Short butt, maybe 16". While taking the hook out I wasn't paying attention. Part of my finger went into its mouth and he closed and opened it real quick. Those things have some power! Thank god it was a short one. NEVER put your finger in a halibut's mouth!!! Continuing on... couldn't find any other takers for about half an hour, so switched to the American Shad LC. Few minutes later I got a small calico. Probably 11 or 12 inches. The surf started getting pretty heavy and the salad got thicker. It was hard to get a cast without bunching up with stringy seaweed right off the bat. The salad continued for the rest of the day, but varied in how much there was. Worked the beach quite a ways without any action. Some pretty big sets of waves would come in every now and then, and then it would be relatively mild for a bit, then some more big sets.
I was having a hard time casting out as far as I wanted. I was trying out 10lb. P-Line CXX for the first time and it seemed like it got really wet and heavy. Is this typical of P-Line?
I knew it probably wasn't a good idea with all the seaweed, but i had to try a kroc. That lasted for about 10 minutes before I realized it was futile. Switched back to an LC for a while. Eventually got another short butt in the 19 inch range. I haven't caught too many butts, but this was the first time I really experienced the "head shakes". Not sure why the others I've caught didn't do it, but this one did and it was a cool feeling.
After getting hit by neck-high waves a few times, my waders had a bit of water in the feet. Sometimes when a thigh-high wave is coming and i know it's going to slap me and possibly splash my reel, i'll just jump over it. (Yeah you should see me out there, it's quite a scene!) So, a thigh-high wave came and I was prepared to jump over it. Only I forgot about the water in the feet of the waders weighing me down. I jumped pathetically and the wave slapped my feet, flipping me forward..... god i hope no one was looking. That was swim #1.
I was cold at first, but the water finally warmed up a bit in my waders. About 30 minutes after the previous butt, I got a nice bite but my line just stopped. There was still tugging every now and then though. I thought maybe a halibut grabbed in and went back to sit on the bottom. Pulling on the line it felt like I was on a rock. But I'd still feel the tugging every now and then. I figured maybe I got another calico, but was snagged on a rock. Not sure. I tried wading out to unhook it, but got taken out by a wave. Swim #2. I pulled the line back pretty hard and it eventually came free, lure and all. So there may be a calico swimming around with no lips.
By now I was pretty near the large kelp paddy and the surf really died down. A few more casts and I got a very nice hit. It didn't feel like a butt, so I was curious what it was going to be. Put up a nice fight. Got him in and I'm pretty sure it's a calico bass, but a darker mating male I'm guessing? All the pictures I've found of calicos are lighter than this one though. It was a nice size. I guessed about 18" and I was right. This guy swallowed the whole LC. I wasn't planning on keeping any fish, but my bag was about 10 minutes down the beach and I left my pliers in there. By the time I got to my bag he wasn't very responsive, so I figured I'd keep him. I still had some watery ice in an ice chest in my trunk from my catfish trip. So that was the end of my fishing day. Left at 12:00pm.
I ran into some spear fisherman on my way back. They had a smaller calico and a bunch of nice sized perch. I have to say, spear fishing looks like fun :Twisted: Although something about killing EVERYTHING you catch seems kinda... kinda.... i don't know what the feeling is.
Here are some pictures I took of the calico (it IS a calico, right???) when I got home:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/gavin310/photo1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/gavin310/photo2.jpg
What's the correct way to measure these?
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/gavin310/photo3.jpg
Kinda hard to see it, but this spine got me:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/gavin310/photo4.jpg
So, a nice recovery from my catfishing skunk. I've never caught a catfish and I'm so intrigued but how archaic of a species it is. I really want to eat one. (I can't explain that feeling either... :LOL:)