Monster just outside Newport Harbor.

[cricketwars]

On monday june 25th, my friend Justin and I got a late start at about 3.30, launching our kayaks out of the coast guard station in NPH. Our plan was to hit up the kelp bed just south of the harbor mouth.

As we got to the open ocean we noticed plenty of baitfish schooling around us and i tied on a bright green/clear Rapala X-rap to troll on our paddle to the kelp.

About 3/4 the way (approx. 4.15pm) my lure gets slammed. At first i think i may actually just be hung up on a hidden kelp stalk but i feel some kicking and i know im on a fish.

4 hours later and im still fighting! This was easily the biggest fish i've felt on the end of the pole and it was 4 hours of tug of war using a medium action bass rod and 10lb flouro. 4 hours may seem rediculous, but i was powering this fish as much as humanly possible without breaking my line and it just when it began to feel like it was tiring out, it would take off again.

The fight was basically a vertical one. when it ran, it felt like it was diving down, or with very little lateral movement. at times it felt like i was reeling up a dead body or something, then it would take off. after 2.5 hours of this, i was basically screaming for mercy but i kept going.

During the daylight hours, i couldnt manage to bring it to color at all. then the sun went down and it was pretty scary knowing we were gonna try to land whatever this was in the dark.

Finally i could tell it was really close, and it mustve got a glimpse of my boat because it took off FAST, shot around the bow and my line snapped. 4 hours of fighting and not even a remote idea of what it was. one of the emptiest, most dissapointing feelings ever. i'm no expert and still really new to kayak fishing, but i did my best on some very light tackle for a monster this size.

I'm posting here for some insight or ideas as to what it could've been. i've thought of every scenario but i just don't know. We met another yakker out there fishing named Mike or Matt who seemed convinced it was a shark. I'm not sure what to think. Thanks for any help.

-Blake

[seahonk]

Probably a Bat Ray :lol:

[cricketwars]

i was afraid of that and kind of just telling myself it wasnt a bat ray. ive caught a couple before and snagged a huge one on accident, and the fight didnt feel anything like what i felt out there. i guess it could have just been much much bigger.

i feel kinda let down. damn.

[Ray Lopez]

OMFG dude that sucks so bad.


I would probaly break down and cry after fighting a fish for 4 hours and then loosing it right b-4 it got to the boat.

well now you know better to bring some heavy line and a stronger rod.

because you never know what you are gonna get when fishing in the sea

[jplee3]

Bat ray? Hmmm... I find it strange that bat ray would hit a lure like that. I've never heard of anything like that. Although, it does sound like a bat ray type of fight. Sorry about the loss man. And watch out for the use of "fothermucker" here - I don't know if the admins like that kind of talk :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Fish Dog]

Likely a bat ray but they have got some big WSB just outside Newport Harbor recently so who knows...I'm not sure if that would make you feel better thinking it was a big WSB or make you feel worse thinking that you lost a big WSB.

[SOSO]

4 hour fight? Dam!

[vanillagurilla]

SEA LION HAHAHA JK

[vanillagurilla]

SEA LION HAHAHA JK

[D-PESCADOR]

It makes a great fish stories for the camp fire this summer hahahahaha.

[Cabodude]

I believe it was either a big WSB or Shark. Bat Rays wouldn't be pulling straight down like you said. Bat Rays tend to glide through the water parallel. Also, a shark would normally pull horizontally as well, so I think it was a 50 lb white sea bass! Use deductive thinking and you have yourself a WSB.

[Wingnut]

4 HOURS, that's harsh! Sorry that you didn't land it dude. Must have been quite a workout!

[valhalla_1_2000]

Maybe a thresher shark . . .

[seanyboi]

I think it was probably a white seabass just last week they were catching 60 of em on the twilight like 200 to 300 yards away from the breakwall. Plus my uncle just caught about a 28 lber on accident using a plastic right outside the breakwall fishing for calicos. whatever it was i feel bad that you lost it. :(

[blackmav04]

Ray if anything.

This not a report. More like big fish story.
:twisted:

[catchandfree]

Cricket, I have a question. Was there a lot of head shaking going on on the end of your pole? I ask because I had the same thing happen to me about a month or so ago in NPH near the mouth. I fought that fish for at least 20 min till it took me around a buoy and broke me off. It didn't fight like a bat ray because of the violent head shaking going on. It was incredible. It never surfaced and I thought if i am going to land this it will take me at least 2 hours. Sounds like maybe its the same fish. I have caught sharks and bat rays in that harbor and it sure didn't feel like one. The only conclusion I could come to, to explain the head shake was a giant halibut.

[cricketwars]

Cricket, I have a question. Was there a lot of head shaking going on on the end of your pole? I ask because I had the same thing happen to me about a month or so ago in NPH near the mouth. I fought that fish for at least 20 min till it took me around a buoy and broke me off. It didn't fight like a bat ray because of the violent head shaking going on. It was incredible. It never surfaced and I thought if i am going to land this it will take me at least 2 hours. Sounds like maybe its the same fish. I have caught sharks and bat rays in that harbor and it sure didn't feel like one. The only conclusion I could come to, to explain the head shake was a giant halibut.


whenever the fish ran and took line, it would start with some head shakes then a huge amount of force pulling/diving. when i did manage to take some line back it was extremely heavy. it was pulling me up current and it still managed to move me a fair distance. to be honest, the only halibut ive ever caught was very very short, so i dont even know how a big one would fight. like i said, ive never felt anything like this but i was really hoping to see a huge wsb or halibut.

Wingnut - yeah dude it was a workout. hahah at one point my buddy asked me how much more i would be able to take.

and Blackmav04 - just to make this a report, during the epic fight my buddy was landing a good amount of sandies and calico!

[one_leg]

50+ lb. Striper. :shock:

One_Leg

[vanillagurilla]

sounds like a fatty hali that didnt want to come off the bottom. i landed a big one about 40lbs and it felt like pulling a 3 foot suction cup off of a sheet of wet glass.

[reckless_m@]

My guess would be a huge butt, or one of those 200+ black seabass that can really kill you. One of the swba guys got a 200#er on the iron last week.

[johnnyblade]

thresher

[booyaa 4u]

ID BET MONEY ON A T. SHARK THAT WAS TAIL HOOKED RIGHT BAIT FOR IT YOU SAID YOU WERE IN A BAIT BALL BY THE WAY YIU SAID IT FOUGHT IT SOUNDS LIKE IT TO ME ...JUST MY OPINION TAKE IT FOR WHAT ITS WORTH............. BOOYAA

[alexonfreshsaltwater]

cricketwars,

I believe you man. I am sure that you fought that for a very long time. Anyway, I don't think it was a bat ray or shark. Perhaps a very large WSB. Maybe a large yellow tail because they tend to drive straight down, but close to mouth of harbor ??? - perhap not not yellowtail.

I recently fought a large striper for 25 minutes on the surf on 10lb. So, if you really fought this for 4 hours on 10lb line on a boat, it had to be an amazing fish. Truly a fish of a life time, but don't sweat it cricketwars.

You bring your rod to "cast a line" for another day for that next trophy. Get out there again and try it again. You just NEVER know.

I would have love to hook into something for 4 hours on 10LB line. It would have been awesome!~!

[SanDimasLMB]

cricketwars,

I believe you man. I am sure that you fought that for a very long time. Anyway, I don't think it was a bat ray or shark. Perhaps a very large WSB. Maybe a large yellow tail because they tend to drive straight down, but close to mouth of harbor ??? - perhap not not yellowtail.

I recently fought a large striper for 25 minutes on the surf on 10lb. So, if you really fought this for 4 hours on 10lb line on a boat, it had to be an amazing fish. Truly a fish of a life time, but don't sweat it cricketwars.

You bring your rod to "cast a line" for another day for that next trophy. Get out there again and try it again. You just NEVER know.

I would have love to hook into something for 4 hours on 10LB line. It would have been awesome!~!

Alex, look at your recent catch of that Striper in the surf, look at Halijedi's PB hali which was also from the surf, and during last year's epic season my friend caught two(2) 12-15lb. yellowtail off of Crystal Pier in La Jolla. So just because he hooked it up near NP Harbor (The Wedge) doesn't mean it couldn't have been a yellowtail. For all we know, it could have been a 40lb. albacore.

I'm putting my money on a BSB(Black Sea Bass) because your fight, cricketwars, sounds exactly like my fight with a BSB on 20lb. test and on a coffee grinder(spinning reel) to boot.

[alexonfreshsaltwater]

cricketwars,

I believe you man. I am sure that you fought that for a very long time. Anyway, I don't think it was a bat ray or shark. Perhaps a very large WSB. Maybe a large yellow tail because they tend to drive straight down, but close to mouth of harbor ??? - perhap not not yellowtail.

I recently fought a large striper for 25 minutes on the surf on 10lb. So, if you really fought this for 4 hours on 10lb line on a boat, it had to be an amazing fish. Truly a fish of a life time, but don't sweat it cricketwars.

You bring your rod to "cast a line" for another day for that next trophy. Get out there again and try it again. You just NEVER know.

I would have love to hook into something for 4 hours on 10LB line. It would have been awesome!~!

Alex, look at your recent catch of that Striper in the surf, look at Halijedi's PB hali which was also from the surf, and during last year's epic season my friend caught two(2) 12-15lb. yellowtail off of Crystal Pier in La Jolla. So just because he hooked it up near NP Harbor (The Wedge) doesn't mean it couldn't have been a yellowtail. For all we know, it could have been a 40lb. albacore.

I'm putting my money on a BSB(Black Sea Bass) because your fight, cricketwars, sounds exactly like my fight with a BSB on 20lb. test and on a coffee grinder(spinning reel) to boot.

SanDimas, I think he said he was using 10LB. :shock: You are probably right on that it fights more like a BSB. But, I thought they would be in more deeper waters. Reagrdless, it is a heart breaker cricketwars

[victor101]

cricketwars,

I believe you man. I am sure that you fought that for a very long time. Anyway, I don't think it was a bat ray or shark. Perhaps a very large WSB. Maybe a large yellow tail because they tend to drive straight down, but close to mouth of harbor ??? - perhap not not yellowtail.

I recently fought a large striper for 25 minutes on the surf on 10lb. So, if you really fought this for 4 hours on 10lb line on a boat, it had to be an amazing fish. Truly a fish of a life time, but don't sweat it cricketwars.

You bring your rod to "cast a line" for another day for that next trophy. Get out there again and try it again. You just NEVER know.

I would have love to hook into something for 4 hours on 10LB line. It would have been awesome!~!

what happend to that post btw? :D . the truth is it could have been anything from a seal to a bsb.

[victor101]

or maybe mahi mahi :wink:

[Sea Murda]

giant squid!

[jplee3]

ID BET MONEY ON A T. SHARK THAT WAS TAIL HOOKED RIGHT BAIT FOR IT YOU SAID YOU WERE IN A BAIT BALL BY THE WAY YIU SAID IT FOUGHT IT SOUNDS LIKE IT TO ME ...JUST MY OPINION TAKE IT FOR WHAT ITS WORTH............. BOOYAA

Now this response actually makes alotta sense - I can totally see a big shark getting tail snagged by a lure traveling through a yummy baitball :D

[alexonfreshsaltwater]

cricketwars,

I believe you man. I am sure that you fought that for a very long time. Anyway, I don't think it was a bat ray or shark. Perhaps a very large WSB. Maybe a large yellow tail because they tend to drive straight down, but close to mouth of harbor ??? - perhap not not yellowtail.

I recently fought a large striper for 25 minutes on the surf on 10lb. So, if you really fought this for 4 hours on 10lb line on a boat, it had to be an amazing fish. Truly a fish of a life time, but don't sweat it cricketwars.

You bring your rod to "cast a line" for another day for that next trophy. Get out there again and try it again. You just NEVER know.

I would have love to hook into something for 4 hours on 10LB line. It would have been awesome!~!

what happend to that post btw? :D . the truth is it could have been anything from a seal to a bsb.

Regarding the post, it was causing too much pain and questions. With people questioning potential duality (2 screen names). I guess it had to come down because it had more potential to do harm than good. At the end, I explained the logical reasons for 2 separate people with same IP address (our network setup) and that was enough. All is KOOL...

[4g63power]

i got my money on t shark

[Ambassadorhawg]

I really doubt anything other than a shark could battle for that long. Any fish would hav e tired and "floated" for you to see.

Great job on applying just the right pressure on such light line! Those tug-of-war eternity fights are torture, huh?

[StoughtyRods]

I'm sorry to say but chances are.....................it was a seal! The seals are all over outside of NPH and you could have easily snagged him trolling through the bait balls.

BTW - I've seen a lot of BIG Halibut come up on 10#. None of which has taken more than 15 min.

Yellowtail......chances are very slim. They're not this far up the line yet. (As far as inshore goes)

Big WSB.........maybe, but they usually give up after a few hard runs.

Bat Ray.........in most cases would have headed towards open ocean in a horizontal run. Not a vertical.

Humbolt..........there is definately a chance on this. I've seen them hitting bait right out of NPH before. They fight in a more vertical motion.

T-Shark...........maybe but it would have spooled you in no time with 10# and you would have been on a ride of your life on that kayak.



Bottom line is..........we could all guess all day long with our experiences in the ocean. Next time, take a bigger rod and reel and fish with a leader of fluorocarbon if your worried about the fish being line shy. Good luck next time and we've all been through this at least once out there!

[KaliDawgFan]

Maybe you snagged a scuba diver.

[alexonfreshsaltwater]

Maybe you snagged a scuba diver.

LOL...

This is a true story that I read on some journal...

Abck in early 90s, a mountain ranger was inspecting a heavy fire hazard area deep in the forest that had been thru a major fire some years back. I am not sure if this happened in Rockies or in Europe. The ranger found this guy in a full scuba gear hanging on the top of the tree line. The ranger sent for immediate help and brought him down, only to find out that he's been dead for a long time. He was all bones inside the scuba gear. It mystified the police and the forest experts.

They finally figured out who he was and what had happened to him. During the wild fire few years back, this guy was scuba diving in a large lake near the mountain range. This Fire Department plane with large water tank came down for a BIG gulp of water. At the same time, it snatch this poor fellow along with the water. They dropped him off the center of the WILD forest fire. Poor guy was relaxing next thing you know he gets raptured by a Flying Iron Beast and ends up on top of the tree line in the middle of the forest fire.

So, you never know.. It could have been a scuba diver. :shock: :lol:

Actually, I would like to believe that it was a lost & large YT or perhaps a very large H-Squid.

[hartattack13]

yeah that is a true story but it was actually in the angeles national forrest he was scooped up offshore. they also foun fish remnants in the same area. oops :banana:

[uscjeffer]

Its not a seal, seals don't fight in a vertical process.

I would guess a BSB.

A tail hook thresher would've had to have been a small one to fight that long on 10 lb test without spooling you. I seriously doubt it was a tailhooked thresher. For a thresher to be tailhooked that long, you would've killed it.

A big WSB? possibly but after 2 long runs the fish is toast.

A big hallie? You would've seen color at least once...I too have seen plenty of big hallies brought up on 10-15 lb test.

Either way it sounds like it was a trip!

[SanDimasLMB]

Concerning the Threasher Shark hooked in the tail thing, that woulb be impossible because like uscjeffer said, it would have died. Plus if sharks swim backwards they can die in a matter of minutes because the water isn't flowing through their gills from their mouth

[Con]

Maybe you snagged a scuba diver.

:rofl:

[DreStyle]

It was The Kraken ...

[Tail Chaser]

I hooked to a 5' winged batray last week. 25lb test 1 1/2hr fight.
Thing pulled every direction. You think its tired and giving up, and Zip.... its gone again.Every time I got it near the boat it took off. 50% of the time straight down. Things sure have heart. Got mine to the boat,Just as I was getting the camera,He went bye bye. But in my mind, He was a WSB :lol:

[booyaa 4u]

if you hook a t shark by the tail on light line in a kayak your not draging him backward that why he never got a look at him it hard to put enough presure on him with such light line plus the kayak can be pulled easy i caught a 100lb t shark on 12lb test took 3 hrs when i tail roped him he was plenty alive to do some wipping the only reason i got him he was in shallow water so he couldent spool me just my opion .... booyaa