New spot/new species 11-3

[FISHSTIX]

My plan was to fish a spot I came across a few days back while fishing another. I made one stop on the way out to gas up and was at the spot by 7. Conditions were looking positive. There was lots of bait flippin around and it was a mild 63 degrees out. The water clarity was clear with no salad and a high tide. I was tossing the LC today working my way down a stretch of beach I had never been to before. After a couple of casts I get a bump but then it felt stuck. Hmm? It felt like I snagged a rock, but I did feel the initial bump. So, I open up into free spool, give it a few and crank down to feel the fish coming in. I see it coming up towards the beach and… Ugh!,a sculpin. Ugh!, not because its an ugly fish but because while I was gearing up at the car I realized that I forgot my pliers and this fish had two of the three treble hooks in it. I didn’t want the fish to die so, I used one of my krocs with the stinger treble and was able to work the hooks out of the fish that way. It was quick enough that it swam off on it’s own. I wasn’t about to revive it if it need it anyway, lol. No pic because I wasted enough time just trying to get the hooks out, but it lived. Making my way down the beach some more I notice a big rock to my left barely breaking the surface of the water as I thought “that wouldn’t be good if I hooked a big fish”. I make a cast and pop a couple of twitches when I see a fish come up and strike the lure no more than 15’ away. Just from seeing the side flash I knew it was a good fish. It makes its first run going straight off the beach. It must have pulled off 20 yards then made a quick right. I was trying to gain line shuffling sideways thru the water as it made its way down the beach. Then it doubled back and made its way straight for the rocks that were to my left. Oh nooooo! Trying to slow it down I put as much pressure on the spool as possible. But then it happened. I could feel my line rubbing on the rocks as I tried to pump the fish back towards me. Luckily the fish stopped running once it hit the rocks and I could see my line off the edge of the rock stack. “What am I going to do”, “what can I do?” Thinking quickly I hit free spool, walked backwards to the beach, ripped off my jacket and popped off my WFO tackle bag, not even thinking twice as my other reel went face first into the sand. “F* it, im going in!” I was going to swim out to that rock and pull the fish off it even if my waders tried to drown me. But, as I was half way the fish came off and the fight was back on. It made a few more short runs, I grabbed its tail and there it was. She taped out at 29”..................



http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq245/FISHSTIX_bucket/20091104_05.jpg
My first ever, and from shore!:Envious: I snapped a few pics when a guy walked up with his dog and said “hey, your stuff is going to wash away”. While I was snapping a few pix the breaking waves were busy washing all my gear with sand. I asked if he would snap a pic of me and the fish, he did. Then I thanked her for making an appearance before nursing it back to and letting her go.
http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq245/FISHSTIX_bucket/20091104_04.jpg
That was it, I got my fix. I was there for less than two hrs. and I was good to go. Plus having my gear all sandy from being pushed around the sand from the crashing waves didn’t help.
http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq245/FISHSTIX_bucket/20091104_10.jpg

[ssericz]

Nice seabass!!!

[fishindude420]

nice seabass bro! especially out of the surf. thats awesome man, great job out there.

[cjmedina]

sweet fish that thing is huge for being from the surf

[YakN'Surf]

It doesnt get any better than that!

[fish_sauce]

Awesome catch! All that effort paid off :Wink:

[TShaffer]

That is one awesome fish to catch from the surf. Adrenaline rush for sure. I'm pumped just from lookin at that thing.

[kozaki]

NICE! Super jealous!

[hbomb]

Very nice work...great pics, Thanks for sharing. :Cool:

[calico killer kevin]

Wow, check out Lake Pacific. Beautiful fish. You're hardcore bro. Congrats.

[Jaysuuun]

Damn that is a nice fish! Sucks that you got sand all in your gear, but it was worth it. Congrats on landing that monster.

[fishshep]

GREAT CATCH !!!:Shocked:
I would of ate that sucker!!!! :Smile:

[Cangler]

Respects man ... awesome catch out of the surf !

[victor101]

Awesome!!!

[mil sonrisas]

Going in to get it, that's hardcore. Great catch!

[troutdog]

WTG on the legal wsb FISHSTIX, that is a great catch....congrats on a quite a fish. Very nice read. :Thumbs Up:


TD

[Wingnut]

Nice fish James! :Envious: Thanks for the release. :Thumbs Up:

[ldsaylor]

Sweet!! That is a good fishing story.. beautiful fish! Great job on the release.

[smokehound]

Excellent. Thank you for releasing it.

[bergie berg]

ya dude, mucho props on the release

[gavin310]

kick ***. nice job man.

[FISHSTIX]

Nice seabass!!!
Thanks! :Smile:


nice seabass bro! especially out of the surf. thats awesome man, great job out there.
Thanks FD420. Definitely a diamond in the rough. Fishing for hali's I get a sculpin and a WSB.:Envious:

sweet fish that thing is huge for being from the surf
And there are bigger fish than that one out there roaming the surf. Just gotta find'em.:Twisted:


It doesnt get any better than that!
A legal hali would have made it interesting. Maybe next time.:Wink:


Awesome catch! All that effort paid off :Wink:
No kidding, I thought I was done for sure when it went toward the rocks but I was determined. Especially for a fish like that.


That is one awesome fish to catch from the surf. Adrenaline rush for sure. I'm pumped just from lookin at that thing.
I almost suffered 2 heart attacks during the battle but well worth 1,lol. It was a fish of a lifetime for me that I will always remember.


NICE! Super jealous!
Dont be jealous bro. You just gotta fish for a bite. You never know what you'll get.:Wink:


Very nice work...great pics, Thanks for sharing. :Cool:
Thank you very much!:Big Grin:


Wow, check out Lake Pacific. Beautiful fish. You're hardcore bro. Congrats.
It was a beautiful morning to be out in the surf. I guess I was at the right place at the right time.


Damn that is a nice fish! Sucks that you got sand all in your gear, but it was worth it. Congrats on landing that monster.
It was no easy task. I had to wash out my gear(tackle bag,lure boxes/bags,reels), clean the bearings and gears in the reels, lube them up and put them back together. But for that fish it was all worth it.


GREAT CATCH !!!:Shocked:
I would of ate that sucker!!!! :Smile:
I would have loved to eat that fish too but it was a blessing to have caught that fish. Plus watching it swim away was priceless.


Respects man ... awesome catch out of the surf !
Thanks, that indeed was a special catch for me. It was an experience that I will never forget.:Big Grin:


Awesome!!!
Gotta love it!


Going in to get it, that's hardcore. Great catch!
It tried, it tried but I was not about to let that fish punk me. I gave a 110% fight and smiled as I released it.:Smile:


WTG on the legal wsb FISHSTIX, that is a great catch....congrats on a quite a fish. Very nice read. :Thumbs Up:


TD
Thanks TD, definitely one for the memory books. Hope to see you out at the Vine this year.


Nice fish James! :Envious: Thanks for the release. :Thumbs Up:
Arthur, I was super hype when I saw it strike the lure and once landed I had all I needed from it, CPR...oh yea!


Sweet!! That is a good fishing story.. beautiful fish! Great job on the release.
Thank you. Letting it go means another to catch tomorrow!:Wink:


ya dude, mucho props on the release
No prob., now its out there for the next angler.:Cool:


kick ***. nice job man.
It almost kicked my a55 but Im glad I got a cpr story out of it instead of just another fish story.:Envious:

[Lipripper93561]

Nice job, and even better job on the release. Thats what fishing is all about, making sure their there the next time your out, and the next time. Good luck out there.

[murrieta angler]

Sweet fish bro. Nice report and nice pics..:Smile:

[flyngby]

Beautiful WSB!!!!

A nice catch from the surf!

Steve

[j-DuBb]

Nice fish bro .... i cant even catch one when i try to let alone in the surf, nice catch...

If anyone would like to share some areas on where good surf fishing is (doesnt have to be your secret spot) I would appreciate it, anywhere from corona del mar to redondo .

I've been out quite a few times only to produce short butts but would love to try to get a keeper. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[spoon2610]

so nice so nice

[2jackedLUNGS]

Nice fish!