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View Full Version : Solo in the SURF!!!!!



flyngby
11-16-2009, 09:10 PM
Missed out on a trip with the S.W,A,T. team yesterday and I was hoping to sneak in a few hours of time in the surf today after completing all my Chores!

I was on the road at noon with plans to hit the Surf for the first time Solo!!!! Where would it be? I tuned into the Traffic Channels to avoid any delays and it guided me to the spot of least resistance!!

Arrived, parked, and proceeded to gear up!!!!!!This is when the problems began! As I went to zipper up my waders there was resistance!! Not to be out done I just pulled harder and thought I has won until I sat down to put on the booty's and the zipper on the waders blew out!!!! S$@$@T!! OH well as it was warm out and if the zipper leaked it might work as a cooling system!!!!!

Not to be denied I made the hike down to the water to find a very nice mellow surf at very low tide at the area that I had not seen before and it was already 2:00 Pm and the sun would be going away!!!!!!

I started to work an area with a lot of kelp with the Drop Shot as it looked very snaggy for the LC!!!! After several casts I was loaded up and on with My first surf Calico!!!!!!! Get her in and pull out the camera for a pic.

Put the camera down in the waders and proceed to let it go and the camera fall out of the blown out zipper into the water.S@#@T!!!!!!

Quickly pull out the Battery and Memory Card and release the fish!!! Now there will be no pics to go with the report!! You all know I am Camera Happy and I was not going to have any proof of my day!!!!

I work down the beach for nothing else, walk up on the boilers that are very exposed on the low tide for nothing and then return to work in the surf!!!! I pick up a few small pancakes along the way as I work back to the starting point.

Go to the LC and It starts to heat up!!! Cast, Bendo, YFC!!! Cast, Bendo, Torpedo (Smelt), Cast, Bendo Pancake/Pancake!!!!

I cast to in front of some boilers that looks good and get a huge strike and miss. Recast and get hit again with huge head shakes and pulling drag!!!!!! Then it feels like I am in the kelp, I free spool it for a moment and again big head shakes and stuck again. We continued this battle for about 5 minutes and finally was able to work her free!!! Big head shakes and it feels very heavy and I am now thinking it might well be my new PB Halibut!!!!

As I work her in it looks like she is wrapped in a the kelp. As it gets in closer I realize it is not kelp but a very nice taped out 23 1/2" and very Fat Calico!!!!!!! Great!!! My PB toughest Surf fish to date and no documentation!!!!! Definetly in the 5+ lbs. range.

Release her and take a break! Get my wind back and proceed to get 3 more new species before the sun falls and it is time to get back up the trail!!!!

Todays firsts in the Surf! Calico, PB Calico, Barracuda, Shovelnose Shark, Green Rockfish.

A 6 Species short session day in the surf!

7 Calico to 23"
2 Torpedo's
4 Pancakes to 16"
2 Barracuda to 22"
1 Shovelnose Baby!
1 YFC!!!!!
1 Green Rockfish

Today was a fun short but costly session! But Santa is coming soon and I have my wish list!

Till next time!!!

Steve

bones
11-16-2009, 09:41 PM
This thread is WORTHLESS WITHOUT PICS.......LOL

JK Steve.......Congrats on the multi species nooner dude. Sounds like a great afternoon.Was this in the same spot where you got your first legal? If not then I thinkl I know where you were. Sounds like a mixed bag out of north malibu to me.Ya should have called me. Me and Bigred are going to hit it up in the AM. I keep forgetting that you are very flexible on mondays but I still thought you were deep in mud.Sorry about the camera.....I just about killed mine yesterday too and it's waterproof!

Wingnut
11-16-2009, 09:59 PM
Steve, your solo mission was so covert... even I wasn't filled in with the intel. :LOL: Congrats on your PB Calico, sounds like a BRUTE! :Shocked: One thing I haven't done myself is to get a Cuda from the surf. :Envious: No worries about the pics, the ones that counts are the ones embedded in your memories anyway. :Cool: Bummer about the camera, time to ask Santa for a waterproof one. :Wink:
Well done my friend and I'll see you soon.

kozaki
11-16-2009, 10:11 PM
Great range of species, and awesome race against the day light!

bergie berg
11-18-2009, 01:09 PM
great report even without the pics!!! To bad about your camera, I dropped one in a lake once while trying to take a pic of a trout, lol.

bsp
11-18-2009, 02:50 PM
Great solo report Steve! That is one chunky calico, and it's great that you were able to get her in. I always seem to bust off LCs when a fish goes into the kelp and I try to yank it out, so I'll give that freespool trick a try when it next happens to me. That cuda is impressive too. I've never seen signs of them close in before. El Nino maybe? Also, major congrats on that many surf species in one outing! That's an impressive total from a boat trip, but really amazing from shore.

Sorry about the camera, but at least you had a day with many firsts and an impressive PB calico to make up for it!

fishnFF
11-18-2009, 10:20 PM
Nice work Steve. sounds like a fun day. On a side note, Thanks for what I can only assume was a great reference, I got the job with East Pierce Fire and head over there on Dec 1. I only have 1 more 48hr shift at Mason County Fire! I am excited and nervous. Talk to you soon!

CAPT'N
11-19-2009, 07:57 PM
Steve,

congrats on the great surf attack!

To bad about the camera, but Santa will take care of all the good boys and girls...........

Capt'n