elevated
06-05-2010, 01:53 PM
Had a great day fishing today, I guess the last two times I went out and got the skunk I really did pay my dues. All of the fish caught were firsts, in addition to being my first time fishing NPH. This little harbor is a really cool place to fish and just chill at.
I woke up around 4:30 and hit the snooze button a few times and made it out of the house around 5am. After getting some coffee and grub I took a look at the FNN map of NPH I had printed out the night before and decided to start the day by driving down to the end of Balboa Blvd to the wedge just to check it out. I snapped a few photos there and decided to drive back to one of the other public access points on the map. I stopped at a few and decided to fish the area just south of 7th street. Got my gear together and headed down to the beach to make the low tide at 8:55.
Today I was using my 6’6 abu garcia bait caster, 12# test p-line, a top shot of 6# fluorcarbon, and berkley gulp jerk shad in nuclear chicken with a owner worm hook. This is the first time I’ve used this set up, and man do I love it, rigging the bait so its weedless is so great. Anyway I start casting at the public access beach towards some structure and about my third cast I get hit. I set the hook, the fish runs a little and after about a minute fight I land a nice little bay bass. Quick pic and he’s off to fight another day. After that I started walking west/south ducking under the private piers and casting in spots that look like they would hold fish. I get hit again and fight another spotted bass, no pic of this guy because he was hooked in a weird way and I took a little long getting the hook out so I released him right after to ensure a full recovery☺. Same spot produces another smaller bass, quick pic and he was on his way. After those three bass I started missing fish, about 3-4 bad hook sets later I decided to change up my retrieve.
Instead of a stop and go retrieve I started a consistent slow and steady retrieve with a few jerks in between. About the third cast I get hit pretty hard and set the hook well. The fish feels a little bigger and I’m thinking cool a nice big bass, he immediately heads towards a cement pillar and I put some steady pressure on him, he turns and heads towards the pillar on the opposite side. This is how the fight went for about 2 mins, left right, left right. Then as I gain some line I notice that it does not look like a bass and I can clearly see the side fins of a halibut. I try not to get too excited and keep fighting it. About 30 secs later I see the eyes of a grumpy little halibut. I gingerly slide her up onto the sand, snap a quick pic, and turn it around to watch as it glides away. Saweet my first halibut, I didn’t even measure it because I knew it was undersize, I was just stoked to catch my first one. I’m thinking about 15-17 inches, not too bad for my first one. Anyway after that I headed to check out a few other access points. With no takers I headed home and sat in traffic for most of the way, no big deal though because I finally caught a hali. Enjoyed the rest of my day replaying the first halibut…
Btw the fish were all hitting really shallow, I would cast about 30 yards from shore and they would hit about 20 feet from the shoreline, including the hali. Maybe it was the tide or something. Is this normal?
Thanks for reading and and pics below.
[IMG]http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0352.jpg
[IMG]http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0353.jpg
http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0354.jpg
http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0355.jpg
http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0356.jpg
http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0358.jpg
I woke up around 4:30 and hit the snooze button a few times and made it out of the house around 5am. After getting some coffee and grub I took a look at the FNN map of NPH I had printed out the night before and decided to start the day by driving down to the end of Balboa Blvd to the wedge just to check it out. I snapped a few photos there and decided to drive back to one of the other public access points on the map. I stopped at a few and decided to fish the area just south of 7th street. Got my gear together and headed down to the beach to make the low tide at 8:55.
Today I was using my 6’6 abu garcia bait caster, 12# test p-line, a top shot of 6# fluorcarbon, and berkley gulp jerk shad in nuclear chicken with a owner worm hook. This is the first time I’ve used this set up, and man do I love it, rigging the bait so its weedless is so great. Anyway I start casting at the public access beach towards some structure and about my third cast I get hit. I set the hook, the fish runs a little and after about a minute fight I land a nice little bay bass. Quick pic and he’s off to fight another day. After that I started walking west/south ducking under the private piers and casting in spots that look like they would hold fish. I get hit again and fight another spotted bass, no pic of this guy because he was hooked in a weird way and I took a little long getting the hook out so I released him right after to ensure a full recovery☺. Same spot produces another smaller bass, quick pic and he was on his way. After those three bass I started missing fish, about 3-4 bad hook sets later I decided to change up my retrieve.
Instead of a stop and go retrieve I started a consistent slow and steady retrieve with a few jerks in between. About the third cast I get hit pretty hard and set the hook well. The fish feels a little bigger and I’m thinking cool a nice big bass, he immediately heads towards a cement pillar and I put some steady pressure on him, he turns and heads towards the pillar on the opposite side. This is how the fight went for about 2 mins, left right, left right. Then as I gain some line I notice that it does not look like a bass and I can clearly see the side fins of a halibut. I try not to get too excited and keep fighting it. About 30 secs later I see the eyes of a grumpy little halibut. I gingerly slide her up onto the sand, snap a quick pic, and turn it around to watch as it glides away. Saweet my first halibut, I didn’t even measure it because I knew it was undersize, I was just stoked to catch my first one. I’m thinking about 15-17 inches, not too bad for my first one. Anyway after that I headed to check out a few other access points. With no takers I headed home and sat in traffic for most of the way, no big deal though because I finally caught a hali. Enjoyed the rest of my day replaying the first halibut…
Btw the fish were all hitting really shallow, I would cast about 30 yards from shore and they would hit about 20 feet from the shoreline, including the hali. Maybe it was the tide or something. Is this normal?
Thanks for reading and and pics below.
[IMG]http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0352.jpg
[IMG]http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0353.jpg
http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0354.jpg
http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0355.jpg
http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0356.jpg
http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx106/elevated_lc/IMG_0358.jpg