efishent
01-13-2011, 10:00 PM
I had a mid-day, mid-week open time and with PCH just being open made a quick trip towards Malibu, staying within Home County though. It was a spontaneous trip and while loading in a hurry to log my first outing of the year I forgot camera, knife and pliers. Well at least the rod was there..
Conditions were beautiful: polarized visibility 3-5 ft+, small swell with occasional bigger sets, very reasonable air and water temps and almost no vegetation to snag, few pockets of baitfish, not much. I could see leos and smooth-hounds swimming in the shallows between rocks even from the spot on the road where I parked. The surface was smooth and coreopsis was blooming. I started working on/around rocks on a medium low tide and found a spot where no waves were breaking and submerged rocks formed a nice 6-10 ft deep pool with sandy bottom in the middle – looks like ideal spot for a butt. I threw the Jackal hardbait in and moved it through the middle of it and instantly see a big gray shadow following it – my guess it was about 20” at least. It would keep a short distance behind it and seemed somewhat lazy. Now with every crank I can see it better (standing on a 3-5 ft rock edge) and realize that my lure will be out of the water in 4, 3, 2, seconds…I try to slow it down without stopping the wiggle and BAM it hits it on sudden accelerated jolt.
It was breathtaking to watch; now I have him on but I need to climb off the rock and wade back to the shore of solid rocks . Well, before I got down –it broke off, I guess the knot was bad or line was compromised from my use of rock and mussel edges instead of knife for cutting line. So that was a rapid release, minus the Jackal, which I think I’ll get again. It is a bit heavier lure than LC and runs well through the deeper water, esp. with no salad.
Checked a few other promising areas with LC- but nothing horizontally flat was available, instead, after few hits I hooked 3 BSP s of huge proportions, all over 12” and one pulled the drag like he meant it. All were feeding off the edges of rocks. While I was unhooking one I got pushed down into the rock by a sneaky unusually large wave: the only moment I turned my back to the ocean it got me a wash. It was so sunny and pleasant – I didn’t mind one.
Will get my stuff together for next time and make illustrations. Have fun out there.
Conditions were beautiful: polarized visibility 3-5 ft+, small swell with occasional bigger sets, very reasonable air and water temps and almost no vegetation to snag, few pockets of baitfish, not much. I could see leos and smooth-hounds swimming in the shallows between rocks even from the spot on the road where I parked. The surface was smooth and coreopsis was blooming. I started working on/around rocks on a medium low tide and found a spot where no waves were breaking and submerged rocks formed a nice 6-10 ft deep pool with sandy bottom in the middle – looks like ideal spot for a butt. I threw the Jackal hardbait in and moved it through the middle of it and instantly see a big gray shadow following it – my guess it was about 20” at least. It would keep a short distance behind it and seemed somewhat lazy. Now with every crank I can see it better (standing on a 3-5 ft rock edge) and realize that my lure will be out of the water in 4, 3, 2, seconds…I try to slow it down without stopping the wiggle and BAM it hits it on sudden accelerated jolt.
It was breathtaking to watch; now I have him on but I need to climb off the rock and wade back to the shore of solid rocks . Well, before I got down –it broke off, I guess the knot was bad or line was compromised from my use of rock and mussel edges instead of knife for cutting line. So that was a rapid release, minus the Jackal, which I think I’ll get again. It is a bit heavier lure than LC and runs well through the deeper water, esp. with no salad.
Checked a few other promising areas with LC- but nothing horizontally flat was available, instead, after few hits I hooked 3 BSP s of huge proportions, all over 12” and one pulled the drag like he meant it. All were feeding off the edges of rocks. While I was unhooking one I got pushed down into the rock by a sneaky unusually large wave: the only moment I turned my back to the ocean it got me a wash. It was so sunny and pleasant – I didn’t mind one.
Will get my stuff together for next time and make illustrations. Have fun out there.