newbie coming through

[ltran562]

been lurking on this forum for quite a while now. i guess you can say i've been taking notes from the best! thanks for all your tips and reports :) anyway here's my report.

I'm a student waiting to go back to school in January.. so I took advantage of my free time and fished/surfed Monday-Sunday. lots of slow days, but a few pretty decent days.

Monday: Bolsa Chica, Huntington Beach, Newport... one 10" corbina snagged when i was bringing my line in (i don't count it as a catch o_O)

Tuesday: Bolsa Chica... skunked!

Wednesday: Bolsa Chica, Huntington Beach Harbor... skunked! went kayak fishing at HB Harbor because the winds were just too crazy for me to do anything with swimbaits. thought I'd try to switch things up with my buddy and try the HB Harbor. it was a first for me. I heard it was the holy land for spotties... but not that day apparently :\ i had a few flatties surface when i brought up my swimbait but i couldn't get them to bite! we had a staredown for a while. eventually it got spooked and ran off... i win? still a beautiful day out on the water so there really wasn't much to complain about. however my arms did feel like noodles at the end of the day
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/itslimmylim/IMG_20120919_124055_zps81fa2fb5.jpg

Thursday: took a day off from all the fishing frustration and went surfing. had to soothe the soul
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/itslimmylim/IMG_20120920_105625_zpsa107e35f.jpg

Friday: Bolsa Chica. this is where things made a turn for the better :) the whole morning was slow. a couple short bites and had a couple flatties surface but swimbaits weren't on their menu that morning. we decided to fish for perch just to get the skunk off our shoulders and caught a mixed bag (walleye, black perch, opaleye). i threw a small perch on as live bait to see if i could entice a flattie and left it out there for almost an hour. we were just about to pack up and call it a day when i see my rod go full bendo! line was screaming and the tip of my rod was in full seizure mode! i pick up my rod and see 2 chucks of kelp hanging off my line. at that point i felt my heart drop because i thought it was just kelp bending my pole... but that didn't explain my line zipping. i started to reel in my line when my rod goes full bendo again and my line goes running off again... what the heck! let me tell you it was one hell of a battle. fought this mystery fish for about 10 minutes until i see a little color (drew quite a crowd too). brought it up to see my FIRST and PB Leo.
someone with tape measured it at just under 60". no weight on her

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/itslimmylim/IMG_20120921_125433_zps04070a1c.jpg

Today: Newport Harbor. tried to fish it on Monday but didn't get a single bite. i fished with my buddy Chris. we just walked the street and fished any docks we saw. my first cast i hit this spottie on a 3" BH Bleeding Trout with a 1/2oz head. it measured about 9in
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/itslimmylim/IMG952012092395113036_zps72eb768f.jpg

we worked that dock for another 15 minutes or so and went bite dead. decided to walk down to the next dock. my first cast i thought i hit a snag... but much to my surprise i hit this flattie! took a while to bring her in since she took off every time she got close to shore. fished the 3" BH Bleeding Trout again. measured in at 21in
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/itslimmylim/2012-09-23_12-14-56_388_zpsddae2425.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/itslimmylim/IMG_20120923_121400_zps14101a2e.jpg

my buddy Chris also had a spottie about 12". quick CR no P :(

all in all it started out as a slow week but things picked up in the end. i just enjoyed being at the beach 6/7 days this week. probably won't be able to keep this up but it was fun while it lasted. definitely going in the record book.

sorry for the long read. hope you guys enjoyed it.
cheers!

[LuckyCraft420]

Welcome to the site. That is an awesome Leo, especially for your first 1..! You should register for the HG4 event before its full (getting very close).

[SP Dan]

Excellent first report and congratulations on evolving from a LURKER to a member of the FNN family, :Wink: "Welcome"!

Congratulations on landing that; "New Species", beautiful Leo. :Big Smile::Applause:They do put up one heck of a brute pull when they get to be of that length!
Now...if you were to catch another Leo that was larger than this one, then it would be your new PB. That's how it works.
Never the less, a beautiful fish!
The fishing has been tough out there for all of us but you have been blessed this past week with a very nice variety of fish!

Thanx again for the fun read with pic's! :Cool:
I hope to be reading more reports from you in the near future!

SP Dan <"))><

[ltran562]

Welcome to the site. That is an awesome Leo, especially for your first 1..! You should register for the HG4 event before its full (getting very close).

Thanks! I've definitely been lurking on that thread and reading up about it. I don't think I have the right gear for surf fishing, but I really do want to go to the event and learn a thing or two. I'll probably register and see what I can do out there. Thanks for the heads up and hope I'll get to meet you guys out there!


Excellent first report and congratulations on evolving from a LURKER to a member of the FNN family, "Welcome"!

Congratulations on landing that; "New Species", beautiful Leo. They do put up one heck of a brute pull when they get to be of that length!
Now...if you were to catch another Leo that was larger than this one, then it would be your new PB. That's how it works.
Never the less, a beautiful fish!
The fishing has been tough out there for all of us but you have been blessed this past week with a very nice variety of fish!

Thanx again for the fun read with pic's!
I hope to be reading more reports from you in the near future!

Thanks for the warm welcome! feels great to get out from under the shadows and start posting on the forum :Big Grin: The Leo was definitely the best fight I've ever had. next biggest thing I landed was maybe a 10lb bonito on a party boat about 5 years ago... while I was fishing for yellowtail :Sad:
definitely a typo on my part on the PB. i did snag a 2+ footer bringing in my line the other week. it came off as soon as i saw color. definitely nothing worth bragging about haha

Looking forward to better fishing days and better reports for ya'll!

[murrieta angler]

You were doing what you enjoy doing.
That is the most important thing.
Sweet looking Leo, SBB & Hali.
You were definately in the right spot at the harbor.
Thanks for the report and I'll see you at HG4,
Robert
<><

[TUNAVIC]

Welcome,those were cool pics,that Leopard was really awesome,looks like your really having some good times,thats a nice kayak also,I've been thinking about that option lately myself,thanks again.

Cya Tuna Vic

[bloox8]

Hey man!

Welcome to the site! I used to just look at this site all the time too without ever posting. I didn't even make an account for the longest time lol. I figured I'd just learn the ropes and post when I finally catch something noteworthy and one day I finally did :LOL:

Thanks for the post. It was a fun read. Im glad you got to hook that leo. You said you did it on a live perch??? That NEVER works for me! Congrats.

Good luck on your venture dude and may more big fish come :Cool:


Thien

[dbbspider]

Good catches. I wish I had the time to fish 6 consecutive days :)

[bachiboy]

Great report and picts! Awesome looking leo too. Keep it up...looking forward to more reports!:Wink:

Don

[Wingnut]

Welcome to FNN and that's one heck of a first report. :Thumbs Up:
Congrats on the nice catches and looking forward to your next report. :Cool:

[fishshep]

After reading your report, two words came to mind :Idea:

Consistant Persistance :Big Grin: or however you spell that stuff :LOL:

Main point is, I believe you will do well as a catcher of fish,

with that, keep at style you have !!! :Smile:

[DockRat]

Great report. What size hook did you pin the perch on with ?
Thanks, DR.

[keada714]

Great report! I miss being a student! The partying and of course the free time for fishing! Nice Rolla too!

[ltran562]

thanks everyone for the feedback!


You were doing what you enjoy doing.
That is the most important thing.
Sweet looking Leo, SBB & Hali.
You were definately in the right spot at the harbor.
Thanks for the report and I'll see you at HG4,
Robert
<><

it was my second time at that harbor. first time things didn't pan out too well.. and i had no idea what to expect. second time was really fun even though my catch rate wasn't impressive. definitely looking forward the next time i fish there. i have fun even when i get skunked! every day is a learning experience for me :)


Welcome,those were cool pics,that Leopard was really awesome,looks like your really having some good times,thats a nice kayak also,I've been thinking about that option lately myself,thanks again.

Cya Tuna Vic

thanks brah! the Leo really was a beautiful fish. as for the kayak.. it was a rental from Sunset Kayak Rentals. because traffic is really slow on weekdays, the going rate on them is $15 for the whole day! just gotta be back before they close. I personally like renting from OEX Rentals next door more because they are very friendly. not sure if they do an all day kayak rental there.. i generally rent stand-up paddle boards from the on weekend mornings for some leisure exercise.


Hey man!

Welcome to the site! I used to just look at this site all the time too without ever posting. I didn't even make an account for the longest time lol. I figured I'd just learn the ropes and post when I finally catch something noteworthy and one day I finally did

Thanks for the post. It was a fun read. Im glad you got to hook that leo. You said you did it on a live perch??? That NEVER works for me! Congrats.

Good luck on your venture dude and may more big fish come


Thien

Thanks fellow lurker! yeah never thought about making an account.. but people seemed really friendly here so I wanted to share my reports and experiences with cool peeps. as for the live bait.. i get bit more often than not (just never landed anything until now). they just have to be small palatable sizes and checked for liveliness. the key thing here is persistence. keep at it and you'll get something big on there some day!


Good catches. I wish I had the time to fish 6 consecutive days :)

haha thanks man. i was only able to fish 6 days because i currently don't have a job. trust me I'd rather be making money than fishing that often. i figure i might as well while im waiting for some calls back for work :| the life of a broke college student :sigh:


Great report and picts! Awesome looking leo too. Keep it up...looking forward to more reports!

Don

thank you! definitely looking forward to future reports.. given the skunk doesn't decide to stalk me


Welcome to FNN and that's one heck of a first report.
Congrats on the nice catches and looking forward to your next report.

thank you! just wanted to make a good first impression with my first report haha

[ltran562]

After reading your report, two words came to mind

Consistant Persistance or however you spell that stuff

Main point is, I believe you will do well as a catcher of fish,

with that, keep at style you have !!!

thanks for your insight :) half the time i don't know what im doing out there haha. just learning with experience. i just started fishing with a buddy of mine (also on this forum) and he's teaching me new things.. so hopefully i'll evolve into that "catcher of fish". having a blast though!


Great report. What size hook did you pin the perch on with ?
Thanks, DR.
thank you sir. i believe it was a 3/0. i just pulled a hook out of my friend's tackle box not sure what brand it was. the perch was hooked through the back


Great report! I miss being a student! The partying and of course the free time for fishing! Nice Rolla too!

haha the student life is only fun if you have a steady source of income. if not it can be a real drag =\ actually just waiting to start my master's program so my days of partying have definitely slowed down. and as for the rolla.. that's my money pit (and my nostalgia for my younger days)

Cheers!

[ltran562]

btw. I've fished out 15+ flatties and never measured out a legal. actually had about 4 of them measure out at 21" haha that's just the way it's been.
any tips and tricks are definitely welcome :LOL:

[LuckyCraft420]

Move to somewhere else. If your catching shorts in the same location, that's is probably all that's around there (like the 72nd street jetty in LB).

[keada714]

Welcome to my world! I've been on a two year search for a legal! Best of luck!!!