11/26 Hitting the Surf with the SWAT Commander. PB Halibut for me!

[Badbeat]

I get a text from Phuong aka Blackwater Saturday night asking me to give Arthur aka Wingnut a call and try to get him to go fishing. I asked why and Phuong says that USC lost to Notre Dame, they were at the game and the Commander wasn’t in a very good mood. :Evil: He thought that Art would need some cheering up and the best way to do that was to get him in the surf. I called Arthur around 11pm Saturday night and he said he was already planning to hit the surf in the morning and was getting his gear ready. So the plan to invite him turned into me begging CAN I PLEASE tag along??? :LOL:
Arthur said sure, and to pick him up at 5am sharp. I asked what beach and he says don’t worry about it, and that I'm on a need to know basis only, hahaha

Sokha and I were about half an hour late to pick up Arthur at the SWAT Command Center. :Embarrassed: That’s a big no, no when you fish with the Commander, of course I blamed Sokha. Lol
Arthur just gave us that look, threw his gear in the truck and said “101 North, we’re going to miss the grey light.” and off we went.
A bit of advice, don’t ever talk to Arthur about the Trojans after a loss. :Angry:

We got to the AO and sure enough we missed the grey light, sorry again Art. :Neutral:

Photos of the day. All photos were from Arthur's camera.
Sokha and me getting ready.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1003-18.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1002-24.jpg

Conditions at the first beach we hit were not bad. 1-2 ft waves with occasional 3 ft. The water was clear and hardly any weeds. Wingnut says his goal was to catch a 16 inch Perch today. :Shocked:
Sokha and I just wanted to catch anything. :Razz:


True story, before we started, Arthur handed me a LC and told me to tie it on. He said that it was his special holiday edition LC with Christmas colors. I said cool, a free LC customized by the Commander himself, how can I say no. :Big Grin: This LC proved to hold some magic later on. :Wink:
Red and green dots, like Christmas lights, haha
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1013-14.jpg

All morning, the Perch bite was pretty strong as we all caught Perch after Perch. We were all throwing the LC and they were super aggressive and attacking like crazy. The Perch range between 9-12 inches, no really big ones today, but Sokha and I caught at least a dozen each and Arthur caught even more. He was just killing them with the LC with a red tail hook. Sokha did snag a small Leopard Shark that he thought was a monster Perch. Lol
Arthur hooked up to a decent fish, putting a nice bend on his rod. Brought it up near the beach and we saw that it was a nice Halibut, a for sure legal and it came off right at the end. :mad:
The Commander just laughed it off and continued on. He was more pissed that SC lost than losing a nice fish.

Here’s one of the many, many Perch we caught yesterday morning. Arthur didn’t take many photos because all the Perch looked the same.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1009-15.jpg

Red tail hook.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1011-13.jpg

It was around 8 o’clock and we were making our way slowly down the beach. I was working the surf right behind the Commander and Sokha was lagging far back. All of the sudden, Arthur stops and motion for me to come over. He points to a spot in the surf in front of us and said, you see that big hole? I bet there’s something good hiding in it. Then he steps aside and told me to go first. Honestly, I don’t even see the hole he’s talking about, :LOL: but I step ahead of him and started casting to where he pointed. I kid you not, three casts later I get a thump on the lure. :EyePop: Heavy weight and the thing took off with my drag running. I look over at Arthur and he said, “Looks like the right kind, let’s hope it’s not a Shovelnose or a Leopard.” After a 5 minute fight, I dragged the thing on the beach and the Commander gives me a high five. My second legal Halibut ever and my first legal this year. :Dancing Banana: Arthur said, take it home, you earned it. I said yes sir, I will release my next PB.

I barely hooked this fish by one hook. :Shocked:
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1004-20.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1005-20.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1006-18.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1008-11.jpg

My day was made and I didn’t care if I caught anything else. Thanks Commander for everything. It was a pleasure watching you in action. You took me to the right beach, gave me a free LC, located and gave me first shot at the best hole. What more can anybody ask for? :UDaMan:
We worked the area for another hour for more Perch but no more Halibut. Arthur says let’s go get some ice for my Halibut and hit another spot. We’re going to try to put Sokha on his first ever surf Halibut. :Wink:

We arrived at the second AO about 30 minutes later and found awesome conditions. Really flat swells and super clear water. But it was so darn weedy and hard to fish. I’ll make it short. We only stayed for about an hour. I caught another Halibut about 18” and Arthur got a weird looking Kelp fish or something. We packed up and left around noon. We dropped off Arthur at his house and he said to bring the Halibut in and he will show me how to fillet it up. It was nice to see the Iron Chef and play with the Pugs too. You're a blessed man Commander. :Cool:

Thanks again for a great day Art, that was a day to remember for me. Let’s do it again soon bro. :Big Grin:

Some photos at the second AO.
Really nice conditions.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1019-12.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1020-11.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1021-12.jpg

The weird fish that Art caught.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1016-15.jpg

Sokha
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/Untitled-17.jpg

Me
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1012-17.jpg

The Commander
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1018-11.jpg

We heard somebody yelling from behind us on the beach and it was Lieutenant Bones and Wingnut’s DFG officer buddy Cory. A very cool dude. Too funny, he says that he knew it was us when he saw all the orange rods, hahaha It was cool hearing him tell us a story of a recent Bear attack.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1017-14.jpg

Group shot. Good times.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1022-11.jpg

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

very nice catches indeed...


makes me yearn for some more salt : )


congrats U guys....

Gary

[SP Dan]

Hi ya Badbeat,

Congrat's on such a beautiful Halibut! :Big Smile::Applause:
Arthur was absolutely correct......YOU deserved this one my friend.....enjoy!

Thank you for the fantastic read with pictures! :Cool:

SP Dan <"))><

[PTN]

Congrats on the halibut! You guys had an awesome day. I'm very jealous :Envious: I was waiting for a SWAT report since I knew Arthur was planning to attack the surf. That's a pretty cool kelpfish Arthur caught. I need to start customizing my LC with Christmas colors too :Big Grin:

Happy Holidays to everyone and hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving.

-Peter

[bloox8]

Congrats Binh! I hope that halibut tastes amazing
(mmmmm some chopped up chilli in some fish sauce with some rice sounds amazing!)

BTW, that Christmas pattern LC is pretty cool. I just read yesterday that fish like walleye, perch, and several others are mostly limited to the spectral range of red-orange and yellow-green with the best color vision in the range of red-orange. I also noticed that the best perch bait, Camos, happen to be red and green (mmm coincidence??). I don't know if that's what Arthur was going for but I have to give those color combination a try and maybe top it off with red hooks :LOL:

Arthur, nice sized kelp fish you got there. Too bad you weren't able to land that 16" you were going for. I noticed that when Daniel and I landed our big ones, it was during rough conditions (2-4 ft waves). I guess the small ones come out to play when conditions calm down. Does this mean 4-6ft waves = +18"ers!?!?.. who knows :LOL:

Thanks for the report!


Thien

[fishshep]

You asked him "What Beach" and he said, "DON,T WORRY ABOUT IT " :???::OMG!::LOL::LOL::LOL:

I ain, t messin with that guy !!! :LOL::LOL::LOL:

Great Catch !!!! WHAT BEACH WAS THAT !!!! :LOL:

[jinbow]

Congratulations Binh, that is a nice catch with some Christmas blessing. hahaha. :Applause:
Dude, that is the biggest kelpfish I've ever seen, never knew they could get that big, amazed.
Thanks for the pictures and great report, hope Sokha lands the next one soon.
See you guys on the surf some time, tight lines.

[Which Way Out]

Nice to see quality fish are still around and I get to read some good reports.

Thanks for sharing.

WWO

[iLLest]

Binh,

Congrats bro, I remember when we first fished the surf together with Arturito you didnt know much about surf fishing.
Look at you now! hahaha. Hanging around with the commander has rubbed off on you huh!
Yeah, he has that sort of magic with his LC's. For some reason, whatever he touches becomes golden lol.
Very nice job out there man, way to stick that beauty hali man. Hope you enjoyed that sucker.

-Frank

[dlmoo312]

Dude that's a nice halibut! Seems appropriate that you caught it on that christmas themed lc lol Congrats!
Thien and I have been hitting that spot a few times this past month looking for butts.
I was starting to have doubts but I guess I wasn't looking hard enough! Thanks for confirming that for me.
Next time you guys hit that spot you should try to get there in time for the greylight bite!:LOL:
Almost all of my biggest fish there were caught in the early morning.
That kelpfish Arthur caught is big:Shocked: The front half reminds me of a calico.
Anyways, thanks for the report!


-Daniel

[bones]

Awesome report Bad AZZZ Beat!

I knew you boyz would light up the perch at PerchAssKick Park....LOL Too bad the big girls were not in the holes you fished but solid 12 inchers in that spot with all of the surge and current was alot of fun I'm sure. I had the same experience as well as Daniel with the red tail hooks. As soon as the red plating started wearing off my hook from un-hooking so many perch the bites started to come less frequent. I also noted that Thien said that Daniel out fished him 2 to 1 with red hooks on his hardbait as well. Pretty much I think that under certain conditions the red tail hooks give the perch a better target when there is so much surge and current and they only get a quick look at their intended meal before it disappears. At least that's the theory I'm gonna go with right now. Recently JerryG was telling me about him and a buddy doing an experiment with various baits and the red tail hook was the ticket. It didn't seem to make that big of a difference if all of the hooks were red as long as it was definately the tail hook. All that being said .....
Big props on the PB flattie buddy....You definately have been working hard at the surf thing the last year and you finally got your prize. I know very well that "LOOK" you get when you are late just a little bit but Arthur is looking at the horizon and having greylight fits! Can't blame him though....Greylight is when all of the magic happens more often than not.
It's always great to see the three amigos back on the sand....I can't wait to see the quality of perch on that beach when the big girls are really up in the skinny all ready to pop.

[flyngby]

Binh,

Your "Lucky" the Commander did not take off in the "SWAT Buggie" and leave you 2 behind! I too remember heading out to pick up Arthur one time and 10 Miles down the road realizing that I had left my waders at the house and it was winter time. :Idiot:

Some how I was able to backtrack and we still made a brighter than normal grey light! :Head Bang:

The trip to the AO was a little bit of a quiet and wild ride as he was driving. :Bug Eyes:

Congrats on yet another nice fish added to your memory banks! Arthur has those "Spidey Senses" and once again refrained from casting until you were able to get a chance at it! That is what he does time and time again!

As for the Christmas pattern! Amazing how he decorates his lures for the occasion! I witness him produce a short on a Halloween pattern he created! He probably has one for every holiday or special occasion!

Steve

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz200/pepper2010_bucket/fireman1.gif

[PONTOON]

Binh,

When I got the text from arthur that you guys were in the water lighting up the perch and you got the big halibut I thought to myself "YES!"
Pretty much made my day hearing the news. Congratulations!:Cool:

I'm glad you and sokha were able to get the Commander out to the water, he deserved a day spent with good Friends!:Thumbs Up:

[exfactor]

loose lips sink ships!!!!!!! Sorry I WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOUR TROJANS ARTHUR. What can i say, i'm yoda!!!!

[troublehook]

Okay, I'll take the blame for being late, sorry commander. :Neutral:
Brotha Binh, when you walked up to me with that Halibut my jaw dropped. Damn it, I haven't even caught a Halibut out of the surf yet and this is your second legal. :Envious: Maybe I should have stuck close to you and the commander. :LOL:
It was funny seeing all those bucket guys checking out your catch. One guy was trying to trade you his bucket of perch for it. :ROFL:
Thanks for the fun day Arthur, let's do it again bro. :Big Grin:

[Wingnut]

Well done Binh, well done... :Applause:

I had a feeling there was something lurking in that big trough. It was the biggest hole we saw all morning, something had to be there. :Envious:
I bet those bucket guys that moved out of that spot before we got there was thinking WTF?!? :LOL:
They were chucking mussels and squid and got a bucket full of nice sized Perch, but you know they would die for a legal Halibut, or a short one at that. :Wink:

I love seeing the people I fish with catch something worthwhile, the smile on your face was priceless bro. :Big Grin:
Enjoy the bounty, I will remind you of your promise to let your next PB go... :Cool:

Once again, great job! Now I'm going to ask the Elves to make me a new batch of Christmas LC's. :Razz:
Forget about hitting the surf this weekend... big swells coming in. :Shocked:

[bachiboy]

Great job Binh! Sounds like you were given the right lure to throw at the right spot!:Wink: Cant argue with that. Sounds like you had great time out there. I was in Vegas placing/collecting a bet against Kiffin when I heard the news.:LOL: Thanks for the report and eye candy and BiG congrats on your PB!!!!

Don

[LARiver]

A great report all around!
Inspiring.
B.

[Prowler_Tuber]

Sweet catches, its always good to know the DFG the guys down here in SD are really cool on the beach and give me some good hot spots.


Tight lines.



PT

[murrieta angler]

Howdy Binh,
That's a sweet looking flatty you got there.
Amazing how that guy knows when there is a nice fish present...:Rolls Eyes:
Hopefully as the day progressed, Arturo cooled off a bit from the day before...:mad:
Thanks for the nice write up,
Robert
<><


p.s. where did that hat come from?!? :Wink:

[blackwater]

A Christmas pattern LC, Arthur cracks me up. :LOL:
Thanks for keeping the Commander company Binh. Hopefully, he calmed down a bit. The guy is pretty passionate about his Trojans and Redskins. :Cool:
That is one heck of a Halibut bro, wow, that is nice, enjoy! :Thumbs Up:
My new year's resolution is to fish more, let's see how that pans out. :Wink: