Perchin' Dave
12-12-2012, 06:02 PM
On saturday, Brad Bayley and Perchin' Dave saw a two hour opportunity to catch. Everything looked good with a favorable moon and a possibility of finding a few fish on a fast moving outgoing tide. We have been seeing mixed sizes in the last few outings and weren't sure what to expect. We saw some structure from the two weeks back storm and really didn't expect anything on this 'hunting for giant' BSP trip.
When we arrived at the spot (north of LA) Perchin' Dave was a bit disappointed at the smeg, which always seems worse on an outgoing tide. A lot had piled up at this part of the beach and there was a strong right to left current. Having fished worse conditions, I have seen results by casting up-current and keeping the line tight and equal to the movement of the current. It took some time to find the first fish (Brad was rigging up at the truck) and my first was at 13" BSP. A hint of a good day. In the next 20 minutes I found another six, 11", 12" & 13" and a couple smaller. The water is starting to get colder and the fish are more active and even the smaller fish put up a fight which was exaggerated with the rip I was fishing.
Enter Brad Bayley. Brad is an excellent fisherman and has incredible attention to detail, and his results show by the quantity and quality of fish he catches. He's not afraid to jump right in the water (note: we were both fishing our swim suits in December), and he reminds me of Wingnut, and is fearless with the water. (see my last post).
Brad goes out looking for fish and it takes about awhile till he finds his first, his initial were dinks. Our two hour window is closing rapidly.
BUT ... the water looks great, the larger waves about 5' and there is some structure and several seriously equipped fishermen are fishing nearby (catching mostly dinks, mostly using smelly bait, thus the small size).
I leave my spot and join Brad and we start working a few spots on the way back down the beach. We caught a few, but nothing worth talking about. With all the fishermen there, none were really catching, just one now and then. So we go back and rely on our good experience and ability to read the water and go for it anyway. We'll find them. So Brad and I go back where there are some cool currents, a trough, some murky/clear water transition, an outside break that I couldn't reach with my 6' 6" stick but Brad effortlessly makes with his 7'/line combo, along with a triple break. It looked good. Really good. And what started out slow became Brads personal best BSP day ever! He was pulling out fish after fish, 11, 12, 13, 14, & 15". He was disappointed on one cast when he didn't pull in a fish, it was that good.
And then ....it happened. BAM! The bite was huge and Brad smiles from ear to ear. His rod bends extreme. "This one is huge, he said. It took drag, zigged, zagged, took drag again, zigged and zagged again, took more drag and then when I saw it, a definite giant. This is the largest BSP I have seen pulled out of the water. Brad tries to lift the fish out with his rod and line but it was too huge. See photo below.
And as we we were leaving he said that this has got to be the best quality, the largest quality of BSP he has ever caught. Ever.
We definitely had a good day on the water and Brad definitely found the giants
Oh... and our 2 hour window turned into 7 with about 80 BSP between the two of us with Brad finding more of the larger variety. My largest for the day was 15". Oh, and for all of you who only fish the LC (Lucky Craft), we fished a carolina rig with a 3" grub. Yes, It was an awesome day on the water.
Thanks for joining us in our story ...
Perchin' Dave & Awesome Brad
Here's the conditions (between the larger waves)
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa363/davesomm/IMG_4860.jpg
Here's Brad's big fish of the day!
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa363/davesomm/IMG_4856.jpg
Here's how big it was, the largest I have ever seen. Way to go Brad!
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa363/davesomm/IMG_4854.jpg
When we arrived at the spot (north of LA) Perchin' Dave was a bit disappointed at the smeg, which always seems worse on an outgoing tide. A lot had piled up at this part of the beach and there was a strong right to left current. Having fished worse conditions, I have seen results by casting up-current and keeping the line tight and equal to the movement of the current. It took some time to find the first fish (Brad was rigging up at the truck) and my first was at 13" BSP. A hint of a good day. In the next 20 minutes I found another six, 11", 12" & 13" and a couple smaller. The water is starting to get colder and the fish are more active and even the smaller fish put up a fight which was exaggerated with the rip I was fishing.
Enter Brad Bayley. Brad is an excellent fisherman and has incredible attention to detail, and his results show by the quantity and quality of fish he catches. He's not afraid to jump right in the water (note: we were both fishing our swim suits in December), and he reminds me of Wingnut, and is fearless with the water. (see my last post).
Brad goes out looking for fish and it takes about awhile till he finds his first, his initial were dinks. Our two hour window is closing rapidly.
BUT ... the water looks great, the larger waves about 5' and there is some structure and several seriously equipped fishermen are fishing nearby (catching mostly dinks, mostly using smelly bait, thus the small size).
I leave my spot and join Brad and we start working a few spots on the way back down the beach. We caught a few, but nothing worth talking about. With all the fishermen there, none were really catching, just one now and then. So we go back and rely on our good experience and ability to read the water and go for it anyway. We'll find them. So Brad and I go back where there are some cool currents, a trough, some murky/clear water transition, an outside break that I couldn't reach with my 6' 6" stick but Brad effortlessly makes with his 7'/line combo, along with a triple break. It looked good. Really good. And what started out slow became Brads personal best BSP day ever! He was pulling out fish after fish, 11, 12, 13, 14, & 15". He was disappointed on one cast when he didn't pull in a fish, it was that good.
And then ....it happened. BAM! The bite was huge and Brad smiles from ear to ear. His rod bends extreme. "This one is huge, he said. It took drag, zigged, zagged, took drag again, zigged and zagged again, took more drag and then when I saw it, a definite giant. This is the largest BSP I have seen pulled out of the water. Brad tries to lift the fish out with his rod and line but it was too huge. See photo below.
And as we we were leaving he said that this has got to be the best quality, the largest quality of BSP he has ever caught. Ever.
We definitely had a good day on the water and Brad definitely found the giants
Oh... and our 2 hour window turned into 7 with about 80 BSP between the two of us with Brad finding more of the larger variety. My largest for the day was 15". Oh, and for all of you who only fish the LC (Lucky Craft), we fished a carolina rig with a 3" grub. Yes, It was an awesome day on the water.
Thanks for joining us in our story ...
Perchin' Dave & Awesome Brad
Here's the conditions (between the larger waves)
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa363/davesomm/IMG_4860.jpg
Here's Brad's big fish of the day!
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa363/davesomm/IMG_4856.jpg
Here's how big it was, the largest I have ever seen. Way to go Brad!
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa363/davesomm/IMG_4854.jpg