ErikAllen17
08-31-2013, 01:09 AM
It's been a full 7-days since I've dropped a line in the water... which is torture enough... but with a brand new (since Thursday) Shimano Symetre 4000FL spooled with 20lb Spectra, sitting in my garage, just waiting to get wet... I was downright going into withdrawals! After putting the kids (and wife) to bed, I made the decision to go out and scratch that itch! I quickly packed up the Tahoe (to the wife's dismay) and headed out to PCH. I decided to try Thornhill-Broome again. I was on the sand and casting away by 10:15pm. After about an hour of nothingness... I decided to call it quits. Started to reek of that familiar skunk smell.
:Skunk:
I started walking back, casting ahead and reeling in as I walked when suddenly... BOOM! and then that familiar ZIIIIIIIIIING! from my spool. My LC hooked up on something... something quite big. I added a slight amount of drag and let him take off. After about 10 seconds, he stopped... so I started the (long) haul back in. After about 5-6 minutes, I finally noticed a shape in the outgoing wave... he was close... and BIG! I flicked on my necklamp and lit up a large Shovel Nosed Guitarfish hooked with a single hook from the last treble on the LC, right on his tail. I can't believe he didn't unbutton himself on the retrieve. My initial size guess... 2-2.5 feet maybe. After beaching him, I grabbed my tape measure and stretched it out along the length of his body... 10", 20", 30", 36", 37", 38" and stop at a whopping 39.25"! That's the biggest SNGF I've ever landed. Thank you mister skunk-buster!!!
:Dancing Banana:
Like a moron :Head Bang:, I didn't take a photo because it was way down in my backpack. But I released him without issue and watched him slowly swim away into the darkness. Finally... a smile on my face. Well, time to go get another one. A few dozen casts later and I notice my line getting hard to retrieve. I shine my torch on the line... full on birdsnest knot right before the spool. Crap... sometimes I really hate braid. This wouldn't have happened if I could actually SEE my line. Oh well, time to cut it down, re-tie and get back out there.
Right as I was tying my Palomar knot onto my swivel, a torch hits me in the eye and blinds the hell out of me. Two (quite attractive) female Park & Rec officers walked over and met me on the sand. They let me know I could possibly get a parking ticket from CHP and also asked to see my fishing license. Now, I've never had a reason to park on PCH after hours, but apparently it's frowned upon after 10pm. Good to know... thank you ladies! I showed them my license and they were on their way. Now, with my line being cut, the now looming possibility if a parking ticket and it's 11:30pm... I took that as my sign to leave. I walked up the bank, packed my stuff up and headed home. But not before a quick stop at In-N-Out for a strawberry shake!!!
Not a terribly productive night, but ANY time fishing is better than not going at all. At least the SNGF was kind enough to scare away the skunk for the night!
:Skunk:
I started walking back, casting ahead and reeling in as I walked when suddenly... BOOM! and then that familiar ZIIIIIIIIIING! from my spool. My LC hooked up on something... something quite big. I added a slight amount of drag and let him take off. After about 10 seconds, he stopped... so I started the (long) haul back in. After about 5-6 minutes, I finally noticed a shape in the outgoing wave... he was close... and BIG! I flicked on my necklamp and lit up a large Shovel Nosed Guitarfish hooked with a single hook from the last treble on the LC, right on his tail. I can't believe he didn't unbutton himself on the retrieve. My initial size guess... 2-2.5 feet maybe. After beaching him, I grabbed my tape measure and stretched it out along the length of his body... 10", 20", 30", 36", 37", 38" and stop at a whopping 39.25"! That's the biggest SNGF I've ever landed. Thank you mister skunk-buster!!!
:Dancing Banana:
Like a moron :Head Bang:, I didn't take a photo because it was way down in my backpack. But I released him without issue and watched him slowly swim away into the darkness. Finally... a smile on my face. Well, time to go get another one. A few dozen casts later and I notice my line getting hard to retrieve. I shine my torch on the line... full on birdsnest knot right before the spool. Crap... sometimes I really hate braid. This wouldn't have happened if I could actually SEE my line. Oh well, time to cut it down, re-tie and get back out there.
Right as I was tying my Palomar knot onto my swivel, a torch hits me in the eye and blinds the hell out of me. Two (quite attractive) female Park & Rec officers walked over and met me on the sand. They let me know I could possibly get a parking ticket from CHP and also asked to see my fishing license. Now, I've never had a reason to park on PCH after hours, but apparently it's frowned upon after 10pm. Good to know... thank you ladies! I showed them my license and they were on their way. Now, with my line being cut, the now looming possibility if a parking ticket and it's 11:30pm... I took that as my sign to leave. I walked up the bank, packed my stuff up and headed home. But not before a quick stop at In-N-Out for a strawberry shake!!!
Not a terribly productive night, but ANY time fishing is better than not going at all. At least the SNGF was kind enough to scare away the skunk for the night!