Xmas Vacation - Day 1

[ErikAllen17]

Well, today was the official start of my 19 days vacation! I intend on doing ALOT of fishing while I'm off and the kids are in school/camp. I set my alarm for 5am so I could be on the water in Malibu by 6am for some gray light fishing. The weather was really gloomy and wet. It rained almost the whole way down to Malibu, but I didn't care, my gear would keep me dry. I stepped on the sand at 6:10am and it was still quite dark out. This AO hasn't produced for me that past 4 times I've been here, but I began to throw the LC MS Sardine slathered in "Butt Juice" with visions of landing slab after slab. The sunrise was beyond amazing. The color was fantastic and seeing the "God Rays" poke through the heavy cloud cover was incredible.

http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/LeoHighway_12-19-2013_01.jpg

I didn't get any bites until about 8:30am... a few little taps here and there on the retrieve. I REALLY hate getting up at the butt crack of dawn only to not get any action until several hours later. Make me miss my bed. Around 9am, I get a nice hit and then a hook up. I roll in a decent sized YFC after a short battle. HE wasn't much, but he did remove the white stripe down my back. Skunk is off... now let's find some hali's! I a few minutes later, I hook up on another YFC... smaller than the first, not worth the photo.

http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/LeoHighway_12-19-2013_03.jpg

http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/LeoHighway_12-19-2013_04.jpg

All of a sudden, it REALLY starts to come down. Drops the size of raisins are pounding the surf and I'm hopeful for a bite. It only lasts about 15 min and then slows to a drizzle. The drizzle continues off and on for about an hour. I make my way up and down the beach, up and down again. Searching for the elusive hali... but to no avail. By this time, the wind has picked up, the swells are insane and my body is starting to hurt from almost 5 hours of walking around. At 11:30am, I finally called it quits. I hadn't eaten and I really had to pee. HAHAHA...

Closed out the session with 2 fish. Nothing special, but always better than a skunk. I'll be at it again tomorrow with Nick for a Ventura session. I hope one of us can land a flattie before the end of 2013! Wish us luck.

PS - Enjoy the exaggerated colors on the photos... it was more or less a gloomy day and the camera didn't pick up the color very well, so I "fixed" that!

[jaggerbub]

That's a lot better than being stuck at work... Glad you beat the skunk. Thanks for sharing.

[bachiboy]

Very cool photos and report Erik. 2 YFC trumps the stripe any day. Glad you were able to get out there and look forward to hearing about your vacation reports!:Wink:

Don

[Jaysuuun]

Sweet pics Erik! Were those taken on a GoPro? I still have yet to bring mine on my surf ventures. Hope the rest of your vacation produces some quality fish for you.

[ErikAllen17]

Yeah... I picked up 2 new GoPro Hero 3 Blacks from a guy on Craigslist. I don't have a head strap mount (yet), so I just keep it in my jacket until I needed to take a photo. It was my first time using one. I liked it a lot. My only complaint is the photos turn out blurry if you don't hold still for a second after you press the button. The shutter is slower than I'm used to. But other than that, it's a pretty cool toy. I bought them mainly to mount to my kayak. There will be plenty of that footage AFTER Xmas.

[TUNAVIC]

Cool pics,one looked like the fish eye option,WTG on your first of 19days,can't wait to see more results.

Cya TUNAVIC

[tamddo714]

awesome pictures! thanks for the report! fish on!

[fish_sauce]

Erik,

Beautiful pics bro, thanks for sharing!

Keep those vacation fishing reports comin, and good luck out there!

Andrew

[Wingnut]

Nice photos Erik, very cool...
Have fun out there during your time off, I wish I could do the same. :Envious:
Have a fantastic New Year! :Big Grin:

[anchor3n1]

Erik:

Your the best. Love the skull face. I know it scares the fish on to your hook.

love ya brother,

Nick