skunked4life
03-16-2014, 09:09 PM
The last few weeks, as you all know, were terrible for surf fishing. Storms, high surf, trashed beaches...Yet, many of you seemed to still get out there and score. Sorry I haven't replied to your threads, I have been really struggling to stay afloat lately but I have been keeping up with you! Kudos to those of you who continue to report and reply. You guys are the real heroes.
Two Weeks Ago...
After the storms, I decided to get out there and do some recon. Hit up some usual spots and some not so usual spots. I got my long time friend to get into surf fishing and took him to some non-classified/less classified AO's. Alex, my buddy, had only been fishing three times and never in the ocean, so this would be more recon and teaching than fishing and catching.
Friday 02/14/2014:
Took Alex out for the first time thinking that we could score some Valentine's fish. Set him up on the LC and got out to my favorite AO of late. Arrived at grey light and felt a couple of nice bumps, but nothing stuck. Met up with Nippletwister and made my introductions. I suggested that we go south. We hit up a hole that has been successful for me but not at the rate that I got used to this year. I immediately landed an 18 inch short. I let Alex have the photo op.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/DF1EFAC8-67FF-48A9-9E92-9EE3C5AEC182_zpsznmipxp7.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/DF1EFAC8-67FF-48A9-9E92-9EE3C5AEC182_zpsznmipxp7.jpg.html)
After that, no more action, so we decided to go north. Found my perch/calico/halibut AO and started Alex on slinging the crack on a c-rig. He started hammering the dinks.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/66FE6C01-6CD6-40E8-8F65-3010F270313F_zpstkkhipy1.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/66FE6C01-6CD6-40E8-8F65-3010F270313F_zpstkkhipy1.jpg.html)
He ended up with 4 dink BSP and a 12 incher. A couple of spear fisherman offered my buddy a nice 17 inch calico bass to take home to his wife. I have never had calico nor ever though about taking one home but this one was dead and I heard that they were good table fare. So, I dressed it for Alex and stuffed it with lemon, tarragon and dill and sent him off to his wife.
Friday 02/28/2014:
Alex and I hit up the beaches again. Nothing to write about here. We hit four beaches in 6 hours and were beat. He had a big grin saying he had such a relaxing time to just be out and sharing the surf with me. What a guy. Amazing how I have so easily forgotten the essence of the sport. :Sad:
Miscellaneous Dates:
I cannot remember the dates but short story shorter, met up with PTN and S.W.A.T. inductee Raney and skunked it up. Did alot of recon that would prove to be useful later. On a side note, Raney and his brother were walking through a trough at one of our AO's and I though to myself, why don't they just walk around it? PTN and I were fishing the troughs and we see the two of them sink knee deep. We had a good laugh but kept it to ourselves, karma is a b!t@h. :LOL:
Next thing you know, PTN starts giving the boys a hard time about falling in the trough and razzing up the new inductee. As he does so, he takes one step onto what we thought was solid sand and....he starts sinking almost chest deep!!! :LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL: Oh my! Raney and I immediately lent PTN a hand and got him out and the rest of us turned what was a dismal day of fishing into a day we will never forget.
Later that day, I was at Walmart and saw a very nice rod on sale. It was a Falcon Buocco surf rod 7"6" spinning. Retail was like $90 but it was on sale for $35 and I really liked the action and pretty much everything about the rod. I immediately call my buddy and he went out and bought it. I gave him one of my newer Shimano Sedona 2500 reels and a bunch of tackle and went to the tackle store to buy him a couple of LC's. Now you are ready buddy. While I was there, I picked up some carbontex drag washers and installed them that night.
03/14/2014:
Took Alex back out. Jaysuun had contacted me about hitting up an AO up north. We hadn't hit up that beach in a long time and I said yes. We met up and started fishing at grey light. Jason immediately hooked into a short.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/A188588A-90D2-4EA3-A1A7-C7CF67FBD2E2_zpsmptone51.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/A188588A-90D2-4EA3-A1A7-C7CF67FBD2E2_zpsmptone51.jpg.html)
Jason certainly had the hot stick that day. I think he ended up with 5 shorts, 2 yfc's and a baby bat ray. I managed a large smelt and Alex had 6 dink perch and his first halibut!
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/A7883784-B2C2-44B3-9406-7651F372A0F2_zpsq02ceht3.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/A7883784-B2C2-44B3-9406-7651F372A0F2_zpsq02ceht3.jpg.html)
Now, the main event...
03/16/2014:
The night before, I was thinking about hitting up a spot that I have not seen alot of action in the last three weeks. Normally, I would not fish such a full moon nor during the grunion run (during the day) because I think that the fish, if grunion are present, are full of fishies and not interested in biting. But, there are always exceptions. The tide was right, it has been enough time since the storms for the trash to have cleared up, I don't know, it just felt right. So, I didn't really anticipate going but I had the rods on stand by.
I woke up at 4am and said, "what the hell, let's do this!"
Loaded up the car and headed out. Got to the AO early and geared up. Hit up the spot when it was still dark and began fan casting. Worked the usual AO hard for 30 minutes or so. Nada. Got hung up on kelp every cast. Hmmm...maybe they moved out to deeper waters? The water temp was ideal, the tide was the right height, the water clarity looked good. Nada. So, I worked south. I saw that all of those troughs and holes I reconned the last two weeks had filled in nicely. Fished them for nada. Then, I decided to take the high ground and check out the holes near the out breaks. I noticed a very nice hole way out and decided to get back down and fish it.
I made a very nice cast and worked the LC through the hole when I get a violent hit. This wasn't dead weight hit like my other halibut. I immediately started thinking about how bachiboy landed two butterfly rays there and started cursing. I looked up and retracted my initial reaction, humbled myself to the Lord, gave thanks for a fish on the other end of the line (YES---I did in fact do all of those things) and started fighting the supposed ray. The fish took runs and worked my new drags. Oh so smooth. This was sooooo much fun! I got her about 30 feet in front of me and saw the tail splash...HALIBUT! It was heavy too! Finally, I beach it but it was so heavy that I couldn't pull it up any further. I went out and tailed it on the second attempt. Measured it and almost peed my waders....
32+ inches!!! A PB for me!
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/5FDF005F-9D5B-4DB1-AC46-FF39F695BA1C_zpsht2b74cl.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/5FDF005F-9D5B-4DB1-AC46-FF39F695BA1C_zpsht2b74cl.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/AAC62155-45E6-4303-B56B-389716B41834_zpselu19j0y.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/AAC62155-45E6-4303-B56B-389716B41834_zpselu19j0y.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/312A109C-BBEB-49C7-80CD-1BFA1B5B2E50_zpsxomx4fn7.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/312A109C-BBEB-49C7-80CD-1BFA1B5B2E50_zpsxomx4fn7.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/D4BD1292-3CB4-45F9-A04C-A1AB5E5CDCA0_zpsjzgbe7li.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/D4BD1292-3CB4-45F9-A04C-A1AB5E5CDCA0_zpsjzgbe7li.jpg.html)
Wowsers! I was stoked. My knees were buckling, my heart was pounding, I couldn't wait to report to the Commander and a few closer S.W.A.T. brothers! Also, I gave thanks before releasing and thought that I would go home and get ready for church...Nah, I wanted more.
I made another few casts and within 17 minutes..dum dum dummmm.....ANother hit! This one also fought pretty hard. I pulled her in much easier though. Measured it...30+ inches!!!! 30/30 baby!!!!
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/ADDB65FF-4954-4AD6-87C3-E5157D6F4B7E_zpsck6ara0b.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/ADDB65FF-4954-4AD6-87C3-E5157D6F4B7E_zpsck6ara0b.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/CA33C40D-EA72-493F-9E2E-61C35EF26BEB_zpsrxiuvtth.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/CA33C40D-EA72-493F-9E2E-61C35EF26BEB_zpsrxiuvtth.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/32B4D314-06BC-48AE-A8CC-8354B54E93A5_zpsa3ue3hon.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/32B4D314-06BC-48AE-A8CC-8354B54E93A5_zpsa3ue3hon.jpg.html)
Okay, NOW I am done. Headed to church and still got there on time!
Had to serve for our quarterly newcomers' banquet ( I am the head chef for the event) and put in about 9 hours at church today. Tonight's menu for our 150 or so new members: 4 hour slow roasted New York Strip Loin, herbed mashed potatoes, shrimp and spring vegetable skewers and the standard caesar salad, bread basket, and ice cream with masserated berries. Bon Apetite.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/504D646B-492F-4F33-83B4-D0E3F63C6BA8_zpsjbs2mx5l.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/504D646B-492F-4F33-83B4-D0E3F63C6BA8_zpsjbs2mx5l.jpg.html)
Thanks for reading and remember, do your homework and expect to have some quiet time to meditate and enjoy nature....BUT always hope for the big one!
Skunked4life, aka Corporal Croaker, aka Ken
Two Weeks Ago...
After the storms, I decided to get out there and do some recon. Hit up some usual spots and some not so usual spots. I got my long time friend to get into surf fishing and took him to some non-classified/less classified AO's. Alex, my buddy, had only been fishing three times and never in the ocean, so this would be more recon and teaching than fishing and catching.
Friday 02/14/2014:
Took Alex out for the first time thinking that we could score some Valentine's fish. Set him up on the LC and got out to my favorite AO of late. Arrived at grey light and felt a couple of nice bumps, but nothing stuck. Met up with Nippletwister and made my introductions. I suggested that we go south. We hit up a hole that has been successful for me but not at the rate that I got used to this year. I immediately landed an 18 inch short. I let Alex have the photo op.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/DF1EFAC8-67FF-48A9-9E92-9EE3C5AEC182_zpsznmipxp7.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/DF1EFAC8-67FF-48A9-9E92-9EE3C5AEC182_zpsznmipxp7.jpg.html)
After that, no more action, so we decided to go north. Found my perch/calico/halibut AO and started Alex on slinging the crack on a c-rig. He started hammering the dinks.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/66FE6C01-6CD6-40E8-8F65-3010F270313F_zpstkkhipy1.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/66FE6C01-6CD6-40E8-8F65-3010F270313F_zpstkkhipy1.jpg.html)
He ended up with 4 dink BSP and a 12 incher. A couple of spear fisherman offered my buddy a nice 17 inch calico bass to take home to his wife. I have never had calico nor ever though about taking one home but this one was dead and I heard that they were good table fare. So, I dressed it for Alex and stuffed it with lemon, tarragon and dill and sent him off to his wife.
Friday 02/28/2014:
Alex and I hit up the beaches again. Nothing to write about here. We hit four beaches in 6 hours and were beat. He had a big grin saying he had such a relaxing time to just be out and sharing the surf with me. What a guy. Amazing how I have so easily forgotten the essence of the sport. :Sad:
Miscellaneous Dates:
I cannot remember the dates but short story shorter, met up with PTN and S.W.A.T. inductee Raney and skunked it up. Did alot of recon that would prove to be useful later. On a side note, Raney and his brother were walking through a trough at one of our AO's and I though to myself, why don't they just walk around it? PTN and I were fishing the troughs and we see the two of them sink knee deep. We had a good laugh but kept it to ourselves, karma is a b!t@h. :LOL:
Next thing you know, PTN starts giving the boys a hard time about falling in the trough and razzing up the new inductee. As he does so, he takes one step onto what we thought was solid sand and....he starts sinking almost chest deep!!! :LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL: Oh my! Raney and I immediately lent PTN a hand and got him out and the rest of us turned what was a dismal day of fishing into a day we will never forget.
Later that day, I was at Walmart and saw a very nice rod on sale. It was a Falcon Buocco surf rod 7"6" spinning. Retail was like $90 but it was on sale for $35 and I really liked the action and pretty much everything about the rod. I immediately call my buddy and he went out and bought it. I gave him one of my newer Shimano Sedona 2500 reels and a bunch of tackle and went to the tackle store to buy him a couple of LC's. Now you are ready buddy. While I was there, I picked up some carbontex drag washers and installed them that night.
03/14/2014:
Took Alex back out. Jaysuun had contacted me about hitting up an AO up north. We hadn't hit up that beach in a long time and I said yes. We met up and started fishing at grey light. Jason immediately hooked into a short.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/A188588A-90D2-4EA3-A1A7-C7CF67FBD2E2_zpsmptone51.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/A188588A-90D2-4EA3-A1A7-C7CF67FBD2E2_zpsmptone51.jpg.html)
Jason certainly had the hot stick that day. I think he ended up with 5 shorts, 2 yfc's and a baby bat ray. I managed a large smelt and Alex had 6 dink perch and his first halibut!
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/A7883784-B2C2-44B3-9406-7651F372A0F2_zpsq02ceht3.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/A7883784-B2C2-44B3-9406-7651F372A0F2_zpsq02ceht3.jpg.html)
Now, the main event...
03/16/2014:
The night before, I was thinking about hitting up a spot that I have not seen alot of action in the last three weeks. Normally, I would not fish such a full moon nor during the grunion run (during the day) because I think that the fish, if grunion are present, are full of fishies and not interested in biting. But, there are always exceptions. The tide was right, it has been enough time since the storms for the trash to have cleared up, I don't know, it just felt right. So, I didn't really anticipate going but I had the rods on stand by.
I woke up at 4am and said, "what the hell, let's do this!"
Loaded up the car and headed out. Got to the AO early and geared up. Hit up the spot when it was still dark and began fan casting. Worked the usual AO hard for 30 minutes or so. Nada. Got hung up on kelp every cast. Hmmm...maybe they moved out to deeper waters? The water temp was ideal, the tide was the right height, the water clarity looked good. Nada. So, I worked south. I saw that all of those troughs and holes I reconned the last two weeks had filled in nicely. Fished them for nada. Then, I decided to take the high ground and check out the holes near the out breaks. I noticed a very nice hole way out and decided to get back down and fish it.
I made a very nice cast and worked the LC through the hole when I get a violent hit. This wasn't dead weight hit like my other halibut. I immediately started thinking about how bachiboy landed two butterfly rays there and started cursing. I looked up and retracted my initial reaction, humbled myself to the Lord, gave thanks for a fish on the other end of the line (YES---I did in fact do all of those things) and started fighting the supposed ray. The fish took runs and worked my new drags. Oh so smooth. This was sooooo much fun! I got her about 30 feet in front of me and saw the tail splash...HALIBUT! It was heavy too! Finally, I beach it but it was so heavy that I couldn't pull it up any further. I went out and tailed it on the second attempt. Measured it and almost peed my waders....
32+ inches!!! A PB for me!
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/5FDF005F-9D5B-4DB1-AC46-FF39F695BA1C_zpsht2b74cl.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/5FDF005F-9D5B-4DB1-AC46-FF39F695BA1C_zpsht2b74cl.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/AAC62155-45E6-4303-B56B-389716B41834_zpselu19j0y.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/AAC62155-45E6-4303-B56B-389716B41834_zpselu19j0y.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/312A109C-BBEB-49C7-80CD-1BFA1B5B2E50_zpsxomx4fn7.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/312A109C-BBEB-49C7-80CD-1BFA1B5B2E50_zpsxomx4fn7.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/D4BD1292-3CB4-45F9-A04C-A1AB5E5CDCA0_zpsjzgbe7li.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/D4BD1292-3CB4-45F9-A04C-A1AB5E5CDCA0_zpsjzgbe7li.jpg.html)
Wowsers! I was stoked. My knees were buckling, my heart was pounding, I couldn't wait to report to the Commander and a few closer S.W.A.T. brothers! Also, I gave thanks before releasing and thought that I would go home and get ready for church...Nah, I wanted more.
I made another few casts and within 17 minutes..dum dum dummmm.....ANother hit! This one also fought pretty hard. I pulled her in much easier though. Measured it...30+ inches!!!! 30/30 baby!!!!
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/ADDB65FF-4954-4AD6-87C3-E5157D6F4B7E_zpsck6ara0b.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/ADDB65FF-4954-4AD6-87C3-E5157D6F4B7E_zpsck6ara0b.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/CA33C40D-EA72-493F-9E2E-61C35EF26BEB_zpsrxiuvtth.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/CA33C40D-EA72-493F-9E2E-61C35EF26BEB_zpsrxiuvtth.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/32B4D314-06BC-48AE-A8CC-8354B54E93A5_zpsa3ue3hon.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/32B4D314-06BC-48AE-A8CC-8354B54E93A5_zpsa3ue3hon.jpg.html)
Okay, NOW I am done. Headed to church and still got there on time!
Had to serve for our quarterly newcomers' banquet ( I am the head chef for the event) and put in about 9 hours at church today. Tonight's menu for our 150 or so new members: 4 hour slow roasted New York Strip Loin, herbed mashed potatoes, shrimp and spring vegetable skewers and the standard caesar salad, bread basket, and ice cream with masserated berries. Bon Apetite.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a589/benjilovers/504D646B-492F-4F33-83B4-D0E3F63C6BA8_zpsjbs2mx5l.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/benjilovers/media/504D646B-492F-4F33-83B4-D0E3F63C6BA8_zpsjbs2mx5l.jpg.html)
Thanks for reading and remember, do your homework and expect to have some quiet time to meditate and enjoy nature....BUT always hope for the big one!
Skunked4life, aka Corporal Croaker, aka Ken