Nipple Twister
05-25-2014, 01:59 PM
With the holiday this weekend I had planned on making a few attempts at some fish, seeing as I had four whole days off, but one thing lead to another I was only able to make it out today. So, as usual in picking out an AO, I start with looking at the predicted surf height and then narrow it down based on further indicators such as tide, driving, access, rocky or sandy and other possible activities that might interfere based on the day.
I had maybe three spots I was looking at and after getting intel from SPDan, it quickly narrowed to just two which should be holding fish by now, one of which I hadn’t been to in a while sooooooo………..on to the hunt.
Time: 0530-0900 (tel:0530-0900) hrs
Date: Sun, May 25, 2014
AO: CLASSIFIED, EYES ONLY
Terrain: Long open sandy beach with very mild slope to the shoreline.
Surf: 1-2ft with an occasional 3 ft
Intervals: Holy crap it must been 1/2 second!
Tide: Incoming
Weather: Mildly cool and cloudy
Wind: Calm
Water Clarity: Fair to Good, very minimal salad.
Water Temp: 62 degrees.
Bait: Lucky Craft Surf Pointer 115 in Candy tied to 50lb green Power Pro braid spooled on a Daiwa Luna 253 attached to a 7’-6” Carrot Stix
Fish Count: One 22” Halibut
After getting dressed and making the short trek to the surf line things seemed rather fishy except for one very annoying aspect, what surf there was it was breaking right on shore and the intervals were ridicules! Waves breaking over waves which were smacking you right at waist and chest high making sure it kept you wet. No worries, batten down all hatches, head down and press on!
Even with all the turbulence there were times it calmed long enough to see into clearish water, lots of baby Leos teaming about, I catch Corbina running up the skinny water looking for sand crabs (me without a drop-shot rig) and bat rays running off as I move about the ebb and flow.
I fall into my usual routine, starting at one end of the beach fan casting my way along, I notice maybe two other anglers on the sand with one coming in right behind me but far enough I couldn't tell who it was and he was gone before I came back.
At first not much was happening but that LC Surf Pointer 115 sure does cast nice and far, no tumble just rocketship launch and “splashdown”! Nice slow retrieve feeling that LC wiggle it’s way back to me, getting the sandy bottom once in a while as it nears me and the shallow water. Couple few times I get a Perch bump but nothing sticks, kept flinging away and work my way down the beach. Looking back I see the other fellow get what appears to be a short Halibut but not sure. Time tics on and I start to get that feeling it might turn out to be another casting practice day and getting beat on by this surf was grating on me. As the water deepens with the tide some very familiar trenches seem to appear and lots of rips nearby. Hmm, ignore the surf, wiped my glasses and started hammering those areas. Going through that spot I decide I will make this my turn around, linger a bit more and make my move back to the other end from where I came.
Noticing a breeze picking up slightly it still has no effect on the LCSP 115, awesome.
Dragging it through the deep holes from one direction to another I was watching my line cut through the water I get one of those solid stop like tugs, feels like it’s hook-up but nothing moving……..ahhh, SNGF or Ray or something similar with that boat anchor effect. No worries, something to pull on and it beats the skunk right?
Lets see what it is I pull a hard hook set…….Whooo Hooooo…..game on brother. Fish starts to take drag and head down the beach about 20 yards out, still thinking a flat fish of the wrong kind I tighten the drag slightly and it turns back towards me, I take some line back and then it feels like it should……..”bang, bang, bang” HEAD SHAKE BABY!!!
I fight it back and forth a few times before getting a look at as it peaked out the face of a wave I see that familiar grey smooth ugliness, HALIBUT! It appears to be of legal size and rather fat, I tighten down one more time and try getting it to shore with the timing of the waves.
That instant feeling you get from bummed about being another lack luster session to YEAH BABY is pretty cool, slide it up the sand, grab the lip gripper and get a tape on it…….
22 inches on the button:
I haven’t had anything worth taking home since last year I had already decided I would put one on the dinner table if at all possible so I take my time unlashing it, taking a pic and securing for the walk off the sand.
I make some well spaced out casts as I work my way down the beach feeling pretty good, even the shore pound surf seemed to not bother as much anymore, huh…….
I haven’t had any fish to grill since I switched to charcoal only BBQing so today it was gonna be fresh grilled Halibut for lunch:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/nippletwister_photos/Fishing/DSCF0176_zpsdcf9fef6.jpg (http://s173.photobucket.com/user/nippletwister_photos/media/Fishing/DSCF0176_zpsdcf9fef6.jpg.html)
Thank You Poseidon for the generous offering…….thank you all for reading my post and have a wonderful holiday remembering those who have gave it all and those who are still giving to this great county of ours…….
……’til next time……tight lines
PS:http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/nippletwister_photos/Fishing/C0135E51-8D8E-43C1-A59F-706B7EF0B3FF_zpsshdql5pa.jpg (http://s173.photobucket.com/user/nippletwister_photos/media/Fishing/C0135E51-8D8E-43C1-A59F-706B7EF0B3FF_zpsshdql5pa.jpg.html)
I had maybe three spots I was looking at and after getting intel from SPDan, it quickly narrowed to just two which should be holding fish by now, one of which I hadn’t been to in a while sooooooo………..on to the hunt.
Time: 0530-0900 (tel:0530-0900) hrs
Date: Sun, May 25, 2014
AO: CLASSIFIED, EYES ONLY
Terrain: Long open sandy beach with very mild slope to the shoreline.
Surf: 1-2ft with an occasional 3 ft
Intervals: Holy crap it must been 1/2 second!
Tide: Incoming
Weather: Mildly cool and cloudy
Wind: Calm
Water Clarity: Fair to Good, very minimal salad.
Water Temp: 62 degrees.
Bait: Lucky Craft Surf Pointer 115 in Candy tied to 50lb green Power Pro braid spooled on a Daiwa Luna 253 attached to a 7’-6” Carrot Stix
Fish Count: One 22” Halibut
After getting dressed and making the short trek to the surf line things seemed rather fishy except for one very annoying aspect, what surf there was it was breaking right on shore and the intervals were ridicules! Waves breaking over waves which were smacking you right at waist and chest high making sure it kept you wet. No worries, batten down all hatches, head down and press on!
Even with all the turbulence there were times it calmed long enough to see into clearish water, lots of baby Leos teaming about, I catch Corbina running up the skinny water looking for sand crabs (me without a drop-shot rig) and bat rays running off as I move about the ebb and flow.
I fall into my usual routine, starting at one end of the beach fan casting my way along, I notice maybe two other anglers on the sand with one coming in right behind me but far enough I couldn't tell who it was and he was gone before I came back.
At first not much was happening but that LC Surf Pointer 115 sure does cast nice and far, no tumble just rocketship launch and “splashdown”! Nice slow retrieve feeling that LC wiggle it’s way back to me, getting the sandy bottom once in a while as it nears me and the shallow water. Couple few times I get a Perch bump but nothing sticks, kept flinging away and work my way down the beach. Looking back I see the other fellow get what appears to be a short Halibut but not sure. Time tics on and I start to get that feeling it might turn out to be another casting practice day and getting beat on by this surf was grating on me. As the water deepens with the tide some very familiar trenches seem to appear and lots of rips nearby. Hmm, ignore the surf, wiped my glasses and started hammering those areas. Going through that spot I decide I will make this my turn around, linger a bit more and make my move back to the other end from where I came.
Noticing a breeze picking up slightly it still has no effect on the LCSP 115, awesome.
Dragging it through the deep holes from one direction to another I was watching my line cut through the water I get one of those solid stop like tugs, feels like it’s hook-up but nothing moving……..ahhh, SNGF or Ray or something similar with that boat anchor effect. No worries, something to pull on and it beats the skunk right?
Lets see what it is I pull a hard hook set…….Whooo Hooooo…..game on brother. Fish starts to take drag and head down the beach about 20 yards out, still thinking a flat fish of the wrong kind I tighten the drag slightly and it turns back towards me, I take some line back and then it feels like it should……..”bang, bang, bang” HEAD SHAKE BABY!!!
I fight it back and forth a few times before getting a look at as it peaked out the face of a wave I see that familiar grey smooth ugliness, HALIBUT! It appears to be of legal size and rather fat, I tighten down one more time and try getting it to shore with the timing of the waves.
That instant feeling you get from bummed about being another lack luster session to YEAH BABY is pretty cool, slide it up the sand, grab the lip gripper and get a tape on it…….
22 inches on the button:
I haven’t had anything worth taking home since last year I had already decided I would put one on the dinner table if at all possible so I take my time unlashing it, taking a pic and securing for the walk off the sand.
I make some well spaced out casts as I work my way down the beach feeling pretty good, even the shore pound surf seemed to not bother as much anymore, huh…….
I haven’t had any fish to grill since I switched to charcoal only BBQing so today it was gonna be fresh grilled Halibut for lunch:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/nippletwister_photos/Fishing/DSCF0176_zpsdcf9fef6.jpg (http://s173.photobucket.com/user/nippletwister_photos/media/Fishing/DSCF0176_zpsdcf9fef6.jpg.html)
Thank You Poseidon for the generous offering…….thank you all for reading my post and have a wonderful holiday remembering those who have gave it all and those who are still giving to this great county of ours…….
……’til next time……tight lines
PS:http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/nippletwister_photos/Fishing/C0135E51-8D8E-43C1-A59F-706B7EF0B3FF_zpsshdql5pa.jpg (http://s173.photobucket.com/user/nippletwister_photos/media/Fishing/C0135E51-8D8E-43C1-A59F-706B7EF0B3FF_zpsshdql5pa.jpg.html)