"SWAT" Brotha Finally Gets Loose From The Dreadful Skunk!

[SP Dan]

Quick 5 Day Debriefing:

Fri. 9-7-12: , Sat. 9-8-12 : , Sun. 9-9-12: (24+) Jack Smelt, Mon. 9-10-12: (1) 14.5" YFC, (1) 15.5" YFC, (3) Short Hali's 15", 17.5" & 21.75", Tues. 9-11-12: (1) 19.5" Hali & (1) 55" Leo (new PB).

Jump to today: ...."Oh brother"!...... "What am I getting my self into"!

Tuesday 9-11-2012....Santa Monica Bay, assaulted the spot from 0530 - 0900 hrs.
AO: classified by Mr. Bones....just another island with a palm tree and a pretty smile in the background Oh...how we all know it well!
Air temp: 69 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy and humid.
Water temp: 71 degrees Fahrenheit. Cloudy, lots of salad. some bait jumping, no diving birds any where!
Sun rise: 0635. Sun set: 1905 hrs.
Moon: Waning crescent.
Surf: 1 ft, Swell: 1 ft, Sets: 13 secs.
Tide: IC 0530 hrs 2.9 ft, HT 0800 hrs 3.8 ft, OG 0930 hrs 3.5 ft.
Terrain: flat, wide sandy beach, no structure and no trenches.
Assault tactics: St. Croix 9'-6", 8-17 lb, Van Staal VS-100G reel (w/ 30 lbs of drag) with 55# Samurai 8-carrier braided line with a LC 110 Sexy Geisha lure tied on with a Uni knot.

After texting with my SWAT Brotha's over the last couple of weeks and swapping INTEL with them....I decided to hit one of my favorite AO's today in the So. Bay area. My feet were wet at 0530 hrs and head my lamp was the only light on the beach at this hour.
As I was walking along the beach in the dark, I had to walk around and climb over huge mounds of sea weed that had littered most of my favorite AO. I thought to myself...."Oh brother"!...... "What am I getting my self into"!
The positive thing though...the surf and tide conditions looked fantastic and I was now feeling hopeful again! I gave a quick thanks to Poseidon and stepped into the salt......I immediately began my fan casting routine and worked my way in the direction of my favorite spot. I had a few hits and line pullers ZZZZZ along the way but no set hooks! Hmmmmmm! Now I'm even more determined! Again...I'm moving, fan casting and searching for clear water and hopefully some nice trenches!

Finally at 0630 hrs I get SLAMMED! I set the hook....and get a huge BENDO in my rod.... and the pallet of bricks starts heading straight out to the deep blue with no intention of slowing down! I'm watching my spool as it empties from full to less than half full and my line is still going ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....YAHOO! I'm now going over the check list in my head and at this time I decided to tighten down a little bit on the drag setting and I continually check my drag to make sure that it's not too tight! 2/3 of my line has now been stripped off my spool, so at this time I began to apply the pressure of my finger against the spool in order to tire the fish out! FINALLY......I feel it slowing down.....I adjust my drag setting to a med heavy setting and began to pump up and reel down.........I repeated this over and over....it's working...here it comes! I can't see what it is yet but I did get a couple of vague glimpses of a large vertical tail fin in the surf as I brought it closer-in to shore!
I finally got it to the water's edge after approx 17 minutes of battling it and I made the tail grab at 0647 hrs! "Oh...MAN'!...Wouldn't you know it...I foul hooked it in it's second Dorsal (rear) fin and there was no turning it's head once it aimed it nose in the direction it wanted to go....just brute weight and power! There was a beach walker there watching my show and he offered to that some photos of me and my 55" Leo.







I measured it, photographed it, thanked Poseidon for the gift and quickly returned it to the sea!

I'm now a happy camper and I began to work my way back towards my truck when at 0700 hrs I get a decent little slam, a bendo in the rod and some head shaking........we all know what that means.....and it comes to the sand much quicker than the LEO did!





A healthy 19.5" pancake........."THEIR BACK"!!! Now I just need a few of the larger models! Say...a 42-incher+, right Mr. Bones!
I've got my eye on some lures that you are holding for me......right! ha ha ha!


Thanx for taking the time to check out my report.


PS...I'm looking forward to hooking up with my SWAT brotha's and Sisters, my FNN family and I'm also looking forward to making a lot of new friends and having a blast with all of you at the up coming HG-4 Event!


SP Dan <"))><

[bones]

Great Job out there Dan. Nice write up as well buddy. Both of those fish are fine catches and you have beat my PB Leo brotha but don't hold your breath on the flattie catagory

The way you wrote this up is a little understated though......Three consecutive days of fishing and NO SKUNK......The fish are getting larger and closer to your target species.....Your on a roll.

HEY... I know that island with the palm tree in the background

[Wingnut]

Hey Dan, I recognize this spot with the palm tree and smiley face in the background.
Thanks for the daily text updates.
Lots of short Halibut in the surf is a good sign.
24+ Jack Smelt... , they're fun on light gear.
Looking forward to hanging out with you at HG4 my friend.

[Nipple Twister]

YEAHHHHHHH.........nice job my friend!

Great write up, really like readin your reports buddy.........keep the text reports coming too......

[fishshep]

Nice catchin

[PONTOON]

Dan,

I got your text updates and was thrilled to hear that you were having a great time out on the sand!

Congratulations on some fine catches and I'm looking forward to seeing you at HG-4.

[Lucky Lager]

nice work out there Dan!!!
wish i could see the pictures....for some reason, i can never see the pictures in your posts. don't seem to have that problem with any other posts?
it's ok though...the fish appear much larger in my imagination, lol!
congrats brotha,

Jim

[DockRat]

Nice job Dan, I know that spot. Lol
Those dog footprints are a gimmie, only spot that people get away with that in the early am.
Good you left the waders at home too.
Congrats, DR

[DockRat]

nice work out there Dan!!!
wish i could see the pictures....for some reason, i can never see the pictures in your posts.
Jim

Couldn't see them till I logged in.

[jerryG]

Congrats on the big cat. That is stellar catch and on the lure no less. It looks like the halibut are starting to move in to the zone for the fall bite. This is right about the time Seabastion starts to show at the beaches. I still got a score to settle from the sand with those guys. Great to see SWAT Reports back in the line up. Keep up the good work Dan..

JerryG