Legals?? and a Mini-Challenge!!

[bloox8]

Finals are done and good conditions finally came around the corner for what seems to be a short period. I knew I had to take advantage of this opportunity ASAP. I decided to go on a solo mission a little down south for 2.5 hours and was rewarded with a very productive session. This report is a little lengthy due to description of attack.

Conditions:
Surf – 1ft
Swell – 1ft 13sec
Wind – 2 mph
Water – Around 60F, Very clear, No salad, Baitfish present
Air – 55 F

Weapon of choice:
- (Customized) Lucky Craft 110 /// 8’ Loomis BBR 964 C GL2 /// TD Luna 203 (12lb)
- Megabait live jig 1/2oz /// 8’ Clarus /// Abu G. Revo SX (10lb)

Strike Zone:
- Troughs

Fish Count:
7 Halibut – (-15”, -15”, 20”, 21”, 21”, 23”, and 25”)

I arrived at the A.O. at 5:45am and got to slinging the LC in less than 5 minutes (thank goodness for pre-prepping). I noticed some very distinct troughs and immediately started working the area. The way I worked the area was by giving the LC an initial jerk start to hopefully entice any fish around it while diving it down to the bottom and followed it with a nice steady retrieve with occasional really slow-winds. I didn’t get any bites or nibbles my first 10 cast which wasn’t a good sign so I decided to fish the area a little differently.

I figured since the troughs were so nice and deep, I should try wading out into the trough and cast exactly parallel to the beach, keeping my LC in the trough and essentially in the strike zone for a longer period. I waded out waste high, first cast, jerk, steady retrieve, and HIT! Landed a 20”. Feeling good about what I was doing, I did again the second cast and HIT! Land a 15”. I do it again and HIT. A 21”! Three cast three fish. Man.. I’ve never caught anything casting parallel to the beach over a trough. It was a good feeling. Several cast later using the same approach, I get a pretty good hit right in front of me and Zzzzzzzzzz….. he didn’t like my face. I thought I was hooked on a fat halibut because he ran for a while and wouldn’t give up. Finally got him on the sand after about 2 minutes and measured him. He came out to 23”. Numero Seis!!


I have to sidetrack a little here. So I customized a beat up Surf Perch LC110 (and named it Disco Sardine) a month ago (Check out bonus section below). I showed it to Daniel (Dlmoo) and he proposed a challenge. He told me that he would buy me an LC if caught a legal on it by the end of the year. Well… here you go Daniel

Disco Sardine (originally Surf Perch)



Good BYE!


Any who. I continued casting parallel over the trough and landed two more halibut, a -15” and 21”. After these two the bite started to slow down in that area so I switched over to the Megabait live jig ½. (The action on this bait is great on the drop BTW and the patterns are really nice. Unfortunately, Megabait doesn’t make these anymore but the Luna Bait Jig is almost identical w/ the same patterns and more). I casted it a few times and managed to land a -15” then switched back to the LC – this time Arthur’s lucky candy sardine. About 30 cast later as I was working back the LC I noticed that my LC was hitting the ground about 15-20ft out so I lifted up the tip of my rod to get it off the bottom and suddenly, no lie, a huge halibut swims up and strikes my LC. Keep in mind the water was crystal clear so I saw everything. He bit it and laid still on top of the water as I reeled him all the way in… it was weird. Then all of a sudden he took off and gave me an awesome battle. It took me a while to get him in because there were no swells but, that’s what makes a good fight. He came out to about 26” but I’ll call it 25”. Only took pictures of the legals. All fish were safely released.

I ended up calling it a day at 8:30am so that I can get some rest for today’s activities Here are some pictures:

Weapons


25”er



BONUS:
Heres how I made the Disco Sardine…
I bought some holographic paper, glitter, devcon epoxy, and paint sharpies. I used the shapies to cover up all scrapes.




I cut out a strip of the graphic paper and drew some hexagons on the back side



Next, dipped the hexagons into some clear nail polish and used cotton pliers to place them on the LC


I then added a thin layer of nail polish over the top and coated it with aqua blue glitter then a darker purple glitter over it. Finally, I finished it off with a thin coat of clear Devcon Epoxy





Heres another design. Some blue glitter mixed with Devcon Epoxy for the shiney effect.




What do you think??: I just started coating all my LCs with a thin layer of clear Devcon Epoxy so that it can protect the paint. So far, I haven't noticed any differences in bait action and I have been still getting bites (as you see above and previous post). If anything, I feel like it might be a little heavier which is a good thing for better casting distance. I recommend doing this to preserve your LC pattern. Also, the finish on this glue is amazing. Your LC comes out super smooth as though you didn't put anything on it and it gives your LC an extra shine effect. If anyone has an opinion on this topic, please reply. I am curious to hear other people's experience

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading!

Thien

[Wingnut]

Thien, I was getting ready to board my flight back into town when I got your text today.
Congrats on the multiple legal Halibut day. Those days are rare indeed this year.
I'm glad you decided to release those legals... I wouldn't want you to start glowing green like a Christmas light by eating fish from that A.O.
The Disco Sardine LC is very cool, very creative... way to think "outside" the box. You made the "extra" effort and it paid off.
Keep an eye out for something coming your way in the mail.
Merry Christmas to you, Shallom and your family.

[dlmoo312]

LOL congrats on proving the DiscoSardine's effectiveness.
That's a nice arts and craft station you got set up there
I have to say, I was really impressed with the epoxy coat finish when you showed me.
It's a great idea, and i'll probably be coating my lc's with it for some extra protection.
Let me know what pattern lc you want, you deserve it after this outing.
Those are really impressive numbers with three more near legals to boot, so close! Great job on the 7 legals this year
I'll officially be free to fish again after jan14th and I can't wait to get back out there.
Keep it up man, i'll be looking forward to hearing of more of your catches before the year's over. Goodluck


-Daniel

[SP Dan]

Hi ya bloox8,

"Congratulations"!

WOW....Thien...a stocking full of legal Hali's.....WTG!
Your artistic talent is really showing on those fantastically decorated LC's.....Thinking outside of the box at it's best!

Wishing you a Very ""Merry Christmas and a Fantastic 2013 Fishing Season!

SP Dan <"))><

[DockRat]

Discodine Delivers, WTG.
Congrats, DR

[murrieta angler]

Excellent job Thien!!
Very few this year have had multiiple legal flatties this year...
You are doing a great job in the surf...
As far as the coaitng, I keep a bottle of clear in my truck. When I have some down time I coat an LC or two that I keep in my truck as well.
CALL ME CRAZY, BUT I FEEL SOMEHTING BREWING AT S.W.A.T. HEADQUARTERS...
Take Care & Happy Holidays,
Robert
<><

[Which Way Out]

Thien, Fantastic outing. Excellent report as well. All that schooling is working that's for sure.

I like that you learned a technique that paid off. I have done the same thing in the past, but never with as much success as you had. I always thought the natural direction for bait to swim would be parallel to the shore when that close in.
Good work and please keep posting no matter how long they are.

WWO

[bones]

Sick report Thien. Quite a solo session out there buddy and a big kudos on the release of the legals.....It will come back to you in the future for sure. That AO really hurts my brain sometimes but it is one of the more reliable spots when the winter weather is upon us. I really like the effort you put into the disco design on the LC's. As far as the devcon epoxy thing I was wondering if you experienced the same thing as myself. I put alot of time in the past refurbishing some old LC's and coating them for durability but I noticed that the LC's were not suspending anymore due to the additional weight of the epoxy but they rather did a slow sink. Even switching all of the hooks to 4X hooks made them just heavy enough to alter the suspending nature of the 110 series. Not a bad thing in any way unless you are fishing them around boiler rocks to be honest. Try dropping one of your refurbished LC's in a bucket of water next to a factory one and tell me what happens to yours. I found that the epoxy coated LC sinks at about 1 ft per second which makes it perfect for working different depths as long as there are no rocks to snag.

Anyways.....great report bro....Keep up the good work out there and Merry Fishmas to you and your loved ones.

[bachiboy]

Geez Thien...you've been tearing it up to end the year! Nice going out there and great job on the customizations. It may not seem like it at first, but if you switch back and forth between an LC that has a lot of alterations and one that is straight out of the box, there is a difference in the "wiggle". I think the extra weight starts to slow it down a bit...not sure if it's enough to matter that much but I have noticed some lost action on my custom jobs. Either way, we all keep trying to re-invent that wheel, eh?

Still awaiting to hear the winner of the contest between you and Daniel. I imagine that contest will end soon at the rate you guys are going. Well done out there and hope you and your family have a great holiday and all the best in the New Year!!!

Don

Not a bad thing in any way unless you are fishing them around boiler rocks to be honest. Try dropping one of your refurbished LC's in a bucket of water next to a factory one and tell me what happens to yours. I found that the epoxy coated LC sinks at about 1 ft per second which makes it perfect for working different depths as long as there are no rocks to snag.

Probably explains a few of my casualties!

[PONTOON]

Fish Count:
7 Halibut – (-15”, -15”, 20”, 21”, 21”, 23”, and 25”)

Seven Halibut in one session! Congratulations Thien!

The disco 'Dine will need to go down as a go to bait......I need to get busy.