!2/12 Huntington beach Slayage and a PB

[Tubbytuba]

I worked a ton of sand yesterday and caught a ton of fish.
woke up on Tuesday and checked the weather. man Wednesday looks like a good day to fish, a little rain, crazy tide changes... this is big fish weather right here.
i caught enough fish that it would be easier to just give you guys a fish count.

Surf perch: 21
Halibut: 2 ( pancakes)

i show up around 730 at Bolsa Chica and there is just way to much salad to fish effectively. the waves were right on the beach, it just looked tough but i made a few casts and decided it was time to hit another spot.

Started fishing a little south of the Huntington pier. had to eyeball the waves for a while, trying to find a place to start. found a very small section, maybe only 10 yards wide, where the waves were breaking a little short. hey where there is a lack of structure all you need to do is find the spot that is different. i run an LC through it a few times, nada. then i ran the LC around the edges of the gap again for nada. i grab my swim bait rod armed with a 3' big hammer in spottie special colors. first cast and wham! thought i was hit by a small butt by the way it fought. turned out to be my first PB surf perch of the day.


i fished that hole for ten more minutes but i couldn't find anything else. I've never caught a solitary perch before. odd.

Time to move!
decided it was time to find a butt, so i hopped in the car and drove down to the Talbert Channel and the Santa Anna River. after a quick recon and a time check i realized the tide was starting to go out, so i had to hurry if i wanted to catch any fish that were at the mouth of these channels. the Talbert channel had dug a nice trough that was a few feet deeper than the rest of the beach, and i decided to fish this shelf right where the waves were meeting the out going water. it looked pretty calm right there... worked the LC a few times and again for nothing. switched over to my swim bait, and on the first cast i pulled up a pancake, probably 14'. i didn't mess around with him, i knew he was no where near legal so why snap a pic and tape him. i moved down to the river and fished the shelf the the river had made for nothing. no big deal. i fished the river it's self for funzies, didn't really expect anything there. the tide was all the way out now. i positioned my self right next to channel dug out by the river, and began throwing again. after a few casts i thought that was it for the day but i got bite on the swim bait again. another pancake. the next cast goes bendo too. big surf perch, about the same size as my first. i caught a BSP of about 10 or 11 inches every few casts for while, enough fish to make my wrist hurt. then i hook into this monster on my LC, taped out to 13 inches, my new PB.


i didn't catch a single fish that looked smaller than 10'. it was unbelievable. my last cast was what made my day for some sick reason.
i had caught all the fish at the river it seemed and i had moved back to Talbert. i grabbed my LC rod again, as soon as i cast out it started raining. i was pretty cold and i decided this was it, had a great day why stay much longer. my first crank on my reel results in a massive hit. my rod was almost jerked out of my hand. i give a massive hook set and the fight was on! felt like a ton of bricks on the other end. well, i guess my adversary was confused because i pulled him in to about ten feet quickly with a wave and eyeballed a bit of him, it was a big leo. he freaks and takes off on a blistering run that didn't seem to end. i could see my end knot. son of a gun is going to spool me. but before that happened he came unbuttoned and i was free, and i could still feel my LC thank god . i take a look at my LC and i see one of the hooks on my middle treble was gone. i laughed really hard at that, i always complain about how big cranks turn a fish into a mess and i hook a leo on only one barb of a treble hook. hey i guess i get to keep my LC.


Poseidon was good to me yesterday. hopefully soon he will reward my diligent catch and release with fewer fish but of the 22 inch flat variety.

Good hunting

[DockRat]

Congrats on the PB, WTG.

[dlmoo312]

Nice numbers of some quality bsp's!
I don't think i've ever seen one landed on a swimbait, it must've really been hungry.
Sorry you didn't land the leo but at least you got you're lc back!
Congrats on a nice outing and thanks for the report!


-Daniel

[SP Dan]

Hi ya Tubbytuba,

"Congratulations" on your PB and for all of the 10"+ BSP.
Were you able to get a guesstimation on the length of the hook straightening, get away Leo?

Thanx for the excellent read with pic's!

SP Dan <"))><

[Tubbytuba]

i'd say certainly over thirty but i don't think he was quite 40. ive had 25 inchers bait and waiting but that was on wire leaders, circle hooks and 50 pound braid (wire for the occasional toothy 5 gill). upon further inspection of the hook i found it to be extremely rusted. ive never caught BSPs on swim baits before either. i had a ton of really short bites, so the larger models were probably the only ones i could actually stick. i also seriously thought all these pics of BSPs caught on LCs were a joke. i didn't think they would hit one but my assumption was wrong. to add to the BSP swim bait idea, i usually toss swim baits with an added treble hook stinger. i caught some line sides at silver wood this year on such a rig that were hardly as long as the bait they had decided to eat. i might try that next time...

Thanks all
Good hunting

[murrieta angler]

Nice day fishing at H.B.....you can't beat that.
That second AO is always good for some short flatties but there have been some bigger models show there...; )
Thanks for the report,
Robert
<><

[bachiboy]

Next session out there and congrats on the PB! Those leos sure give you a run for your money when they get that size and there's nothing like that dreaded feeling when you see the bottom of the spool...quite a rush actually. Hope you get in some time again once the weather settles down.

Thanks for the report!
Don

[one long cast]

I've noticed that some real nice sized BSP are being caugtht lately. I wonder, is it the way it is being fished with lures instead of bait? Looks like LC's are doing well on the big fish.