Barbie Pole Challenge… Part 2. Pre-Easter S.W.A.T. Mission - Saturday 3/30.

[Wingnut]

Warning: Long report…

Some of you may remember this “Challenge” a few years ago…

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/sho...Monday-6-22-09

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de2pZpdzhas

My buddy Phuong (Blackwater) and I make a fishing bet every year. So far, my record is 6 wins and 1 loss between us. The only loss I had was last year when Phuong challenged me that I couldn’t catch a double digit Striper on the Barbie style rod on topwater. Well, the Striper bite never really took off last season and I only targeted them a few times, so Phuong got his only win. I had to let him drive my car for a month, which he promptly racked up almost 2000 miles on it in 30 days. He still rubs that one and ONLY win in my face from time to time. That’s okay Phuong, I know that’s your only claim to fame, lol

Okay, back to the present…
A couple of weeks ago, we were sitting around the poker table with some friends. I was just annihilating Phuong’s chip stack and had him heading for the rails. Phuong was on tilt and was talking mad crap. One thing led to another and he brought up our last bet and started taunting me again. Phuong says we should have another challenge… I said “whatever…” and ignored him. He kept at it, even after he was knocked out from the table, continuing to yap... So I finally said, “Okay, go away, come back when you come up with a good challenge and I’ll think about it…”

He comes back a little while later and presented his challenge… Catch a legal Halibut with a Barbie style kiddie rod from the surf. I thought that was a good challenge and we started talking about the particulars and working out the details.

Details of the Challenge.
The stakes = $500.00
The Prey = Legal Halibut from the open surf (no boats or harbors).
The Weapon = 4ft version Barbie style kiddie pole with stock #6 line. I negotiated the 4ft instead of the 2ft version because I knew that I would need the longer rod to cast the LC.
The Ammo = On artificial lures only.
The Timeframe = I wanted until the end of the year to complete the challenge, but Phuong wanted it done in 30 days… we finally agreed on 3 months. I have until the end of June to complete the challenge.
The Handshake Witness = Binh (Badbeat)

Earlier in the week, I went to Big 5 to buy a 4ft version Kiddie Pole. I wanted Superman, but they don't have it. The choices they had were; Nemo, Little Mermaid, Disney Princess, Peter Pan and Spiderman… hmmmmmm, it was really tough deciding on which to choose, but I finally went with Spiderman.

I wanted so bad to change out the line, I think the stock line is #6 and had crazy memory. But the deal was that in order to use a 4ft version rod, I had to keep the stock line… so be it.

Fishing with this set-up required optimal surf conditions. I mean perfect or near perfect conditions. Now, check out how lucky I am… This Easter weekend, I can’t fish on Sunday. The only time I had to hit the surf was this morning for 2 hours at grey light before I have to go to the office. I can’t believe my luck when checking conditions. Saturday had the best conditions this week! Flat swells, good zero tide at one of my favorite A.O.’s, moderate offshore wind, this will definitely help with the casting… it was a good sign… destiny I tell ya, destiny.

I told a few of the guys that I was hitting the surf for a couple of hours this morning to test out a new Ultra-Secret S.W.A.T. Weaponry. If anybody wanted to join me, come on out! Don (Bachiboy) and Nate (BBQSushi) decided to come. Don brought along his wife’s uncle, Steve, from Northern California who wanted to try surf fishing here in Southern California.

We met up and hit the sand in the grey light. The look on Don and Nate’s faces when they saw my Spiderman rig was priceless… S.W.A.T. Ultra-Secret Weaponry my a**, hahahahaha.

I brought along my standard E21 Carrot Stix / Daiwa Luna rig, just in case the Spidey rig suffered a catastrophic failure, lol

The boys gearing up.


Instead of feeling sorry or sympathizing with my daunting situation, they made me lead the charge in the surf… you guys know how I prefer NOT to lead in the surf.
But that’s cool, I only have 2 hours, so I was just going to power fish all the key spots on this beach and see what happens…

My first cast went about 10 yards… as a matter of fact, the first dozen or so casts didn't go very far. I turn and saw Don laughing behind my back… It took a few dozen casts before I got the hang of this noodle-like rod. Then, I finally figured how to cast the LC effectively. Either straight up with a high arc or whip it sidearm to get the best results. Either way gets me a maximum distance of about 30 yards, still terrible, but doable. I also had to wade in extra deep to get extra yardage, I was chest to neck high in the surf... lucky the swells were super flat today.

Still in the grey light… Nate and I get a double hook-up… whoohoo!
Nate pulls in a nice 16” Calico and it took me a little bit longer, but I finally land a 18” short Halibut. I was surprised at how well this little rod handled the fight. The parabolic action absorbed the head shakes pretty well and the drag was a bit jerky but not too bad. I was more concerned about the poor quality of the 6 lb test line than anything else.




Short on time, I flipped the turbo switch and pressed on down the beach leaving Don, Nate and Steve behind.

I approached some large boiler rocks sticking out of the surf in the low tide and started casting in between them. After a few casts, the LC gets hit again… the drag in the Spidey reel screamed with delight. The weight of the fish and the pronounced head shakes had me hoping that it would be the flat fish of the “right” kind and that is was... I caught a glimpse of the fish in waist deep water and it looked like it could be a legal. Playing the Hali extra carefully, I slid the fish up on the sand and immediately recognized that it was a legal. I let out a loud roar and held the fish up for the boys down the beach to see. Taped it out, took a few pics and back in the surf it went. I still had plenty of Halibut fillets left in the freezer from the 30 incher I caught a couple of weeks ago.

Challenge accomplished! In the very 1st outing.. AGAIN! Poor Phuong.














The release...


Worked my way a little bit further down the beach to a kelp bed that was within casting distance due to the low tide and made a few casts. I was rewarded with a decent 15” Calico, the Spidey rod claims another victim.










I looked down at my watch and it was 8:30am… time to go. Said goodbye to the boys and hiked my way back to the car. Don, Nate and Steve continued to fish for a few more hours. They caught some nice fish and will post up some pics later.

Steve, Don (Bachiboy) and Nate (BBQSushi).








Steve, it was nice meeting you... I looked down the beach and saw you in the heat of battle with that fish.
Hope you enjoyed your stay here in SoCal and maybe we'll fish together again the next time you come into town.

Don, didn't I tell you that the new Super-Secret S.W.A.T. weaponry will blow you away?!? Hahahaha
Glad that we didn't go in the opposite directions this morning.
Have a Happy Easter my friend.

Nate, Happy Birthday, it was great sharing the surf with you for the first time. We saw each other at HG4, when you went batty, lol But I didn't fish that day. You came awfully close to completing your mission with that 16" Calico. The quest continues, good luck!

Phuong, pay up sucka!

Have a blessed Easter everybody!

Arthur (Wingnut)


The only disability in life is a bad attitude.


Extra Pics…
Some parting shots of the boys on my way out...


Don in Halibut stalking mode... look how nice the conditions were.


Nate creeping up on the kelp bed.


Wild Lupine, all over the hillsides.


Wild mushrooms... edible?


Parting shots…

Food update pic. The 30" Halibut I caught a couple of weeks ago.
Stir Fried Halibut & Shrimp Udon Noodle Pasta with Tofu. Compliments of the Iron Chef.
Yummy!


Back by popular demand... Romeo.

Romeo is such a little Terrorist, lol


Now, that's more like it...

[bones]

I gotta get you to pick me six numbers for the Lottery Arthur

That being said......Congrats my friend on yet another fruitfull adventure in the suds. I would have loved to see you get a BIG GRAB on that stick.....LOL
I swear......I'm going to start packing my "Ronco" pocket fisherman as a backup combo just to see if it can handle the surf!
Even though it looks like I missed out on a great time with you guys I really had a great time "Not Fishing" but rather spending some quality time with my daughter for the day. Your phone call with the details really started our day off with a wonderful feeling about your accomplishment. I could hear the excitement and pride in your voice. When Tara got into my car and I explained what you just pulled off ....

She replied "That Figures....He is Blessed and very Lucky!"
I added "And also a skilled angler.......This is WHY he has proven time and time again WHY HE IS THE SWAT COMMANDER !"

Pretty much sums it up bro........AWESOME JOB out there my friend.

Happy Easter Brotha....God Bless You and your loved ones!


Psst...
Hey Phuong......Sometimes your "The bug" and sometimes your the "Windshield of a CL63"





---------<><

[PTN]

So THAT'S what you were talking about the secret weaponry . I'm here complaining about how my expensive reel isn't working smoothly as should and you're showing me up on a superman pole .

Congrats on the catches and you always have a knack at finding the fish in challenged situations. Always a good time when you can catch fish and hang out with the S.W.A.T. brothers and company. Too bad for Phuong about losing the bet .

That picture with the halibut and pole in your mouth is pretty funny. Looks like you're trying to squish in the picture.

Hope you had a great Easter!

-Peter

[PONTOON]

As I started to read into this post I started to think that maybe, just maybe, Phuong had suckered Arthur into a challenge with a timeframe that couldn't be met and then with a grin thought to myself I might just side up with Phuong on this one and make it interesting........Hmmm?
Then, doing the smart thing, I read on through the report to find that Arthur wasn't going to even make a multi part quest out of this post. He just got it done!

Well, when it comes to Arthur............."Don't give Wingnut a challenge you aren't willing or capable of paying the price of defeat" ..... I'm sorry Phuong I thought you might have him on that one.

Great Report arthur and it's good the see the SWAT Brothers having a great day on the water!

[bachiboy]

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THE SECRET WEAPON OUTING

So, I get this text from Arthur that he is going to test out the new S.W.A.T. secret weapon. I knew that he had just bought a new stick on a recent trip up north and thought, “Okay, he REALLY likes the new rod, but ‘secret weapon’? I thought he wrote about it in another post?” I had done a recon trip the day before to check out the A.O. that I had lost a jailbird a couple of weeks ago, but there was no sign that it was going to produce and I wanted to put Nate (BBQ Sushi) on some fish to try and help complete his 'challenge' and to let my wife's Uncle Steve (visiting from San Fran for the Easter holiday) experience some good surf action down here in the southland. To top it off, it was Nate’s birthday, so there was a little extra incentive to get on some action. So, we decided to meet up with Arthur at the designated A.O. since it seemed like the likely spot.

I pick up Nate and my Uncle Steve and head over to the A.O. in the dark. I walk up to Arthur’s car and he shows me the arsenal for the day and tells me about the wager. When I go back to my car and gear up, I tell Nate about the bet and say, “he’s gonna do it on the first day, you watch.” He tells Arthur what I said and the commander replies, “Aww man, don’t jinx it.” Jinx it? Heck, a bet with Blackwater is almost a sure sign that we’re gonna get ‘em!

We start out at gray light and about 15 minutes into the session, Nate and Arthur go double on a short and Nate first surf-caught calico...and nice 16” checker.







Arthur proceeds up the beach a ways from us and we keep working a spot of kelp that looked promising. Steve is the next one to go bendo and he gets a big shovelnose. It never took huge runs and gave us some phantom headshakes so we thought he might have hooked a good flattie. Either way I’m stoked that he got to pull on something.





Shortly after I hook up and start getting smoked! It swirls the surface by some kelp and I figure it’s not a SNGF but can’t get a glimpse of it. It goes for the nearest kelp and hangs me up. I end up working this thing for what feels like an eternity...more like 20-30 min. Walk right, left, slack up the line...nothing seems to be working. I even hand off my backpack and think about swimming in after it, since it’s a small patch of kelp and not very far away. I’m thinking it might be a WSB, but since I couldn’t be certain, I decided not to chance the swim, or long wade, and just keep working it. I’m wondering where Arthur is and look toward the direction he headed. In the far distance, I see a quick flash of a camera. I tell Nate, “Hey man, Arthur nailed something. He wouldn’t be taking pictures like that if he didn’t.” To my relief, I end up getting the mystery fish free and end up working it to shore only to find out it’s a mud-marlin with about a 2 1/2’ wingspan. I wasn’t really looking forward to messing with this thing so it wasn’t a huge disappointment when the line finally snapped and the bat got away with a new piece of jewelry...my first lost LC of the year, and hopefully my last, although I doubt it. During my little scuffle, Nate brings in his second calico so we’re feeling pretty good about the day already. As we work up the beach and the time comes up when Arthur has to get going, the commander comes up and tells us what the photo session we glimpsed was all about. High fives around and glorious celebration commenced. It was a great day. Arthur departed and I nail a decent calico (about 14-15") and later Nate nails his second new surf species, a rockfish.





That rounded out the capture list for what was an incredible day for us. Good times!

Congrats Arthur on another $$$ conquest! UNREAL is all I can think about how you keep pulling these out.

Phuong...Man, I feel your pain. That's a pretty steep price you keep paying to keep us all entertained and awed!

Nate...GREAT birthday outing...again! Hope this is the second of a long running annual event for us.

Uncle Steve...REALLY happy that we got to fish together again after so many years and now we have something to look forward to on your southland visits.

Enjoy...and hope you all had a VERY Happy Easter! We did!

Don

[ml8fish]

very well done sir! that is flat out impressive.

line tied to a bamboo stick next?

[dlmoo312]

Arthur, you never cease to amaze me!
Not only did you catch a legal hali on that thing but a calico to boot
I've never used one of those barbie poles and have always thought they were just toys lol
I bet those fish put quite a bend on that rod, especially that calico!
A big congratulations to you on winning another challenge! I can't wait to see the next one
It would be fun to see Phuong take a turn at the barbie pole challenge


-Daniel

[skunked4life]

Ok, so i get a mysterious first text to "report up."

Who is this? I report to only three four people: 1) God, 2) my parents - that's right, they are one legal unit, 3) my wife - that's right, laugh it up..., and 4) the Commander.

Well, it was the Commander. So i look on the forums to see what shenaningans the SWAT boys are up to.

Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Really? c'mon Arthur...I can deal with Daniel's 36 incher, your 30 some incher and Jaysuun's 37 incher, but this is simply not fair! congrats are in order

Another thing, if you have guests in town and want to show them West Coast surf fishing...."who you gonna call?"

WINGNUT!

Great report (although i felt a little pressured while reading it) and thanks for bringing a smile to my face brother!

Ken

[bbqsushi]

BARBIE POLE CHALLENGE - THIRD POV

I think that there are some events in life that mean significantly more when you're actually there, in person, watching - you know, like hockey games, live concerts, baby births... No amount of pictures, videos, or storytelling can really properly recreate the experience that you were just witness to. This past Saturday was one of those events for me - I WAS THERE. Now I've heard and read many o' fish tales - especially where The Commander was involved in some way or another. That day was the first time that Arthur and I had assaulted the beach together, so my expectations were wide open. I was happy just to have received an invitation from Don (Bachiboy). On our way up to the AO, Don was telling me about some "new secret weapon" that Arthur was going to "unleash" this morning, and since the Fred Hall show was last month, I figured it was going to be some fancy schmancy piece of hardware with a G Loomis icon on it or something of that nature. When Arthur released the weapon from his car, we all had a big laugh. A Zebco Spidey pole?? Are you KIDDING ME??? But some how, deep down, Don and I knew that this, would not be a handicap. It would be business as usual. Off to the sand we go.

We fanned out according the Commander's usual tactics, under his orders, and started whizzing the LC's in to the lake-like conditions. Arthur's first cast was a scant 15 yards in to the surf. (at that point, I was like, wow, this IS going to be a challenge for him). His second a little farther. Then he started to venture deeper in to the water (I've never seen anyone go that deep before), and the casts kept on improving. Just as we started to get in to a rhythm, Arthur and I hook up. The pressure was on ME.... My first hookup, while fishing with "the MAN", and he's hooked up as well - only, I'm all geared up, and he's on a frick'n kiddie pole with 6# test!!! Jeeeeesuz if I lose this fish, I am going to be ridiculed for the rest of the season, I HAVE to bring it in. Fortunately, I beached a decent Calico, and of COURSE, Arthur pulled up a flattie. Albeit short, he was on the right path for nailing the winner, and we suddenly knew for sure that he was going to make it happen.

Don's story (above) recounts the rest of our mission on that section of the beach. When Arthur came back from the area that he was working, he said, "well how'd you guys do?" I gave him our count, and then he shyly said, "well for me, mission accomplished." .... Silence.... Crickets.... me, with my jaw now in the 57 deg water - "WHAT????? Are you KID, WHAT the.. Are you SERIOUS??? NO WAY!!!??" (it took about 15 seconds for it to sink in) Arthur calmly said "yup". That's when the hi-fives and hoot'n and holler'n started. I couldn't believe that he pulled it off in under 2 hours. Crazy, but not surprising. As a guy who grew up with a fishing pole in his hand, I can truly say that I haven't seen many other people fish as hard, or intently as Arthur does. He works for every fish that he catches - it is absolutely NO coincidence that he pulls the kind of prizes out of the surf that he does. He is methodical and precise, and he has garnered that respect from me.

When I congratulated him on his prize, he gave me the standard (asian) self-deprecating, humble response of "yahh, just lucky I guess". Right..... just lucky? Hardly. After he left, he told us to work our way down to the hole where he caught the "winning" legal. So, feeling "lucky", I was happy to follow orders. I went down to that hole, and I tell you - I worked that sucker for the next hour and a half, pretty hard. My arm was getting tired, and the ONLY thing that I pulled out of there was a little rock fish. (see below). "Just got a little lucky"????? Nope. After all, I just totally got schooled by a guy with a Spidey pole, and here I was with my cool St Croix/Ci-4 combo,in the exact same hole, just minutes after him. But looking at the whole picture, I took in the whole scene and walked away with this: Do right by others outside the surf (creating the good Karma that brings "luck"), and fish you ***** off when you're in the surf. I think Arthur does both. And maybe not just the Commander. Seems like that's the M.O. of all the SWAT crew. My quest to complete the SWAT challenge continues, and I'm sure that the lessons in and out of the surf will determine when the "lucky" fish will come my way.



Arthur: I had a great time attacking the surf with you. Thanks for winning the bet while I was around - it was a kick to witness!! I look forward to more sand sessions.

Don: Thanks for another successful Bday outing. And I would be remiss not to mention Kris and Nori for doing double duty on the home front while we get to play in the surf.

Steve: Nice meeting you, and hopefully we'll get to do the Norcal tour of duty. Stripers, Salmon, Steelhead. Sweet...



Nate

[FishingwithDave]

Wingnut, that's amazing. You probably just put Shimano, Diawa, etc. out of business! Going to Walmart tonight and to the Duct tomorrow.