S.W.A.T. Rendezvous with the Commander

[dlmoo312]

4/12/13

If you've been keeping up with the SWAT battle, you know that the Old Fogie Stogies have been on a rampage lately. The gap seemed to be widening with every text update I received from Arthur, and it seemed like the fogies were adding more points every other day! It's still early in the month, but if we young guns didn't start closing the gap soon, this contest would run away from us Peter(ptn) and Danny(onekrzyboi) had a successful outing recently and we were finally on the board. I knew I had to get out there and try and contribute to the team

On Friday, I met up with Jason(jaysuuun) and we worked two different AO's for two measly fish (croaker and sandy), and worse of all, these fish were too small to have any point value for the competition but I couldn't complain since it was my first sand bass from the surf Feeling unsatisfied from this session, I decided to recon a spot on Sunday i've never fished before to see if I could get lucky.

Sunday morning, I woke up early and was at the AO by 5:30am. There was a thick fog all around, and as I was making the hike down to the beach in the dark, everything just felt a little eerie. At first glance, the spot looked very promising. Super flat swells, tons of exposed structure, and warm water, but after making my first few casts I knew it wasn't going to be good... Eel grass on every cast I tried for an hour to try and work the area anyways to no avail so I decided to make a move.

I knew the commander would be fishing around this next area today, and as I drove up to the spot I saw his car already parked I quickly make my way down to the beach and see the same promising conditions as the previous location minus the salad. I started fishing right away, but on my third cast I hear a POP.. and off goes my lc into the distance My third lost lc of the year and one of my favorites... things did not seem to be looking good for me today... I had three extras with me and I decided to tie on one that Arthur had given me when I first started surf fishing. I had seen what one of Arthur's lcs had done for Thien(bloox8) last year, and I was hoping some of that mojo would reappear for me today.

I had worked down the beach and started casting towards some kelp when I get a nice hit. Immediately this thing darts towards structure so I button down my drag and turn him in. My first surf calico and 17inches I quickly released him, make a few more casts, and get hammered again. I thought I had another nice calico on but as I got it closer I saw a sleek white fish with dark bands across its back... WSB! This was my first WSB from the surf and even though it was short I was super stoked! My iphone had a cracked screen so I wasn't going to take any pictures today in case I got water in it.. but for my first WSB I had to risk it ~23". I quickly release this fish and on my next cast to the same spot I get hammered again! Another juvenile WSB ~23"! I was quick to release this one too so that I could get back to fishing. I was fan casting everywhere in hopes of catching a third when I hear someone yell, "POACHER!!!" I look behind me and its the commander making his way towards me I tell him the news and after a congratulations we get right back to fishing in hopes that amongst the juveniles there may be a legal lurking. Unfortunately we were unable to get into any more wsb, but within that 20 yard stretch of beach the wsb were caught, we were able to hook into calico, croaker, smelt, and a couple of halibut. So much life in one little spot

It was a pleasure fishing with you Arthur! I was particularly impressed when you managed to pull out the calico from that stretch of beach that seemed completely devoid of life. The water temp was much colder there and we had worked past it already with not even a nibble... On our way working it back the other way, I took a bathroom break when I hear a shout and look over my shoulder to see you hooked up. Figures Anyways... we fished hard, and even though the wsb didn't want to hang around, we each had multi species days, I got a couple of firsts, and the young guns got some points. I couldn't have asked for a better day overall. Hope to do it again!


Final fish count:
Arthur(wingnut): (1) 32" leopard shark; (1) queen fish; (1) yfc; (5) calico; (4) short halibut
Me(dlmoo312): (1) short halibut; (1) smelt; (2) calico; (2) short wsb

the "Wingnut Special"

wsb #1

wsb #2

As I was reeling in my short hali, Arthur shouted, "Wait, let me step on your line!" as you can see I wasn't amused


One inch short of being a legal.



hoping some wsb might be cruising in the open water

chunky calico





It's time for the Young Guns to stage a comeback!
Thanks for reading!



-Daniel

[ml8fish]

Congrats on your first WSB from surf! Quite a nice session you had there! Check your pm

Ml8fish

[Jaysuuun]

I forgot I had the pic of your first bass on my camera. I really hoped the fish cooperated for us that day cause I was ready to put some points on the board. It's all good though because you scored those nice WSB on this follow up mission. I went today on a whim, hoping to see if the WSB were still hangin around, but couldn't find any. Thanks for putting up some points for the Youngins and congrats on your first WSB.

Daniels first bass.

[TheNotoriousSkunk]

Nice catches dlmoo312 and Wingnut! I'm still waiting to get a WSB from the surf. Those are nice ones

[DockRat]

Congrats on the WSB.
DR

[skunked4life]

"Wait, let me step on your line!" as you can see I wasn't amused"

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA!!!

Damn Daniel, you want that trophy bad! Bad enough to sneak attack on Arthur...Too bad he is unstoppable right now.

Nice job out there on the WSB! So jealz right now.

[bachiboy]

Way to go out there guys! Congrats on your first WSB from the surf Daniel! Nice little bonus to a fun outing.

As I was reeling in my short hali, Arthur shouted, "Wait, let me step on your line!" as you can see I wasn't amused

I don't know...I thought it was pretty damned hilarious!
You're gonna have to step up your game if you wanna beat me...well, in the lost LC catagory that is.

Great report and picts! Thanks for sharing.
Don

[murrieta angler]

Uhhhhh, no comment?!?

That was the first laught I had all day...

You had a great session out there Daniel, I hope you went back for the afternoon bite...
You and Arturo tore that place up!!
Thanks for the report and congrats on your 1st's

Robert
<><

[PTN]

Great report Daniel! Thanks for putting up a bunch of points for the Young Guns. I seem to be in a dry spell and can't put up any real points. Those are some beautiful WSB and I like the bars on them. That LC looks awesome!! Congrats on the fish.

Arthur, no comment.. Nice chunky calico though.

-Peter

[Wingnut]

While I was hiking down, I could make out a faint outline of a fisherman in the surf through the morning fog. I thought to myself... this might be Daniel. I was gonna Ninja up behind you quietly and scare the crap out of you, but saw how hard you were casting to that kelp bed and decided to yell "Poacher!" instead. Didn't want any part of the LC on your backcast, lol The fish was pretty active all morning, I was getting hit left and right, but nothing really worthwhile. When you told me that you just beached a couple of juvenile WSB, I said let's just keep bombarding the area, because it sounds like a school of Ghosts is passing through and there might be some tankers cruising with them. Too bad they didn't come back, but that certainly gave us some extra motivation to fish harder that morning.
Congrats on a couple of new species and PB's from the surf. I hope that LC will still hold more magic for you before its retirement.
Nice job getting some points on the board for the Diaper Gang, but the Old Farts sure erased those points quick, didn't we?
Two weeks left in the competition, good luck everybody!

As of today 5/15, the point standings are as follows:
Team Veterans - 80 points
Team Rookies - 45 points

BTW, when we were working the surf towards the end of the session there with you leading the way, you all of the sudden backed out of the surf and I immediately stepped in and caught that nice Calico. You said you needed a restroom break? Did you know that you really didn't need to ... Rookies fall for Jedi Mind Tricks every time.


Here are some of my pics of the morning...

This foul-hooked Leo gave me quite a battle in the grey light... thought I had at least 10 points.


Damn Queenfish... they make great Halibut bait.


One of my short Halibut.


A few Calico Bass from the rocks.






Always a plus when you're able to reach the kelp beds at low tide.




Halibut? Did somebody say Halibut?!? Romeo loves Halibut!