Back and fourth with some strong surf checkers! Bu' 8/6

[surffishingsean]

With a decent swell My plan has been altered. I decided on Hitting a spot where the calico's seem to take come on the deep edges around boiler rocks. Especially when the swell is up. I opted for a lighter 3/8 oz lead head on a 3" hammer. because at this spot it seems i can only be in the strike zone for 5-10' then have to recast. usually i use a heavier head but not in this case. Fished from 10am- noon with walking in between.

The salad has cleared up pretty well. the last few weeks have been bad! Overcast skys, light wind and a swell coming in with some slower swell intervals mixed in.

A few casts in i get hooked up HEAVY! i cant tell this was a huge fish and it was ripping drag towards the boiler rock i lured it out of. After about two mins of a stand still battle it gets tangled into some eelgrass. and i feel my line start clicking. it keeps pulling and goes pop! could have very well beat my 23" PB Calico. Heartbreak! i wish i had my heavier gear. my other eel is getting serviced and i only had 10lb P Line. UGH!!!

20 mins of casting i hook up with another quality fish! I Told my self this one is not getting away!!!!! Feels heavy. Ripping drag towards the boilers. After a min of me trying to pull it out of the eelgrass/reef. It gets stuck again!! I made a hasty decision and carefully moved down the 1-2' rock reef i was standing on. i moved parallel to the beach about 30-40' and the i start feeling tugs again and my line is moving! Waves are knocking me around the whole time. Work it in slowly and see it is barely hooked! about to grab him at my feet. OH YAAAAA!!!!landed!




This fish was a pig and Redemption! i was so bummed i lost that first hog but this made up for it! A few casts later i get hooked up again! sry for quality i thought i lost my camera and had to use ****** cell phone.

This one was just sub legal.


Moved down the beach a ways and scored victory on another Nice surf checker! 3 bass in an hour and a half, i'll take it!


Ruuuuhhhh!!! I was unmotivated before i started fishing due to the conditions report. But It proves you just gotta get out there and fish hard!


Sorry for the lengthy read. These fish sure had me pumped!! Can't wait to get out again.

Till next tide, Sean

[bones]

Solid session right there Sean.....Good job!

Yeah....The strategy of fishing around boiler rocks for checkers in a zone where it's relatively shallow is always a tough one. When I do the same it's the only time I work with a slightly tighter drag than usual. I work with a high stick and always swing on everything that goes BUMP. More often than not the bump is just a rock but you have to get right there in the zone where the calicos are hiding and when it's a real grab you have to horse them out immediately or their nature is to dig right back into the structure and hang you up for sure. I learned how to horse largemouth bass out of structure decades ago because they pretty much do the same thing and was taught to never let them pull a 180 on you and always keep their heads pointed right at you. It does kinda take the fun out of playing them a bit but it is a solid approach to not losing too many fish to structure. The only REAL problem is that if you get a big grab by a WSB that makes a beeline for Catalina your somewhat screwed with a tighter drag but hey.....That's the game ya know....LOL

Keep up the good work out there buddy,

Mike

[bachiboy]

Nice going on the checker-fest! Sorry for the list hog. Might wanna try letting a bunch if slack out and seeing if the fish will swim out if the structure on his own. Doesn't always work but managed to get a few fish out that way in the past. Also sounds like the salad might have crippled that technique anyway. Still managed a great day.

Don

[troutdog]

Nice catch right there, good luck breaking that PB next time out....thanks for sharing.


TD

[iLLest]

Quality checkers there bud, good frikin job.
Whats your retrieve like on the BH'ers?
Let them sink to the bottom and flick'em? or just cast and retrieve?
Try the sexy smelt if you havent gave it a shot already, that pattern is a killer.

[remington]

Nice checkers brother. I can't wait to go checker hunting this week, thank you for the inspiration!

Kelly

[surffishingsean]

Nice checkers brother. I can't wait to go checker hunting this week, thank you for the inspiration!

Kelly

remington: The swell is dying out a bit in these next few days. take advantage and good luck Kelly!! So glad to have inspired you.

iLLest: i vary it depending on water depth. from a slow to medium retrieve. If i'm fishing scattered boilers i tend to go faster. Gotta go slow for the Hali's! I make sure there is no slack after i cast because if i'm fishing near the edges of boilers i'm often getting hit on the drop. i try and keep it in the zone as long as possible. Sexy smelt is a killer pattern! One of my favs!

troutdog. Thanks it will be one of my most prized surf catches for sure!

bachiboy: Thanks i was in the moment and i was going to try that but then it broke! maybe i'll try it a little sooner next time. Thanks Don

bones: i had the drag as tight as i was comfortable and it was still peeling out line and thumping hard. Maybe a big cabezon? not using that light of line for this type of fishing again. i usually try and horse em out and quick as i can. Thanks for the great tips as always Mike.

[SP Dan]

Hi ya surffishingsean,

What a great Checker session!

Thanx for the excellent fish report w/ pic's.

SP Dan <"))><