Magic hour... Win some, Lose some. 12/27

[surffishingsean]

Happy holidays everyone! I'm starting to go crazy if i spend too much time away from the beach. Its been quite the year for me and i have been more stressed than ever. Today helped for sure.

Complications resulted in me arriving around 6:55. Epic conditions. The recent swell totally changed the beach structure and flattened everything out. Fished the first spot for an hour and a half which resulted in one bite. I started with the DS, double fluke. wasn't feeling it. LC time. Saw a hand sized sargo chase my LC. I Took a jog down to some bird activity about 1/2m down the beach. Nada. Jog back. Salt minnow time... A good tussle. The first of many.

a 17" is always a sweet start. a few casts after this fish i stumbled upon something amazing. Somehow found a crazy deeper trench That was far out.



Worked AO 2 for about an hour with Verne 2 for a smelt.
Although i did see about a 13" BSP chase my LC in

Arrived at AO 3 a little before Verne. I jogged once again to some good lucking bird activity 1/3 mile down the beach. Nada Started working my way back and the second calico to sand. Another nice one!


Then it happens... I Get a tik tik at the end of my cast... Okay set! uh nothing... Reel.. ...Tik TIK. ZZzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZ.... ZZZZZ ..... ZZZZ Okay... ZZZZZZzzzzzz. Bring Start bringing it in. Huge Calico. Vicious head shakes. I had to tighten up and put a ton of pressure on the fish to even bring it in. Maybe a striper? Short half *** runs of a few seconds a few times as i work the fish 50 yards towards me. It switch directions a few times during the battle. It was maybe 15' out switch directions and popped off. I didn't even get to see it. It felt my PB Calico. Way stronger than a 22" Atleast 24"! Maybe a 10lber. FDASGHSDFSDFSDF!!!!! My most painful surf loss. this was the one. No plans today. I'm fishing all day. I must get redemption. And that i did.

2 casts later I pull in this guy. an 18" felt like a little shrimp compared to the one i just lost.


Work the area for 30 more mins and decided to walk back to Verne. I told him the bad news. we fished a bit more and he split. It was around 11am at this time.

AO 4 time... 1 calico over the next 2 hours. Got a gas station sandwich and drank a red bull.

AO 5... it was around 3 pm the water was still crystal clear. negative tide so i waded out a bit. Spooked 1 pancake. 1 round ray that was a foot from my foot.Then i zoning out just casting looking at the water for halibut. I SEE ONE! about 30" Big!! I have the salt minnow on. ****... Wade back. drag my foot on the sand to mark where the fish was. Switch to swimbait. I cast the area about 10 times while trying to spot the fish again. Okay... few mins li see the halibut hole where it was laying on the sand. An outline of the fish that sunk down about 2 inches. Gah oh well... fished a bit a moved again.

Also got these. Different colored. Pretty cool 2 for 1. brought them in attached



AO 6: the sun is dropping quick and i decided to check out a certain structure on the negative. I work the area with LC for 1 smelt
in 30 minutes. Kinda lost hope but okay i'll keep moving. I get on top of a big boiler run my LC right across the edge and i literally see my line zip to the edge of the boiler 20 feet in front of me. Pulled it out quick and got a nice one sand.



The next hour went bonkers from 4:30-5:30. I fished till it was completely dark at 5:30. I had over 10 calicos back to back casts and a mac.



Most were in the 10-14". If the are under legal i just left emup. Pit the rod. Easy access back pack pliers and a head grip of the rat results in a quick release. Careful though!! These calicos are smart. After releasing about 10 while wading during this session about 5 of them bolted into my foot. Lol They run for the structure!

It was just awesome how i stumbled upon this bite right at sundown. All the fish in this area stacked up in this one spot!

This was the last quality model of the evening. I lost about 4 during the sesh but each time one popped off i dead sticked it and they bit right away again. I wanted to try the Salt minnow but it was red hot action the LC they all wanted it. I saw a few boils but i think they were boiling on my LC. not sure. Didn't see much bait around at all. Overall it was an amazing way to end the day. I had over 20 during the magic hour.


Hope you guys enjoyed the long report. It was a great session. Ended with over Even thought i lost the trophy this made up for it. :o

[vdisney]

No doubt about it, you put the wood to 'em Sean..................glad you got a phone

[yakfish51]

Great report Sean! What a day. Keep up the good work.

Tim

[TUNAVIC]

That was a very nice session,that would of been a good day in a skiff,you did it in the surf,no gas,no launch fee,ect....
Nice!

Cya Tuna Vic

[SP Dan]

Excellent effort for your huge bunch of quality Calico's Sir! WTG!!!
I would have luv'd to have been there while you battled "THE ONE" that got away! An epic battle for sure!

Thanx for the fun read with pic's!
There are still a few more days left on 2015 fishing licenses,
I hope you can get "THE ONE" that got away on this Season's license!

SP Dan <"))><

[Wingnut]

Every time we lose a quality fish, we always ask the question...
Would you rather see what you lost or not to see it at all?
If you don't see it, it could be a big Shovelnose and you are left with grand dreams of a barn door Halibut that got away.
If you do see it before you lose it and it was a giant Halibut or White Sea Bass, you'd be heartbroken...
To know or not to know... hmmmmm...

I myself would like to see what I've lost. If it was just a junk fish, I brush it off. If it was a quality catch, it would motivate me to come back again and again until I put that sucker on the sand.

Nicely done Sean.

[iLLest]

Dude, you are a beast.
Keep it up! and like Arthur said, if you broke off and it was a quality fish, go back....and back....until you get em'.
Thats the beauty of it

[surffishingsean]

Thanks Everyone!

SP Dan: Wish someone saw. I was in disbelief the whole time bring it up because of how it fought. It will happen on my next license!

Arthur: It was for sure a calico Hit at the very end of my long cast with the big diawa salt minnow. Ive actually never fouled a shovel. I bet they fight good! Ive pulled few nice ones out of this area so i hope i'll get em this year.