The 7 Year Itch has been Scratched! The Stars Aligned & I Got Striped. SWAT 12/27/15

[Wingnut]

I started surf fishing about 7 years ago when Dana (Fisherman 57) introduced me to this wonderful art of fishing.
In the beginning, with Dana's help, I wrote down a list of goals of what I would like to accomplish in the surf fishing world.
As the years went by, I was blessed enough to achieved most of these goals. Mainly through dedication, persistence and sometimes, just plain ol' dumb luck. LOL

One of the remaining two goals were to catch a 16 inch Barred Surf Perch, which I finally got last year.
The final goal on the list was to catch a Striper from the SoCal Surf. This "True" Ghost of the surf have been eluded me for years...
I've been so darn close to catching it many times. I stood next to several of my S.W.A.T. Brothers when Mr. Lineside decided to hit their LC instead of mine.
I think we have 7 or 8 S.W.A.T. members that has the Striper checked off their surf species catch list.
Earlier this year, I lost one in knee high surf. Oh, the agony...

2015 has been a lousy year for me. Losing my Dad to cancer, my 15 year old canine friend Wingnut Pug, a close USC college buddy in a car accident and among other things, I couldn't wait for 2015 to end.
While professionally, business has been great (thank God for that), my personal life have been a bit of a challenge to put it mildly.
But you know the saying, What doesn't kill you...

I only hit the surf about 5 or 6 times this year. Mainly because any spare time I had was spent chasing Tuna & Yellowtail due to El Nino and the great offshore season.
I didn't catch a single legal Halibut or White Sea Bass this year in the surf and I think I'm dead last on the S.W.A.T. Challenge Leader Board.

Little do I know, in the waning days of 2015 would bring me a final memorable moment before it fades away... maybe this is its way of apologizing for being such a sh*tty year to me.

Now for the report... Sunday 12/27/2015
I get an invite from Mike (Lt. Bones) and Don (Bachiboy) to hit the surf on Saturday morning but 30MPH+ winds was in the forecast.
Mike tells me that it's up to me if I wanted to go anyway and he and Don would go along or we can head out Sunday instead. I had a busy Sunday planned, but told Mike that he should decide and let me know. Mike calls back after talking to Don and says we should postpone the session until Sunday. For once, I was glad that I didn't make the call. I rearranged my Sunday schedule and was looking forward to the final surf session of the year.

A few texts went out and Dan (SP Dan), Binh (BadBeat) and Sokha (Troublehook) will also be joining us for the Sunday grey light session.

We all met up at the A.O. at 6:00am and geared up. Man, it was cold! I think it was something like 40 degrees.
The six of us broke off into pairs, spread out and hit the beach.

Conditions: Cold and clear morning, Incoming 6 ft high tide, moderate offshore winds, flat 1-2 ft swells in 8-10 seconds intervals, water temp. probably around 62 degrees, water clarity excellent, virtually no salad in the surf, moderate bait fish presence.

I was fishing with Don and it was so frickin' cold... my fingers were so numb that I had trouble picking out a backlash on my reel. lol

I get a hit in the grey light and the fish made a nice splash on the surface. Visions of a Striped fish briefly crossed my mind before this lousy catch burst my bubble.


A few minutes later, I hooked a bird that dove under the surf to nab my LC. Man, I thought for sure Mr. Lineside was on the other end of the line. Don says the look on my face when I saw that bird come out of the surf was priceless.

In the next couple of hours, I proceeded to land another bird, of a different species mind you, fighting it like a kite, and a couple more Smelt Torpedoes.

It was around 9:30am and I think all of us were cold, hungry and in general, just wasn't feeling it anymore...
I decided to power fish a couple hundred yards down the beach by myself, moving fast and fan casting.
At one point a big Corbina rushed up to my LC towards the end of a retrieve and turned away. That made my heart skipped a beat.

After awhile, Lieutenant Bones comes walking down the beach towards me and says let's call it a morning and go get some breakfast...
I said okay, I'll start working my way back up the beach and meet everybody in the parking lot. I started power fishing my way back and the first person I ran into was Binh (BadBeat). I was about 20 yards away from Binh and was just about to call out to him when I get a solid thump on the LC.
The fish instantly peeled off for a 4-5 seconds run parallel to the shoreline. I'm running left following and it made a 180 degree turn and headed the other way... Weird how the fish never headed straight out, just fought back and forth along the shoreline in the trenches.
Binh sees me tussling with the fish and comes running over. He asked what it was and I muttered "I think this is the right kind..." The anticipation of seeing this fish was unbearable, could this be Kimble? (Don's nickname for Mr. Striper ), the one that have eluded me for so long...

After a couple of minutes I worked the fish into the first set of surf. The swell rises up and in the crystal clear wave, I see a silvery, long shaped fish with pronounced stripes on it... I can't really explain the feeling at that exact moment... there was a slight sense of panic, but also a calm, collected and in control feeling... I was totally focused.
The Lineside turn its head towards me and I can see that the LC was well embedded in its jaw... I thought to myself, this is it, my long, futile quest for the "Striped One" was about to end.

I put the fish on the sand on a perfectly timed wave... I looked over at Binh and saw he had his mouth open, eyes wide open, bewildered... Oddly, there were no screams of delight, no high fives, no victory fist pumps... I just looked up into the sky and said softly "Thank you..."

I reach for the camera that is usually hanging around my neck and remembered that I forgot to bring it. I asked Binh if he had his camera and he said no... I yelled RUN!!! We had to get back to Mike, Don and Dan who were about 150 yards away... I had to get some pics and release this fish! We sprint down the beach like our butts were on fire past beachcombers, surfers and other fishermen. I had my rod in one hand and the Striper in the other, just running like mad... In the distance, Don sees us and started running in our direction.

We took a few photos, taped it out and in accordance with the S.W.A.T. Creed of "Always Releasing Your Personal Best Fish", I put the "Striped One" back in the surf to fight another day...

Then, the victorious salutes, high fives, hugs and fist pump started...

The fat Striper taped out at 25 inches and probably weighs about 7-8 lbs. Not as big as some of the ones I've seen caught out there, but like I told Mike and Don the night before... In the year without any notable catches, if I catch a 12 inch Striper in the morning, that would make my entire year.









The release...




So long Mr. Kimble, give my regards to Poseidon.


Look at the bent hooks on the LC.
I've caught plenty of freshwater Stripers and I tell ya, their Saltwater cousins fought harder...


Dana, I remember the day we sat down and wrote out the list of surf goals for me. It took awhile, but Mission Accomplished my friend... miss you.

This is what it's all about... "Family, Friends, Fun & Fishing"


Our victory breakfast.


Yummy!


Don (Bachiboy) gave me this shirt earlier this year and told me that I can't wear it until I catch my first Surf Striper...
Guess what I wore today to the office Don?


Catching a milestone fish is special... But catching it in the presence of your close friends and family members is absolutely Priceless.
In a year full of forgettable memories, I will always remember this moment.

Thank you Mike, Don, Dan and Binh for sharing this awesome moment with me my Brothers.

Have a Happy New Year everybody!
May you achieve all your goals, no matter how lofty they are...

Arthur (Wingnut)


Remember, there is always someone out there that is more than happy with less than what you have...



Extra sharing...

Last week, my buddy Joe (JoKoy) stopped by my office and gave me 20 tickets to his stand up comedy show at the Ice House in Pasadena.
He put on 8 shows, all sold out!
So on Sunday night, we all went to see JoKoy bring down the house! What a fantastic show.




Visiting Dad on Christmas Eve... Miss you Dad.


The Christmas tree at my office. It's so tall, we couldn't put a topping on it. lol


We went Lobster hooping with Webmaster Jeff a couple of weeks ago to get some Bugs for Christmas Eve dinner.
Mission accomplished... 3 limits of Bugs!






Christmas Eve dinner.






Christmas Eve at my Sister's home.


My Sister loves her new phone.


My Niece is starting college at USC next year. So her proud Uncle got her a MacBook Pro.


Mom is as strong as ever...



Parting Shot...
Romeo: I bit Santa Claus!

[SP Dan]

"Congratulations" Brotha Arthur on landing your "true ghost" and for completing your goal list made with Dana!

What an accomplishment Sir! You put the wood to your targeted nemesis (NS) and finally defeated him in his own home trench. WTG!!!

May I be one of the first to proudly welcome you into the elite S.W.A.T. "Striper Club"!

I am very proud of you .... for your determination and perseverance while keeping your goals clearly in mind!
You have inspired me and mentored me since the day we have met at RAT Beach back in 2011, and I am proud to call you my SWAT Brotha and friend.

I'll stop here and let our other SWAT Brotha's give all their details in their responses.

Added note: I received Arthur's text about his "REPORT UP" at 12:07AM this morning and thought ... "Who the hell would text to me at this time of the night!!! .... A much welcome to text anytime !!!

Thank you Commander for your detailed Striper report with pictures
and for a great job on your CPR of this beautiful fish!
This is what we are all about!

It's my BD today and I need to be up in three hours to go fishing ... good night Sir.


SP Dan <"))><

[bachiboy]

Wow!!! What a morning. The biting cold was miserable. I had gloves on and my hands were frozen...I can only imagine how bad you guys were feeling. When you hooked up first thing in the morning and I saw the splash, I thought it might be the one, but the damned torpedo rained on the parade. Then your bird streak started. After your back to back torpedo and bird, all I could think was, "please don't let me hook a striper right next to him now!" That woulda been the most bittersweet catch of my life. As we started coming to the end of our session, I just felt like it was gonna be another, "well, we gave it our best" moments. When I saw you sprinting down the beach, I paused for a second till I saw a long silver "something" dangling from your hand. Then it became a "OH SH*T!" moment. I knew you didn't bring a camera and knew it had to be Kimble for you to be storming toward me to take a picture. I had to yell at the top of my lungs three times, and I am a loud SOB, for Mike and Dan to hear me down the beach. Then I started running to meet you halfway...running in waders, boots and ski clothes in sand SUCKS btw!!! I figured we needed to hurry up so we could get the fish back in the water asap.

I remember the day I got mine, I kept saying all day, "wow, I can't believe I finally did it." I found myself saying the same thing yesterday only with your name. It's been a long time coming. I'm thankful that you finally scored that bad boy and thankful that I was there to share the moment.

CONGRATS bro!!!! You can wear that shirt with pride!
Don

[vdisney]

Great read, fantastic report..................many congrats my man, stoked for you

[simijab]

sweet congrats dude!!!!! Ive only caught one surf striper before and it was only 12 inches lol you got a nice one there

[bones]

Brother Arthur....
When we planned the assault I had a feeling in my soul that somehow you would once again pull the famous rabbit out of the hat like so many times when I have fished with you at the closing of the year in the past.
After 3hrs of fishing and 150 casts on my behalf without even a bump I must admit that my belief started to dwindle slightly but since you had already put a few torpedos
on the sand along with two "Flying Fish" I distinctly remember saying this prayer...I said " God...please bless Arthur with with his striper today. He gives so much to everyone around him all of the time." I then took a 1/4 mile walk down the beach where you were focusing so much relentless effort on a particular trench and you said.... "Watch ...I'm gonna get something GOOD! " as always in the past the man with the golden rod prooved that determination and his "Spidey Sense" never lead him wrong!

Congrats my friend on probably one of the rarest catches from our SoCal sand!

May your New Year be Blessed with Joy,Happiness and Success my friend!

Mike aka Lt. Bones

P.S.

Thank You very much for treating the group to that wonderful breakfast. It really topped of the great morning with friends!







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

[anchor3n1]

Wow brother Arthur!!!!
bones has been sharing with me how over the last few months how you had never yet landed the elusive striper. That you've been after the 'jailbird' for a long time. Yet each time one of your friends would land one over the years, you would exclaim with a feigned (that's "fake" for the Rio Linda crowd ) anger - "blank so & so!!! Even though really you were super happy for your friends (cuz that's the kind of man that you are and I'm glad your my friend ). So I am super happy that you finally got your striper finally!!! (BLANK Arthur - I haven't caught one yet).

Well as I think about it, it seems you've landed just about every SoCal saltwater game fish that can be stuck from the sand (you are my hero for sure). So now what are you gunna do certainly not hang it up. I know. Your gunna do it all again only bigger models and show us wannabes how it's done

Blessings to you my friend,

Nick

[PTN]

Congrats brother! I'm glad you were able to catch that elusive striper from the surf in usual late fashion as always. You always seem to pull the magic rabbit from the hat and definitely deserve it. Sharing that moment with a great group of guys makes it that much more sweeter. 2015 has been great fishing with you and everyone and I'm looking forward to make many more memories with everyone next year.

[TUNAVIC]

First of all,condolences on your Pop,friend,and Pup,now Congrats on an awesome way to end the year,found myself running down the beach with you during that battle,what a beautiful stripe,a lot going on in that report and following pics,very,very,nice thanks!

Cya Tuna Vic

[troublehook]

Oh my goodness Commander you did it.
I'm so bummed I had to leave early. I dropped my rod in the surf and the Calcutta was useless.
Congrats on a long overdue prize my friend. It has been so much fun fishing with you, Binh and Jeff this year.
I hope 2016 will be a much better year for all of us. Have a Happy New Year bro.

Sokha