“OL LEAD PENCIL” The hunt pays off 12-3

[phelanfisher]

Got a call from my uncle at 6:00 Saturday night to see if I wanted to go out on Sunday. Total last minute but yeah let’s go. Got on the water at 5:30 and headed up to Pedro to make bait (squid). Shout out to San Pedro bait and 22nd landing. Got bait and headed back down the coast toward Newport. Got down towards the s### pipe and started looking at the meter. Found some structure and decided to drift it, started catching some sandies so decided to drop anchor and see how we could do. There was action got a few shorts and some keepers. A lot of 12’s and some little guys, calicos mixed in. Water temp was right at 57-60.

So both my kids hook into fish “im on” I hear from the front of the boat out of both of them. I go up there and my oldest is pulling up on the rod and says “I think I got the bottom.” So I told him to give it some line to see if he can get it out of whatever is down there. He did and waited my other son is cranking on his fish and gets it up, nice sandie. From behind me my other son says I got it and he is bent to the rail, taking drag. He’s fighting it and my uncle tells him “quit playing with it what you got”. 😉 I get the bass on the deck and my kid says I got a flatty and my uncle goes nuts “KEEP IT IN THE WATER, TURN AROUND AND GET THAT THING”. I turn around and see a toad Barn Door. Get the gaff, oops no gaff. My uncle is going nuts we get the fish up next to the boat and it tail slaps and goes back down and gets us all wet. Get it back up and uncle reaches over the side and grabs it by the gills and on the deck. OMG 😲🤩🤩🤩. It “ Ol Lead Pencil”, my uncle tells my kid “you just caught a fish of a lifetime kid good job.”

I was so proud of him he did the whole thing by himself I was helping my other son with his bass which wound up being an 18” fish. So after a round of pics and hi fives low fives hugs and everything else guys do back to the bottom. My oldest says I’m on picked up on the drop, he starts cranking on it and line tears off again it comes up and you can see something sticking out of the water as the thing tears across the surface. It’s about 60 feet from the boat and the fin comes back out again as the drag is getting ripped off the reel. My uncle yells “thrasher”. Goes back down and comes up one more time and plink line goes slack. My boys up set , can’t win em all kid. Tieing him back on and the clicker goes off on the rod up from my younger boy grabs it and he’s on. He sets the hook and line is ripping off the reel. I’m thinking no way , he fights it for about 5 min and gets it up a stinger. He’s stoked on the fight and I get the hook out an away it goes.

Get done with that and my oldest is on same thing drag ripping off he’s hanging on gets it up after 5 min another stinger. Same thing he goes back. Now my uncle is on drag ripping he’s hoping for another flatty. He’s on it for a minute and asks the kids who wants to play my oldest is beat my youngest says I’ll get it. He pumps on this thing for a while and we get it up another stinger. Action calmed down after that got a few more bass and called it a day at 1. Was an epic day loved watching my kids tug on some big fish and see they know exactly what to do.

Oh yeah and we finally got to see “Ol Lead Pencil” and it is delicious. Weighed out at 36# 42 inches long that’s quality pescado.