From the Hand of Poseidon... A Memorial Day to Remember. You Won't Believe Your Eyes!

[Wingnut]

Finished off my Memorial holiday weekend by fishing for three straight days. Saturday, went fishing in the Newport Harbor with Flyngby (Steve) & his son. Sunday, caught my first Bat Ray from the surf.

Today... well, read on, you won't believe what you're about to see. I can hardly believe it myself... AND I WAS THERE! It's starting to sink in now as I type this report... This is one day that I will never forget.

I set a few personal records today. A FIVE species day, most Flatties caught in a single day, and added a new "Exotic and Ultra Rare" species to my surf fishing checklist.

Called up Surf Master Mike (Kichigai1) Sunday night and asked him if he wanted to hit the surf on Memorial Day. Mike has been so busy with several projects that we haven't hit the surf together in a couple of months. Making up for lost time, the Dynamic Duo didn't miss a beat... we absolutely killed it out there today.

I said to Mike, you pick the spots and I'll drive. So we checked the tide charts and plotted three destinations for the day. 6:00am and we were on the road to the first location. We were trying to hit a couple of spots before the crowd of beach goers started coming out in droves for Memorial Day. Mike was pitching the LC MJ Herring and I was throwing the custom LC Silver Sardine.

Water temperature 62 degrees, low tide condition with the tide shift just about to switch. Water clarity excellent with little or no salad... partly sunny skies, almost perfect conditions.

I knew that this was going to be a special day when after only about five minutes working the surf, Mike & I had a double hook-up while standing twenty feet from each other. I got mine in pretty quickly... snagged a damn Shovel Nose (Species #1)


I looked over at Mike and he was still on his fish. I said hurry up and get that thing in... he responded "I don't know what this thing is, but it's moving..." As I was putting the pliers to the SNGF, Mike yells "Holy sh*t, I think it's a Steelhead!" I dropped everything and rushed to his side. A few seconds later the fish broke the water and I clearly saw a large bright silver bar and said "Oh my God, IT IS a Steelhead!" and looked around to see if a Warden was hiding in the bushes. Mike took his time and worked the fish past the last set of surf and skid the beautiful silver bar onto the beach. We couldn't believe our eyes... at that moment we thought that it was a Steelhead. A Goggle search later in the day matched this species to the Coho Salmon or Silver Salmon. If there are any Salmon experts out there, please confirm this for us.
Mike quickly removed the hooks while I snapped a couple of pics.




A beautiful 22 inch Salmon.


We continue to work the area and a few minutes later Mike had another one came up close and took a swipe at his lure. We caught a few large smelts here & there... nice fighters but what a nuisance they are, silver of the wrong kind. (Species #2)


After about half an hour of non-action, we moved about 1/4 mile down the beach and caught several short Butts. (Species #3)








Met Tikka and his buddy out there. Very nice guy, chatted with him for a few minutes and congratulated him on his recent 34 inch Flattie.


Kept moving down the beach and met a couple of other surf fishermen. Started fishing with them when my LC was greeted with a savage strike. The fish shot three feet straight out of the water and spent a split second suspended in mid-air shaking and came crashing back into the surf. With the huge silver flash I knew that I had just connected with a Steelhead or Salmon myself. What wonderful fighters these things are. The fish took me thirty yards down the beach, making at least half a dozen blistering, drag burning runs as Mike and our new found friends watched in awed. After about a 5 minute battle, another, bigger silver beauty slid up on the sand. I can feel my heart just pounding out of my chest and breathe a huge sigh of relief as plenty of high fives were passed around. Took a quick measurement, a couple of snapshots and then set it free the roam the surf once again.

29 inches of pure silver adrenaline. Probably around 4-5 lbs. (Species #4)
I'm so glad that we were all there to witness these events. Ken & Mark are not FNN members... but they will be after today.




Ken & Mark.




Providing CPR to the tired fish, gently rocking it back & forth in the surf.


Finally swam away strong.


All four of us continued to stand side by side and sling our offerings into the surf... and wouldn't you know it, a few minutes later, Poseidon reached up and touched my line again! A smaller unit but by no means any less precious. What is the price of "silver" these days anyways? ;)
Mark took a quick pic and it was free to go. I will release 100% of these majestic fish.

Does anybody know if it's legal to keep any of these Steelhead or Salmon caught from the ocean? What is the regulations? I usually know these things before hitting the surf, but catching one of these fish was absolutely the last thing that I ever expected.






The day could end right now and I would be content to just rush home and write my report. Only a couple of hours has gone by and the day has already reached "epic" status. But there were still more fishing to be done... by days end, this Memorial day will live up to its name.
We said goodbye to our new found surf fishing friends, Mark & Ken and headed for our next destination.

Mike was right on with the spots today. We hit a total of three areas and all three produced fish. After all, he IS the Surf Master and taught me so much in the last six months. But "Grasshopper" really enjoys outfishing the "Master" nowadays.

Here are some fish porn for your viewing pleasure.

This was our biggest Flat Boy of the day. Mike caught his 30 incher on a 4" swimbait.


























Here is my trademark "Perch" pic. (Species #5)
We picked up some cans, bags and various trash from our last stop. PLEASE DO NOT TRASH our coastline!
Keep it beautiful!


Fish count - Wingnut:
(2) Steelhead/Salmon (New species)
(10) Flat Boys total - (3) legals (7) Shorts (PB record)
(4) Smelts
(6) BSPs
(1) Shovel Nose Guitar Fish

Fish count - Kichigai1
(1) Steelhead/Salmon
(6) Flatties total - (1) BIG legal (5) Shorts
(2) Smelts

A surf fishing day of historic proportions.

My three day fishing adventure has come to an end. I hope you guys enjoyed living the experience through my eyes. There is only one word that can describe a day like today... "Unforgettable."

Poseidon has smiled on me yet again. I sometimes think that I'm just one of his many "Jesters" in the surf... and I'm sure that I keep him well entertained. ;)

Arthur (Wingnut)


"A friend is somebody who will still laugh with you... even long after the humor has passed."


Extras:
Got stuck an hour in traffic on the way home.


Surf Master Mike (Kichigai1) crashed out on the drive home.


The mileage for the day.


The weapons.


The line.