Finals are done and good conditions finally came around the corner for what seems to be a short period. I knew I had to take advantage of this opportunity ASAP. I decided to go on a solo mission a little down south for 2.5 hours and was rewarded with a very productive session. This report is a little lengthy due to description of attack.
Conditions:
Surf – 1ft
Swell – 1ft 13sec
Wind – 2 mph
Water – Around 60F, Very clear, No salad, Baitfish present
Air – 55 F
Weapon of choice:
- (Customized) Lucky Craft 110 /// 8’ Loomis BBR 964 C GL2 /// TD Luna 203 (12lb)
- Megabait live jig 1/2oz /// 8’ Clarus /// Abu G. Revo SX (10lb)
Strike Zone:
- Troughs
Fish Count:
7 Halibut – (-15”, -15”, 20”, 21”, 21”, 23”, and 25”)
I arrived at the A.O. at 5:45am and got to slinging the LC in less than 5 minutes (thank goodness for pre-prepping). I noticed some very distinct troughs and immediately started working the area. The way I worked the area was by giving the LC an initial jerk start to hopefully entice any fish around it while diving it down to the bottom and followed it with a nice steady retrieve with occasional really slow-winds. I didn’t get any bites or nibbles my first 10 cast which wasn’t a good sign so I decided to fish the area a little differently.
I figured since the troughs were so nice and deep, I should try wading out into the trough and cast exactly parallel to the beach, keeping my LC in the trough and essentially in the strike zone for a longer period. I waded out waste high, first cast, jerk, steady retrieve, and HIT! Landed a 20”. Feeling good about what I was doing, I did again the second cast and HIT! Land a 15”. I do it again and HIT. A 21”! Three cast three fish. Man.. I’ve never caught anything casting parallel to the beach over a trough. It was a good feeling. Several cast later using the same approach, I get a pretty good hit right in front of me and Zzzzzzzzzz….. he didn’t like my face. I thought I was hooked on a fat halibut because he ran for a while and wouldn’t give up. Finally got him on the sand after about 2 minutes and measured him. He came out to 23”. Numero Seis!!
I have to sidetrack a little here. So I customized a beat up Surf Perch LC110 (and named it Disco Sardine) a month ago (Check out bonus section below). I showed it to Daniel (Dlmoo) and he proposed a challenge. He told me that he would buy me an LC if caught a legal on it by the end of the year. Well… here you go Daniel
Disco Sardine (originally Surf Perch)
Good BYE!
Any who. I continued casting parallel over the trough and landed two more halibut, a -15” and 21”. After these two the bite started to slow down in that area so I switched over to the Megabait live jig ½. (The action on this bait is great on the drop BTW and the patterns are really nice. Unfortunately, Megabait doesn’t make these anymore but the Luna Bait Jig is almost identical w/ the same patterns and more). I casted it a few times and managed to land a -15” then switched back to the LC – this time Arthur’s lucky candy sardine. About 30 cast later as I was working back the LC I noticed that my LC was hitting the ground about 15-20ft out so I lifted up the tip of my rod to get it off the bottom and suddenly, no lie, a huge halibut swims up and strikes my LC. Keep in mind the water was crystal clear so I saw everything. He bit it and laid still on top of the water as I reeled him all the way in… it was weird. Then all of a sudden he took off and gave me an awesome battle. It took me a while to get him in because there were no swells but, that’s what makes a good fight. He came out to about 26” but I’ll call it 25”. Only took pictures of the legals. All fish were safely released.
I ended up calling it a day at 8:30am so that I can get some rest for today’s activities Here are some pictures:
Weapons
25”er
BONUS:
Heres how I made the Disco Sardine…
I bought some holographic paper, glitter, devcon epoxy, and paint sharpies. I used the shapies to cover up all scrapes.
I cut out a strip of the graphic paper and drew some hexagons on the back side
Next, dipped the hexagons into some clear nail polish and used cotton pliers to place them on the LC
I then added a thin layer of nail polish over the top and coated it with aqua blue glitter then a darker purple glitter over it. Finally, I finished it off with a thin coat of clear Devcon Epoxy
Heres another design. Some blue glitter mixed with Devcon Epoxy for the shiney effect.
What do you think??: I just started coating all my LCs with a thin layer of clear Devcon Epoxy so that it can protect the paint. So far, I haven't noticed any differences in bait action and I have been still getting bites (as you see above and previous post). If anything, I feel like it might be a little heavier which is a good thing for better casting distance. I recommend doing this to preserve your LC pattern. Also, the finish on this glue is amazing. Your LC comes out super smooth as though you didn't put anything on it and it gives your LC an extra shine effect. If anyone has an opinion on this topic, please reply. I am curious to hear other people's experience
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading!
Thien