Dannowar
09-03-2012, 11:47 AM
Got out at 445 this morning and could not find squid for the life of me. They were EVERYWHERE, except my bait tank. Plenty of macs and dense fog at times. Caught two good size calicos off the bat and it went quiet for a while. Trolled into the clusterf**k only to see yellows on every side of me. Once again, everywhere but my hook. A nice individual had two fatties already and was packing in, so he gave me the rest of his live squid which were decimated in minutes. Frustrated and angry, I trolled a healthy greenback into the kelp. I had stopped to open the hatch and grab my hat when WHAM, reel goes haywire. Quickly packed up, jammed the brakes on him and away we went. Fought like no fish I've caught and at times felt like I was pulling up a boulder. After minutes of thinking I was snagged in the kelp, she runs, big time. A quick sleigh ride and some healthy cranking later, my leader starts coming in. 20 feet to go, I grab my gaff and peer down into the water. I about soiled myself when I saw the thresher that was as long as my kayak, not to mention my feet were in the water. I've never seen a shark that close in person. Not knowing what one does with a shark of that magnitude, I ponder asking the boat next to me for help and as soon as she came, she was gone. Bit through 3 lines. The tag end with the weight and the spider loop. Knot was still intact. Incredible. I'll take it as a catch and release anyday.