Aaron&Julie
08-18-2005, 08:52 PM
We hit LJ before daybreak. Met with Arne for awhile before he boogied north. We made it to the kelp while still semi-dark. The southwest boundry buoy was missing, which threw us off a little. Made all the spanish we needed, and proceeded to the bull kelp area.
Trolled baits high and low, with calicos the result, until Julie finally hooks the right kind (YT). It gives her a nice tow before wrapping in some serious bull. About that time Arne shows up, but all the good advice, and hard effort on her part, was to no avail. Score one for the kelp.
Trolled some more, but no love. Finally, with no action for some time, the calicos were wide-open everywhere. We tied up to a strand and had fun on the plastics for awhile.
The NW wind was kicking up, so we headed to our favorite lingcod spot. The drift was so strong, all the kelp at that locale was laid flat out of reach. We found some kelp to tie to nearby, and decided to soak our last couple of baits. A few minutes later (about 1:00PM), Aaron's clicker goes off on the fly-lined spanish. He lets the fish eat it, sets the hook, and one tremondous run later is wrapped around all the kelp in LJ. Not easily defeated, he works the fish hard. Thank God for Spectra. Julie assisted, clearing kelp, spare rods, etc. Gradually, strands cut away. 20 minutes later, the last of the kelp gives way, and up comes the salad with a silver prize inside. His 1st legal WSB in over 30 years (before they had size limits)! It's now time to paddle our happy asses home.
On the beach we found out it's time to return the recently bought digital scale from Rapala. Supposed to measure up to 50lbs. Well, this fish weighed 30lbs on it. NO WAY! Knew it was more, so we drove to Malibu kayaks to have it weighed where it measured 37lbs 6 oz. With an accurate scale, when just caught, we figured it at closer to 40lb. This also exlpains why Julie's and Aaron's previous toad yellows looked bigger than weighed (on our scale). Probably by about 5lbs each. Here's the beach shot:
http://www.bloodydecks.com/gallery/files/5/9/2/6/Aug1866.JPG
Tomorrow, get stones, buy new grill, and feast on our delight. Oh yeah!!!
Trolled baits high and low, with calicos the result, until Julie finally hooks the right kind (YT). It gives her a nice tow before wrapping in some serious bull. About that time Arne shows up, but all the good advice, and hard effort on her part, was to no avail. Score one for the kelp.
Trolled some more, but no love. Finally, with no action for some time, the calicos were wide-open everywhere. We tied up to a strand and had fun on the plastics for awhile.
The NW wind was kicking up, so we headed to our favorite lingcod spot. The drift was so strong, all the kelp at that locale was laid flat out of reach. We found some kelp to tie to nearby, and decided to soak our last couple of baits. A few minutes later (about 1:00PM), Aaron's clicker goes off on the fly-lined spanish. He lets the fish eat it, sets the hook, and one tremondous run later is wrapped around all the kelp in LJ. Not easily defeated, he works the fish hard. Thank God for Spectra. Julie assisted, clearing kelp, spare rods, etc. Gradually, strands cut away. 20 minutes later, the last of the kelp gives way, and up comes the salad with a silver prize inside. His 1st legal WSB in over 30 years (before they had size limits)! It's now time to paddle our happy asses home.
On the beach we found out it's time to return the recently bought digital scale from Rapala. Supposed to measure up to 50lbs. Well, this fish weighed 30lbs on it. NO WAY! Knew it was more, so we drove to Malibu kayaks to have it weighed where it measured 37lbs 6 oz. With an accurate scale, when just caught, we figured it at closer to 40lb. This also exlpains why Julie's and Aaron's previous toad yellows looked bigger than weighed (on our scale). Probably by about 5lbs each. Here's the beach shot:
http://www.bloodydecks.com/gallery/files/5/9/2/6/Aug1866.JPG
Tomorrow, get stones, buy new grill, and feast on our delight. Oh yeah!!!