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San Diego Bay 04/19
Me, KNOTTx, and another buddy, rented a skiff today, knowing that the winds would be terrible, so that we could let the motor fight the wind for us. :)
Launched from MCRD boat rental and headed south towards the bridge. Even at 8:00A - 9:00A, there was already a strong southerly breeze that was drifting us south at 2mph. We drifted past the bridge, then motored back north, then drifted south again. On one of our drifts, I hooked up on something that gave me the funkiest headshakes and then turned into a dead weight. Bam (like my weight hit a rock or something), then shake shake shake, then dead weight. I would reel some in, and again, shake shake, then Bam! WTF?? I thought it was a Halibut or some fish with involuntary muscle spasms. Not much of a fighter, didn't take any big runs against my 10lb drag, but definitely heavy. After what seemed like 10-15 minutes, it comes to color and it is a huge Angel Shark, estimated to be around 5-6 feet, and unhappy about the situation. It was big enough that we didn't want it in the boat. We contemplated gaffing it, but decided that we really didn't know what to do with it - didn't even know what it was until we got home. Why take its life if we were just going to waste it? As we were pulling the hook out, this thing would chomp down on the pliers and would make an audible chomp sound as its teeth came together! Imagine trying to thumb that or grab its lip!!?? After that, I caught 1 more keeper bass, and that was the end of the "interesting" action. For the rest of the day, it was Lizardfish City. We were getting robbed constantly and would reel in our lines with a Lizardfish thief on the hook. I caught the Mother-Of-All-Lizardfish; it was easily 18" and had the girth of a soda can. It was longer than my keeper bass! At one point, we looked around the bay and all we could see were sailboats and kites. We took that as a sign and call it a day at 2:00P. |
Angel shark is delicious! Amazing white meat
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addicted2sp33d,
i used to rent those same skiffs from MCRD often, with a Navy buddy of mine around 10-15 yrs ago, before i got into yakking. brings back many good memories. :) i was also thinking about going to SDB yesterday as well (in my yak), but saw the wind reports & decided to stay home & watch NBA playoffs. and yes, the lizard fish are taking over SDB around the Shelter Island, Bali Hai restaurant areas, etc. MANY of them are everywhere, and some very BIG ones, as u said you caught on this day. my last few outings there, i have caught many dozens total, and also caught some 15-18 inch monsters, that were bigger than any i had ever caught in prior 2 decades, fishing SDB in skiffs & yaks. :confused: wasting time with these trash fish, & having them steal live bait, or ruin plastics, just minimizes the total REAL fish you can catch during an outing in SDB. . |
Yeah - after I found out what it-was and what we could do with it, I was kicking myself for not gaffing it, or at least putting a tail rope on him while we Googled him on my phone. We would have had amazing meals to go with the amazing fish story.
Next time. |
Cool! There are some beasts in that bay for sure! :cheers1:
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