[Aaron&Julie]

...okay, let's open up old wounds.
First, there are many not mentioned here. The first...
...30 years ago, while on a PB off of Rocky Point, after my mother (non-fisherfolk) had caught a 12lb halibut, already making our day this trip, I decided to cast a plastic since our quality bait was diminished. We were about 100 yards from shoreline, when something sucked up my plastic, ran to the boat, and then ran lickety-split towards the stern. My experience since, leads me to believe it was a huge WSB, or quality yellow. He busted me off, probably at one of backlashes where I had weakened the line. I wasn't a great conventional reel caster at that time.
...on a 3/4 day run to the Coronados, many quality yellows had been caught previous days. We were fishing the outside of South Coronado where many rock pinnacles reside. On this day, some yellows already had been caught, none less than 20+lbs, some in their 30's. I hook up with a yellow that wouldn't quit running until he hit one of those pinnacles. Snap...gone! He was definitely one of the big ones.
...on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, chartered a ponga, with good results. Except when I hooked into a Roosterfish on 15lb (my own gear) line. After wonderful runs he blows up my squider junior and the mate and I splice to another outfit of mine with 20lb line. One hour later, we have him at deep color and he is big, like 80lbs+ big. Back and forth we go, almost within gaff range, the mate wants to grab the line to pull him in for a gaff shot. I yell out no, which he obliges. I should have gone with his instincts, the fish unbuttons within 5 seconds after that.
...the year Julie caught her world record, we lost 3 halibuts off of La Jolla, me one, her two. Mine would have been in the 20lb+ range, hers, 30lb+ and 50lb+. Needless to say, you really do want to gaff a halibut in the sweet spot, as all were lost, for not doing so. Her monster, I can gauge this, since I gaffed her record, was over 50lbs. Horrible to see such a wonderful fish come up, and then lose it while so close. It was on the gaff, but went too ballistic and I blew it, and kept us from keeping it. She would have finished either 2nd or 3rd in the BWE whoppers, if I'd kept it on. This is probably the most painful of all the lost fishes.

So, there you have it. Thanks for letting me re-live painful memories.