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Originally Posted by katchfish
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Hats off to Paul, biggest fish of the day.
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Thanks for the photo, Ken.
I made bait easily off of the pier at about 8 am. Worked the NW corner for a while for nada, then trolled across to the kelp. Saw a bunch of people all bunched up in a spot further out so I decided to check it out. I'm deaf so I don't have the luxury of listening in on reports. I thought maybe there was a BBQ going on and maybe I could get in on it. As I get there, I see a guy bendo and then I notice that there's a a bunch of kayakers with WSB's on their decks. :shock:
Some birds start diving a bit to the north and I see boils, so the fleet and I headed in that direction. It looked like summertime in LJ when the YT bite is hot. I decided it was a bit too crowded for me so I kept paddling further out with a flylined and a weighted mac while others started throwing their irons. I get out there and start wondering if the Mac is even alive and unmolested afer the long tow. I look back and start reeling it in. About 40' behind me, there's a big boil and I go "Hmmm, isn't that about where my bait should be?" Seconds later, I'm bendo and the line's screaming out!
All my reels except for my crappy old Jigmaster and Sponge Bob Combo with 50 lbs spectra are in for repairs, and my third rod/reel was a loaner spinning combo with year-old 20 pound line. Guess which one got hit. :shock: No, it wasn't the Spongebob, but I think I would have preferred it at that time.
I'm like, "Oh crap, it's on the wrong reel. Damn, damn. I don't think I'm gonna land this one. I give this 10 more seconds."
10 seconds later, it's still there and pulling line out and I'm getting towed through the fleet and towards the kelp. As Im towed by, I ask for a gaff (forgot mine) from my buddy, but I don't get it because he's too busy throwing an iron trying to hook one up. I wasn't too upset though as I was positive I was going to lose it in a matter of seconds anyhow. I tried to turn it a couple of times with minimal success. There's not much you can do with a small set-up. A few minutes later, it's towing me into a powerboat which just barely gets out of the way. My fishfinder starts reading kelp all over, but amazingly, it hasn't wrapped up yet.
Several long minutes go by, and my buddy finally comes over and I ask him again for the gaff just in case. Just then, the WSB surfaced next to me. Buddy tried to get close enough to gaff it, but couldn't manuver close enough, and he went to make another pass (peddle boat). I didn't want to wait for that so I moved in closer, grabbed it by the gills and hauled it aboard.
Then I realized how much my hands were hurting.
Damn, those gills sure are rough. Needless to say, I didn't learn the first time around - I kept putting my hand in there for photos because it was the only way I could hold the fish. The game clip kept bending and popping open. I could barely pick it up anyways. At the beach it weighted in at 49.something pounds I think. Next time I'm putting on gloves first, or even better, remembering my damn gaff.
Muy Excellente.
I saved the head because I remember reading about sending in stones to help with WSB restoration/research - Where can I get some info on that, and where are the stones. More than one?
-Paul