Your Best "One that got away" story - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

deepdvr · 02-03-2011, 09:41 PM

Ok...I'll bite. I was fishing alone this past summer in an area known to hold large YT.

I had the place entirely to myself and after trying unsuccessfully for 4 hours to hook into something, I mentally gave up and shifted my focus towards making more bait before I moved on to another area.

As I was making bait, I noticed the bait balls were moving very fast and as soon as I marked them and dropped they would often be gone. (First sign there are predatory fish on the prowl)

On one of my sabiki drops I ended up reeling in my spectra main line on my bait rod. It was odd that my bait had moved 180 degrees from behind my stern to the front of my bow. Oh well, guess I'll put my sabiki away and tend to my bait rod.

The moment I place the sabiki in the rod holder all hell breaks loose. That rod is hooked up to an angry yellow. The line is pulling against all of the other rods in my rod holders and I'm trying to figure this out very quickly.

Somehow the line got wrapped up around my Hobie rudder. My heart sank. Next thing I know I'm getting towed backwards at a pretty good clip while sitting side saddle in my revo. This goes on for awhile and every scenario is running through my head. Do I jump in the water and try to untangle it? The fish starts changing directions so now I'm getting towed all over the place. I get on my radio and try to hail Dorado50 who is in his skiff a good 500 meters away. He was the only person in the general area.

I had to ride it out until eventually my leader couldn't handle this fish and snap-o. That one really hurt. But after I stopped crying like a little girl I went over to area 2 and landed a solid

.

I guess the moral of the story is.....pay attention.

Aaron&Julie · 02-03-2011, 10:27 PM

...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.

yakety-yak · 02-03-2011, 10:27 PM

Something huge nabbed my sabiki last summer off la jolla and towed me for a few minutes last summer...until it straightened the hook out!

Also I lost my first halibut in alaska when the guide couldn't gaff it properly...

02-03-2011, 10:27 PM	#2
Aaron&Julie Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Spring Valley Posts: 1,400	I bleed, therefore I live... ...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. __________________ "Never say die"

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02-03-2011, 09:41 PM	#1
deepdvr Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Carlsbad Posts: 591	Ok...I'll bite. I was fishing alone this past summer in an area known to hold large YT. I had the place entirely to myself and after trying unsuccessfully for 4 hours to hook into something, I mentally gave up and shifted my focus towards making more bait before I moved on to another area. As I was making bait, I noticed the bait balls were moving very fast and as soon as I marked them and dropped they would often be gone. (First sign there are predatory fish on the prowl) On one of my sabiki drops I ended up reeling in my spectra main line on my bait rod. It was odd that my bait had moved 180 degrees from behind my stern to the front of my bow. Oh well, guess I'll put my sabiki away and tend to my bait rod. The moment I place the sabiki in the rod holder all hell breaks loose. That rod is hooked up to an angry yellow. The line is pulling against all of the other rods in my rod holders and I'm trying to figure this out very quickly. Somehow the line got wrapped up around my Hobie rudder. My heart sank. Next thing I know I'm getting towed backwards at a pretty good clip while sitting side saddle in my revo. This goes on for awhile and every scenario is running through my head. Do I jump in the water and try to untangle it? The fish starts changing directions so now I'm getting towed all over the place. I get on my radio and try to hail Dorado50 who is in his skiff a good 500 meters away. He was the only person in the general area. I had to ride it out until eventually my leader couldn't handle this fish and snap-o. That one really hurt. But after I stopped crying like a little girl I went over to area 2 and landed a solid . I guess the moral of the story is.....pay attention.

02-03-2011, 10:27 PM	#3
yakety-yak D-T-B Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: SoCal/SoCo (OC) Posts: 62	Something huge nabbed my sabiki last summer off la jolla and towed me for a few minutes last summer...until it straightened the hook out! Also I lost my first halibut in alaska when the guide couldn't gaff it properly...