Ghost Fever...

[bellcon]

way to go Josh... you should think about starting a guide service...i am just saying


and the video was cool
thanks blackcloud9 i could not get the first link to work

[Vikingj]

Magnificent! Thanks for taking time to present such a thoughtful post with video & photos.

[yakrider]

what a day ...I hope to get to come down and play again soon...
the fish will just have to wait for the work to get done...

great story and awesome release...
two years ago...
the fish in my avatar was a result of an epic two week bite...
I had the good fortune to experience some C&R on some nice WSB..
what a great feeling...thank you for reminding me of my experience...
can't wait for the day I get to release a 40lb yellow...
'cause if I do, it'll mean the freezer's full....

[roosta]

Great post Josh,

The feeling of releasing a beautiful large fish like that one is definitely a good one. I think that you bring up a very good point on the catch and release front. The MLPA's are looking to close La Jolla and much more of our local coastline (No fishing what so ever!), but I wish our representatives who are arguing for us would bring up a catch and release proposal. I would release every fish that I caught in the future if I could still fish La Jolla instead of having it shut down. As long as you handle the fish like you described in your post I am sure that they survive. Another option would be slot limits like they have on the east coast... Don't shut us down, there are other options.

Anyways man, good job on bringing that to light and congrats on those awesome fish.

[Geoffkoop]

Originally Posted by roosta

I wish our representatives who are arguing for us would bring up a catch and release proposal. I would release every fish that I caught in the future if I could still fish La Jolla instead of having it shut down. As long as you handle the fish like you described in your post I am sure that they survive. Another option would be slot limits like they have on the east coast... Don't shut us down, there are other options.

My thoughts exactly.

[DESTROYER]

Josh- The funny thing about fishing. In this last weeks WON there is an article by Bradon Hayward about WSB and I quote Allyn Watson owner and operator pf the six pack Dreamer "Watson likes to use 40 or 50# mono or spectra to a piece of heavy mono or floro; actually, Watson thinks Flirocarbon is a waste of money. He thinks that seabass are so stupid that it doesn't matter.

This just shows you that every angler has there own opinion! My opinion is: Whatever helps you catch fish. I for one think like Josh. I believe that WSB are intelligent and are very sensitive to noise and vibrations. Therefore, I never run my bait tank or my depth finder while fishing for these ghost. Take what you need and throw the rest back

TL-Matt

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by MOYER

This just shows you that every angler has there own opinion! My opinion is: Whatever helps you catch fish. I for one think like Josh. I believe that WSB are intelligent and are very sensitive to noise and vibrations. Therefore, I never run my bait tank or my depth finder while fishing for these ghost.

When the fish, chew wide open they do so because they are being stupid, if your targeting them when they are not wide, when they are not stupid, they are very hard to catch.

The Dreamer makes it's money chartering Seabass trips, sometimes a little mythology amoung the masses is good for business.

Anyone can pull up to a wide open bite and catch fish, the trick is getting them to bite when they are not wide open. When they are around, whether they are being stupid or not.

Someone gave me a hard time about posting a reference to Josh's fish on another smaller Kayak website, saying that the report would put a hundred boats on "the bite" and they would cut off all the kayakers fish.

My thought was: "How Naive!!!"

First off if a hundred boats showed up they would not stay long as they could never get bit in the current conditions. Second the kayakers fishing around the boats would be fishing the wrong area, and never get bit as well.

Ultimately fishing is a game, a thinking process. Those who don't think may get some fish at times doing what they have always done, or what everyone else does. Those that take the time to read the situation, and figure out what's really going on can catch fish when others can not.

No doubt you have heard the saying: "If a tree falls in the forest, and no-one is there to hear it does it make a sound?"

Well if the Seabass move into the kelp in a prespawn pattern and no-one sees them or better yet figures out how to catch them are they really there?

Well I would say definitely so, and the guy who figures out they are there, and on top of that figures out to get them to bite when no-one else can using the standard methods.... well that guy is going to catch fish even if others can't.

The truth is right now there are hundreds of thousands of seabass up and down the coast holding in their prespwn pattern in kelp beds from Conception to Loma.

They are not actively feeding, they are waiting for the temp to rise a few degrees and trigger the spawn. If the temp rise matches a squid spawn outside the kelp at a given location You'll see a traditional epic bite outside that kelp. That's a crap shoot, and even if it happens it will only last a few days.

The deal is all those fish are out there in the kelp right now even if they are not wide open on squid, and they will be there until the temp get's up to the right temp to trigger thier spawn.

It's a prime opportunity for those who can figure out how to get them to bite, and your not going to see that in the western outdoor news.

There is a difference between finding the bite, and getting the fish too bite, and that is lost on most anglers.

One thing I like about kayaking is it teaches you to fish for the fish that are there rather then running all over the place burning tons of fuel, looking for fish that are just being stupid to begin with.

If you can get them when they are not stupid, you can get them anywhere.


Jim

[ezcompany]

what a great read Josh. Very well deserved catch, even better of you to release such a handsome fish! Thank you for the awesome read and video

[Rhyno1]

Very cool video, and great C&R.

Hey Yak Rider you forgot one other way you will be releasing a 40lb yellow, cause you already had your limit (5) would be the other reason to let em go! Besides you could always get a bigger freezer!

[redyak07]

Josh,

Congrats on the fish! I don't post to many comments on here. I myself have pulled many seabass both whites and blacks. All released. I have 5 kids from 1yrs. to 13yrs. I would like for them and there kids to be able to catch fish like I have. The stories we all heard about when our dads and grandfathers of how good it was. We all can make a difference. I don't want anyone to be able to tell me that I can't fish here, because this place has been over fished. Thanks for the video Josh, its a great start!




Its even more rewarding to see them swim away.

[Tman]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Josh I think somebody may need to poke a pin in your head

Only Andy can get away with that one....

[Billy V]

Good show of Sportsmanship Josh.

Watching her swim away in that Vid was awesome.

[THE DARKHORSE]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Josh I think somebody may need to poke a pin in your head

Quote:

Here's a fish of a lifetime that even though they're in great numbers most will never see one attached to their hook.

The point in this sentence is that there are tons of these larger models around even though very few are caught (smart fish), as in the stock is doing well. I would gladly trade my next opportunity at one of these magnificent fish to someone who has been eluded for years.

On a side note, the video has been edited to make your coffee taste that much better, enjoy!

[Tman]

Originally Posted by THE DARKHORSE

I would gladly trade my next opportunity at one of these magnificent fish to someone who has been eluded for years.

Will have to take you up on that one...

I have been trying to put the Fishcatcher on one for years...

I do agree with you though about the return of these fish. Many, many years ago, I was out fishing with a neighbor on my favorite spot (on a PB), using visual guides as to where my spot was.
His boat had a GPS, and he kept asking me the coordinates. I lined up my view points at the spot where the best I had ever caught was a short WSB.

He's working an iron, and hooks up with a 42 lb'er. Posts it on the radio, and people met us at Dana Landing to see the fish. Unheard of at that time.

Hubbs is doing a very good job, I personally (not this year) have seen schools swim through the kelp...big 'uns. I have toured the facility, and through a biz contact, got to see what they are doing behind the scenes. Remarkable. I remember looking at the breeding tank with a 100 lb female, and then realized I was drooling.

I personally think the limit should be 1 per day, period.

Great write up. That is all.

[blackcloud9]

I was going to do a special video edit for showing at the Fred Hall show,
but goofed around on the PC last night and remixed it already.

WSB Release Remix - http://larryl.com/images/WhiteSeabas...Spring2009.wmv

Its better quality now because it's not compressed onto PhotoBucket.
This was shot on an older, $120 Canon digital camera, still best viewed
in a small window.

It's 17 MB, so it takes a couple of minutes to download.

[tthor]

Well said and well done Josh. Hubbs has done a wonderful thing for the WSB fishery. I too believe the numbers of WSB in La Jolla and all along the SoCal coast continue to rise based on the reports over the years. My brother while free diving on Saturday said he saw the largest school of WSB he has ever seen, 20+ fish all over 30lbs. I am still looking for my "fish of a lifetime" since releasing my last WSB, a ~35-40lb fish some ten years ago. After missing some epic bites while being involved with my daughters sports the last few years, I am in pursuit mode now for that true trophy.

Tom

[Willy]

I've work with the Hubbs project on the SD Oceans side, helping with the fingerlings in the pens. The greatest feeling is watching those little guys swim free when we release them into the wild. I say to each scoop I drop into the bay "Go free little guy's, 'cuz I'm comin for ya"!
One of the originators of the WSB project had to wait almost 40 years for the good karma to catch up, and got his 1st white last year.
Note to the fishermen, If you catch one, please take the head to a local bait shop in a bag. There are a few shops that participate, ask around to find wich ones, I always go to Dana Landing, that's one shop I know will take them. The head is then given back to Hubbs and scanned. We stick a little radio tag into each fish's head when they are little, and you'd be suprised the data we can get back from a mature fish's head.
Some of our released fished have been caught ten years on, in Santa Barbara, Catalina, they get around!
SD Oceans is all volunteer and could always use folks helping out the WSB project and others, if you are handy, or can dive and would like to help clean off the pens/nets, feed the fingerlings, or help with the release into the wild, it's a good feeling to help out.
http://www.sdoceans.org/ They will have a booth at Fred Hall
BTW, Great Post Josh.
You inspire many more than you may realize

Willy