Why Mr. Lobster pot, why?

[Cadillyak]

Woke up and decided that I should try my luck at La Jolla, see a few familiar faces, and try and connect with a few fish. Met with Easyday, Crazywakeboarder, and a few others, and off we were to go make bait.

Bait, for me at least, was hard to come by. Making a long story short, I went on the troll with 2 perfect size greenies and a bunch of Spanish. Get to the trolling grounds, pin a greenie on and off on the troll I go. Was pretty quiet out there for me, and was able to avoid the dogs and lobster traps for the first couple hours. >>
Finally got in on some action, only to find out that it was a Commerant to blame. Unhook him and decide to just head out into open water. Peddle, peddle, and peddling.

I find a fishy spot set my 2^nd greenie out. I just start enjoying being out on the water, and playing Solitare on my phone. About 30 minutes goes by and my reel starts screaming. Thought it was a dog for sure. I thumb the spool to pop him off, and I get a rude awaking from braid burn.
Humm, maybe this is a fish. I put the reel in gear and the fight is on. The fish took a long initial run, and went down and away. I gain some line, and it feels as if he’s got me wrapped up in some kelp. Ah, no problem there, been there done that. This kelp felt different after a while though. I couldn’t get it to “pop.” I get him to deep color to see that it isn’t kelp at all, but actually a lobster trap line.

As hard as I try, I couldn’t get him untangled. There we stand at a stalemate. He is exhausted, and so am I. At this time, I am just looking at the large fish (I’m guessing upper 20’s), 25ft below me just lying there on his side. I call for backup, and Easyday arrives. He pulls up, and is shocked to see this yellowtail just chilling under me. We eventually get him 5ft or so under our kayaks, right out of gaff ranges. All of a sudden I see him start thrashing and eventually gains his freedom. Well played Mr. Yellowtail, well played. Total fight time: 20min

Lessons learned:
Always assume you have a fish.
Don't thumb a green fish.

Wondering what others have done in similar situations?