LJ 7/12 The highs and lows...

[SorryCharlie]

Hit the water around 6:15, who needs coffee when you can take 3-4 waves of nice refreshing water in the face. I had high hopes at the start of the day, which came true except for one major detail…

Once past the preserve I started making bait, but it was a slow process. Bait was everywhere, but it was difficult to pick through all the Spanish for the greenies. Took what greenies I could get and started trolling. For the first few passes all I seemed to be doing was feeding the dogs. The sea lions were out in force today and stole a large majority of my baits.

Mid-morning the reel goes off, the hook is set and the fight is on. Based on the way it is fighting I don’t think it is a yellow. Short bursts of speed with occasional headshakes, to my surprise it is a 4 – 4 ½ ft mako. Once the shark sees the kayak it bolts again, after another 5 minutes I get it along side the kayak and have the cut the leader leaving him with some new bling.

Start trolling again then later in the day the reel goes off again and the fight is on. This time it feels like the right kind, and after a few minutes its about 20 ft down in the kelp. While working it out of the kelp, the friendly neighborhood sea lion was sneaking up…. and I know what he wants. The next time he surfaces he has the tail of what was supposed to be my first LJ yellow in his mouth, but I am still under the kelp stringer. Because the dog is only holding the tail a 20 minute tug of war ensues and I slowly work the line free of the kelp and the fish (and dog) closer. After some back and forth the dog lets go of the tail and I am rushing to get the fish to the kayak. 2 ft from the kayak, the fish hits the kelp stringer, gets caught and the dog runs off with my treat…… Yelled some choice words and started trolling again.

Met some cool people out there today, and special thanks to the guy (apologies I SUCK with names and forgot yours) who tried to help me rescue my fish from the dog.

Fish until 3:30 then headed in, sad but motivated to get the next one (and kill all sea lions…..)