Aloha

[Trout]

So I finally got on the water yesterday after moving back from Hawaii a few weeks ago... 63 degrees in the water with the air temp in the low 50s... holy crap... wetsuit, booties, sweatshirt, beanie, the whole trip. Not used to that! I decided to fish for bass and halibut. My very first cast in the kelp beds produced a calico bass (released). After a few minutes, I switched to some structure that I have fished before and on my very first cast there I nailed something solid. I had super light tackle and 15# test and it was kicking my a$$. Finally I see that it's a huge bonito... close to 10 pounds, which is pretty good size for around here. Released that one, too. Dropped the scampi to the bottom and picked up a nice 4 pound sand bass (kept for fish tacos). The wind started to switch so I went into my live bait tank and pulled out a nice 6" mackerel (I jigged up a half-dozen first thing in the morning). I pinned him on and sent him down and started to bounce ball. I paddled maybe 20 strokes and my reel was humming. I set the hook and it whipped me around and started towing me I was only on for 10 seconds before it spit the hook and I was left scratching my head. Huge halibut? Black sea bass? Hmmmmm... will never know! Then I pinned on another bait and paddled for a few minutes before my line goes ripping again. I set the hook and boom... I'm gone... this thing is towing me and whatever it is, I'm thinking it's the same specie as whatever nailed me before. I fight hard for about 20 minutes and then I hit a stand-still. It's not budging. I'm not budging. Nobody's budging. It was like that for 5 solid minutes of no line going in either direction. Finally I turn its head and I short-stroke it until I see this submarine coming up. I see the flash and realize that it's a huge Yellowtail... late in the season, but here to greet me back to ffice:smarttags" />lace>Californialace> with open arms. I got a clean gaff shot and hoisted over my legs. I gave it a nice, little bear-hug until it calmed down and then got the game clip on it. Whew! The fished taped well over 3 1/2 feet long and weighed 30-pounds I had one bait left and dropped it down. Before long I was on again... after another tough haul, I finally see the big brown mass. I'm thinking I got the double with a yellowtail and a halibut. But when it turned sideways I saw the tail and realized it was the biggest shovelnose guitarfish I'd ever seen. I didn't even know they got that big. So that was it and I called it a day. I wanted to get the fish on ice ASAP for the hamachi sashimi. Oh yeah… check out the 15 squirts I found in the belly! I don't know whether to use them for bait or eat them!
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