DP 08-10 report/story...

[PapaDave]

Okay, so here's another one...

So, another day, another client, Monis. Monis is a chef and he wanted to cook some fish. We hit the water around 7:30, the launch was packed, some kind of rowing race to Laguna and back. Got some sardines at the receiver and headed out. The weather was perfect, little wind, small swell fairly clear water, well, for up close to the beach anyway, so off we went in search of…

…Leopard sharks, having caught a couple the last time I figured what the heck. We headed south out the harbor and in close to the beach. It was a bit slow, so I had to teach him how to get fish to bite, you know, the kick back strategy. He finally got it down, was real good at it too, maybe a little too relaxed when his line started peeling off. I think he actually jumped from surprise. Well, he grabbed the rod a tad bit too late and the fish wrapped around the reef and broke the line. Poor guy, he was both jazzed and sad, been there, done that, but he was a good sport about it and was happy he even got to feel the burn, so to speak.

We continued our trek down the beach with not much to show for it except a couple of small bass. Not that we didn’t get bites, he was just a bit slow to get to the rod, that and the fish seemed to be tail biting for the most part.

And so it went for a while, He managed to land a small white seabass or three and a small calico, but on most of the bites he got the hook just didn’t seem to set, either the fish were smaller or the sardines kicked their butts. The day was about half over when I asked him if it was okay if I fished also, to which he agreed.

Out came the tiny rod I like to use, he laughed at it, I just smiled. I set the line out and told him that for some very odd reason the Leopards seem to like that rod. He thought I was joking until it bent over double and the line started screaming off the reel. I handed the rod to him and told him to catch it. Since he’d never been fishing, especially on a fairly large fish on a very small rod, I couched him through the fight. He did awesome, he listened and followed my instructions.Slow down, reel, pull up, reel down, slowly, don’t rush, yes it’s still on your line, let it run, watch the slack, relax, you’re doing great. I had a lot of reassuring to do as he was so excited to be fighting it and afraid of loosing it at the same time.

After several runs at boat side the shark was fairly tired, I gaffed it because we were going to keep it for him to prepare. I put it on a game clip and hung it over the side to keep it fresh. And then it got interesting…

About twenty minutes later we’re drifting between two reefs when I saw a large swirling on the water in front of us, and I knew… Bob. Quickly I grabbed the Leo and flung it into the kayak just as a large dark shape slowly came cruising into view. Bob had grown a bit since the last time I saw him.

For those not in the know, Bob is, was, a great white shark I would run into quite a bit several years ago. He would occasionally nonchalantly cruise by my kayak and check me out. He, and for all I know it could have been a she, but hey, who’s checking, never showed any aggression except for the time he stole a calico bass from me, the bum. Anyway, I named it Bob, and these days, I just call all the great whites I run into Bob, it’s easier that way.

Bob swam pretty close to the kayak, probably wondering where his snack went, and circled around a couple of times. At first Monis started to panic, but after reassuring him the shark wasn’t interested in the kayak, just the free meal, and the fact that Bob seemed pretty laid back too, he got excited and took a video of it, it’s not a good video, but it does show Bob, who now appears to be about 8 feet long and husky, very husky, so husky that he looked short in comparison to his width. All power that one.

Not finding a snack Bob cruised off and didn’t come back. Monis was jazzed and wondered why I didn’t seem phased by Bob’s appearance, so I explained that Bob and I have an understanding, I don’t mess with him, he don’t mess with me.

Back to fishing, about an hour later my little rod went zing again and it was off to the races as I handed it to Monis, who really didn’t need that much coaching this time around, made me smile. He got it to the kayak and we eventually got it in the kayak and decided that was good for the day and headed back in…