La Jolla 9/17

[dsafety]

It's been a slow and disappointing summer for me as far as fishing goes. I have not had the time to hone my skills very much and it shows. Last Thursday I posted an invitation to anyone who possessed some fishing expertise, to be my fishing partner for a day at La Jolla. A couple of people told me that they would be on the water that day. I was hopeful that I could hook up with someone who might pass on a tip or two that could get me pointed in the right direction. I ended up hitting the jackpot

I missed the early launch, arriving at the gentlemanly hour of about 7:00. As I was gearing up, some yahoo in a beat up BMW with it Hobie Revo strapped to the roof came blasting through the soft sand at the Launch. It was my friend, the Darkhorse. It was his day off, so of course he decided to go fishing.

After giving my gear the once over and informing me that it was mostly crap, Josh asked me if I would like to tag along with him for the day. I had never actually fished with Josh so I quickly accepted the invitation. After doing what he could to make my tackle usable we waded through the pounding 12 inch surf and headed out to make bait. This would be my first lesson of the day.

Josh, as anyone who knows him will confirm, is pretty good at his job. He has a lot of trade secrets that are only shared with his clients, but this day he shared a few with me. We made bait, peddled to the "spot" and started trolling. As it turns out, the "spot" is a pretty big area. There are some broad characteristics that define the "spot", but basically it is somewhere off La Jolla, south of the pier, north of PB and east of Hawaii. I was warned over and over to stay away from surface kelp, because with my gear, I would surely lose any fish I happened to hook. So we fished the deep water.

After an hour or so of trolling, I got the first hit. Of course, I messed up while trying to set the hook and lost the opportunity. Josh, as one would expect, was the first to hook up. He expertly fought the fish and landed it in a few short minutes. He yelled at me to quickly break out my camera and take a few shots of his catch. His urgency became clear as I saw him gently release a 20# YT a few seconds after the photos were taken.


Now I am a big C & R fan but releasing a 20# YT, that's nuts. When I tried to tell him that he was crazy, Josh informed me that he releases far more fish than he keeps. I guess that makes sense if you fish for a living and you do not sell the fish you catch. Having never caught a yellowtail that size, it still pained me a bit. When were the fishing gods going to smile on me?

A little while later, Josh and I are trolling side by side and I get hit... big time. My reel was filled with 65# spectra that instantly snapped as soon as I put the reel in gear. The only thing I can think might have happened is that the line was defective or somehow got a nick 100 feet into the spool. Somewhere out there is a big fish dragging 100 feet of green spectra. If anyone catches that fish, please return my hook.

The next few hours were filled with more of the same, trolling back and forth, back and forth. Occasionally one of us would get hit but we just could not close the deal. A quarter mile away, we heard a joyful shout. It was Chris, one of the Darkhorse's clients, hooked up. The "spot" was full of dogs who had been taking our bait with regularity. I saw one of them heading at mach 2 towards Chris's kayak, just as he was getting close to landing his prize.

Like a mother hen trying to protect one of her chicks, Josh took off and peddled to the rescue. I am not sure what he hoped to do to distract the seal but he must have done something as Chris was able to land his fish without teeth marks. It was about the same size as the one Josh had caught earlier. Good on you, Chris. His catch inspired me to stick with this gig for a little longer.

By that time I had been on the water for over seven hours. I had not planned to be out that long. I had not eaten breakfast and did not pack a lunch. All I had with me was some water and a couple of beers. I was thrashed. I started whining about wanting to head in but Josh and Eric, (La Jolla's newest fishing guide), who had joined our little band, shamed me into staying. Good thing.

A good omen appeared in the shape of a couple of party boats. The seals that had been shadowing us for hours quickly left for the greener pastures of PB chum. With the dogs gone, I started what I had vowed to be my last troll and was hit hard. This time I did everything right. My gear held up and with a little gentle coaxing from Josh, (yeah, right), I landed my first big fish from a kayak. I was thrilled, and exhausted.



Now I know that my 20 pound YT is not a big fish by big fish standards, but everything is relative. To me, it was as if I had just landed Moby Dick, so please don't bust my bubble.

If you stuck with this story long enough to get to this line, there is a message to take with you. Don't give up. There are fish out there and you can catch them. It helps if you know what you are doing and experienced guides like Josh and others can surely help. I'm just glad that I ran into Josh on his day off.

Bob