50lb. Kayak White

[Aaron&Julie]

Following Iceman's success yesterday, I decided to try a PM run to La Jolla while Julie was in school.

Very sloppy out there, but do-able. Made 5 greenies and 3 spanish just outside the 1st yellow can to the south. Paddled straight out to deeper water, while putting out 2 fly-lined greenbacks. Passed by Ken (katchfish), said hi and told him he was on the spot where I got my yellow last week. Then I went south in front of the "big condo". Started angling away from shore. A couple minutes later my back bait is bit good. When I went to load, it didn't seem like anything was there. I put it back into clicker mode, paddled a couple of strokes and the clicker makes a chirp. Thinking I'm stuck on kelp or got a calico, I wind on it. The fish gets bigger and bigger. Finally I know it's not a calico when it spins the kayak around. I start to think white, then it makes a few powerful runs that had me thinking yellow. Nah, the runs aren't sustained, again I'm thinking white. It puts up a pretty good fight all the same, cutting through a bunch of kelp easily with the spectra, then finally surfaces 10 feet away. After a little thrashing I drag it alongside and sink the gaff home.

Here's my first 50lb white:


Thanks very much Ken for snapping and sending me the photos.

My day is made and I make for the barn. Called Julie at home, she met me at La Jolla. We ran to Encinitas to have fish prints done by Jim Van Evera. Very, very cool work. He's putting the final touches on them and we will pick one up this weekend. The fish is in our bathtub now surrounded by 80lb of ice. It wouldn't fit in our 120 quart cooler.