07-09 A.M.

[GHOSTHUNTR]

Launched at 5 to small waves and South wind. Made my way past the reserve and bait was easy, although it was all Spanish. I put in my first bait at about 5:45 and was hit hard about 2 minutes later. This thing wasscreaming line off the reel, but when I engaged the reel it dropped it. Huh. The bait didn't have a mark on it, no crushed head, but probably a small yellow anyway. Pinned on another spanish and trolled around until about 6:30 when I got another bite. This time I set the hook and I was on solid, problem was it was immediately wrapped in the kelp. I pulled and pulled for about 30 mins., trying different angles. I let it run a bunch of times, trying to let the spectra work, but it was stuck. I finally buttoned down and pulled hard. Just when I thought the line would break I felt the kelp pop. What a good feeling! Back on the beach it weighed almost 28lbs., it was a real skinny looking fish, but I'll take it.