La Jolla 6-16-17 Birthday Party

[FISH11]

Today is my birthday, so what else would I do but take the day off work and go fish La Jolla. I knew the weather was going to be great and the surf and wind forecast was looking good. Got a little late start but I figured there was no reason to hurry. Just have fun. Launched around 6:30 and went out to make bait. It was a little hard to find and I made 4 sardines and one greenback. I already knew Sardines suck, the are way too fragile. They won't stay alive in the live well. Pinned one on before they all died. Trolled around while still trying to make more bait. After about 40 minutes something takes it and start the clicker going but not too fast and then it stops. I'm thinking fric*** sea lion, so I start reeling it in to check the bait and as it get closer I see what's following it, a Thresher. I don't feel like dealing with a Thresher today so I start reeling it in much faster and find the bait was all racked and messed up. I throw it in and start going back towards the cove to make more bait. Peddle through the kelp and still can't find any, so I figure they have to be on the outside of the kelp. On the way south I spot a bunch of other kayak, some boats and a couple solo skiffs all hanging close, as I get closer I see bait jumping and fish crashing it in large numbers. I pull out my jig rod with the shimano flat fall jig. I start throwing it over and into the boils. after a couple cast I'm on and next thing I know I just landed the biggest Calico I have ever caught. Chased more boils and got another, this one was like 1" shorter. Kept throwing hopping for a Yellow but nothing. So I Continue going out to deeper water hopping for boils out there, but only find bait. Trolled around for hours still looking, as I'm heading back north I notice some boils somewhere close to the previous time. As I and several boats are getting close and the guys on the boat are tossing irons, I get the flat fall ready to cast and just as I'm about to heave it, my fly line starts screaming. I put the other rod back and wind up the other rod with the sabiki. In the time I took it took the line into the kelp. I knew that was going to be a problem because we were in only 57' of water and the kelp was from about 30' to the bottom. I start the fight and I'm using that light set up again, so I can't just pull as hard as I want. I had to be a little bit smarter and take a little time. Thing is that is why we use 65 lb braid and 40 lb fluorocarbon leader with Owner Mutu Circle hook. I can hear the guys on the boats around me going look the guy on the kayak is on. guys are whooping and going "Alright look at the sleigh ride", all I could do was smile and shake my head in agreement. It was a sweet feeling. After a little while I can feel the braid cutting through the kelp and long pieces come up as I get it to color. When I finally get it to the surface it's got a huge salad bowl of kelp all around it and it made it harder to see well and get a quick gaff shot. Landed it and was so glad the braid did the work and even with the light set up I was able to land it. At the landing it weighed 18.9 lbs after having bled it on the water. It turned out to be a great Birthday fishing day.