Welcome...

[THE DARKHORSE]

Welcome...to the pressure cooker! Who said winning would be easy?

In years past I'd wait for the last second to post my WCW submissions. Who am I kidding, I did that last month! Old habits die hard I guess. Scrambling with tape shots and photos of my fish to submit at 11:30 p.m., mere minutes before closing time. This annoyed the crap out of some competitors, I'm sure. I'll admit to laughing about this a couple of times; knowing my competitors were grudgingly checking this site up until midnight to see what happened. Or didn't happen for that matter. I know this because I've been on the other end---with a glass of wine at midnight myself!

In time, though, I think most competitors realize why it makes a lot of since to hold your cards until all bets are hedged. One obvious reason: protecting a bite that's going on. Especially if it's a bite you worked hard to find yourself! Even more so, if no other anglers are on this particular bite. Another great reason for holding your cards would be not giving your closest competitors any additional fuel for their flame, so to speak. Why make your closest competitor fish that much harder, right?


Speaking of motivation, here's a fish that absolutely kicked my a$$. All Yellowtail pull hard, but some clearly pull harder than others. The fact that my favorite photographer, Jay Koo, was in tow this day made it all the better. I was following fish that turned their nose up to iron after iron this day. I began pitching horse-Sardines to these fish, when close enough, and they still were showing their intelligence time and again. Like I've said many times: these fish don't get this big by being dumb! Finally, I persuaded this fish to annihilate a mini-mac with a tiny hook. This was a Kim Kardashian of a fish, if you know what I mean. If this photo inspires some of my competitors to fish a little harder---so be it.

Which is just another reason why this competition is so fun. The mind games, strategy, not to mention putting a little salt into your fellow competitors wound is what it's all about. While speaking to some new blood of the sport (RK), he brought up a fantastic analogy for West Coast Whoppers. I thought about stealing it for myself, but I'd like to give credit where credit's due. I won't try to quote him verbatim , but in short he said that: the guys on this site who aren't in WCW are like the guys on sportboats who aren't in the jack-pot and catch the winning fish---they're really missing out! I couldn't have said it better myself.

It has nothing to do with winning the thing, placing in the top three, glory, fame, cash and free kayaks---or even winning your freaking $20 back! It's about making the most out of your time on the water. Whether that means learning more about catching a particular species or simply a better excuse for the wife---to go fishing---is up to you. Getting excited when you catch that monster and freaking out when your closest competitor is on the web-cam holding one of his own. That being said, it's not too late to enter. There's ten months left in this marathon event. Enter with your fishing buddy and compete against them. Perhaps, make a wager between the two of you; that whoever places higher gets his $20 back. Hell, throw in a round of drinks to sweeten the bet if you're feeling frisky; freakin' make it rain at Cheetahs for all I care! All in the name of good, clean wholesome fun, of course.


De Ja Vu? No, this isn't the same fish from last months submissions. These fish were caught this past Friday. Speaking of good, clean wholesome fun: Tell the wife that some days you'll be gone a long time. That if you find the fish, you're not leaving! Hopefully, someday you find multiple species chewing and go home with sore arms 'ta boot. Seek and ye shall find!

Being a well known advocate for holding off on current reports, on the internet anyway, I also know I'm not blowing some secret bite with this current report here. Having a great read on current conditions, believe me, a heavy dose of discretion was used. I mean, really, this is the time of year everyone knows fish are around. If this is news to you, well, keep doing those internet searches; wasting time that would be better spent on the ocean. Last season, April to be specific, was the best month for Yellowtail fishing in La Jolla. I doubt you'll gather that from any landing totals or fishing report archives. If you were the guy waiting for August and warm water rushing up the Coast, well, sorry Charlie. The guys who put in their time, all-year-long, could barely reel in another fish by the time August rolled around last year. This season looks pretty similar so far if you asked me, too. While I hope we get a solid push of warm water and giant schools of hungry Pelagic species---much like the surf---I'll believe it when I see it! The fish, much like solid surf, is here when it's here and that's that. If you're waiting to hear about it before getting off your a$$, you might as well plan on blowing another season.


Some fish photos don't need to be cropped or the colors altered, in order to make a fish look their best. Some fish just look silly by themselves; look at the head on this thing! This one's straight off the Go Pro camera without any Photoshop to the Cali-Gold light. I love when the tourists on the beach say "sure is a nice day" and I reply "yep, another one!" We are truly spoiled in Southern California when it comes to weather. Lack of jobs, gas prices and real-estate are another thing entirely, though.

While the fishing is very fickle right now, it's pretty damn good if you're paying close attention. Conditions are constantly changing; hourly for that matter. It's windy on most days, with surface conditions going from grease calm to hazardous in minutes . The water has been ranging from blue to sandy green depending on where you look. And most of all, like every year at this time---the fish are here. The kelp beds from Northern Baja to Malibu are holding enough ghosts to make a squid swallow his tongue with fear. The Yellowtail are being Yellowtail and the guys who know how to target them aren't complaining.

If anything, I'd love to see my fellow competitors submit their slam this month, too. If this post inspires you to fish that one extra day, or produce a slam of your own, it was worth my time to write it.

Good luck to all in the month of June!