LJ 8-13

[dsafety]

Mark, (Fish11), and I met at the launch way too early for my preference. We were greeted by almost surreal conditions. First light and a minus tide exposed over 100 yards of normally hidden sand that was coated with many thousands of colorful tiny clams. The 6" surf and glassy water added to the unusual scene.

I grew up in La Jolla and was a lifeguard at the Shores fifty years ago but I have to confess that I have never seen that beach look quite the way it did that morning. Very cool.

Somehow we managed to make it through the ripples and headed west. We were shadowed for a while by a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphin. Beautiful creatures indeed.

Making bait proved to be very difficult. After about an hour or so, we were only able to catch a couple Spanish each, although I did hook a good sized Calico on my sabiki.

We made it past the seals that were patrolling the kelp and started trolling. No action. Occasionally we would stop and drop the sabiki flies at a likely spot hoping to catch a few more mackerel. Eventually we found the spot and filled our bait tanks. I was only able to catch a few small Spanish but Mark landed a beautiful 12" Greeny that we were certain would attract something that would make a wonderful dinner.

We trolled and trolled... nothing. There were a dozen or so other yackfishers widely scattered on the water. I did not see or hear any indications that any of our neighbors had found success. Oh well, it was still a beautiful day on the water.

One of the nice things about fishing with a partner is that there is an extra set of eyes and ears keeping a lookout for the dogs. Multiple times we were forced to quickly reel in with the hope that we would be able to deny our precious bait from becoming some seal's breakfast. We were successful most of the time but the dog's certainly got their share... including Mark's big Greeny.

The morning became one that mostly consisted of slow trolling and lots of talking, as Mark and I got to know one another. It turns out that he and I were classmates at La Jolla High back in the '60s. What are the chances of that?

Suddenly, there was an unfamiliar sound. Line was screaming off of my reel. The fish took a lot of line but I was eventually able to halt the run. It has been several years since I caught a big fish so my memory was a bit rusty about the experience. Whatever I had on the other end of the line was certainly a keeper... if I could bring it in.


The next ten minutes was a great tug of war. The fish would run and I would eventually regain the lost line. Then the fish found the kelp.

With Mark coaching me on how to play the fish so the braid cut through the kelp without ripping the hook from the mouth of my prize, I started to make some ground. Pop, pop, pop was the sound as my line sliced through the strands of kelp. Once, I almost went overboard as I was pulling hard and off balance when one strand let loose.

Slowly I began to make some progress. Still no color but the fish was clearly tiring. How big was it? 20lbs? 50lbs? Suddenly there was a beautiful flash of blue, green ...and yellow. I had almost forgotten how much fun it was to catch a YT.

I brought the fish to the surface. It was much smaller than it fought. The fish was so worn out that I did not even need to use the gaff. I grabbed the gills and lifted my prize into my yak and attached the game clip. What a rush.

Back on the beach we were mobbed by tourists all asking the obvious questions. Did you catch that? Where do you fish? What kind of fish is that? Is it good to eat? I didn't mind.


Mark had a scale with him. We determined that my 50 lb Yellowtail actually weighed a little more than 16 lbs. Not a trophy fish but certainly worth the effort.

From what I could tell, most of the other guys fishing LJ that day did not share in my good luck. Maybe next time. I want to thank Mark for being my wingman and for putting us on a spot where success would be possible.

We will have to try this again soon.



Bob

[Beer Me]

I was waiting for this other report!

Threat write up, thanks for the report and congrats on your 16# +/- 34# catch


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[FISH11]

Glad to see your post Bob, I did not want to share on here with others, until you had a chance to tell the story from your perspective. Great write up, the words show your joy at re-experiencing that beautiful sound of braid peeling and drag screaming. I just love the fight of Yellowtail even the smaller ones pull really strong, they just don't keep it up as long, but it just means it saves your arms for more. I'm also glad you enjoyed the fine meal and that it tasted better than you remembered. Can't wait to do it again! Thanks for sharing!

[DanaPT]

Nice work!

[Big John]

Very nice!


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[trollindirty]

Very nice. Congrats. Coming home with a YT is a success as far as I'm concerned.

[CardShark]

Well done

[YakDout]

Nice, welcome back.

[summers in kuwait]

nice to see you back Bob!
Congrats on the catch!

[jbl_91762]

Thanks for posting and nice catch! I wish the bite was better as it takes me almost 2 hours to get down there and fish. Been skunked twice now over the years and no fun after a long day of driving fishing and all that with no YT or Butt to show.

[JohnMckroidJr]

Nice write up -- Congratulations!