Saw a guy fishing off the beach at Fanuel Park in Pacific Beach while I was jogging with my dog. I asked him how he was doing and he pointed to the sail boat about 15 feet behind him. Laying there was this, what I'm 99.99% confident is a baby WSB. Same gills, same scales on the back and can't miss that wedged face. The only thing that had me confused is that it came out of mission bay, nowhere near the mouth of the bay.
He swore he said it was a Corbina. I know Corbina have that little whisker on their lower lip and tried to point it out. He didn't want to hear it, yet kept insisting it wasn't a WSB. I hadn't even mentioned I thought it was a WSB yet, so I assume he had suspicion it was. After I told him it was in fact a WSB he went on to tell me about some special little spot WSB have when they are born.
Lots of conversation back and forth and him telling me god sent him that fish since he just lost his job and can't afford to eat blah blah, I walked away. The fish was long gone so trying to safely return it to the ocean wasn't an option, I walked away and called DFG. Closest warden was 25-40 minutes away. I waited around watching from afar and didn't give him the heads up, but he quickly packed up and left. I tried to keep him around but he insisted he had to go. I really hate to be a snitch but poaching is a big no no in my book.
Also if you notice, he completely ripped its jaw apart getting the jig out. So even if he released it that thing didn't have a fighting chance at survival.
Anyway, I needed to vent.