La Jolla 4-12-08 WSB

[TomTurtle]

Got to the launch at 5:30. One other unloading and myself. Waited for some friends to show up. By 6am the launch was a zoo. Made it out about sunrise, 6:20ish. Went straight out from the hotel and made a few spanish past the reserve buoys. My buddy Weightman decided to test the bouyancy of my pliers. By the way, they don't float. Thanks Jeff.

Trolled one carolina rigged down the kelp line. Noticed some birds crashing a little further outside. There was a fair amount of bird activity today. Started the paddle towards the action and get a zip on the trolled spanish. Wait a second and set the hook. FISH ON!... then off. It wrapped some kelp and came off. I was looking down and saw a flash of white disappear. Was that... Nah...

Pinned on a nice sized greenie and continued to troll towards the birds. As I got into the area, I get a good zing on my clicker. Pick up the rod then get another good zing. Swing on it- FISH ON! I worked it in pretty quickly and even got a nice half breach jump out of the fish. I gaffed it in about 5 or 6 minutes. A beautiful white seabass. Not sure the weight but it measured 53 inches and was very stout. Paddled back to my friends. Let them know I was headed in for the day. Did the happy paddle back to an easy landing at shore.

Back on the beach I was approached by another guy who caught a white- probably about 40 inches or so. I saw a spearo with a similar sized fish to that one as well.

Pics on the way. GET OUT THERE AND GET ONE!

(sorry to the La Jolla regulars because I probably just blew up LJ for the week, but I like to see people get on the water)


Shoots!

Tom

[nmbrinkman]

That's not a WSB... That's a corvina. No WSB in LJ.







































Way to go on the fish. (BS w/out pics!)

[Shortbite]

bs

[TomTurtle]

Originally Posted by Shortbite

bs

In your face Charlie Murphy.

[spooky007]

Very nice fish!!!

[dorado50]

Very nice fish! Its no secret ,LJ is full of wsb,yellowtail,hali,etc... just gotta be at the right place at the right time! Out of curiosity why do do like to see people on the water?

[TomTurtle]

Originally Posted by dorado50

Very nice fish! Its no secret ,LJ is full of wsb,yellowtail,hali,etc... just gotta be at the right place at the right time! Out of curiosity why do do like to see people on the water?

A lot of people have stopped posting their catch until well after their experience. If my catch motivates somebody to stop watching the Masters and get out and fish I think that is rad, and I wish them the best of luck. I know that seeing threads is what originally got me stoked on this sport and out on the water!

[Minix008]

THat is tru the threads get me all pumped up as well, nice fish, im going out of alamitos bay tom. Ill let you guys know how i do

NIck

[LITTLE_NEMO]

I agree I would have never got into fishing of my yak if people never posted well i am going out again tomorrow give you the weekend report on monday

Oh and i will be the first one to say it

I HATE YOU TOM lol


Nice fish

[sdcityboy]

tom, today you are my hero! I like to see people on the water too!

[Iceman]

Very nice fish! my February one was 53 inches and coincidentally 53# for reference.

Congrats!

[TomTurtle]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Very nice fish! my February one was 53 inches and coincidentally 53# for reference.

Congrats!

Wow! Thanks for the reference point!

If I don't know the weight I omit it because my eye scale tends to be on the heavy side.

I actually went by JP's Bait and Tackle shop after I got off the water. I needed to buy a new fillet knife and this catch gave me reason enough. They ended up hooking me up with a fillet knife for free so I swung back by later and gave the guys at the shop a few fillets. Good helpful crew over there by the way.

[dgax65]

Nice fish. Were in the hell did you get that crazy bait tank?

[TomTurtle]

Originally Posted by dgax65

Nice fish. Were in the hell did you get that crazy bait tank?

Ha! It's got your name as a registered trademark on the top of it right?

The bait tank is still running strong. I need to replace the battery though, due to, well.... lets call it operator error the other evening. I need to invest some down time into tuning everything up for summer. Tighten a few screws here and there and shorten the rudder pulley a bit. Other than that the "mighty drifter" has held up great for me. Still catching fish! Thanks as always. see ya out there!

[Rusty]

Nice Feesh !!!

[jscott]

Nice fish.

And I agree...many of us (if not most of us) got involved by either reading reports online, reading reports in WON, or knowing someone who caught a lot of great fish off their kayak. So withholding information, kind of takes that away from future kayakers.

[gotz togo fishin]

I too like seeing people on the water. What i dont like is 100 PBRS crossing right in front of me going 50 miles an hour!

[lamb]

Beautiful fish, big time congrats!!!!

[FISHIONADO]

Nice fish! Thanks for posting. Was it warm in that wetsuit?

[TomTurtle]

Originally Posted by FISHIONADO

Nice fish! Thanks for posting. Was it warm in that wetsuit?

The drifter tends to turn into a bit of a swimming pool up in the cockpit. Makes for chilly mornings so the waders are a must for me. Not quite boardshort weather in the am yet!