WSB of a Lifetime

[wavster]

There's been a lot of talk of tips and tricks
and the evangelical musings of a "Fish Whisperer",
all in an effort to find that first WSB or maybe
an upgrade to a larger model.

I've found however, that the old adage
"Bigger bait = bigger fish"
really is the best advice one could give.

With limited time on the water lately,
I needed to stack the deck in my favor.

Dorado50 and I went down to the Asian Market
to find some choice squid. We found the usual
fare, but then spotted a single 18 inch behemoth.



Using a 14/O hook and 5oz of lead stitched
into the mantle, we rigged up the
prize squid on a 100lb fluoro leader on
85# braid.

I ventured deep into the kelp and looked for
a pot hole to drop in my bait. After an
hour of nothing, I moved to the edge of
the kelp.

On the first drop, it thought I got snagged
on the kelp, so I gave the line some slack
and tried to reel again. Now the line wouldn't
even budge. I put the reel in free spool for
slack and my line started peeling!

I put the reel in gear, but line was peeling
off the spool as if in free spool. With the
drag as tight as it would go, I wasn't making
any headway. Dorado50 was able to intercept
as I was towed out toward the canyon.

Seeing that I wasn't slowing down, he was able
to use his gaff to grab my kayak to help stop
this fish. Or so we thought...

After sounding a couple of times, this fish
headed to the canyon then veered West. Now
Dave and I were both being pulled beyond the
canyon away from the fishing grounds.

One good thing about WSB is that they tire
quickly, though that can be a relative term.
This monster began to give up after nearly
45 minutes and multiple soundings.

Once we got him to the surface we were amazed
at the sheer size. It took both of us to get
it into my kayak, with Dorado50 actually
getting in the water to help hoist it up.

After a long happy paddle back to the beach
we got this shot from a curious tourist.