Ghost Fever...

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by Iceman

S I figured this out yesterday and pulled my posts. I also cleaned up some others that did not belong

Cool

[nmbrinkman]

Originally Posted by dorado50

To me this thread is'nt about Josh at all, except that he caught some awesome wsb recently, which to me is outstanding!

To me this is not "ridiculous" but rather an effort on my part to understand. And also so that maybe others in a similar situation will know when and how to release.

I agree to a point. I enjoy Josh's reports and don't try to read into it anymore than what it is.

You rarely see people creating fake usernames or coming out of the woodwork to criticize anyone but some of BWE's "top performers". Those "one post wonders" are what made this thread ridiculous. And like Matt said earlier, lings and sheephead have been boated out of season and posted here. Not nearly the response as displayed here. That is why I threw in the "anyone but Josh" comment.

I also happen to believe that this train left the realm of understanding and a vicarious learning experience pages ago. I read it and enjoyed it when he first posted the report. It went south from there. I may not have done the same but I honestly don't care about the violation in question. There are more productive things to do than "hate" on one person.

I think we're on the same page here... Maybe you misinterpreted my point.

[KW]

Great job Josh! I'm envious big time as I came up empty on the wsb yesterday. I was the guy launching right behind you in the blue Scupper Pro.

I got into a epic ling bite when I gave up on the croakers a little deeper out yesterday. Maybe I was in violation as I was trying to limit on reds but kept getting ling bit every other fish? Who cares......

Seriously, I have seen a Hell of a lot worse... guys handing off fish from boats and yaks....Also gaffing fish with a legal ghosts on the hatch and then floating the smaller (dead) one so they can keep the bigger prize.....

Great video of the release as well... you could have very easily stoked out another yak by handing off that fish, but you did not....Epic job man!

KW

[-scallywag-]

this is a sticky subject; after reading josh's original post, with his knowledge, love and caring for the fish, "I" feel that he did nothing illegal....but after some thought and comparison to the guy on BD who caught a BSB, pulled it onto the deck of his PB, took some pictures THEN released it I can start to see where the line is blurred....the only obvious difference, josh loved that fish and teated it like his own child, plus technically, it was never "on" his boat

DARKHORSE - Please don't stop posting your reports and pics....use photo shop, don't post your techniques or spots, we don't care....i know i have learned a ton from this post as well as others you have written. Plus you inspire everyone to do thier own research, try new techniques, post thier own pics/reports, and most importantly to LOVE THE OCEAN (now i sound like a dang hippie)

[driftwood]

Some people are self made. Josh by choice made himself a fish whisper.
"If there is a need fill it" Josh fills that need very nicely and helps many to catch their first trophy a dream come true worth every penny!
I was with Josh yesterday and he pulled up a monster WSB and imiditly released it. He never offered it to none of his cliants because he would just say.. Catch your own. And by the way, Josh came in with zero fish yesterday but some of his cliants did hook up (50 pound WSB)
Soon the limit on WSB will be 3 daily and many of you will be coming in with 2 or even 3 WSB on your kayak or boat. So here is a rhetorical question. Just because its legal does it make it morally correct?

[FISHIONADO]

I've known Josh for several years and consider him a very ethical fisherman and brother. I didn't recognize an issue at all until the Chicken person pointed it out. Once recognized you've just got to say, I would do it differently next time. Live and learn and share with others so they can avoid a mistake. Peace all.

[Tman]

Oh chit, what'd I miss....

I remember getting bashed for letting Clay keep his first Calico...a 22"er...

Now, if you'll excuse me, gotta go and cook up some duck that I snatched, er, I mean, that followed me home from the Ralph's on Poinsettia...collapsed right as he got to my place...imagine that...

[dos ballenas]

and the bartender said, can't you donkeys read the sign, no mulling around!

To sum it up, just do the right thing and nobody will get their panties in a knot

Everyone has their own opinion, and most are like assholes: stinky.

If it had been me, I would have immediatley stopped fishing after catching that first wsb.

Followed it up with a cold beer and some time spent reflecting on the fish I had just silenced, sent my condolences to the fish gods and then paddled in.

But thats just me. And in my opinion, any other response would be disrespectful to the fishery.

No matter how thriving you "THINK" the wsb stocks are Josh, it was still a bad call. I mean no disrespect, your fishing skill as always amazes us all... but your judgement was once again questionable, nice edit of your post by the way.

Nobody can say for sure if the released fish survived. After an experience like getting torn through the kelp, many fish are in shock. A tired and disorientated fish can become easy prey to the numerous sharks which are known to follow white seabass schools.

See the post by Jim Day... there were lots of sharks around the day that beautiful wsb was released by the "fish wisperer"... granted, if that fish found a nice piece of Macrocystis pyrifera to curl up and take a long nap in, then the fish most likely survived.

In my opinion that wsb wasn't feeling so hot when he swam SLOWLY away. No matter how long it took to get that picture and pull the fish carefully out of the water, it was too long in my opinion.

Sorry guys, I was feeling a little left out not contributing to this rant... as I am usually the first one to call someone out, I feel much better now, oh internet, how I love thee.

see you on the water!, and maybe

Owyn

[chris138]

Bump to the time that La Jolla's greatest hero got heckled by some kooks, and one very smart oceanographer.

Funny how even back in 2009 people we're talking about how BWE is just not like it "used to be".

Who else misses reading the work of the Darkhorse?

PS- I saw this legend at the launch the other day... guess what... he still catches more fish than the rest of us.

Cheers!

[dsafety]

I am with you Chris. I personally learned a lot from being around our friend and mentor. It is too bad that the Darkhorse has gone, well, dark, but many of the best fishers from back in the day have done the same thing.

Wouldn't be great if, despite the steadily worsening fishing conditions around here, the kayak fishing community could revive itself in protest? I am not suggesting actual protests but maybe a revival of the open communications and friendly competition that made things so great back just a few years ago.

I for one promise to post a report, even if it is a skunk, whenever I go out. Hopefully others will do the same.

And Josh, please remember that for many of us your epic posts and on the water instructions will be fondly remembered by many of us forever.

Thanks for the shout out Chris.

[blackcloud9]

Good times! I shot all the photos and video that day with Josh.

Here's that video, posted on Vimeo:

[DESTROYER]

Originally Posted by dsafety

I am with you Chris. I personally learned a lot from being around our friend and mentor. It is too bad that the Darkhorse has gone, well, dark, but many of the best fishers from back in the day have done the same thing.

Wouldn't be great if, despite the steadily worsening fishing conditions around here, the kayak fishing community could revive itself in protest? I am not suggesting actual protests but maybe a revival of the open communications and friendly competition that made things so great back just a few years ago.

I for one promise to post a report, even if it is a skunk, whenever I go out. Hopefully others will do the same.

And Josh, please remember that for many of us your epic posts and on the water instructions will be fondly remembered by many of us forever.

Thanks for the shout out Chris.

Social Media killed the website based reports. I hung up the kayak after doing it for 13 years in its infancy but you are welcome to follow my adventures on IG destroyer619 or ballastpointfishingteam. I sometimes miss being on the yak but launching into cold waves at 4 a.m. LOL. Josh for sure was a fish whisperer. I still find myself checking BWE weekly though. Hope everyone is healthy and safe

[chris138]

Originally Posted by blackcloud9

Good times! I shot all the photos and video that day with Josh.

Here's that video, posted on Vimeo:

Larry awesome thank you for sharing!

[chris138]

Originally Posted by DESTROYER

Social Media killed the website based reports. I hung up the kayak after doing it for 13 years in its infancy but you are welcome to follow my adventures on IG destroyer619 or ballastpointfishingteam. I sometimes miss being on the yak but launching into cold waves at 4 a.m. LOL. Josh for sure was a fish whisperer. I still find myself checking BWE weekly though. Hope everyone is healthy and safe

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by Fiskadoro

.....Anyone can pull up to a wide open bite and catch fish, the trick is getting them to bite when they are not wide open. When they are around, whether they are being stupid or not.

Someone gave me a hard time about posting a reference to Josh's fish on another smaller Kayak website, saying that the report would put a hundred boats on "the bite" and they would cut off all the kayakers fish.

My thought was: "How Naive!!!"

First off if a hundred boats showed up they would not stay long as they could never get bit in the current conditions. Second the kayakers fishing around the boats would be fishing the wrong area, and never get bit as well.

Ultimately fishing is a game, a thinking process. Those who don't think may get some fish at times doing what they have always done, or what everyone else does. Those that take the time to read the situation, and figure out what's really going on can catch fish when others can not......

Funny seeing this post a decade later.

I've met a handful of fishermen like Josh in my lifetime. Incredibly talented, but also generous. I remember those trips like yesterday. Josh had the fish patterns so down he'd position himself in the kelp right where they would cruise through, right on the surface, where you could see them. Sight fishing he called it. He'd rig his asian market squid in such a way he could make it swim as if it was still alive, then patiently sit until he could stick it right in front of it's nose at just the right moment.

He showed me it all, and I soaked it up like a sponge, but he could still outfish me doing it every time.

Above I talk about some peoples naive arguments against Josh and against helping others, but in the end I was naive thinking you could have an open dialogue about such things.

This post was kind of the beginning of the end for me, in that it started a fight that never ended and eventually so poisoned the well that it was no longer fun. I fish other places now where I don't have to deal with awkward on the water confrontations, or people vandalizing my truck at the launch, but I do miss Josh, and those late nights on the cold water.

[h2ofishfo]

Man how time flys . I remember day after these posts the water would be particularly busy . People hated and loved this site . People Loved the reports And hated the exposure it would bring to lajolla . No one had a clue to what social media was going to bring . But to each there own

[the dude]

Definitely a very sharing dude and a legend. I'd PM him a question, and he'd send me like 6 paragraphs of the most solid sought after information gleaned from all his time on the water. Glad to hear he's still slaying monsters on the sled.