Beer Bellys

It started with one phone call on Monday, President’s Day. Greenjeans just got back from LJ and claimed he saw lots of Yellows being caught. Although none came his way. He suggested I might give it a try. As a back up, I emailed Adi with lots of questions. Adi’s reply: “We have Yellows year-round at La Jolla.” What did I expect from Adi? Hell’s bells, I decided to give it a try on Tuesday. The super high tide prevented a beach launch. And a couple of foot-pumping dingy-inflatable fisherman with a small trolling motor made for entertainment while attempting a surf launch. I laughed my ass off, until I saw them bring a huge WSB. Then I cried my ass off. Much to everyone’s surprise, a WSB bite broke wide open around 8am and lasted an hour. If you had live squid, you were in there, otherwise you just got in the way. I was given a couple of squid by Owen, then quickly proceeded to farm my only hook-up of the day. I must have seen at least 10 WSB that day that were over 40lbs. Tuesday nite, I get a phone call from San Deigo. It’s my old friend Adi. He wants to know what’s really going on at LJ. Hey Adi, there’s WSB at LJ all year round. On Wednesday, I met Greenjeans and both of us were hoping I wasn’t having a LSD flashback on Tuesday. And, that there really was a WSB bite going on. As far as the live squids go, I brought a 6-pac of Heinekens for some horse- trading in case I couldn’t find any squids. Lucky for me Greensjeans found a boater who was giving squids away. So we were loaded and ready to go. On Wednesday, the bite started at 9am, and lasted an hour. First Greenjeans got hooked up with a 55lb WSB, then Dave Easton with his two. I start paddling over to their spot and notice Pat Esdees with a look of despair on his face. “Need any squid?” I asked. Pat came running. 5 minutes later, Pat’s on within the same area. He pulls up a monster WSB. Finally it’s my turn. I’ve got a nice yellow. I bring it to gaff, took a swing and although I missed the fish, I broke my line. My yellow is free swimming near my yak. And by the grace of God Almighty, I get one more swing and it’s a hit. Right after that, two guys in a small boat simultaneously hook up with WSB. After they landed their fish, they call me over and show me their earlier catch. A 43lb halibut. > > What a day. I was like being in the middle of a Discovery Channel documentary. Three days later my mom is cooking up fish soup with some Yellowtail I had given her. She calls me at work to tell me she found a hook with a short little nylon string connected to it in the Yellowtail’s mouth. I told her to keep it, but if she found a Heineken in its belly, well, that was mine. While she enjoyed Yellowtail soup, I took the belly meat, diced it, boiled it and turned it into a Tuna Salad Sandwich. Mmmm Yummy. PS. If the formatting is all screwed up, it's Adi fault. Yani