Ghostbuster!
 

EDIT:READ ME I made some grave errors during this landing. This was pointed out by others and I fully acknowledge this fact. The below report was written the day of the catch with as much information as came to mind while still on a bit of an adrenaline high. There is no lightly forgiving these types of mistakes as they were fundamental in nature, but it would be best if anyone, especially newer anglers can benefit from this. I've bolded some of the bigger errors with edits also appearing in italicised () after them. Please take the time to read comments and replies on pages 2 and 3 of this thread. I don't mean to come out of this looking magnanimous or oblivious, instead humble and hopeful that it will be helpful. I am truly grateful to those that called me on these things, you're doing what's best for the fishery and our public image as kayak anglers. We should all thank you. If I seem like a troll, then I'm sorry but that was not my intention of either the first post nor the subsequent comments. If you want to meet me in person i'm fine with that so you can get a better idea of who I am and what I'm about. If you simply want to yell at me and it will truly make you feel better, then I can deal with some of that as long as that's the end of it. I would love for all things to be aired out in the open on the thread, but if you feel the need to PM me that's fine. I am always learning in this sport and hope others are too. In the end, tight lines and sharp hooks to all.

Short version: Nailed a ghost! 56.8lbs, 52.4"long, female
65lb powerpro, 40lb fluoro, reverse dropper loop, 30" leader, live bait hook w/ ring

EDIT:Anyone reading this, especially newer anglers, please read comments/replies on end of pages 2 and 3 for much needed information! I made some major errors landing the fish and hope it might benefit others.

Long version:
Launched out of La Jolla about 6:15 to 1-2' waves. No timing really necessary but I always watch for a few minutes anyways. Paddled out to the kelp and attempted to make bait. Actually had some issues with this today. Made 3 greenbacks over the course of an hour or so, moving around a little here and there. Birds were diving all around and occasionally you'd see bait breaking the surface but I just couldn't make it happen. Macs were on the smaller side, around 6-8" instead of the 10"+ I've seen the last few times out.

Started making my way out west slow trolling a mac on reverse dropper loop, stopping every now and then to try to make some more bait. Got about to where I hooked up with a BSB last time out in about 80' of water, 2 cranks off the bottom (measured by pulls, I don't have any electronics) and managed 2 more macs and a sardine. I had just pinned the sardine on a live bait hook with sliding sinker on my bait rig when the big rod started going crazy. Right after, the reel started singing the good song.

It fought like a small BSB, but with shorter runs and a few more twists and turns, but the same dives etc. Got a pretty fun sleigh ride out of it though. Took about 20 minutes before I see color and low and behold up comes a big long white belly that at first glance looks like a BSB, belly up. So here I am thinking how the heck would I have the luck of hooking two BSB on two back to back outings.

But hey, at least it's something, right? So I absentmindedly get to work trying to unhook the beast. (edit:never be absentminded when working with live fish, for both your sake and theirs. First try was using the gaff as an un-hooker, but that doesn't work (didn't last time either). Got the nerve up to try to unhook w/ pliers, but got spooked when the fish twitched and I dropped my pliers (leash cut by braid fighitng the BSB last time), so I go back to trying to use the gaff to unhook it.

Yes, you read that right, I'm trying to unhook the fish. At this point, it's still belly up.

Gave up and decided to just use the edge of the gaff point to cut the line right next to the hook. It works....

Stopped caring about the fish and went to work securing my rods and paddle (Don't ever stop caring about a fish, especially if you intend to release it. Regardless of intended destination, it's a living organism that you took control of, deal with it in a responsible manner. Safety issues may take precedence, but don't mistake comfort with safety), then look up to see the fish still belly up and I figured I should go revive it (it's been unhooked and free for almost 5 minutes). I paddled up to the side of it, grab it by the base of the tail (at this point I'm realizing my brain has been trying to tell me something is wrong) and start moving the fish as if to revive it. In doing so, I roll the fish on to it's side, then right side up and realize I don't think it's a BSB. But it doesn't look like all the photos I've seen of WSB (or so I think) (Know defining characteristics of all fish you plan/hope to catch BEFORE you go out. Not just side-by-side comparisons but individual identifiers. If in doubt, release it immediately. Do or die, there is no try, just get it done). So I decide to confirm it, by pulling out my phone and one-handedly looking up identifying characteristics all while tail-grabbing the fish still in the water. After 5-10 minutes of this BS, I decide it's more than likely a WSB and not BSB(Poorly worded), so I gaff it, pull it on to my lap, almost capsize at the weight and then readjust it so it's lengthwise on the yak. I'm still not convinced at this point, so I video call my buddy for confirmation.

He gives me the greenlight, swears at me since he didn't go out with me today, then I'm off to the beach. It's an easy landing with a slightly larger (3-4'?) swell at long period. Off the water by 0915. Weighed it with a handheld scale, measured it with my 'official' work boards, and took a sample of the gonads for work (CDFW). The big girl had an empty stomach and 1kg of eggs in her cavity. Like a fool, I butchered her to be all boneless, wasting a lot of meat. I had never looked in to how to cut a WSB and the size of bones was a little intimidating. Thank goodness for having in-laws with a house, as I don't know how I would a) get the thing up my apt stairs and b) butcher it; I don't have 4' of counter space at all.

Next goals are a nice YT and a nice butt.

EDIT:Anyone reading this, especially newer anglers, please read comments/replies on end of page 2 and 3 for much needed information!.

http://i66.tinypic.com/24ergbn.jpg
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Congrats on the large WSB. Great description of the events. Enjoy the great eats.

Rad!

Crazy story! Now you know:D Nice fish bro.

Is that a trout stringer???

Congratulations! The fishing Gods were on your side. I wouldn't believe ANYBODY could mistake a white for a black, but I have to say that white would've have given me pause for thought. Darker on top than most and the absolute fattest one I've ever seen, even more than the 60+ and 70+ pigs caught a while ago. A pig for sure, you're going to get some great stones out of that head.
Aaron

Enjoyed the read! Congrats.


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Great fish. They taste even better. Looks like another beautiful San Diego day....... we are so so spoiled having such a great fishery in our backyard.

Damn, that thing is thick! You should look into buying a lottery ticket after hearing that story.


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Fattie! Old school methods too! Big congrats! Jim

When I read the original post I saw a 52 inch wsb weighing over 56 lbs and I immediately called BS. And then came the photos. What a tanker. Hope your previous BSB wasn't the same species.

Been there
 

Great story and good recovery.
Been there, sometimes you get something stuck in your head and even though the fact say different you can't convince yourself your wrong.

WOOOWWWWW!!! Congrats :cheers1:

Awesome bro!!!

Welcome to LJ!

Nice work and great read!

Geno

:wsb:

:cheers1:

Congrats and yes do play the lotto cause that was some luck for not losing that fish at the end...

The first pic I saw thought bsb then when I went to the next pic its was very clear its a WSB. You are one luck guy, like Mo said go buy a lottery ticket.

Dude taking a hands on marine biology class on the water priceless man :eek:

Beautiful fish! Nice work! The yt and butts will be easy now!

Out of curiosity what do you do with the gonads for the CDFW?

What a tanker!

Congrats!

Wow! Good thing it didnt swim back down before you realized what you had. Enjoy the good eats. Great catch

Nice fish!

Best catching story of the year!

Andy

That's a stout WSB. She does look a little like a black though with the darker coloring. Maybe her great-grandfather was a black? =)

Dude, your boat looks like it's nothing but an empty hull!

Nice fat fish!

YUM! Nice catch!

You eat those eggs? I want to get my hands on some cbass roe so that I can try to fake up some botarga for my pasta. Yum.

Wow! That's a heck of a story and memory that will be told for many years to come! CONGRATS

Congratulations?
 

I inferred from your post that you were CDFW....as in "California Department of Fish and Wildlife". You couldn't identify a WSB?
Aren't you the guys who ticket us when we F!^# up on our rockfish identification? Were you so clueless as to your own profession that you did not realize that WSB are lazy bitches and often go tits up after a run or two, belly up is not uncommon.
To me, anyways, the most offensive part is where you state that you cut the "BSB" free and let it float next to you for 5 minutes before checking it out and trying to revive it. Really? WTF?
Way to lead from the front.

Ummm...

I was wondering the same thing, who lets a fish float belly up for five minutes if they are releasing it. Seems to me the first thing you do is revive the fish. Then on to other things.

First and foremost let me begin by congratulating you on a fine specimen. However, there are questions that I'm sure others would like to ask but don't because they don't want to kill your stoke.

So, let's begin at the beginning.

Your thread says

Stopped caring about the fish and went to work securing my rods and paddle,


I will call you out on this comment for one reason and that reason is that you work for the CDFW. Your first and only priority at that time should have been the fish and not your rod or paddle or whatever you were dealing with.

Second thing I'd like to bring up is the following comment, you said

After 5-10 minutes of this BS, I decide it's more than likely a WSB and not BSB, so I gaff it

Really? You weren't sure so you decided the best thing to do was gaff it?

It sounds like the whole thing took place over the course of 10-15minutes.........that's way to long of a time to decide whether or not you had a trophy fish or a fish that is completely off limits.



By the time you're done reading this you'll probably be like, 'who the f*ck is this clown' and it would probably be to late for me to say not to take it personal but I hope this event and my comments served a purpose, not just to you but to everyone else that cannot tell the difference between a wsb and a bsb.

If it makes you feel any better I had a similar experience many years ago but when the fish came up belly up I knew Gaffing it was the last thing I wanted to do. The moment that fish came up I dropped everything and my priority was the fish.........yes, it was a bsb.


Again, nice trophy fish.

It looks like someone beat me to the punch

First to punch...
 

Not the first or the last time George. ;)

We are on the same page brother, it's far too easy to give the forum "nod, smile, and high-five" while looking at the Fish and intel without actually reading. No comprehension. Good catch.

First: responding to these as they were posted.

Yup. Only thing I had on hand besides the webbing and clip that you see on the other side. Definitely need to get a game clip as reaching my hand through the gills/mouth is not an experience I want to repeat.

Still working on that myself, let you know when I find out.

It essentially is. It's a discontinued Native (brand) Magic (model) kayak. Essentially if a canoe and SOT had a baby.

I would not know where to start a comment on this post (but congratulations would not be on the list).

Whizz Bang
Harry Hill
jorluivil
GregAndrew

To these guys, going to try to post more individualized responses to your posts in a second as I write them. Three things to keep in mind please.
a) What I write is a reflection of me, myself and my knowledge, not any job/agency etc.
b) I truly appreciate your honest comments and criticism. I am learning as I go and will never stop learning. Despite latent anger and frustration at past actions of myself or others, I would greatly appreciate continuing on in a productive conversation.
c) I wrote down the events as I could remember in as much entirety as I could remember. They are not all of my proudest moments, but I feel that any information (including things done wrong) can benefit the community, especially newer anglers so they can learn not just from what I did, but what should have been done instead etc. I welcome any and all statements as long as we can try to keep it in line with (b) above.

Whizz
Yes, you inferred correctly. I got hired at CDFW two months ago as a SciAid (read:entry level) working on some lobster stuff and some sand bass/kelp bass projects. Please accept that I can ID those and at least several other species quite well. My experiene ID'ing WSB has been from photos posted of catches displayed proudly and already ID'd as such. While I felt comfortable from that point of view, I had never taken the time to look for definite characteristics/traits, like the raised line on the belly. Before this, I had just gone with a general gut feeling and it wasn't cutting it at the time especially as I was mostly viewing the fish upside down. I had only read a few blurbs about WSB coming up exhausted and didn't know how it compared to my only other first hand experience of a BSB coming up belly up. My preconceptions were that a WSB would come up with more energy left than that, and would look more 'slug-like' for lack of a better descriptor.

As far as rockfish go, I know a few, but not all. And my position doesn't require that I know them. Thankfully I am about as far away from the enforcement department as possible.

This I fully agree with. Again, my comparison with my previous fish led me to think that maybe they all regain vigor fairly quickly and independently. My first fish was tail flipping before I managed to unhook it and headed to the bottom again like a dropped brick.

I stopped actively watching the fish while sorting out what was going on with my rods/lines. My spinning bait setup was just spread out on my yak over my paddle with more line out than would be preferred. That got organized and stowed in my single rod holder. Did a quick weight removal and windup on my main setup to get rid of loose line and got my paddle situated.

During this time I was aware of where the fish was and generally what, if anything it was doing. In addition to learning more about ID'ing, I should have just quickly situated rods/hooks so that I could safely paddle/balance and tended to the fish. I fully acknowledge my f*ck up here and urge anyone reading to remember that we should do our best to care for the fish's well being second only to our safety (debatable), not necessarily our comfort.

I attempt to lead no one, especially not from the front. I really hope that anyone who sees what I have done can learn from this.

Very fully agreed in theory, I also very fully failed to follow through in practice. Definitely not an outstanding act. Quoting my reply to Whizz:

Cool story and great memories for sure.