[Matt]

Well hit the launch at around 5:30 a.m. to a cold ass wind and not very nice conditions.....didn't make me smile as I forgot both my jacket and my waders. Decided to go check the big rock launch and drove around LJ looking for other possible alternatives. All the launches looked very easy and all looked very windy. Finally decided to drive on back to the shores and take a final look, pulled up and saw 3 or 4 other guys launching, thus shaming me into a launch. Paddled on out to the kelp to look for bait around 7:30 a.m. found three spanish and headed on out, paddled out past hospitals and almost to the half. Rather hellish, bumpy, mixed up swell and mixed up current had the boat rocking like a fat stripper giving you a lap dance!!! Finally get sick of it and start paddling on in when all of a sudden zzzzz....zzzzzz..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz "I'm on!!!!" Big fish lots of power and gunning it straight for the stringers....try to button down the drag a bit but she's making a run for it and my seeker is straight bendo......tighten the drag a bit more and I am now effectively kelped...let the sawing begin!! I was popping stringers the whole way, after about 5 minutes she takes another big run and has my rod pinned to the boat as the stringer popping continues. Finally get a look down for color and sure enough it's the right kind!!! Kept sawing and pulling up kelp and biting through it with my teeth, blindly sink the gaff into a mess of kelp with flouro out the top and lo and behold I got's me a LJ YT !!!!! I don't need no baja!!! She went 41.5" 28 lbs. 15oz. What's up sucka fresh the phat kidd's back in the game!! Got 3 days left to find another!!!