Aug 1, BSB report - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

gary sullivan · 08-03-2007, 02:58 PM

Wednesday started with no high expectations as reports from the previous couple of days were basically, scarce bait and no fish. I was hoping for the first game fish of the month so I made the early morning pilgrimage to La Jolla Shores. There was only a small handful making their way to the pier for bait. I talked with an old familiar face, Andy, who found a way to hit his favorite haunt. My can of cat food didn't bring the desired result but a piece of squid donated by Jason Scott tipping my sabiki hooks did the trick. One nice greenie was all I needed to get started, figuring I'd run into a bait ball once into the fishing grounds. Disappointingly I saw only one but filled the the hooks with big macs on the one retrieve. With no luck on the forkies by nine I headed to my halibut honey hole that was so nice to me the week before. Using the same setup, a 3 oz. carolina rig, I drifted a 10-12 inch greenie in 45 feet of water. Fifteen minutes later the clicker goes off but not at high speed. I engaged the drag and got a couple of head shakes initially before the fish started to easily come my way. Thinking, all right! another halibut, until the fish turned and headed out to sea. The power that mystery fish had over me was unreal. I was definitely going for a ride whether I liked it or not. Jason followed with camera in hand to get the action shots. After a half hour and a quarter mile out to sea I was concerned the fight was going to be an all day affair. I would get the fish up to the same point on my reel when he would go right back down again, each time losing the five minutes of time getting him to that point. Jason had a job to get to but patiently stayed with me until the fish finally showed himself fifteen minutes later. It turned out to be my first black seabass. What a magnificent fish. The hook was so far down its' throat I couldn't even see it, so I was forced to cut the leader near his mouth. We were able to turn him right side up and send him down within five minutes so hopefully he will be o.k. Outside of a soupfin shark caught last year this is my biggest fish to date. Jason estimated it to be in the 80-100 pound range. I can see why Matt last week was somewhat annoyed for hooking into one of those monsters. It takes you away from the playground for quite a little while. I still enjoyed the fight and the thrill of bringing to yakside a fish almost as big as me. BTW Yanni, be proud and believe in your shirt, “Old Guys Rule”.

JrBasser · 08-03-2007, 03:03 PM

Nice fish! Those things rock. I too thought I had a big halibut when I caught my first one, especially when I saw the brown with spots at deep color. I was a little disapointed and excited at the same time!

They are a great way to pass the time when nothing else shows.

FISHIONADO · 08-03-2007, 03:13 PM

Very cool Gary! I use the same "tickle with my feet" technique to get them to go down. If you repeat that to my wife I would have to kill you. lol

jscott · 08-03-2007, 07:44 PM

Na--- he's fibbing. The 10-12" mackeral! NOOOO!

It's his foot! That's the bait! That's his secret! Cat's out the bag now!

You've had a 'reel' knack for catching some big fish lately, Gary! Can I borrow your feet??

GHOSTHUNTR · 08-03-2007, 08:34 PM

WTG, Gary. Really cool picture, too.

08-03-2007, 08:54 PM

To The Ruler of The Old Guys,
(us old guys, that is)

Way to show those young
guys how to do it!

This past week has been tough
at LJ. And Wed was especially
slow. The only thing I saw all day
was a group of young berries
doing back flips on bait.

But you scored again! Gary, you're
on a roll. Not bad for an Old Guy.

Yani

Matt · 08-03-2007, 11:00 PM

Congrats Gary!! Yea....mine bummed me out a bit, more for the reason of I am always scared I won't be able to revive it!! It is really impressive to see how wet it got both me and Tyler first thing in the morning too!! They are wickedly cool fish and BSB are actually the whole reason I have a 18" rapala dehooking tool. I saw Brad use one last year on Tyler's BSB and I have carried it ever since, super useful on the prehistoric and toothy fellas too!! Awesome fish my man!! You are kicking some serious ass out there lately!!

08-03-2007, 02:58 PM	#1
gary sullivan Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: spring valley Posts: 191	Aug 1, BSB report Wednesday started with no high expectations as reports from the previous couple of days were basically, scarce bait and no fish. I was hoping for the first game fish of the month so I made the early morning pilgrimage to La Jolla Shores. There was only a small handful making their way to the pier for bait. I talked with an old familiar face, Andy, who found a way to hit his favorite haunt. My can of cat food didn't bring the desired result but a piece of squid donated by Jason Scott tipping my sabiki hooks did the trick. One nice greenie was all I needed to get started, figuring I'd run into a bait ball once into the fishing grounds. Disappointingly I saw only one but filled the the hooks with big macs on the one retrieve. With no luck on the forkies by nine I headed to my halibut honey hole that was so nice to me the week before. Using the same setup, a 3 oz. carolina rig, I drifted a 10-12 inch greenie in 45 feet of water. Fifteen minutes later the clicker goes off but not at high speed. I engaged the drag and got a couple of head shakes initially before the fish started to easily come my way. Thinking, all right! another halibut, until the fish turned and headed out to sea. The power that mystery fish had over me was unreal. I was definitely going for a ride whether I liked it or not. Jason followed with camera in hand to get the action shots. After a half hour and a quarter mile out to sea I was concerned the fight was going to be an all day affair. I would get the fish up to the same point on my reel when he would go right back down again, each time losing the five minutes of time getting him to that point. Jason had a job to get to but patiently stayed with me until the fish finally showed himself fifteen minutes later. It turned out to be my first black seabass. What a magnificent fish. The hook was so far down its' throat I couldn't even see it, so I was forced to cut the leader near his mouth. We were able to turn him right side up and send him down within five minutes so hopefully he will be o.k. Outside of a soupfin shark caught last year this is my biggest fish to date. Jason estimated it to be in the 80-100 pound range. I can see why Matt last week was somewhat annoyed for hooking into one of those monsters. It takes you away from the playground for quite a little while. I still enjoyed the fight and the thrill of bringing to yakside a fish almost as big as me. BTW Yanni, be proud and believe in your shirt, “Old Guys Rule”. Last edited by gary sullivan; 08-03-2007 at 03:26 PM.

08-03-2007, 03:03 PM	#2
JrBasser Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 260	Nice fish! Those things rock. I too thought I had a big halibut when I caught my first one, especially when I saw the brown with spots at deep color. I was a little disapointed and excited at the same time! They are a great way to pass the time when nothing else shows.

08-03-2007, 03:13 PM	#3
FISHIONADO Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 698	Very cool Gary! I use the same "tickle with my feet" technique to get them to go down. If you repeat that to my wife I would have to kill you. lol

08-03-2007, 07:44 PM	#4
jscott Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 138	Na--- he's fibbing. The 10-12" mackeral! NOOOO! It's his foot! That's the bait! That's his secret! Cat's out the bag now! You've had a 'reel' knack for catching some big fish lately, Gary! Can I borrow your feet??

08-03-2007, 08:34 PM	#5
GHOSTHUNTR Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Poway Posts: 160	WTG, Gary. Really cool picture, too.

08-03-2007, 11:00 PM	#7
Matt Support your local pangas Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lj Posts: 976	Congrats Gary!! Yea....mine bummed me out a bit, more for the reason of I am always scared I won't be able to revive it!! It is really impressive to see how wet it got both me and Tyler first thing in the morning too!! They are wickedly cool fish and BSB are actually the whole reason I have a 18" rapala dehooking tool. I saw Brad use one last year on Tyler's BSB and I have carried it ever since, super useful on the prehistoric and toothy fellas too!! Awesome fish my man!! You are kicking some serious ass out there lately!!