Ice fishing...close enough.

[THE DARKHORSE]

Besides last weekend, I haven't been able to fish this month as much as I would have liked. A couple of nice swells paired up with perfect conditions kept me buisy, and finally winter is here (58 degree water). After watching the rain for days on end, and considering running off to the local mountains and snowboarding some fresh powder (a few feet in some places), I had a dilemma . The only thing I knew was sitting in my house any longer might freaking kill me. After much thought, I decided to just freeze my ass off and go fishing instead. On my way to the launch this morning the car temp read thirty seven degrees, and the 15 mph offshore winds made me snuggle with my coffee mug while watching the surf in the dark. I layered up in full snowboard gear under my waders and splash-jacket, then set off right about greylight. I watched the meter heading to the grounds, but all the giant Mackerel schools from a week ago were gone. I noticed a couple of Spanish Mackerel schools cruising the lower column, but didn't bother trying to make bait. I have a few awesome irons right now (surface and yo-yo), that are kinda fueling my fire. Watching these guys swim, it's hard to imagine a Yellowtail turning off. I bounced around looking all over the place, but it was pretty dead. I had yo-yo'd till I was blue in the face, and had settled in an area that atleast had a little life on the meter. It didn't look anywhere near as fishy as last week (bait everywhere), but had a few larger marks on the meter with a scattered tight ball of bait here and there. I was parked talking to an old-timer, without a line in the water, then I heard a couple of ferocious fish terrorizing some bait on the surface. I pulled Excalibur out of her sheath (Seeker Ulua 93H ), and made a long cast right where the fish broke the surface. I had fears while my jig was in the air that it could of just been another Thresher Shark (only two boils broke the surface), but this was a shoot first and ask questions later situation. After a few cranks of the handle I'm bumped first, then line is ripping off the reel I'M ON! I had just re-spooled with 40 lb P-Line hours before (they were out of Izorline), so I made an attempt to put the wood to this fish, but she had other ideas. I spent half of the fight trying to drag her away from the two lobster pots I was between (love the Hobie), but ended up having to end the battle 20' from the float, too close for comfort.

Long and fat, just shy of 35 lbs....but felt like a 80 lb Wahoo when she ate my iron on the long rod, FUN!

I was stoked to have a fish like this on deck, but a little pissed to not be able to fish the rest of the day. I had packed an awesome lunch with plenty to drink, but I really like to take care of the fatty Hamachi (Put on ice as soon as possible for 24 hours). With intentions of coming back for the afternoon, I headed back to the launch for a quick trip home. At home I decided to treat myself, and packed a couple of beers on ice for the afternoon session. By the time I made it back to the launch, the 15 mph offshore wind had switched to 15 mph onshore wind, and I almost turned around. Then I looked at those glistening cold-ones in the back, and thought about my crazy Tady 45 that swims like a mermaid, what the hell. I made bait this time and moved back to the scene of the crime, but it didn't look the same. Around 3:00 p.m. a pile of birds stacked in the distance, but even with the bino's I couldn't see with the heavy glare of the sun in my eyes. I did the fire drill, releasing my mackerel off the bottom and letting my flyline bait swim off, before racing into the distance. After a five minute pursuit, I figured out with the bino's it was just porps. I'm way off my zone, but thirty minutes later I see my intended target breezing by. Out comes Excalibur again, a long cast and one more pissed off Yellowtail inhales my jig.

Not a lobster pot in sight, so I made quick work of this little guy...but he still kicked my ass on the long rod . Pedaling in while enjoying an ice-cold beer, with the sun just starting to set on the horizon was a majical experience. I can't wait to do this again, too much fun!