The usual suspects... Binh and I... on our usual Thursday night soiree for beasts. Tossed out some mack and started the bait and wait. Binh gets a solid run within minutes. Straight pull to Catalina... BAT. After fiddling with his rod for a few seconds, he puts it in gear and then his line goes slack
Not sure what happened, but I'm pretty sure it's operator error
I'm getting plenty of critter bites, but ignore most of them. Waiting for that line ripper. Rod tip begins to bounce around... head shakes for sure! Hook is set and I can't really tell if I have kelp or a fish. I button down the drag to get it over with. A few seconds in and I finally get a little head shake. Sweet, not kelp! I've had my fill of that. He's no match for my gear, but the skunk is off.
Sucks that my belly is bigger than the leo
At this point Binh is in my face telling me how he thinks this night is "super fishy" and we're gonna hook up. Dude is stoked! He has the right attitude. That's why I fish with him... and he's turning into a proper sand hand. LOL!!!
And just like that, he hooks up! Same tell tale straight pull with no head shakes... bat. Yeah. Can you tell I'm not excited. He makes short work of the little guy.
It looks a lot bigger than it is in the pic. Maybe 35"+ Sweet, the skunk is off for both of us!!
Last bait, last cast time. The tide is nearing it's peak and it's getting late. I get a ripper of hit and it's game on! Ugh... straight pull, no head shakes... bat. Again, I'm not excited. Surf bats hurt.
50"+ surf bats hurt a lot!! It turned into a near 15 minute battle. Bat strength vs my old and battered back. I won
This girl was BIG. I was honestly thinking "f@ck, is it 60"?!!!" She fought so f'ing hard!! Super thick with a big 'ol head like Mike Tyson. Very preggo too. It took me several tries to get her revived to and swimming home. The surf beached her a few times. More wear and tear on me back. I'm smiling, but crying on the inside and you guessed it... my back hurts.
