My old "Inner Circle" buddy from Havasu was in town and wanted to hit up some salt water fishing. He loves his trout, catfish and bass, but has little experience with anything bigger or saltier. Last year we got him his first tuna and he was ecstatic! This year, I wasn't sure what we would hunt, but we would be out there looking for something big!
The conditions were right and the plan was to catch bait and then head offshore... I should state again that all plans... A, B and C all started with catching bait first.
We didn't catch or see a single mackerel in all of my favorite bait spots! CRAP! What to do?
We almost went offshore to troll for 'Hoo, but I decided to ask Bob what he wanted to do... or should I say if his wife was expecting him to bring home some fresh fish or just fresh wish? Bob said his wife was expecting a harvest, so we armed ourselves with irons and headed out looking for something to fill the cooler.
Bo struck first with this old fatso of a sheephead! I laughed my ass off as it kicked his ass! This was no little trout or channel he was dealing with! LOL
I hand off a few rockfish I hook on the iron and he was stoked. I then hook something on the iron that I was not handing over! I have to admit, he did kick my ass and from my track record lately, I was getting pretty nervous! Finally, I got his fat ass to gaff... I've never been so happy to sink a gaff in a yellow before. LOL
Friggand Hog!
Bob then hooks up with another BIG YELLOW! Unfortunately, I brought the spinner for him since that is what he is accustomed to and he finally felt what happens when a big Mossback has its way with him. He fought it for 20 minutes before breaking his will and soul!
He switched up to some cut bait we had on board and loaded up on some nice denizens. We got lots of fish to limit out the cooler.
I was ready for something bigger again as I missed a few nicer hits, but never hooked up for more than 20 seconds before losing them. Suck it!
We paid homage to the fish gods and continued looking for local beasts!
Bob found another, but once again got schooled. This time it ran 250 yards on him and busted off half his line. UGH.... he was still stoked and after getting a bunch of fish for the freezer, we called it quits. We could have had an awesome trip, but not a single live bait to be caught. I did catch a few of these guys on the way in to stock up on my surf shark bait though. Tons of little bones around!
PhD or not, I put his ass to work since he made me clean all of those fish!
In all seriousness, we should have had 3 big yellows on board, but I was glad to shake the stripe that was stinking my ass up! So satisfying...
-Until Next tide!
