Damn... I was loving my warm bed in the morning when my alarm went off, but I got my ass out of be anyway.



I got to the grounds and hit the squid hard, but there was barely anything thing there so I really just wanted to get whatever I could before I dropped down any baits.

When the bite died, I got my usual spread out. 

It really didn't take long before I hooked up.  I thought it was a bat ray at first, but realized it was probably a yellow after 5 minutes into the battle.

Finally got it to gaff and 24#. I wish I could have taken a better picture but I didn't want the "Bent Rod Invitational" so tried to get the picture really quick out of the other's guys view.





Oh, BTW...  The New Seaforth just dropped the hook 50 feet from me and now I have people casting at me...  I'll refrain from my thoughts on this.



So lets continue.  I caught a big batray, a nice sand bass, and a nice Blue Shark.  Normally I would take pics, but I felt weird being in front of the SDF elite buddies (not NSF) and didn't want them to think ill of me.



Then I get a SCREAMER!  I mean a SCREAMER!  It took me around the boat a few times and I knew it wasn't a BSB.  It surfaced and thrashed water like crazy like a shark, but was a donkey of a yellow.

Finally I got it to the boat and sunk the gaff.  In my head it was over 40# for sure!  Possibly my PB.





I Didn't get any "Real" bites after that and gave my remaining squid to my buddy who just showed up.

I put it on the scale expecting to see 42-43# bled out, but realized I was a little generous.  Only 39#.  LOL

In any case, it was worth the trip and I have more meat than I can deal with at the moment.  But... there's still a 40-50 pounder out there with my name on it! LOL

Until next tide!

Long story short, but the local bite is a hope-fest.  You're going to catch a beast or nothing at all since there is no biomass around.

I've been hitting the spot hard the last week+, but have not got what I was hoping for....

Until this day....

Squid is hard to come by since it isn't bedding.  Just got to be in the right place at the right time (Early)

Finally scored a 22# yellow. 



It was a huge weight off my shoulders because of all of the bycatch I've been getting the last few weeks.  I'm not complaining, just stating that I haven't connected with my target species in many many many hours of searching.

I'll hit the grounds as much as possible to get my PB.  Local PB is 43#, so hopefully I can upgrade my PB!

That looks very tasty, the season is almost here

The 7 Gill looks like he is smiling

Everything but the target, the Hali was a nice prize

Man, we had a pretty much wide-open spot to fish down south at the flats and decided to try for glory or nothing.  Only one boat was near us and we happened to know him so we so it was all good. We saw him catch back to back yellows and we had nothing at this point.

Then my dropper goes screaming out!  I start to crank and for some reason the circle hook pulled.  Not sure how that happened.

We continued to fish and saw our buddy boat pick up a few BSB also he released.  Now we were deciding what to do.  Then I get a bite on the big C-Rig!  It wasn't big, but what the hell!  Another Fantail Sole and it swallowed my big ass circle hook!



At least the skunk is off the board.  Then it was Scott's turn at a flatty and at least got a decent one!



Scott then had a screamer that we were sure was a big Yellow.  About 10 minutes into the fight and he started to bring it in... then the circle hook pulls!  Ugh....  Not a fantastic start even though there was a lot of action.

Not soon later, I was sure I had a small yellow... then it started to feel different.  Well, back to my roots I guess...



I then get a scream,er that takes me around the boat a few times.  I only had my star drag reel, so couldn't use the power of the two speed, but it had blistering runs.  I had 50# yellow in my head the whole time and even Scott was convinced, although it took way to long to get a yellow up.  Then we started to fear it was something else, and then that fear became a reality.  Not a yellow but a +100# BSB.  Thing was spewing jizz all over the place.... I think that's what it was at least but it doesn't seem like breeding season.



We just popped the hook and gave its head a push down with the gaff handle and off it went. 



I was already late getting in but we really wanted something else to throw in the cooler.  Then Scott gets slammed and we were sure it was a halibut.  I can't believe how many times we were wrong today.  Next time and I'll be better at guessing since the fights will be fresh in my head...

Scott hasn't caught a leopard shark in years and now he reset the clock.



Well, we left IB and ran to the barn.  The ramp was packed as expected, but we got out and back rather quickly considering the traffic. 

Well, that was it and until next tide!

"I brought a sledge hammer handle to use as a billy club"

I've heard of wood shampoo and aluminum shampoo as billy clubs, but a sledge hammer is another level!

Nice season boss!

9/13 Took a last trip to Elsinore before the water cools down and things start getting busy at home.
Got to the lake about 45 minutes before sunrise. Grey light started around 6:00 AM.
Didn't see slot of activity on the surface to start with, but did see a couple torpedo away as I walked along the shoreline. Seemed promising.
Right around 6:00, I started seeing the carp along the shore with there backs out of the water. It was game on. Started taking shots at fish and my average 1 in 15, or so, wasn't improving. Luckily it's more the thrill of the hunt that keeps me going.
The carp were showing up about every 50 yards this time between 6:00 and 7:30.
I managed my first one about 6:15. Took a good shot and the line started peeling off to the side so I knew I was on. Good size one right thru the underbelly.
A little further down, I setup on another group. I saw some people watching so I wanted to make sure to hit it so they could see I wasn't just shooting at shadows. I took careful aim, remembered not to shoot low to avoid the stumps, and let it go. The arrow hit the water, there was an explosive splash, and the line started peeling straght out. Started pulling it back and saw I had a good size one but the arrow had gone all the way thru just under the dorsal fin. There wasn't a lot of meat there and the string could easily cut thru. I played it slowly and worked it around the stumps to keep the arrow, which was dangling behind it, from getting caught. Finally got it on shore and used my new tool on it. I brought a sledge hammer handle to use as a billy club to keep the carp from trying to flop back into the water. One good rap on the back if the head quickly immobilized it.
I found new ways to loose arrow this trip also. For whatever reason I broke two sliders, a plastic piece which the string attaches to and slides on the arrow shaft. I managed to recover the arrow on the first one but when I lost the second arrow I had to walk back to my truck to get another one. I decided to leave the two fish at my truck instead of lugging them to the lake again. It was then I noticed my billy club wasn't in the bucket. I figured I had left it where I got the last fish. But it would be like finding a needle in a haystack amongst all the debris on the shoreline. I figured I'd try to backtrack the last half mile I walked.
I mostly kept my eye out for fish as I looked for the club. I figured it would be almost impossible to see. I stopped a couple places to shoot at fish along the way. Then I stopped and put down my bucket to target another fish which ended up being a stick. Went to grab my bucket and the club was right there next to it. What are the odds! I need to buy a lottery ticket. So that made my day.
Then I had a couple more firsts while bowfishing. One was skipping an arrow off the back of a fish like skipping a rock on the water. The other was hitting a fish and having it immediately float to the surface. Hit it straight thru the skull, backbone and likely the heart. Luckily I was using a $20 arrow which someone lost and I had found. The tip was very sharp and had a long taper to penitrate better. It was stuck in about 6 inches and didn't even poke thru.

Was a good day to end the season with. The biggest fish was 25 inches and 5 lbs. Followed by 3 and 2 pounders.


- Keith

Nice to break the skunk. Look forward to more cats from you as it cools off.

Nice redemption!