10 guys, 5 hours = one mini bat

[vdisney]

Somehow we ended up last night with 10 of us fishing, using squid, tuna and mackerel.  Wind was offshore but insane, the sand was blowing so hard it hurt your face.  20 minutes in a small bat was landed and I had hopes it was a sign of what was to come.  5 hours later with the exception of some smelt and rock fish, that was it.  Have to hand it to the guys, they hung tough despite the blowing sand.  On a brighter note, the water conditions were stellar.  Gonna give it a go Wed night.......................nothing ventured, nothing gained 

[Latimeria]

Verne, you guys are super overdue and I would like to see if you would want to head up the LA contingent?  Don's a mystery and you are well versed in this.  Would you mind heading up Team LA?

[vdisney]

Verne, you guys are super overdue and I would like to see if you would want to head up the LA contingent?  Don's a mystery and you are well versed in this.  Would you mind heading up Team LA?

I would be honored Tom, anything I can do you know I'm in............................respect, Verne

[sasquatch]

Right on Verne.

[Fish Jerk]

Dont forget the toothy I lost. It was the only action I saw all night. Had just thrown on fresh squish about 10 minutes prior, when my rod just goes screaming. Tightened the drag and let the circle hook set and just felt some huge head shakes. Knew right off it wasn't a but a toothy. Had him off for about 5 minutes while made some runs. I was down to 1/2 spool and was just starting to get some line back, then......poof was gone. Once I reeled in and checked my rig, my 60 lb leader was clean cut. My shock leader was scuffed up to about 6 1/2 from what was left of my leader. If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably a soup. It was much stronger than any leopard I've landed.

Wish I could have at least seen it. First big fish I've had on since the grinner gather.

[vdisney]

I didn't forget Ron, I just figured you would save me some typing     

Definitely a bummer you didn't have wire................

[Latimeria]

Dont forget the toothy I lost. It was the only action I saw all night. Had just thrown on fresh squish about 10 minutes prior, when my rod just goes screaming. Tightened the drag and let the circle hook set and just felt some huge head shakes. Knew right off it wasn't a but a toothy. Had him off for about 5 minutes while made some runs. I was down to 1/2 spool and was just starting to get some line back, then......poof was gone. Once I reeled in and checked my rig, my 60 lb leader was clean cut. My shock leader was scuffed up to about 6 1/2 from what was left of my leader. If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably a soup. It was much stronger than any leopard I've landed.

Wish I could have at least seen it. First big fish I've had on since the grinner gather.

Sounds definitely soup-like to me!  Bummer!

[sasquatch]

I wish I could lose a nice fish like that. I'd be miles ahead of where I am now.

[Fish Jerk]

I wish I could lose a nice fish like that. I'd be miles ahead of where I am now.

It was definitely nice to finally hear my reel scream again and feel a big one on the line. But oh so heartbreaking to have the line go slack after fighting it for 5 minutes. At least it was due to biteoff instead of a knot/crimp failure. I think I'm gonna go back to wire all the time again.

[sasquatch]

The toothy stuff is out there. You would have a nice picture if you stuck with wire. Learned my lesson the same way.

[LONGCAST JOE]

Dont forget the toothy I lost. It was the only action I saw all night. Had just thrown on fresh squish about 10 minutes prior, when my rod just goes screaming. Tightened the drag and let the circle hook set and just felt some huge head shakes. Knew right off it wasn't a but a toothy. Had him off for about 5 minutes while made some runs. I was down to 1/2 spool and was just starting to get some line back, then......poof was gone. Once I reeled in and checked my rig, my 60 lb leader was clean cut. My shock leader was scuffed up to about 6 1/2 from what was left of my leader. If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably a soup. It was much stronger than any leopard I've landed.

Wish I could have at least seen it. First big fish I've had on since the grinner gather.

Hey Ron,
I feel your pain brotha, 3 weeks ago, same exact spot as you, same description of head shakes and strength but instead of hearing my reel scream I saw my rod & reel doing 20 mph through the sand heading straight into the waves, as I forgot to set my clicker. No time to think so I made a head first dive for it and just was able to grab onto the rod butt before it disapeared into the abyss. By the time I found my footing there was only abount 100ft of backing left on my spool and still peeling off quickly. Made a quick decision to try to put the brakes on him and got a nasty fiction burn on my hand from doing so to a braided spool. My failure point was the bead knot on my pulley rig, but I had alot of pressure him at the end. Whatever it was flat out kicked my ass and left me wet, freezing cold and hurtin...
JOE

[Latimeria]

That makes me want to check out the surf here soon!  It's been a while since I had a screamer like that and just reading your post gave me an adrenaline rush.   

[raychavez91]

Nice to see you guys all hitting the sand.
You'll get em soon.

Bummer about the loss. When I'm long rodding...I'm strictly using wire. You never know what you'll hook into...

[BackBayMan]

Hate losing fish! If it's the Big Pond it's wire for me

[Pinoyfisher]

That makes me want to check out the surf here soon!  It's been a while since I had a screamer like that and just reading your post gave me an adrenaline rush.   

Tides are looking good this week!