Legal Halibut And More AM Report 8/29/15

[HalibutJoel99]

Woke up this morning and feeling great. Full moon shining! Grab some coffee on the way and head to the coast. Moon over the water shining brightly. Had some 88.3 Jazz rockin in the car, and couldn't wait to hit the beach.

Started at 5AM and my setup was 15# Izorline XXX(Bumped it up from 12#) Wanted to see how it felt casting. Shimano Sedona C 5000 on a 7ft. Diawa Coastal.

Tried a new lure this morning and was really excited to try this one for the first time. I have heard some great reports about this lure. I got the Sexy Smelt Lucky Craft 115MR  Surf Pointer Ayame.

Conditions were amazing this AM. No wind and low surf. a little salad but not to bad.

Met up with Ray at the AO and we hit the beach. It took until first light until I get my first strike and it was a Calico Bass.

Checkers





Back in she went and it was back to casting. I really liked the feel of the 115 MR on the retrieve and the color pattern was just to perfection.

Back out to casting in the zone, tide was filling in pretty fast this morning and the salad was getting worse. Waves were picking up and I was jumping over waves and getting blasted. Cast out and my lure stops dead in its tracks. Set the hook and Wham! Fish on. Nice fight with this girl and I walked her back in she sorta swam with me. Until she realized the water was getting shallower. She made a couple real nice runs and the drag was set just right and kept the line tight the whole way in.

23.5 inch Halibut





Don't know what happened to the tail, but I decided to keep this one for some tacos.

Taped shots.





There must have been a Sea Lion near by as it seemed both Halibut had some rear end damage. Casted out again after getting the legal and got another nice 20 inch Halibut. Sea lions know whats up!

Pic of the other Halibut.





Bite marks.





Back in the skinny with her and as I mentioned before the waves were picking up big time! With that came the salad and decided it was time for some breakfast.

Ray was out there doing some great casts and getting pounded by some killer waves, props to you man for sticking with it. We will try again tomorrow. Nice fishing with you today dude.

Had the Halibut on ice and thanks to Ray for letting me use your cooler. Stopped at 7/11 and got some ice. With the Halibut on Ice it was chow time.

Epic breakfast.



What a great morning, that moon was just awesome and to be casting into the light!

Thanks for reading and good luck out there!

Joel

[Latimeria]

Excellent work Joel and nice shirt!

Was it a sea lion?  I'm not sure what those bites are from, but a harbor seal is a definite culprit.