Epic End to the Annual Mother/Son Fishing Trip (1/7)

[Latimeria]

So, the last 5 years or so I have been taking my Mom out fishing when my folks fly over from the frigid east coast to vacation in beautiful San Diego.  My mom's goals besides spending quality time with her son is to see whales & dolphins... and catch fish!  We've accomplished those goals every year, but never got any fish that were just epic enough to make my mom curse in front of me when she sees the fish... and today was that day. 

I took the day off as the weather I supposed to turn here this weekend and I wanted her to at least enjoy a flat day on the big pond.  Seas were supposed to be 1' swells with 1' or less wind waves.  That's pretty flat for even a farm pond!

We stopped at the end of the jetty and loaded up on perfect sized macks for some yellowtail bait.  The yellows have been sporadic, but a few boats have toughed it out and managed some nice ones this week.  My hopes were high as I told my mom that the only thing she needs to remember is not let go of the rod for any reason!  lol

We tried and tried for the yellows, but to no avail.  I did not see anyone hooked up, even though that's not to say no one caught any.  We did snag a few red crab and made me realize what all the "Noise" was on my machine!  Holy crab these things were everywhere.


Mom switched back to catching bait as she enjoyed just catching fish! Lake Pacific... or is it more of a farm pond?!


We had some of our mackerel torn up by ling, but they weren't big enough to get hooked.

The whales started ripping through and we decided to change locations and get in some new scenery.  We saw something REALLY cool at this point!  A newborn Grey Whale cruising with mom.  She was actually pushing the calf up on her back and nudging the kid to swim up for air.  It was incredible!  The baby was about as big as a bottlenose dolphin and a lumpy little tyke!


Mom was keeping it in her sights!


It was a lot of fun watching them play.


Back to business...
We moved around looking for bass spots, but trying to stay away from the kelp as my mom is not an accomplished caster.  I tied on a mega bait and would locate fish on the meter and have her drop down.  We were shallow enough to stay away from a good amount of rockfish, but an occasional Johnny Bass would hit the jig giving her a good fight.


Then she gets SLAMMED!  I really wasn't sure what she had on as it was only an iron and was ripping that little rod pretty good. 


It took a while for her to subdue it, but mom got a big old goat on the metal!  NICE


Way to go, Mom!  A quick CPR and back it went!


We only had 30 minutes to fish before we had to pack it in.  I had to get my daughter from school, so there was no dilly dallying out there.  I stopped at my old halibut spot and pinned on a big Jack Mackerel in hopes for last minute glory...

It didn't hit the bottom more than 2 minutes when I felt the huge hit that only a halibut could make.  I set the hook and realized that this was the one.  It actually schooled me early and did not let up for the entire fight to the surface.  I yelled to my mom to grab the gaff and she said "Thomas, I don't know all of your fishing lingo, so explain what you need".  Ha!  I could only just smile and say, take the cork off that bamboo stick.  LOL

Soon as I got her to color, I heard my mom say "WTF!"  yep, just epic! LOL

After a 5-10 minute battle, I sunk the gaff into her and went a little weak in the knees.  It's been a while since I caught a pig like this.  I could only muster one 20 pounder last year.

VOILA!  Bright and Colorful!


Man, that was a great way to start 2015 and my mom is stoked for the halibut dinners coming her way in the upcoming weeks before they fly back to the frigid east coast. 

I got home in time to pick up my daughter and can officially close the book on another successful Mother-Son fishing trip, 2015..


Until next tide, Tight Lines!

[sasquatch]

Been waiting to see those pics all day.

They were worth it.

[j.rasta]

Nice work Tommy!  Big old phatty flatty! Gotta love when a plan comes together! Now that's quality time we'll spent B)

[Latimeria]

Here are some more shots.

I had my eyes peeled on the meter as you need to when on the hunt for winter yellows.


The gaff shot... The gaff is 4' long and I'm probably reaching out 2.5 to 3 feet.  It was a satisfying feeling when the gaff sunk in!


The money shot!  Mom and Son after a successful adventure.

[Tim524]

The cork off the bamboo stick comment was pretty funny That's a nice Hali, your mom looks like she had a great time, congrats

[MASSfisher]

Looks like an awesome trip.

That pick of the whale is killer!

[faster u fool]

dag nub son..    thats a piggy mat.

[WheresMyBeer]

Killer time out there. What a blast.

The halibut is huge!!