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Topic: Its a lingcod... throw it back!  (Read 3066 times)

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CHUB

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     It all started on a very nice day out in Ocean Cove. The water was great. It was calm other than some small swells. But anyway, My dad and I got out on the water at about 9:00 AM. and started paddleing towards the penninsula on the right of the cove. Thats where my dad speared that 37' lingcod he has a picture of. And thats also where we usually drill the fish.

     I had never caught anything big there unlike my dad. I usually didn't put my jig at the bottom. I would just find a kelp bed and let it down about 20 feet, just so I could catch some Blues. But my dad told me that if i want to catch different types of fish and bigger fish that i should jig the very bottom. The only problem with me that day is that I was using Braded Line. And if you get a bad enough snag with that, it is very difficult to break off. Unless i cut it. But after a while my dad talked me into it. So i started fishing the bottom. And sure enough I caught a couple of small lings. And some small Gophers. And just as I started to have a good time fishing the bottom.... I got a snag.

     It was a bad snag. And as I'm trying to get out this snag my dad is about 200 yds away from me. Catching lings one after another. I am paddleing back and foward trying to get this snag out. after about 10 minutes of working this snag, I decide I'm not going to wast my fishing time over 30 feet of line and a cheap plastic jig. So i cut the line. I put on another jig exatly the same as the one i cut off. Anyway I paddled to where i was about 200 feet away from my dad. I started jiging the bottom again. I sat there for about five minutes with no bites at all. And all of a sudden I feel a couple taps at the end of my rod. So i wait a couple seconds... Then i set the hook!

     Immediately the fish went straight down almost flipping my kayak. I thought to myself, "This must be a big ling." So as I am trying to get this fish in I am praying, "Don't let my line break." Almost every time I hook a big one it seems that they either get snagged in the kelp on the way up, or they are just such a good fight that they end up breaking my line. But anyway, it takes me about 5-10 minutes tireing this thing out. When i can tell that it is getting tired, thats when I start fighting back. So I'm reeling this monster in little by little. I start to get excited when it gets to the top. When it does reach the surface, first thing I see is an ugly face. So I am almost positive it's a ling. When i get it up on my yak, I see that the fins are much bigger than a Lingcod's. And a bit more red in color.

      In this season a ling had to be 30'' to keep. I measured it, and it was 29" and fat. I was really dissapointed. But the thought kept running through my head that this wasn't a Lingcod. So I take it to my dad to help me answer my theory. He askes me how long it is. And I told him, "29 inches! But i think it's a Cabezon." And he takes another look at it. He tells me, "That's too big to be a Cabezon! It's a Lingcod, throw it back" I was very disappionted. But i listened to him. So i threw this very nice sized fish back. And i still thought it was a Cabezon. I had caught Cabezon before and knew what they looked like.

     When we got home the same day. I got on the computer to find out how big cabezon can really get. I found one webpage that showed a picture of a guy that caught a 32" Cabezon. And it had looked exactly the same as the one i caught. I showed my dad the pic. And all he has to say about it was, "Well i guess you were right!" I was so disappointed that that was the biggest fish and the hardest to catch for me. And i let it go even though i knew it was what I thought it was. I havn't caught a fish that put up that good of a fight since then! But i am hoping to nail a giant Sturgeon this year.

I learned that day that my dad doesn't know everything about fish! And that i should just go by what I think.


mooch

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Great story Chub :smt023 Maybe for Christmas this year, you can give your dad some "high powered" contact lenses :smt003

Keep wetting your line and you be rewarded sooner or later! (and remember to thank your dad for taking you out fishing = not all kids have it good :smt002)


Freddie

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Too bad Chub... at least you have something to hold over your dad's head in the future. It's always good to have a little something something on the old man. You never know... I don't think that it was a total loss.

Hey Mooch... do you have anymore of those laminated rockfish guides??? I'm guessing that Chub and Tote might need one...

Freddie


Tote

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Well I see CHUB is busy burning me while I am at work.  :smt002
What can I say? I didn't have my glasses on.
It was a toad though. Chub does really well on the cabazone.
<=>


gotbaitgofish

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but your dad still love you :smt003
got saltwater


 

anything