Many, many scary full moons ago I shot this ghoulish ghost.

I found her after multiple long hours of staring into the haunting goblin-green gloom…I just saw her monstrous tail going past some kelp in the spooky shadows so I did a quick kick, swung my gun and got a decent holding shot into her…the shot didn’t hurt her at all, and she ripped off most of my reel line almost instantly, but I eventually got my hands on her.

I didn’t think she was that big, she still fit inside the center hatch of my trusty Jackson Kayak and I was honestly shocked when I got her back to the truck and saw she was over 5 feet long and filled the width of the Tundra’s tailgate.

My personal best fish is 74.3 pounds/60.75 inches, and this one was “only” 63.94 pounds/60.25 inches, but still a beautiful solid fish and only my third so far over 60 pounds, and second over 60 inches.

She was spawned out with an empty belly and might have been pushing 70 pounds with roe and a full belly.

Took my time cutting her up, and we had a bunch of good friends and family over to eat and share the fresh bounty.

She also had one freakishly deformed otolith (which is now in my Amadeo shadow box), and I shared pics with Ruairi MacNamara from Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute and he said that “We have noted similar deformity in a small proportion (~1–2%) of the otoliths from seabass heads we collect from the wild. Not sure of the cause, and one would think it might affect the fishes hearing or balance. But obviously not so much in this fish’s case, since it survived probably 15 to 20 years with that deformed otolith!”

Biggest fish of 2024 for me, and I am incredibly grateful that I was healthy enough to be able to spend the time in the water looking for her, and that I found her to bring home to share with our friends and family.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

TLDR: After some health shit I finally shot another WSB.
 
It was a pretty tough winter for me in a lot of ways...
 
Back in September I started having a recurrence of my arrythmia problems...this time it wasn't A-Fib, but rather V-tach which can apparently be much more dangerous.
 
Stanford recommended I get an Insertable Cardiac Monitor, and start on an anti-arrythmia med called Tikosyn.
 
I was fine with the monitor but very hesitant about the meds...didn't want to risk not being able to do the things I love doing like diving and kayaking and running and hiking etc...
 
Got the monitor implanted in November, and in December checked into Stanford for 5 days to start on the meds while they monitored me to make sure I could tolerate them...super boring and uneventful hospital stay and I felt fine lol.
 
After that I got back in the water and into the gym and running etc as much as I could...was very pleased that I seemed to be able to do all the things while taking the med, no bad side effects, and the monitor was also working well and alerting the docs to any weirdness or dangerous arrythmias.
 
By spring time I had run a 10k, had been diving a fair amount and getting some local flatfish etc, and was feeling reasonably confident that I was up for a solo WSB mission....so I started making plans to get after one as soon as I thought there might be a chance of finding a fish...the internet and some friends let me know that there were fish being taken so figured it was worth trying....
 
First two attempts were just a lot of driving and hiking and diving and lurking in pretty bad viz for no fish seen and long rides home with melting ice in the cooler and the killbag still rolled up.
 
Third trip down started off with more of the same....5 hours or so in and no sightings...was working my way along a kelp edge when finally a dark shape appeared from the murky haze...I took aim and pulled the trigger and it took off.
 
I felt pretty confident it was a good shot so put decent pressure on and prevented her from heading out deeper...after following the line around for a bit she popped out into open water and I was able to gently bring her into view and get my hands in her throat.
 
Shot had gone in right above pec fin and out under opposite side of throat. Perfect holding shot, and when I showed fuzz he asked me who had shot the fish since it was too good of shot placement to be me   
 
Bled her and admired her in the water on the long swim back in. Once back on shore I loaded her and my dive gear into the backpack and hiked her out. Hike was hard, but heart behaved and even though it got up to 188 bpm it slowed down fine once back to the truck.
 
Fish taped out to 55 inches and right about 45 pounds. Not very heavy for the length but still a beautiful fish.
 
I took her straight to my inlaws house and cut her up and we spent the weekend feasting on the deliciousness.
 
Very grateful that despite all the cardiac BS these past two years I have still been able to get out there and hunt underwater, and occasionally bring home a tasty fish.
 
Here's a bunch of pics.
 

 
Sincerely,
 
Jim

Ps. Didn’t get the shot on film but here’s a little clip of what it looked like when I got my hands on her, and when I first got back to shore:

https://youtu.be/MhGtuQceQZE?si=_e3ArLKo0oy_SkZ8

TLDR: I shot a 74.3 pound fish and here are a bunch of pics.

Full Story:

After about 3 hours into a session much earlier this year I almost swam right into a fish on the surface…I took a quick shot because I was so close and was afraid she would spook. It was a horrible gut shot, but somehow it held and I was able to land her.

After I got her on my belt I realized I was waaaay far from my kayak. The fish wasn’t huge, so figured might as well reload and hunt back to the kayak.

Didn’t see any other fish on way back…once I was there I looked around and there was a patch of kelp about 50 yards away that looked promising….decided I would swim over and check it before calling it quits.

Started swimming over there and before I got there was already thinking it was a waste of time because there was a pretty nasty red tide going on, and it had been challenging to see anything for the last few hours.

Got close to the kelp and slowed down and moved as smoothly as I could right up to the edge…it was too dark and murky to see anything, so I pushed in a little closer until my head was up under the edge and in the shadows…looking down through the hazy murk, my eyes adjusted, and I saw something moving…I made out a portion of a silhouette of what looked like a very big fish, extended my gun and pulled the trigger.

The fish took off, but stopped very quickly right next to where the kelp headed down into the dark…did I stone her? She had to be only about 10/15 feet down and was just sitting there wrapped around once or twice…

Decided my shot must’ve killed her so took a quick breath and dropped down…bad mistake.

When I got to her she wasn’t moving and I could see shaft sticking out of her side and grabbed it….and then all hell broke loose. She woke up and tried to take off, and I went to let go of the shaft but somehow my glove was stuck?! After thinking about it, I think part of the glove got pinned between slide ring and shaft somehow, and I couldn’t get my hand free…to make things worse the dead fish on my belt was wrapped up in the kelp and was pulling me backwards while the big live fish was pulling me forwards. 

After what seemed like forever with the fish going nuts and thrashing around with me holding the shaft trying to get my glove free, I was able to rip my hand totally out of the glove and let the fish go. Then I was able to free the fish on my belt from the kelp and get back to the surface.

I had a Neptonics popper float on my belt so after calming down and following the reel line until I was above the fish, I inflated it and clipped off the first fish and the gun and reel line to the float and prepared to try again.

For the last couple years I’ve been hunting bigger fish with a belt reel just in case the reel on my gun jammed…I was scared of getting close to that fish again so I decided I would use the belt reel to clip off to the fish and bring her up from a distance.

When I dove down she was on the bottom at 45 feet laying there looking dead…and my glove was right there on the shaft still lol.

I approached slowly and clipped the belt reel to the slip tip spectra and slowly headed back to the surface pulling her up as I went…she wasn’t wrapped in the kelp so she came up pretty easily.

Right when I got back to the surface I saw the Neptonics float had started deflating and I could see release valve had broken off bladder and was filling with water. Lucky it didn’t do it while I was on bottom or might have lost everything!! 

I quickly grabbed the whole tangled mess of float/fish/gun in one hand, and got my other hand in the throat of the big fish. Luckily she was totally dead now. After clearing away from the kelp I was able to get my arm through bands of gun and stringer of smaller fish, bled bigger fish and swim back  to kayak.

I knew the fish was big in the water…and when I got onto kayak and pulled it in I could tell it was heavier than any fish I had taken before (at this time my biggest one had been 59 pounds), so I was stoked thinking I had finally gotten a fish over 60 pounds or so.   

I took my time relaxing on the kayak and admiring both fish and having a celebratory lucky NA beer. Could see shot had gone in shoulder and out under opposite pec fin, but slip tip pulled back inside body at same point during fight. Could also see the slip tip spectra had made an actual frikkin knot around the slide ring, and shaft was super bent. I guess somehow slip tip cord got tangled around slide ring and so shaft got pulled into body, my glove got pinned between shaft and slide ring mess, and when was holding onto shaft trying to get free the shaft bent?

After finishing the beer and talking a few pics I was able to shove both fish inside kayak and then paddle in.

Once I drove away from beach I stopped at a pullout on the highway to take my time and measure fish.

Taped out to 60.75 inches, and I was shocked when I saw the scale at 74.3 pounds!! 

I gutted her there at pullout and was expecting to see a bunch of eggs because belly looked full…zero eggs, but her stomach was absolutely stuffed with baitfish. She had obviously been gorging herself on all the baitfish I had seen earlier in the day.

The smaller fish was 50.75 inches and 37 pounds, even after my gutshot took out most of her guts 

Back at home I tried to get my youngest daughter to take pics of me holding the big fish but we struggled because it was heavy and I’m weak these days, and there were a bunch of those wasps that came in once the fish was out the kill bag and she was scared to get close to me to take pics lol!! None of the pics really do the fish justice…she was an absolute pig. 

Took my time scaling and cutting up both fish and the delicious meat was shared amongst many, many family members and friends and all eaten fresh.

I definitely think this is the fish of a lifetime, and doubt I will ever find a WSB this big ever again, but am so grateful that I found her this year…my recent health struggles have reinforced the fact that tomorrow’s adventures are never guaranteed and you have to enjoy every experience as much as possible. Even if I never see another WSB again, I will always have this experience burned into my memory banks to remember.

The end.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

2021 CoosaHD, only used once.

Really cool kayak, but it’s just not the kind of kayak I need for what I do these days.

Here’s a link with specs, price, description, walkthrough video etc…no warranty from JK anymore since it is being resold.

https://cfoutdoors.com/jackson-kayak-coosa-hd/

MSRP is $1,949. Asking $1,200 OBO, pick up in Watsonville.

Some pics attached from the one time I used it in the summer of 2021…it had good fish mojo and I got a butt on it while messing around with my girls.   

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Way back in April there was a little window between storms up here in the Monterey Bay and the wifey told me I should go dive and try and find a halibut...I didn't really have very high hopes cuz the wind had been howling and I figured the water would be really cold...

When I got in and felt how cold, and looked at my watch and saw it said 50, I really didn't think I would see anything...but, the water was really nice and clear and I had the morning free so figured would at least get a good swim in...

Headed out to the ~20 foot zone and started covering ground...

Was shocked a little bit later to see a solid halibut laying out uncovered on top of the sand. 

Plugged her right in the pec fin and she took off and I let her go.

She didn't go too far though and I was able to easily dive down, gently pull shaft all the way through, stab her in the head and bring her up.

After I strung her up on my belt I was tempted to head straight in but had only been diving for a little bit so figured would keep going...

Headed out a bit deeper and in a little while found another butt laying out on top of sand...I was behind this one but snuck up close to her, shot her in pec fin and she bolted off pulling out my reel line.

Let her run and headed to surface to breathe.

Another easy retrieval once I tracked her down, and she puked up a bunch of bait fish on way to surface.

Think both fish had been gorging and were just laying out on top of sand digesting?

Back at truck the bigger one was 36 inches and 20 pounds, and the smaller one was ~33 inches and 14 pounds.

Ton of meat on both and all was cooked and shared and eaten fresh. 

Here's a vid and some pics.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LtpO4a8c1JI&feature=youtu.be



 

Sincerely,

Jim

I was down in Bakersfield for the long Father's Day weekend but it was stupid hot and I needed a break from the inlaws so drove back to the coast to an area where I have found halibut before when down there.

First spot I jumped in was churned up and surgy and water was surprisingly cold...no fish seen and I got out after a few hours.

Kept my wetsuit on and put my parka on top and drove a little ways to another area.

Water warmer and clearer over there but still wasn't seeing anything...

Finally right when the sun was going down and the water was getting pretty dark, I spooked a nice fish...

Usually when I spook a halibut they take off very fast and I have a split second to decide whether I am going to take a shot at them before they are gone...many times I miss these shots on the fly, but I have still landed quite a few this way over the years so will take the shot when I can...

This one fortunately did not bolt with the same quickness that most do and I realized I had time to actually take a decent shot at it...

I swung my gun around and pulled the trigger and could tell right away that I got her good when she stopped mid flight and started doing headshakes...

Took a few hard kicks and got my hand in her throat, made sure shaft was all the way through and headed up to the surface.

Bled, brained, gilled her right away and put her on my belt stringer and headed back to shore.

Back at truck I took a few pics, got a weight and length (18.44 pounds and 35 inches) and loaded her into the cooler and headed back to Bakersfield.

The next morning the fish and ice were still cold and safe in the Orion and I had Jayme take a pic of me with the fish and my lucky Amadeo hat. Then a few pics with my baby niece Lucy Jane before filleting.

The shaft hit her in the meaty part of the shoulder but angled through and down and came out right by her underside pec fin...it also grazed her spine when going through and that stunned her enough to stop excessive thrashing and there was very little meat damaged when I cut her up. I just cut around the hole and used the odd shaped pieces for a ceviche.

The inlaws loved the fresh fish feast and I got a break from the heat, a dive, a fish, and some brownie points.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

I spent a lot of time on/in/under the water in 2021…got some fish, a few nice ones, and had some great meals with family and friends….

There were also a LOT of drives home with an empty cooler, but those skunks always bring their own lessons and opportunities to hopefully improve….grateful to my family and good friends for supporting me in my adventures, and for encouraging me to keep going through the dry patches.

I managed to bring home a few nice Lingcod, twenty three California Halibut (up to ~35 inches, with 10 over 30) , one big California Sheephead (my biggest ever), my second WhiteSeaBass ever, first speared Cobia, and biggest Mangrove Snappers so far…all taken spearfishing while freediving.

Here’s a little vid of the few fish I was able to get on film, with a classic Soundgarden tune. 



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DqUEK1mdtOs&feature=youtu.be

Hoping 2022 is full of giant fish and full coolers!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Have mostly been looking at sand this year again, but have been sneaking out on my Kraken when I get a chance to explore some reefs and kelp beds and get some paddle time...

Awhile back I paddled out to a promising looking area but after 5+ hours of hunting I hadn't managed to get anything I wanted...

While breathing up I saw some movement down in the murky green below and quietly dipped down and saw a really big male Sheephead suspended next to a kelp stalk about 15 feet down?!?

It lazily turned and gave me an easy shot so I plugged it right between the gill plate and the body and the shaft went out through its mouth.

Took off running but I just grabbed the reel line and kicked to the surface before it could get down to the bottom and get into the rocks.

After I admired him and bled him and put him on my stringer I dropped down to the bottom and could see that there was a pinnacle there that came up to 30 feet, and there were several other large sheep and some biiig olives chilling. I let them all be because I knew I already had plenty of meat with this one. I did look around for a Red for a bit (if it's Red it's dead  ) but didn't see any so moved on.

My only sheep I will take this year, and using the DOTY history can see that at 31 inches it is bigger then my previous PB of 29.5 inches taken in 2015, and the only male I've taken since 2017:

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/leader_board/1986/show

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/leader_board/2677/show

Back at truck sheep weighed ~19 pounds before being gilled and gutted.

I got my daughter Jayme to take a pic of me once home, let it rest in fridge overnight, then filleted him up and made a mondo batch of ceviche that was devoured fresh by multiple families. Gifted the meaty head and collars to my buddy Manuel for his parents to make a big caldo. 

Here's some pics.

 

Sincerely,

Jim