ARW sun 24.

 Brian and I arrived at 6 15, a little late, but the bait took a bit of time to retrieve from where the "motel " parked for the night. At the ramp waiting was Mike (from OPS, with the pontoon boat) and 2 of his friends ready with their skiff (Mike was cheating today, and we all let him know it). Also 4 NCKA members, who i met, and have already forgotten all their names (sorry, I'm the WORST with names!!). We dealt out the smelt and hit the water. I was 15 min behind the first crew to head out to where Duane and Frank had been 2 days before. By the time i got out the crew had at least 2 if not 3. The action was fast in the early morning/top of the tide. I saw alot of rods bendo. I saw a fish that was closer to 30 than 22 break off at the boat. As for me I had 2 fish come unbuttoned half way up, but believe they were Hali from the way they were acting. I boated a shaker, and then the heartbreak fish. It came up pretty easy. When it emerged it was easily my seasons best ( 27 +). As i was about to swing it took off wit a fury, nearly pulled the rod outta my shark mangled hand, and POP. I haven't BROKEN a fish off in a very, very long time, but today i was reminded how it felt. You know when it happens like that its 100% angler error, not the luck/skillz of the fish..
At around 11 when the rest of the contingent took off, and the tide turned, the bite switched off. Earlier i had been marking bait and clear fish marks under it. When i dropped down on these marks i usually got bit. These marks disappear around 11. PBs invaded what had been a cozy affair. I stuck it out till 1pm with no further action. I think the total score was something like 3 on mikes skiff and 3 maybe 4 for the NCKA contingent. I'm sure about mikes score but am uncertain about the yak score. weather or not we boated many fish, it was a hot bite. will be back SOON.
Now, BIG thanx to Duane for putting us on them, and for his mentoring in making bait, both of which were KEY to all of us enjoying a great morning. Also big thanx to the captain of the SUPERFISH for being so courteous with wake controll and positioning while he fished in amongst us.
It would be nice if all the people i met posted up to remind me who's who.

Sounds like you had a great but kind of discouraging day. You are the man for putting all those people on to bait. That shows alot! I could not make it down and now I regret it tremendously. You will get them next time Sharky. Anytime you come up to Sonoma Co. give us a shout and we will hook up. Thanks for the directions and the map. I have it logged now in my mind. Hope to see you someday on the blue.

Thanks again for the bait Sharky! I'll bring some cold one's next time to repay the favor. We both lost em at the boat. Let them get a bit longer and we'll pull em up next time! Cheers!

I told you they were there
and by the way use a gaff that net s*&^ is a good way to lose a fish 

Ravensblack,
You may have met my friend, Brian and possibly his Girl Friend at the TBay hali derby. He was on my blue scupper pro and Christin was on Ranger Jims rig, which he had lent to her BTW THAXS Ranger Jim, they are now infected, which means more friend time for me).
It really wasnt that discouraging. In fact Im surprised how OK i was with breaking that larger one off. I have a bit of a handycap with my disability in my left arm. I dont have much mobility or grip in it, so having a larger hali nexto the yack is always a bit of a touch n go thing. Its always exciting, thats for sure. I saw the guy on the red yak (possibly john,but as i said im the worst with names) break off an even better one, i saw the fish, just minutes earlier. the bite, FLAC conditions and good company really made it.
BTW I found a nice net back at the ramp. its torn (nothing some stitching wont fix), so either one of us is getting a net back or the fish gods gave me a consolation prize, cause they knew i needed a real net.

Duane,
YOU DA MAN!!!!!!! You were SOOO right. Lets do it again asap, afterall, it is our backyard.
Jon, do you know the names of the others there??

I do remember seeing those people on the scupper.  That dude was in shorts with no PFD and I thought ,wow I hope they dont have trouble. But they were real nice and offered to share bait. Now that makes sense, they were your friends. Was that Jim aka redyak? Nice guy. If up north gets blown out next week I should try down there.

Duane,
up till now Ive always used a gaff. i think I'm gonna "stick" with that method. I thought you were a net guy? I noticed holes in franks fish from your last post.
what about using a "WSB snagger" on a rope??

Thanks for the great report sharky. It is nice to hear there are still some hali around. They have been heavily targeted by the party boats this year.

Jed

I know the guy in the Pelican is Yakattack. I didn't get the screen names of the others.

ARW was beautiful today. It was an awesome day of fishing made possible by great company and good live bait. I'd like to say it was a pleasure to meet Sharky, Jon the fisherman, Russ "Yakattack", & Brian. Sharky you are the man thanks for the live bait.

Met up with Sharky, Brian, and Mike & his buddies at the ramp @ 530. Sharky was kind enough to give all of us bait SHARKY YOU AR THE MAN!!!
Myself, my cousin Jared (light blue Tarpon 160) & Russ "Yakattack" paddled out shortly after Mike & the boys left in their skiff. Reached the fishing grounds 30 mins later. Soon as I sent the first smelty down BOOM hit hit hit. Brought up a 27in flattie. Shortly after I landed a second fish measuring 24". It was a good day paddling around with and meeting everyone. Called it a day and back at the launch by 11am.

Thanks Jon the Fisherman for lending me your tape measure.
On that note Jon sorry about losing your Bass Pro grip, as soon as I got home I ordered a new one for you from Bass Pro Shops. i will be getting it in 5 days or so.

Ended the day with 2 flatties and full stomach. My cousin jared and I baked the halis with lemon, olive oil, garlic, salt/pepper, & other spices. We polished off the meal with some Red Stripe.   

Arielc,
there should have been more bait out there. after i took 12, brian said hed put the rest in a bucket with an aireator and bring them out. there were about 25 in his bucket. on the way out he decided to take off his pfd to fully put on his wetsuit and fell off the yak dumping the bait in the water

Hey Guys! ARW mixed with good people and good weather made for a great time. This was my first chance to head out to the bay and I have to say that I am completely hooked! The fight from that ray was awesome and was enough for me to almost forget about dropping my yak in freshwater ever again.

Thank you Sharky for sharing the wealth with your bait. This unprepared noob would have been SOL without it. Beers are on me!

Ariel - It was great to meet both you and Jared and thank you for letting me tag along and showing me the ropes. Again, beers are on me!

It was great to meet everyone( Jon, Jared, Sharky, Jon and Brian) and I look forward to meeting up again.

Cheers!
Russ