Ling Cherry Obliterated

Made a plan to get out Sunday with visiting kayak fisherman Josh (Wild Louisiana on here), a new guy named Matt who just moved here from FL to go to NPS, Cen Coast and my buddy Bryan.

Bryan, Matt and I would dive and Josh and PK would fish from above.

$10 MBF for longest fish. 

Viz was HORRIBLE inside cove but cleared up (a little) once outside but was still pretty darn murky.

Whales all over and huge schools of bait as well.

Started at one of my favorite reefs with high hopes of finding Matt his first Ling in a crack I know.

Took a bit for me to get oriented with my navionics app, but after circling around for about 5 minutes I dropped my marker weight/float line right on the crack. 

Nobody home in the target crack, but decided to spend some time exploring the area because it is a pretty fishy reef...

Took a few olives, Matt took a few blues and black and yellows, and Bryan worked on his equalization and getting down to the top of the pinnacle at 20/25 feet.

Right about when I was thinking it was time to move Matt pops up with a grin and says "Is this what I'm meant to be looking for?" and lifts up a FAT beautiful bright blue Ling!!

 

He found it chilling out in the open outside the crack! So stoked for him!!

After some high fives and hoots and hollers we head to another area closer to shore with more varied depths...unfortunately the surge was really strong here and made hunting shallower pretty hard.

I did find a decent grassy which I took...can't remember if I have a bigger one already for DOTY with site down so took pics just in case...

After we all started getting tired and thirsty we jumped back on yaks, paddled over to Josh who had a limit of blues, kelpies, gophers and BlackAndYellows and his first Ling!! 

While checking out Josh's fish I see a familiar looking kayak with no one in it...

Paddled over and sure enough I recognize fuzz laying in the water...holler at him a few times but he doesn't hear me so I block his snorkel with my paddle and he about jumps out of the water. 

Chat with him for a bit and show off Matt's Ling, then we all paddle back to shore.

Once we land we have a few beers, let the tourists check out the fish, and take some pics ourselves.

Run into Tyler and Ryan (slamsquanch) and Steve, and chat with them for a bit.

Then Cory (fishfiend831) his better half Jenna, Akoma and another SaltyNut show up and bust out fresh salmon sashimi!! 

Matt's ling taped out to 33.5 inches and 15 pounds. Gutted and gilled it, and it had an empty belly and no eggs and still weighed 13 pounds after all guts and gills out. Super meaty fish!!!

PK and his buddy came in a bit later and they didn't have any bigger fish so Matt also won the MBF $$!!

Matt tried to give me the $$ for the hospitality and beers, but I refused...I didn't refuse the beautiful Ling fillet he generously gifted me though!! 

Matt and I both gifted Bryan all the rockfish we had taken. 

Awesome time showing new friends around, and a quality chill session after!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

ps...quality OTW pic taken by Wild Louisiana!! 

My little Grassy. Not huge but solid and chunky.

 

Nice fish!! Thanks for sharing the fish story! Looks like you all had a blast!

Awesome time on Sunday!  Bummed i had to bail on the sashimi chill session

Great first ling.  It will forever be in his memory. 


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Awesome time on Sunday!  Bummed i had to bail on the sashimi chill session

It was great meeting you dude and glad you got to come out and check out our backyard, AND get your first Ling as well!!!

Looking forward to the next time! 

Great first ling.  It will forever be in his memory. 


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Thanks Duane! Matt's a buddy of Aussie Andrew's and I was super stoked to be able to show him around and be a part of his first Ling!!

I love seeing folks spear their first of a species!!!

 

That's awesome. "Is this what I'm supposed to be looking for?" with a 34" ling.

Heck yes it is!

Great fish!

  I should have the surface celebration and high fives on the GoPro so will post it when I get a chance to download and edit. 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Great adventure and write-up.  You are a true ambassador to the sport!  Thanks for sharing.

What a hog for a first ling! Great write up! Sounds like a blast!

That's so awesome! Just what you want to have happen, but it's damn hard to script how things will play out, especially if the viz is crap! Happy for Matt- he'll be hooked on N CA diving forever now!

Thanks Duane! Matt's a buddy of Aussie Andrew's and I was super stoked to be able to show him around and be a part of his first Ling!!

That's awesome.  When are we making a trip to Australia. 

I also love watching people find their first of any fish species, abalone Or scallop. 

No vid again,what's up with that?its not the same,it's messed up you making me read the whole report

Nice Job!... I was just wondering, since I am still pretty new to spearfishing, How deep do you dive at stillwater, and if you need a kayak to fish there? I am still learning the ropes, so any information about this area would be very helpful! Thanks so much!

No vid again,what's up with that?its not the same,it's messed up you making me read the whole report

 

Having computer issues now so no videos until it gets fixed. 

Nice Job!... I was just wondering, since I am still pretty new to spearfishing, How deep do you dive at stillwater, and if you need a kayak to fish there? I am still learning the ropes, so any information about this area would be very helpful! Thanks so much!

You CAN shoredive there but way better to kayak dive...can get to a lot more spots...

Depths can be super shallow or as deep as you want...just depends on spot...

 

Sincerely,

Jim

No vid again,what's up with that?its not the same,it's messed up you making me read the whole report

 

Having computer issues now so no videos until it gets fixed. 

Nice Job!... I was just wondering, since I am still pretty new to spearfishing, How deep do you dive at stillwater, and if you need a kayak to fish there? I am still learning the ropes, so any information about this area would be very helpful! Thanks so much!

You CAN shoredive there but way better to kayak dive...can get to a lot more spots...

Depths can be super shallow or as deep as you want...just depends on spot...

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks for that! I think I will try there saturday morning with my brothers!