Report Tomales 5/17

Here you go.

Been having some success gathering live bait the night before and storing overnight in an aerated trash can in da van.  This particular bait haul on the eve of the 16th was phenomenal.  The chum I've been making has oats and shrimp and cat food and whatevah' fishy kine goodness that makes some scent.  1st cast after chum, boom!  30 pieces, live smelt, all perfect candy bar size and 8 or so chovy sized as well.  By the time I got home they had made so much intestinal purge I was nervous they wouldn't make it through the night.  The top rim of the can was full of foam and crap all over the top edge.  Oh well, what can you do...hope they make it.

Awoke and was eager to check the bait stash and I was sorely bummed.  The water seemed black and I was imagining all my beautiful new friends floating on the bottom.  I didn't want to disturb the ones that made it so I didn't stir the pot but found a few lively so I bolted to the launch.

Arrived to meet my buddy Eddie(fishemotion) and gave him the potential bummah' news bout' da bait but to my surprise only 6 or 7 had died.  We had livees and it was might hopeful.  Quickly loaded the live ones into fresh salt water and was very happy.

Shoved off toward the yellow buoy to catch the outgoing.  The warmer water from the inside seems to trigger the bite along with the typical slowing tide.  Just drifting with live bait is a joy.  No success on the south side of hog.  Just kept my drift going to a mark I had in mind North of hog.  I rarely drift two livees but watching the stealth slayers in the Southern Hemisphere troll a few baits seems da way. 

Thought I had a hit and I think a fish hit my steelhead propeller bobber I put on one of my leaders.  Such a reminiscent hali strike but no damage to the bait.  Hmmm...drifting along...

Shout out to Allen for a new setup I've been drawn to.  A one line dropper loop 3 way rig with no metal.  Loop to loop at the mainline.  Loop to loop at the weight.  Tying a large loop in the top center and cutting it for my bait line.  The bait line is about 1.5ft to a trolling swivel and a quick snap.  I can now tie an assortment of leaders to attach to it for different size baits and a trolling setup if I choose.  So simple...

Suddenly, kayak style, a yakker approaches and asks if I'm Eddie and naturally I confess, "yes sir".  His name was Aaron and he heard I was fishin' in these parts and I had a buddy.  My other buddy Eddie was figuring out his own tour of the area with the livees we shared.  I gave Aaron some intel on the area as he was whipping a swimbait not expecting much.  The tide was reaching the middle of the outgoing and I had to get to work by 2:40 on a Friday.  It was around 10 at the time. 

Messing around in the area, staying on my mark, slightly losing hope, the wind picked up.  In this area suddenly you can be tied up in eel grass in 4 fow so we reset and reset...

Here goes...
I was checking my half dead smelt on the setup I have not much confidence in but now it's got a special place in my arsenal.  Seigler SGN on a Shimano grappler slow pitch rod 6'6" pure noodle parabolic weightless nothing stick.  I bet this fish was following my bait as I lifted it to say "hi". I hope you are enjoying your tour of Tomales bay.  The second I turned around after the weight hit the bottom it went zzzzzz....zzz.zzzz.zzzzzzz.....down and down again until I pulled it out of the holder and enjoyed the weight and stickedness.  This rod was pure bendo and setting the hook seemed toyish but I did it any way.  Aaron is yelling "how does it feel?  I calmly reply "just right" cuz no deal is sealed for this type of fish or any fish until it's in the bag.

I lost a fat 16+#er in Richmond the Friday before to rusty gaffing skills.  That fish was redeemed inside Inverness on live bait that following Monday totaling 15#'s for two fish on a slow day for others.  Super blessed but I digress..

Where was I, oh yeah,  "just right"...I crank it up and I see the little knots of my loop to loop mainline...and behind it is this beast of a flatty that kinda made me take a breath of woah...

I like to work on my left side for all fish but I lost that fatty in Richmond on the right side.  This fish was on the right side so at least I had some practice..."losing fish?"  May it not be so...I don't live in the past so this is new and let's do this!

I grab the rod in the middle and lift.  Gaff in the right hand and kinda simultaneously she's  on the surface coming at me so perfectly I cannot miss.  Perfect gaffing on a 2 ft. handle up and the work has just begun.  Major self talk!  Clip!  Through gill, out mouth and clip!  Remove gaff and trust...

I'll say...Helicopter motorboat motor fireworks of absolute propeller flooding of flapping with my hand on the clip preparing to lose my arm and flip the yak with all the balancing ballast skills I knew how to muster that I had within me.  Stop!  I'm telling this fish for what seems to be minutes but prolly long seconds until it rests.  Major self talk moment...Spike the brain!  Took out my trusty not rusty ikijime spike and jammed both sides to lobotomize my new guest. 

When you brain spike a large fish in the water and you do it well, the body electrifies and stiffens while bending in a "be ready for more balancing oddities practice" type movement.  Then she went limp but I am no hali fool.  This fish dispatchment is not complete.

Aaron pulled up to get me some pics and we were in the moment.  I was trippin', he was trippin', then he went whippin' and left me trippin'...

I was determined to wire this beast for full ikijime commitment.  She was bent in my hatch for this procedure.  I say "she" by size, don't tell my wife, though I am pleased with her renaissance figure, but when I pulled the guts, I think this was a male via sperm seeming sacks.  I could be wrong though.

First attempt, in the hatch, bent, but long direction torso with my thicker wire, could only find about foot of depth but full response of electric nerve bundle irritation symptoms.  Oh no, I have to pull her out and dangle her in the water perpendicular to the yak to see a better route for the wire.  I pulled her out and flopped her over the edge and attempted another peaceful injection and she wasn't having it.  She practically resurrected her original hate for all things death though I was attempting a humane way to finish the job.  Finally, I laid her across my leg, down the yak, straight, on the clip, and used my 80lb stainless fishing wire I rigged for such an event and she took it.  All fins buzzed the pattern of wave that suggests rest and pure numb relief.  I took my beefy shears and snipped the gills from the roof of the mouth in one stroke.  Hung her in the water and let her pump out any remaining blood.  On a fish this size, I am reminded next time to cut the tail and break it so the artery at that end can also release.

Into the hatch, slimy and floppy as ever.  Each stroke of the yak had to be countered by the weight of the top of the fish on the left side of the hatch.  Still, I make it sound more dramatic than reality but I love to notice the difference in average big fish, and "proper," as they say in New Zealand, big fish.

As I'm wrapping up, Aaron lands a 26" on the swimbait right under his yak and I assisted in ikijiming that score for/with him.

My good buddy Eddie also had a stellar day...like the old days during the lockdown, oh did we fish!

See ya' on da wattah'!

 

Thanks for the detailed report a d congrats on joining the 40 incher club Eddie.

Reminder.  This is not about me, but about all the slayers that have helped inspire me through this community of encouragement, reports, techniques and straight up phone calls while building relationships. Keep in touch. Take a risk and send a personal note.  Get a lil' deeper than the weather and the tides.  Recipes rock and so do y'all.  You know who you are...may your next fish be your personal best in effort and prep and honing that skill of learning to fail and get back up. 

 

 

Congrats.  Great report.   

Congrats Eddie!  Awesome story and great fish!

 

Glorious! Thanks for the fishy times  ... Madness!
I gotta remember to try that tail technique. Good stuff slayer!

Nice tale!

Love the detailed story.

Great work, great write-up, great catch. The smiles in the photos are contagious. Thanks for the report and encouragement. I will be following your advice.

Dang Eddie, you did GOOD!
That must have been a fun day!!!

Scotty

Great fish!

And, thanks for the detailed report on the adventures of fisherman Aaron, fisherman Eddie, and the other fisherman Eddie.

Nice fish Eddie!!!

Big booty slayer congrats on a beautiful fish.

Excellent report.  Good looking fish!  Well deserved 🤙

Thanks crew of stoke!  Stay tuned. For me, fresh hooks and knots coming up.