Ghost Buster, better known as Marmite

WOW!
What was the magic bait?

Marmite,

Great job today! Danny and Rey, thanks for the squid... it was a good effort by all. It was great meeting a bunch of you guys today, can't wait to get out again!

Rog

Here's another shot of you Doug...

Roger,
Nice meeting you today.  I had fun catching those squid.  I caught a lot more after we gave you those two.  I finally got a hang of catching those suckers.  They sure stay alive for a long time.  They were all over.  Too bad we did not get one of those WSB like Marmite got.  You won't believe it but when I was bringing up my sabiki all of a sudden I had something pull it and my reel was smoking.  I never saw what it was but it got hold of whatever bait I had on that sabiki and wouldn't let go.  Almost all of my line was gone and then it stopped.  I felt it pull just a little bit and it seem to just let go.  Gave me and Danny a great thrill.  Whatever it was I knew that the bait was not going to stay in that small hook.

Marmite,
Congratulations for those 2 great catches.  I remember seeing you at the parking lot.  We should have followed you instead of going after the live squid first.  I heard you just used frozen squid which he had.  You won't believe that when we came in ashore there this two guys who had a 70 and a 50lb WSB's in their truck.   They showed it to me and the 70 length was the width of his truck.

Rey

Jai Boi wat the hell you guys make it look so freaking easy haha lol  I gots a lot of species on my list and a WSB is one of em haha I hope 

Keo

Congrat on the awesome catches Doug!  Thanks for the reports and pictures guys 

Had to go from cleaning fish to a dance performance tonight so just getting a chance to post now.

Thanks guys for your encouraging words, it really felt good to finally catch something that seemed worth writing home about!  I'm Two for Three!

Didn't expect to go today as worked late last night but Alex called me at 7PM Thursday to tell me he and ChuckE struck gold that day.  Saturday looked blown out so it was now or never.  No prep spelled no sleep, but fortunately Bear wanted to inaugurate his new Trident and offered to drive.  We got to Monterey around 5:30 AM and after trying four grocery stores finally got some frozen squid.

I didn't join Bear on the water until 8:30.  Saw lots of boats around the red can, but I knew that Alex struck gold near the distant yellow can.  Like the previous day birds were circling there and I saw none at the red can so I told Bear I'm going yellow.

I headed toward some bird action just inside the yellow can. I was just drifting a hali rig with a double hooked frozen squid and a sliding one ounce sinker.  I dropped it to 50 ft.  I occasionally saw some fish IDs drift in and out of the FF but never saw a real squid baitball anywhere.  The water was muddy red and seals were breaching everywhere.  At around 9:30 or 10 I got my first take down.  Rod tip bounced a bit and then went bendo.  The fish went deep and the line was pealing out.  I was so afraid to tighten the drag fearing I'd pop him off.  But with nearly 300 ft gone I knew I needed to apply greater force.  Gingerly I tightened my Tekota down some and slowly regained some line.  All the while I was thinking,  I thought Alex told me these guys poop out easily.  He wasn't!  My greatest fear was that it was just a seal.  But I felt some encouraging head shakes and figured a seal would have just stripped me clean.  When I finally saw WSB 1 Iwas elated.  Almost lost him with a clumsy attempt at gaffing him but fortunately he truly was pooped out.  I just donned by fish glove and grasp him by the gill plate.  He was completely docile as I clipped him on.

Had to drape him over my lap because I feared the seals might chomp on him.  Heavy!  Told Bear I think I should go in now.  He said stay.  Told him if I caught another fish it would be the one meant for him.  It probably was.  

Not too long later I had take down number two.  I could tell he was smaller, but fun just the same.  Now had to drape two over my lap.  Told Bear I should go in before the chop arrived as I felt very unsteady.  He said, Nah.  So I got take down number three.  Bear was not too happy. But this one ran fast and shallow from the start unlike the deep runs of the first two.  After a short run the line went limp and behind me a big fish thrashed on the surface and disappeared.  The line was cleanly cut.  Wondered if it might have been a barracuda as a nearby boat had just hooked one.  

Bear estimates that the three hits all occurred within about an hour and a half. A limit would have been nice but two out of three isn't too shabby.

Had the hardest time trying to get an overhead shot of WSB #1



My Duet: #One--47 inches/42 lbs; #Two--42 inches/27 lbs.



Lady kindly volunteered to take a photo:



Back home, couldn't get these guys to cooperate for a photo session.



I was getting sore so Bear suggested we neutralize gravity.



Smile says it all.



I was sorry that Bear didn't get to inaugurate his maiden voyage with a WSB.  But I told him I should have gone in after the first one (and left the other two take downs for him).  Even after rewarding him with a 6 inch length of midsection on the big fish there was plenty left for the FoodSaver.



BEWARE!!! Not as friendly as he looks.



When I arrived at the Coast Guard pier a few people gathered to look at my fish and it attracted this guy. He came over and, with a very stern face, said, "You know there is a slot for these fish and your fish are definitely outside the limits.  I will have to confiscate these fish!  My jaw dropped as did the the guy who was standing nearby admiring the fish.  Finally, the warden said, "It's a joke".  I couldn't believe he thought that was funny.  Kind off an abuse of authority if you ask me.  

Also, make sure you have a net if you bring in any fish subject to length limits.  He was ready to cite me if I didn't have one and he seemed real serious about this.

Final thought.  I may be wrong but I think frozen squid may be as good or better than live ones.  Alex's friend told him, that if he had live ones he should kill them before using them because WSB are lazy and may preferentially strike a motionless squid.  And the dead, white ones are so obvious in the water compared to the shimmering, translucent, live ones.  By the time you cut into your fishing time to make bait, it may not be worth it.  Just my two cents.

wow marmite, congrats on the fish, and thanks for the great read, just got home from work, and havent been on the water in awhile, it was just what i needed for good dreams, cameron

And the poker face too.  Like yeah, this is what I do.

That's called "Shock".

bet your hands are gonna pay for it later - BUT guarantee it was worth it!

Ben have you brushed up against one of these before?  They really got a mouth of teeth but I protected my hands with fish gloves.  But on the way home I noticed this patch of very fine cuts.  I don't know if you can make it out in the picture, but this was normal skin that now is covered with very fine parallel lacerations.  It's as if someone ran a sharp wood rasp over your skin.  Best I can figure is these are the cuts made by the scales.  So be careful when handling even the skin of these beasts.

Oh yeah!

Congratulations! Nice score

Dang man .. I should of quit my job n stay in the water with u guys.. Too bad I couldn't pay rent with fish .. That would b a sick ass world.. Anyway that thing is a beast.. So bear didn't hook on anything?? It was fishing with u guys for a sec .. Hope to see u two out on the watr soon..  

Patt aka soulhigh

What lb test leader do you use since they have those fine teeth?

Jody

Final thought.  I may be wrong but I think frozen squid may be as good or better than live ones.  Alex's friend told him, that if he had live ones he should kill them before using them because WSB are lazy and may preferentially strike a motionless squid.  And the dead, white ones are so obvious in the water compared to the shimmering, translucent, live ones.  By the time you cut into your fishing time to make bait, it may not be worth it.  Just my two cents.

Doug,
First off, congratulations on some absolute quality fish.  I've gotten into about 15 WSB when I lived in SoCal (non-yak) but never got into the quality of your big one.  When I heard that the squid were there, I hoped that someone might get one down there.  You are absolutely right on with the dead squid theory.  Don't get me wrong, live squid is great but not necessary at all.  One thing the live squid do though is congregate the WSB together to make them easier to target.  Sometimes fishing the Channel Islands down south the fresh dead or frozen would be better than the live squid, go figure, but it worked.  Most of the time I think WSB catching is more about timing than the liveliness of your squid or bait.  Nice work!!!

What lb test leader do you use since they have those fine teeth?

I used 30 lb test

doug, let me know how well those wsb steaks turn out for you. looks like more than enough meat for a while!  i guess lots of happy friends and family around =)!

i wanted to get out but i've been taking too much time off work lately and have had too much to do.  i'm actually at work right now! and i need to go up to lake tahoe on sunday.