Garrapata (Sobranes Pt) 10-9-09

Arrived at Garrapata Friday morning around 7am and was paddling in beautiful conditions by 7:20am.  The morning started off slow with a few hits here and there.  Then I starting catching a few fish, all Gophers.  About an hour or so into the morning I found the blues, but only for a bit.  As soon as I could get my bait in the water I'd pull out another blue.  If only it could have lasted!  Within about 20 minutes I couldn't buy a bite...not even a nibble.  I decided to move and try a few different swimbaits.  I hooked a nice canary, the biggest fish of the day, and let it go.  The next cast I pulled in a good size Olive, the only one of the day.  On my way in I noticed a nice drop off on my fish finder and decided to give it a try.  I laced a sardine swimbait with a strip of squid and added a drop of sardine juice for good measure.  As soon as it hit the bottom the fight was on.  With 30 pound braid tied directly to my swimbait I knew I had a good chance with whatever was on the end of my line.  My drag was set fairly tight and yet the assumed "Lingzilla" starting running with ease.  I set the drag a little tighter and started gaining, so I thought, and away he went again.  I'm not sure if the beast found a cave to hide it or became entangled in the kelp, but I could not reel this thing it.  I'd gain a little and then he'd run...  I tried everything I could think of.  I loosened my drag and let the fish run, but to no avail.  The fish just started spooling me.  Then I thought I'd try paddling around with my rod in the holder hoping to catch a break.  After about 30 minutes of this I decided to take a few wraps around my glove and pull!  Finally, the third try broke the line.  Spiderwire 30lb braid is muy difficult to break!!!  Any suggestions.  This is the third time this has happened to me the past year.  Twice I've hooked a beast at Garrapata and once in front of the Butterly House.  Each time the fish has paid my line out for about 10 seconds or so and then become utterly impossible to retrieve.  One of these days I'm going to win! 

So there you have it.  Kind of a slow day considering I fished for 5 hours and only kept 5, but the fight at the end made it worth it.

Sorry you didn't get to see the fish. Sure sounds like fun though! At least from this end. Probably pretty frustrating from your side of the story.... 

thanks for the great read, sorry about the loss, cameron

The big ones get that way for a reason! I've been "rocked" by big lingcod (and even strong rockies) several times this year. If they can scrape the line or snag the lure on the rocks they win, and don't they know it.

But what they don't know is how badly their behavior makes us want to go back....

BSB

WSB

i have a spot with the the same thing. 4 times now in the exact same spot I've tied into something BIG, its broke 30# test and wire leaders. Soon I'm gonna jerk whatever it is up outta there and slap it around for good measure, its become my white whale, when i fish that spot its for my bruiser i don't want nothing else

Glad to see you're still getting out there at Garrapata! I've lost a few in the kelp this season too.I think it's par for the course.You were using braid,which usually cuts through kelp.Plus, you kept the drag pretty tight and kept the pressure on the fish.You may have been schooled by a lingzilla, but black and white sea bass and shark (soupfin, seven gill) also reside on those reefs.
Who knows what the one that got away was.
Maybe we'll get another shot at the lingdogs before the season ends.

 Too bad it got away! I have had battles with big ones there also.
 Twice I had the battle of a lifetime only to discover a"furbag" on the other end with my lure stuck firmly in his lip! What can you do? Cut and run, try again, next time it might be the BIG one.

Good story.  Seems like I always learn something on days like these.  Andy

Thanks for the great report!  Hope you'll catch that "thing" next time.

Chillean Sea Bass






If your confident its rocked the last ditch effort is to throw your reel in freespool, releiving all pressure from the fish and see if they'll swim out. Rare but I've had it happen before and its a better option than popping the line. 

Chillean Sea Bass

"Toothy" speculation there   

lol....all the legitimate seabasses were already taken, the only other option was to go with the faux seabass 

Too bad it got away! I have had battles with big ones there also.
 Twice I had the battle of a lifetime only to discover a"furbag" on the other end with my lure stuck firmly in his lip! What can you do? Cut and run, try again, next time it might be the BIG one.

 "I'm gonna need a bigger net"...LOL