More Bean Hollow

So, Mooch starts screaming that he's got a lingcod on.  A big one.  I look over and he's got his yellow plastic faux boca in his right hand.  I say "Mooch you want a gaff assist?"  He starts screaming hurry hury hurryAllen, kinda like my daughter when she was 4 yrs old and needed a bandaid on her finger.  You know, the little sob at the end?

I hustled over and by gum, she was a big one.  Mooch was deep into a transcedental anxiety moan as he watched this beast swirling just off his bow.  I can't say how long it was, but I got a 32" ling today and this one's head looked at least twice as big.  a big fish.

Mooch really wanted to gaff this thing himself, "No, I gotta do it from start to finish!" he said.

I tossed the gaff over to him, he grabbed it, pulled the fish closer, took aim ......and.......sort of poked it in the mouth lightly.


(aaaarrrrrrgggghhhhh)  Result:  One ling cod lives to fight another day.

So we had an on-the-water primer on gaffing.  Synopsis:  STICK THE MO---------R AS HARD AS YOU CAN AND GET IT ON THE DECK!!!!  Then beat it on the head.

Mooch proved to be an apt pupil, when much to my chagrin, he came up with a gorgeous halibut, took the gaff again, and stuck it good.  It flopped off his deck, still on the line, and he stuck it good again before dispatching it.  I can't catch a flatty to save my life (or shave my beard), and Mooch catches one almost every time I see him?

Bean Hollow was so fun today.  John brought another halibut up, and a powerboat guy in a whaler caught at least two that we saw, all 40-50 FOW right in front.  I'm going to go back tomorrow and concentrate on flatties, this beard is getting itchy.

How'd I do?  7 rockfish, blacks and a china- two nice lings biggest about 32-33", and a cabby.  Plenty of fish released and one nice black "self released" about 1/2 hour after I cught him.  he jumped out of my crate while I was putting one of the lings in.  Swam away.  Hardy fish.

Really great to fish with jmairey, greg, and bill for the first time, all boon companions.  We had a blast out there today, everyone caught quality fish and the companionship was not to be equalled.

Mooch will post pix on monday, my family took the digital to Seattle with them.

5:30-6am tomorrow same bat time same bat station.  It's a great opportunity to fish this place while the swell is down.

Allen

Great report, Mooch really cracks me up, that ling is LHAO too!

Yeah, he confided in me today on the water that he was concerned about jmairey, who lost a halibut at the boat.  I thought jmairey was just taking it stoically, he carries a manly look about him.  But Mooch, the sage,  reminded me that holding frustration in can be damageing to one's psyche.  We encouraged john  to let go with his emotions.  I think we should all encourage John in this respect.  We care about you, John.

Later, when I had a big fish on and it popped off, Mooch advised me to "let it out, Allen."

I thought he meant let my line out to see if the fish would strike again.  No, he meant let it out emotionally. So I screamed an appropriate epithet at the top of my lungs.  At that precise moment the fish bit again.  That was my big ling for the day.

So this goes to show the benefit of "Letting Go."

You all have a great day on the water. A stellar day! A red day: shields and spears are rent and broken. Valor hangs in the sea air. Big fish both boated and lost. Reels scream and stringers sag. And then.....

You guys start sounding like a group therapy meeting and I am waiting for call for a group hug and a 'thanks for sharing'. I love ya man! And your Bud Lite too... 

Well, I ain't proud or, realistically, I am that desperate. If that's what I have to do to catch flatties and Lingzilla, then by gum I guess I'll do it. My wife will think I am a Renaissance man and brag to all her friends about my new-found 'vulnerability' and honesty. That's like gotta be worth like mega-WAF points which means I can practically live at San Luis for days at a time this Fall

Seriously guys, all kidding aside, well done  I hope to someday finally get the hang of this ocean fishing and come even half as close to that kind of day. 

my first picture on the water with my optio wp that I've had for months but have not had the guts to try to use on the boat.

it's of mooch....     

here he is gaffing like a girl,  . right after the "gulp(tm)" pretty much completely failed.  .

(this is great that mooch can't post on weekends! two days till he can retort!)

okay, I wish I had that picture, but scallen was in the way as usual, hogging the spotlight  , so it's actually just before that, while he's staring at a huge swirling beast clamped on to his blue rockfish and screaming for allen.

you'll just have to imagine the audio, I should have used movie mode!

as for the halibut I lost, I squirted out a few epithets, but really I have to get losing one over with once, I mean I couldn't bear the pressure of a perfect halibut gaffing percentage. it was really a weight off my shoulders.  And I won't blow the next one,  .

J

Looks like a great time, and in water that does't resemble the "Perfect Storm"!!!, Is that water supposed to stay that way all week? Might be down @ pescadero a few days next week, and would love to try the Ocean again with out getting my ass kicked ....DANGLIN

Too funny about the gaff story 

I got a similar lesson down in SD gaffing a halibut, but was lucky enough to get a second swing at it.

Boy did my buddy let me have it after tickling the fish with the first attempt!!

MolBasser

Looks like a great time, and in water that does't resemble the "Perfect Storm"!!!, Is that water supposed to stay that way all week? Might be down @ pescadero a few days next week, and would love to try the Ocean again with out getting my ass kicked ....DANGLIN

I'll join you if you plan to head to Pescadero on the weekend.

Although I caught the cabby and the Halibut on a black curly tail - on a six ounce jig head, I also caught the ling and released some rockfish using a "Hoochie Mama" Basically, a modified Iron

Although I caught the cabby and the Halibut on a black curly tail - on a six ounce jig head, I also caught the ling and released some rockfish using a "Hoochie Mama" Basically, a modified Iron

Looks like another hokey lure designed to hook fishermen into spending money.  So, how much are you planning to sell those for anyway? 

mooch, what is that iron, a luhr jensen stinger?

This was a blue and black killer: 3.5 oz anchovy pattern megabait live jig with a single assist hook on the tail (size 1/0?)
It also hooked the halibut and the cabby. one side is beaten up, the single hook definitely points up
on one side, keeping a single side down on the bottom on bounces.
so one side of the jig got beat up. but it never snagged.  .

my leader has a duolock, I take off the front split ring and hook the duolock straight to the live jig.

I also used this one on a. tani's boat for a lot of blues and blacks.

mooch called this one the 'bleeding tail jig'.

Figuring I could catch blues and blacks all day or try something different,
I used this zinger, which is a plated hunk of lead with a hole in the center, you are supposed to string
your line through, but it abrades the line real easy, so I just put some wire through and stuck a treble on
there. it is about 5oz.  I also sharpied it with black and red and put some epoxy on to keep the sharpie
from rubbing off. The ling hit it. got two of these in an ebay mystery lot last winter.

J

Although I caught the cabby and the Halibut on a black curly tail - on a six ounce jig head, I also caught the ling and released some rockfish using a "Hoochie Mama" Basically, a modified Iron

Looks like another hokey lure designed to hook fishermen into spending money.  So, how much are you planning to sell those for anyway? 

you can actually just use a plain banana sinker and add on the hoochie skirt on top of it = even cheaper than buying a nice shiny iron  It's not "hokey" if it's already caught fish - it already passed R&D 

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mooch, what is that iron, a luhr jensen stinger?
It's an Iron actually made by DART - sold at any local K-Mart....they sometimes go on sale for a buck (that's when I load up)

And the fishng method is, I am guessing, drift and jig, bouncing it on the bottom?

And the fishng method is, I am guessing, drift and jig, bouncing it on the bottom?

yes sir