2021 Halloween Ghost Story: My Second WSB

TLDR: I shot my second WSB and was stoked. 

Longer version:

Last year I spent enough time underwater that even though I wasn't hunting them, I happened to be in the right place at the right time when a school of these haunting fish swam by.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=93694.0

This year I made a plan to paddle my Kraken out and actually hunt the kelp beds for a ghost...

My first attempts ended up smelling like skunk and tears and heartbreak...

I saw some fish (including some absolute tankers) but couldn't close the deal...spooked fish, a devastating equipment malfunction, multiple missed chances and a lot of cursing underwater had me thinking I should've stuck to staring at sand. 

One day though after many many many hours in the water, while I was breathing up laying on the surface staring down into the green murky water, a fish glided in slowly right underneath me... 

Pulled the trigger and my shaft went in right by the pec fin and down and out through the bottom of the throat. Took off ripping line from my reel, and I felt confident that my shot was solid so grabbed onto the reel line and let her pull me through the kelp....

She dragged me for what seemed like forever, but stayed up high and eventually stopped and wrapped around some kelp.

From the surface I could see her tied up about 15 feet down so took my time and made sure I was clear of any reel line before going down and pulling her free and getting back up to the surface.

Bled and brained her right away and enjoyed the moment before dealing with all the reel line mess and making my way back to the kayak.

Pretty sure this was the smallest out of all the fish I had seen while looking, but still ridiculously stoked to get the fish that I had been targeting.

Back at the truck she taped out at 46 inches and weighed ~30 pounds.

All the delicious meat was shared and eaten fresh amongst multiple family members and friends.

Extremely grateful for the fish and the humbling learning process...and for the advice and encouragement from some good friends on here who motivated me to keep trying despite my earlier failures. 

No vid cuz had used up all my GoPro battery hours before I found the fish, but here's some pics.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

St8 lording, what a catch and story! Glad you got one and some good memories as well 

Wow!

Think I just finished catching up with reading through the posts on your first WSB and now this. Awesome, great inspiration hoping to get one myself sooner or later.

Thanks for the report!

Congrats on the successful Ghost hunting.  Thanks for the great report and pictures Jim.  You're da MAN 

Nice 

Thanks for the stoke!  Bucket list fish for me for sure...smallest of the bunch?  Yikes...Bon Appetit...

Suhweet and scary. That's quite freekin awesome. Seriously! congrats!

LIKE A BOSS

WHO YA GONNA CALL?
 

congrats Jim!

Awesome! Glad all your effort was rewarded.

Spoooky!    Congrats Jim!  You make me believe in ghosts! 

Awesome Big Jim. Glad to see your persistence and patience pay off.

Congratulations that’s awesome.   Thanks for sharing.

So awesome!  Way to stick it out and hit your target.  You are the Man!   

Thanks for the kind words guys. 

Here's a few more pics of meat/meals...the big ribs/belly were once again awesome marinated in BBQ sauce and put under the broiler. 

 

Sincerely,

Jim