We live in Arizona now and ocean fishing is somewhat limited there, y’know? Spending the month of July in Pacific Grove, Calif, I’ve been able to kayak fish as I wish. Weather has been cool, skies overcast, and seas calm for great paddling, but the bite has been off (meaning lethargic, disinterested fish that ignore all offerings) until yesterday.
I launched near the Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf at 0730 on Monday 07/20 with glassy surface, little wind, surprisingly fast drift for such a calm day, overcast skies, good visibility. Reports of slow to no bite at all left me with low expectations, so I had planned on nothing more than a shakedown cruise to try out my new Shimano Baitrunner spinning reel. My first drop would be near a yellow buoy less than one mile from my launch. Once near the buoy, my yak drifted on a westerly course.
At a depth of around 90 feet, I dropped a frozen squid on a 5/0 circle hook with a circle hook stinger using a reverse dropper loop to which I attached a 6-ounce sinker.
I quickly hooked up and landed a very nice Brown Rockfish at about 0800. Quite pleased, I thought: ‘Great, that takes care of Mr. Skunk. At least my wife and I can enjoy a nice fish dinner. And BTW,’ I continued to myself, ‘I love this reel. That bait runner function seems to work well.’
Kayak fisher persons converse with themselves often while alone on the water--perfectly normal, really.
We, my yak and I, drifted for about 15 minutes and had a really hard takedown (bite) that did not stick. I guessed it was a Halibut by the way it hit. Encouraged, I paddled back to my first drop. In about another 15 minutes, I felt another strong takedown followed by a hard nibble, all while using the baitrunner feature that provides for a two-tiered drag setting: the initial setting allows the fish to bite and move without feeling any resistance; the second setting disengages the first setting automatically and allows for setting the hook. Using circle hooks, I cranked gently until the rod bent nearly double, and the fight was on.
Once hooked, the fish ran hard, and I knew I had something strong on the end of that line. She turned my yak 180 degrees and towed us some distance from the hookup spot. She pulled a lot of line and gave some really hard headshakes while she ran.
After about 10 minutes, I started gaining line slowly and steadily. I got her to the surface, let her cruise in a circle a couple of times, then gaffed her and got the game clip into her gills, through the mouth, and locked down. Oh, happy, happy moment. I did my best to dispatch her quickly and as humanely as one can with a knife point where I thought the brain would be. She quivered a bit and had only reflex twitching, thereafter, so I think I did it right. I cut the gills and let her bleed out.
With my most satisfying catch, like evah, I considered calling it a day. Conversing specifically with my conscience, I was persuaded to end the adventure with gratitude: Conscience: ‘You want to be one of those non-caring, kill-everything-in sight fisher persons? What value in greed here?' continued my conscience. Isn't it better to leave it for now. Would not a 36-inch Halibut feed you for several meals?’ Although a bit annoyed with my interlocutor, I concurred on those points and went home a happy, satisfied fella.
