Ed,
When I used to fish for big calico's on the party boats we would use the heavy gear. Forget the lightweight stuff that is used for freshwater. I used a Cal Star 8' 270H with 30lb mono and a Diawa SL30SH with the drags hammered down! You need to lay the wood to those mothers right now or they will take you into the kelp and it's over! Now I know a lot of guys now use spectra witch would cut through the kelp a lot better. Those big calico's aren't shy at all. I have seen them inhale some huge macs that I didn't think they would want anything to do with. My hat is off to you for catching calico's as big as those on a regular basis.
Those fish have a big set of shoulders and a very bad attitude.
I would still love to see the look on the faces of some of the bass fishing T.V. hosts if they were to hook up to a big 10lb+ calico on their freshwater gear!
Robert