La jolla

[Buttchaser]

This past week I decided to take a Much needed fishing trip down to La Jolla , Being 2 Hours a way I decided to make it worth it and get a hotel room for 3 days and 2 Nights . The weather was great and no rain in the forecast so I took advantage of it and headed down to La Jolla .

Sunday morning I launched at 4am , Made some nice greenies and fished them High and low with no luck , I also tossed some iron and chase the bird around , No luck for me But I did see and hear of a few yellows caught .The Highlight for me on this morning was watching Kiyo Hooked up on a BSB ,


I'm guessing the fish had to be about 150lbs or so , we quickly Revived the fish and she was back down in 2 minutes

Here I am Assisting Kiyo on the release



Not much action , going on tide was slack so I was off the water by 1pm .

Monday Morning , Launched at 430am, made some Bait ,
Could this be the day ?
I get hooked up on a fish for a few Minutes, It felt Like a BSB , slow steady pulls, I buttoned down on the Drag and Busted it off , Few fish were caught But no love for me , Strike two, . Off the water by 11am

Tuesday , My last and final day.
On this morning I was starting to feel a little dissapointed in Myself , But had confidence that this could be the day for me , I was starting to wonder to myself , should I extend my stay if things don't work out?What should I do?
I Was fired up and ready to launch at 430 am , Made some bait and had a line in the water .Its about 630am and I still have not seen any action .I made a Move to a spot that I had marked on my gps the previous day . As it turns out Just as i pulled in to the spot I see a Pber hooked up about 60 yards away . Feeling Motivated I re baited my line and dropped it back down and slowly drifted , and then it happend . Bammmm , I'm Bit , I set the Hook , This fish starts Peeling line off of My trinidad 20 , As the line was peeling off I knew I had the right kind on and told myself , "don't you dare touch the Drag." The fish was heading straight up to the surface and its now 5 minutes in to the fight , and it was towing me around ,I wasn't too worried because no one was within 50 yard of me , so i took my time and continued to fight the fish . This fish was mean , and continued to run at will , all i could do was let him run , Soon enough I turned the fish head around and started gaining Line . I had the fish on the up and down and it slowly started to come to color , this fish was within 10 feet of the boat and then started running again. This was the first time that i seen the fish, it came up to the surface and i couldn't believe my eyes , The fish was still Hot and Breezing the surface at will , slowly but surely I had the fish to the Boat and I sank the gaff into its head . I knew the fish was big because it tilted my kayak over to one side when I pulled it aboard .



Not long after I ran into Ron (Paintfish) and Nate and we got a quick Photo of our catch


At the launch , I met up with Matt and we decided to go get the fish weight at OEX Anglers Yak shack , The fish was 45lbs . I am stoked , My first ever yeller from the kayak , and a New personal best fish .The only question Now is, When Will I go Back

[Matt]

BEAST!!!!!! Congrats John!! I had the biggest '09 YT for like 2 days......hahahaha

[Dan]

Holy TANK!

Way to go....I saw you guys doing that group photo, but was quickly distracted myself

[paintnfish]

Way to stick it out John, next time get an extra bed lol

[islanderexpress]

WTG! Congrats, Thats a nice looking Brute.
"Sonny"

[Iceman]

John what a way to pop the cherry.........the 45+ club is a very short list......Congrats!

[landwhale]

Way to go John time on the water paid off big for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kiyo]

Congrats to all three of ya!

[Matt]

hmmmmmmm.........something about being short, stocky and fishing out of a blue trident......can you say trend????hahahahaha