Leviathan

Several tough outings have been endured since my last report from Newport Bay.  Saltwater and freshwater Bass have been a love hate relationship for me the past few weeks.  With the exception of Prado Lake giving me a semi great day with about seven LMB in the boat within a few hours.  A juggernaut Prado largemouth muscled my 6wt into a maze of criss crossing braches where I lost it.  This trout fisherman has strayed too far from the creeks and rivers where he belongs...

The original plan was to fly fish for LMB at Irvine Lake.  I was looking forward to topwater explosions with my 8wt early in the AM.  Since most of my local  bass fisheries have just gone into post spawn, the bass have been tight lipped and wary.  Usually I am gung ho when fishing is involved, however this time I felt skeptical since my success rate has been devastatingly low this season.  With great reports coming out of San Diego and tide showing a good swing, the decision was made.

We met up with Tuck and Joseph on Coronado Island around 7:30am.  It was lowtide but the tide movement was decent.  Charles and I were in the Pram while Tuck and Joseph fished out of a tandem Kayak.  Erika contributed a birthday gift for the Pram.  A humminbird Piranhamax 175PT.  Depth finding is no longer a mystery and bottom structure can now be easily identified.  This old pram is slowly but surely getting it's upgrades.

I tied on a size 6 ghost shrimp pattern and stripped about 30' of fly line out until I noticed knots and tangles within the spool.  The fly line was beginning to look like a giant rubber band ball and I stubbornly tried fixing it without having to cut the fly off and strip all the line back in.  Instead, I cast the fly out and let it sink while I untangled the mess.  Within five minutes the fly was hit and I hand lined the bay bass in with half a reel and a pile of tangled fly line at my feet.

After getting the line straightened out and back on the spool the tide movement slowed and the bite was off for the next few hours.  We moved location and followed the depth finder to appropriate holding grounds.  Charles managed a few spotties and I had nothing until the big pull.

 The fishing was incredibly slow in the AM and Tuck and Joseph paddled over to our boat to get an update.  I was stripping my ghost shrimp pattern with short controlled strips.  The line went tight, I set the hook and it felt like a pit bull was thrashing on the other end.  I hand lined it thinking it was a large saltwater bass species.  It wasn't long until the leviathan ripped line out of my hand, off the reel and into the backing.  My Sage One 590-4 and Lamson LS-2 engaged in a David vs. Goliath duel with this creature from the salt.  A fine tuned trout rod at heart,  It was lacking muscle that my Sage XP 890 would have had.  It was up to me to orchestrate a precision fight with the overpowered fish.


The drag was set loose since I wasn't expected a fight on my reel.  I waited for an opportunity for the fish to stop so I could adjust my drag.  Every pull on the rod translated to vicious head shakes  and another long hard run.  The lactic acid was beginning to put the burn in my forearm and this rod has no fighting butt.  I impatiently switched hands to tune the drag.  It gave a sudden hard run and the line went limp.  Devastating.

I sat quiet for the next thirty minutes in contemplation.  Next time I'm letting it run and I will pursue with my trolling motor.  Lesson's learned...

The rest of the day was lukewarm fishing.  Several bay bass came to hand and a rather heavy one was lost.  We all rallied at some local mexican food joint and I left San Diego with both heart break and heart burn.  I can only speculate what I lost.  Some exotics such as the cortez bonefish have been known to come up from the Baja Peninsula.  A large croaker species, and white sea bass are other guesses.  I'll never know.