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Just in from SuperBar ProStaffer Captain Rod of San Diego Sportfish (www.sandiegosportfish.com):
42.8lb Halibut Caught Bounce Balling with Spider Dredge!
I had Ashlee Fuller and Timothy Pickett of LINDGREN-PITMAN, INC. out for a quick trip before their flight home to Florida tonight. They were out here for the Fred Hall Del Mar Show. If you made it to the show then you already know they manufacture the top of the line complete longline fishing systems. Their techniques combined with their line of products have revolutionized the catching of deep water daytime swordfish on the east coast. They are both Captains and run Sword Charters. These guys are the ones to go see for a shot at a Swordie. Its very cool stuff if you haven't seen how they do it.
We got our baits in the water around 0830, the conditions were nice but chilly. The wind was on it early, probably just enough to blow out the surf but made for the perfect drifts. We had our first of only 2 fish by 1000, and Tim lands his first California Halibut, a nice grade 25" hen. It was really slow for us the next 6 hours but we had enough fishing stories between the 3 of us to pass the time and the day went by really quick.
I was clearing one of the rods from some kelp when one of the other rods gets absolutely CRUSHED. Ashlee was on it so quick I wasn't sure if she had the rod in her hand when the bait got picked up. I saw the rod load up out of the corner of my eye, it was in the rod holder, but up and out in a blink. She was across to the port side and working this fish and its peeling line big time!!!
Tim and I cleared the other rods and had the gaff at the ready in less than a minute and Ashlee has this fish turned and is absolutely kicking its ***!!! I'm thinking maybe this isn't a bat ray or least maybe not a big one. It's no more than 3 minutes, and she has it about 25' from the boat, but it's too deep to see.
This fish stayed right at mid-beam, never made a run for the props or the bow and this wasn't Ashlees' first rodeo pulling on big fish. We are all standing at the rail side by side, me on one side, Tim on the other and from about 15' away we see what it is. About 10 things go through your head in 2 seconds. Your heart starts racing, your stamina for sticking with the slow day and cold wind (cold for Floridian blood) has just paid off, you squeeze the gaff any tighter and you break your hand. All I could say was, "Tim could you please grab another gaff just in case." We had a heart stopper moment, when this fish decided it didn't like seeing a boat and did its best to spit the hook.
She came up out of the water about a foot and went batshit for about 5 long seconds, then sunk out for another run to the bottom. Ashlee put the hammer down, turned this fish and Tim helped leader it into perfect gaff range. I went for the stick, but the angle wasn't good and I'm gonna get one shot at a trophy, very green fish, "dont F this up". It turned for a really short 15' run, circled back towards us, straightened out, Tim again helped leader it ever so softly into the kill zone and I buried the gaff in the shoulder. This fish is in the boat!!!!!!!!
We all just stood there with our mouths open, silence, nobody could believe what we were seeing. This was Ashlees' first halibut ever!!! It was so cool, such a rush the when a fish like that comes over the rail and slams the deck. It's just as good as it gets. It was such a beautiful fish, not a mark on her. The biggest fish on the boat so far was 34lbs and this fish looked alot bigger, alot bigger!!!
She was 47" long and weighed 42.8 lbs!!! This fish took all of us, working together to get in the boat. It was a real team effort, West coast East coast. I could see Tims swordfish experience come into the mix when he leadered the fish to the rail. Ashlee just fought it like most people fight a 20lbs class butt. We all made it happen together
The rig was a Calstar 870M, an AVET HX Narrow with spectra and top shot of 40lb flouro. It's not exactly a finesse rig but it got the job done.
They had a flight to catch, so we got back to the dock and slabbed out some fillets to be eaten in Florida tomorrow night.
Thanks to Tim and Ashlee for a great day on the water and the best butt on the boat. I think this one is gonna be tough to beat.
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Originally Posted by FAT CAT MX
