I enjoy the stories especially the halibut in the surf pics.

i need to know what was on the end of my line this weekend, i fish alot but dont catch too much so i was pleasently surprised when my rod went wump ZZZZZZ on the drop while fishing off naples pier in goleta. its big and going for the bottom, i try to slow it down but my rig is lite, so i let him go and bring him in after 2 min or so. slugging back and forth, now 8 min i can feel kelp wrapped on the line, motor the boat around keep bringing him back to the same spot let him run bring him back he is getting stuck in the kelp at the same spot, going on 15 min. so im thinking i gotts to see what it is... i have a mask...take off the shirt put the rod in the holder with the drag loose, go over the side and follow the line till its straight down from me. but i cant hold my breath for #### so im only able to get down about as far as my toes sticking out of the surface and i see the line is around a huge kelp root and i can still feel the fish on the other end but i cant see him, cold excited and now a little scared (shark? others?) and boat floating away i swim back he is still on, still fighting really slow and steady not thrashing and a lot of weight. cant get him out wind came up so i broke him off....
ok what was it... in kelp 20 ft water. sea bass? thresher? bat ray?

The last time we fished by the pier there, I got one of these:

http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/daily_reports/7_15_07_rob_shovelnose.jpg

But who knows right? Maybe it was a big halibut, black seabass, white seabass or ???

How was the fishing otherwise?

giant monster skate....i knew it

naples...no bites, nothin, from 1pm to about 5. outside kelp, in kelp, anchored, drifting, in shallow, nothing,

went to harbor last nt drifted around in the zodiac, nothin, there were 10 guys under stearns wharf looked like kind of a zoo. reminded me of salmon season on the river when i was a kid in michigan.
except no one was drinking beer.

scott

When you say "Naples Pier" I assume you mean the Veneco pier near Haskells?

Is so, I have had the same experience there time and time again. In fact here's a movie of my buddy hooking up here:
http://gallery.me.com/bpchristensen#100056

Our theory still remains that they are white seabass, because it tends to happen only this time of year and either early in the morning or late at night. The runs are not typical of sharks or skates (like a shovel nose guitarfish).

I have also hear reports of people catching BSB out there, which could also explain the mad runs and twisting through the kelp.

Keep at it and good luck landing it next time! This is why I use 50# braid whenever I fish the kelp out there! :-)

oh man cool video, yeah same place, same kind of run, heavy, wish i brought fins to get down to see it, too funny, agree not a guitarfish as it picked it up on the drop 5 or so ft from surface.