OK, I know this board is usually for line fishing, but I just had to post this. For some bizzare reason the water was actually somewhat clear when I drove by mesa lane today so instead of fishing from my yak, I returned to my first love, freediving and spearfishing (scuba is for weenies). Anyways, I was out looking for halibut to spear when i saw a nice calico - I can never actually bring myself to spear them because they have so much personality - but I do like to see if I can actually get to where I could. Sort of like a spearfishing catch and release. I dive on this calico in stealth mode - you know, take the snorkel out of the mouth so there are no bubbles, and creep along the bottom, and all of a sudden I get this weird feeling like I'm missing something. I look down in time to see a large chunk of the bottom take off. I didn't even have time to react as I saw the largest halibut I have ever seen (in 22 years of diving) swim away when if I had even been paying attention I could have easily gotten it. I went down and measured the impression it had left in the sand. IT WAS LONGER THAN MY SPEARGUN. Even though the hole would obviously be bigger than the fish my guess would be about 45 inches.
I think this is great - It really made me actually feel good to know that there are still fish like this out there. Even though I didn't get it, I feel that it is proof that the cessation of gillnetting has had a positive effect on fishing in so. california that will only continue to get better as the years go by.
I will admit that I was kinda kicking myself afterwards, for at least 5 minutes, until i nearly swam into the side of a 17 pound white seabass which selflessly sacrificed itself to make my day better.
one more note - while the WSB I got and that behemoth of a halibut were the only legal ones I saw, I did also see over 30 (I lost count) short 'buts as well as a large # of 18 to 26 inch whites, again something that was unheard of when I first started diving.