Short version: I Kept a 26" Hali.

Long version:
Got to the pier before sun up. Bought 2 1oz. Kalin's Swimbait type jigheads from the bait shop. (This is more to maintain my welcome than anything as I can get them elsewhere cheaper.) Launched my Kick from the small dock and was in the water in time to watch the sun come up over glassy water, Beautiful.
I kicked to the other side of the dock and tried to make bait from a school that was there. Mangled a few micro 'Chovies and decided I didn't want any of them. Kicked over to the edge of the Kelp beds to the N/W about 10 casts later I'm hopping a 5" swimbait smeered with 'Chovie oil when in mid winding the line goes slack. I reel-up the slack and swing when it starts to tighten. The fight is short but hard with the fish heading towards the kelp the whole time. I measured it against my marked rope and it was Slightly short but I marked the rope long, so I threw it in my livewell and turned on the pump.
I saw that there was a nice little hooking point in the kelp about 50 yrds further. I decided I'd fish the hook and then head back to the dock to have my fish measured more accurately. I threw the 1st cast on the back of the hooked point and got hit immediately once the bait hit bottom. This was a weak hit and I figured it was a tomcod. After I got the line back in I headed for the inside of the point. Atleast 10 casts later I had nothing. I decided to head back to the dock. As I kicked towards the dock before grabbing the oars I threw a "last cast" at the backside of the point. 2 hops into my retrieve the line goes slack then taught as the line heads for the open sandy area like a freight train. I'm thinking WSB as this is what my few previous ones did.
It turned out to be a noticably bigger Hali with a bad attitude. When I netted him he went crazy and when I tried to grad the jighead to unhook him he nearly got me. After unhooking him with my longer pliers which he bit twice I slipped him into the livewell with the other and had to fold his tail over to make him fit. Back at the dock, He was 26+" and the other was over 21 3/4" but not 22. The guy at the bait shop told me I could throw them both in the tank and release the short when it was ready. After watching them both for 10 min. it was ready and I was ready to get back out there.
I took the short out of the tank and noticed that the wind had come up. Down at the dock the offshore breeze made it difficult to get back into my kickboat. I tried to oar back out to the same area but the continually stiffening offshore breeze made it hard to find and I think I over-shot it. I hit some other pockets on the edge of the kelp for a few small hits and a tailless swimbait. I moved into the kelp to try to hold in the wind and caught 2 short rockfish. 1 of the 2 looked like he might have been trying to mate with the lure, as it was only an inch shorter than him and he was hooked in the side!
I moved back out into the open and threw out the bait rig for a 9" Jacksmelt. I put him out on a walking stick rig and kicked with the wind along the edge of the kelp. after 50yrds or so the rod doubled over, shook and then went slack. I reeled in and found only a head on the end of the line. I took it off and threw it in, stowing that rod and grabbing my swimbait rod again. As I was putting oil on the swimbait and trying to hold position I watched 6' of Blue shark pass less than 10' under me! :o GULP! No more livebaiting this trip!
The Blue disappeared and I tried to collect my wits. After a while I decided to try bounce balling with my own twist. Instead of a dodger in front of the hoochie I had tied up a leader with 4 pieces of silver tinsel. It looked good but didn't have any kick to it. After trolling it both by kicking and oaring for 1/2 hour each it hadn't been touched. Next time I'll try a Flash-light attractor w/ or w/out the tinsel.
By this time I'd blow out almost to the 1 Mile Reef bouy and since there were 4 boats out near there I figured I'd give it a try. Usually I don't get out 1/2 that far. My 2nd cast found another small rockfish of the same kind in a mating frenzy. I decided I'd let him try to get off the hook while resting about a foot or 2 off the bottom and he was soon helped by a short Ling (21") who wanted to take his place.;) My 6th cast was rewarded with another short Ling of about 23". I stopped counting casts and caught 2 legal rockfish which I released. It was now after 1:30 So I stopped fishing to eat and when I was done my 1st cast yeilded another 23" ling fatter than the others. I talked to another guy in a boat who had a 10# ling and and I went back to catching short rockfish, but no more in a "mating frenzy". :+
The wind kept up blowing offshore so I started to oar back. About 1/2 way back I stopped and threw a swimbait around the edges of Little Reef for 2 large tomcod. A little further in, near one of the moored sailboats that looks abandoned and is close to the pier, I got a 19" Hali. I kicked over towards the cliffs to an area that was calmer and I had seen a kid get a short from shore there a while back. It gave me no love and the sun was almost down so I headed to the pier and called it a day dog tired.

Tight lines,
Wade