"Moby ##### swings inshore at Goleta Beach"

Forgive me in advance for the length of this post. (I assume if you're reading this on calfishing.com, you probably get pumped up about fishing stuff sometimes too...so I don't feel too bad!)

This morning, after fishing with Brian, I went out and bought myself a new $7.25 diving plug for halibut out at Goleta Beach. I was really excited on getting a legal halibut since I haven't nailed one in quite a while. I headed back to the end of the parking lot at the beach at about 3:45, got my stuff together and walked a hundred yards down the beach, away from the pier, before kicking out in my beat-up tube. I had just spooled on some new 10lb. Triple Fish line on my new Calcutta 250 and was in the process of testing it out with my new yuppy anchovy diving plug.

I got 2 short halibut pretty much right off the bat. I decided to try out the whole coastline just to see if I could find any spots that were holding fish. It took me a couple hours, but I went all the way down to the big rocks fishing the shoreline both ways. No success, not even a distinct stike. I got back to the spot I got the two shorts at and started fanning casts over the whole area in about 5-12 feet or water.

It was about 7:15 and I was just about to turn around and kick in to shore when I got bit by the immovable. I felt 2 head shakes. My rod got fully loaded and the 10 pound line began screaming off my little reel as the fish ran parallel to the coast for about 100 feet. At this point I was was thinking to myself "Oh yeah ... this boy's coming home to the frying pan!". I have had big runs in my tube before, so I instinctively turned almost completely around and started to chase the fish as fast as I could. He stopped briefly, made a right turn, and headed straight out to sea. He ran so fast and smooth that my line was whistling and there was tiny bits of spray flying off it where it went into the water. He stopped twice, and I only gained a few feet of line.........

Now I was getting worried. He was heading straight for the kelp beds out a few hundred feet. I was kicking so hard that my whole tube was rocking violently side to side. I buttoned down my drag to a level completely unacceptable for 10 pound line...to try and avoid getting kelped and broken off by Moby ##### here.

I got lucky because he passed right between the first few rows of stringers without getting tangled. Then he wised up, went around a clump of attached kelp, and turned to the right a little, kinda towards the end of the pier. I knew I'd be fucked in a few seconds if he could pull against a snag so I hightailed it over to the kelp and quickly pulled the 2 or 3 small stringers over and around my rod while he burned more line. As I did this, I saw him boil on the surface in the distance. I couldn't tell for sure what it was, but I think it was a monster halibut. The boil was about the size of bathtub.

After he boiled, he absolutely bolted in a different direction. More whistling line and flying spray. He went straight into a big paddy and TWANG......my new line snapped, my new lure disappeared, and my monster fish got away. #####!!! Goddamn it, I guess that's the best way to lose a yuppy lure like that but trust me, it ain't easy to get over how it happened!

The whole ordeal probably only took 5-10 minutes, but it was almost painful having it happen because there was nothing else I could do to save the fish. I kinda knew he was going to break off when he got to the kelp. sigh.

Moral of the story: Sometimes using light line to get bit and have fun really, REALLY makes you pay through the nose. (Although, in this case I seriously doubt whether or not even 20 pound line would have stopped this fish. Given my tackle and the kelp factor, I didn't stand a chance.)