Posted on April 18, 2020

I met up with Jason at the break of dawn and we trolled out past the anchoring ketch. One turn and half way back towards the rockwall I connected with a nice halibut. Combine that with the previous trip and it took at least 10 hours to find this fish. Naturally, I slowed things down and spent a good amount of time tiring it out. Since I didn't want to loose the halibut at the boat, something that could easily happen due to the extra long leader and my super short fishing rod which requires handlining the last few feet, I called Jason over to provide professional netting services - thanks, dude! The halibut measured between 26 and 27 inches.

Then it went quiet on my end for the next several hours while Jason battled two stingrays in a row. This is both exciting and upsetting. Exciting because it is fun to have a heavy fish on the line, and one of the rays was the proverbial barndoor that didn't want to come up, but also very upsetting because rays are not the kind of fish we like to eat and they tend to shred our gear before the fight is over.

Many hours later, after the tidal change from ebbing to flooding, I hooked my next halibut. This one, generously assessed, was 20 inches and therefore two inches short of the required size, so it went back down with minimal damage (not netted and carefully handled while removing the hook). I was just about to tell Mack, a friend and man who doesn't believe in virus transmissions (6-feet distance please, a paddle length would be great!), about my shorty catch as I hooked up again. This time the line felt heavier, a legit fish with characteristic head shake, and I ended up gaffing my second halibut, a 23 incher.

Quick and Cool Facts about California's Brown Pelican

• Breeding range is from the Channel Islands south to central Mexico.
• The only breeding colonies of California brown pelicans in the western United States are on West Anacapa and Santa Barbara Islands.
• The non-breeding range extends north to Vancouver, Canada.
• Brown pelicans build large nest structures on the ground, in trees, or on vegetation.
• The nesting season can extend from January through October.
• Brown pelicans normally lay three eggs and the adults share incubation duties.
• Brown pelicans can dive from 60 feet in the air.
• Brown pelicans can live up to 40 years old.
• A pelican's throat pouch can hold over 2 gallons of water.

source: https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/nature/brown-pelican.htm

Question: Does the Valley Nordkapp in the picture below make my Aquanaut look fat? It can't be the half inch difference in beam width, or can it? I think it's the 'but.

Another long day criss-crossing the bay from Encinal to Treasure Island in search of a precious fish. It takes time and effort to fish a large area on both sides of a tidal change.

Distance: 13.7 miles
Duration: 8 hours 30 minutes