The one that got away off Half Moon Bay, thank goodness, but what was it?

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  The one that got away off Half Moon Bay, thank goodness, but what was it?

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Author Topic:   The one that got away off Half Moon Bay, thank goodness, but what was it?

boatdryver posted 07-18-2011 11:02 PM ET (US)
What the heck could this have been?
We were winding up an afternoon of rockfishing out of Half Moon bay this past Sunday. On the way back to the harbor we stopped to jig the 25 foot shallows 50 yards off of the outer breakwater, North of the entrance.
I was using a borrowed rod and reel and jigging a hair raiser type lure . The engine was off and there was only a minimal wind drift. The rod went down dramatically and the line went out against the drag so powerfully that I wondered if I could hold on to the rod. within 20 seconds the line was down to an old backlash that had not been cleared and snapped.
It was a surreal experience. We expected to see a seal surface, but never saw anything. I've caught salmon up to 40 lbs and snagged the bottom plenty. This was off the scale from anything I've experienced.
So what was that thing? I'm guessing I foul hooked a large shark. Any other ideas?
JimL
martyn1075 posted 07-19-2011 12:03 AM ET (US)
Do you guys get ling cod over there? A big ling will take line out much like a salmon. If you can hang on they can drag line to the bottom and hide behind rocks. I have heard of this before guys hooking big Lings on light tackle not prepared for a giant to actually hit.
Martyn
martyn1075 posted 07-19-2011 12:04 AM ET (US)
Do you guys get ling cod over there? A big ling will take line out much like a salmon. If you can hang on they can drag line to the bottom and hide behind rocks. I have heard of this before guys hooking big Lings on light tackle not prepared for a giant to actually hit.
Martyn
Blane posted 07-19-2011 12:10 AM ET (US)
White Sea Bass is my guess,they are starting to show in the area.
domlynch posted 07-19-2011 03:04 AM ET (US)
This is one of the great mysteries of fishing .it keeps us coming back for more.
dneal33 posted 07-19-2011 07:09 AM ET (US)
Over on this side in Tampa Bay iv'e hooked and landed and lost some large live creatures.
Sea turtles and rays as big as my truck hood,fast moving large sharks and the big slow moving 400 pound Golitith (jew fish) grouper.
Have had to cut 80 pound braid to stay out of the shipping channel after an hour chase because a big ship passing.
That's fishing
andygere posted 07-19-2011 11:13 AM ET (US)
1) Leopard shark
2) Big Striper
3) Halibut (if the jig made the bottom first)
4) Bat ray
boatdryver posted 07-19-2011 11:33 AM ET (US)
stiff rod, stiffer than I used for salmon
30 lb test mono
very rocky bottom
frequency of rod pumping suggested something very long
strength of pull if the critter was unworldly. would have spun the boat if line had not broken so soon.
Yep, that's what keeps us going back...
JimL
dneal33 posted 07-19-2011 01:10 PM ET (US)
Martyn, we have the ling down in Tampa Bay ,but we call them cobia. They like to hang around markers and other large structures in the bay. We will slid up to a marker and look for the big shadows down around 15 feet.
Will back off and toss 8 inch black rubber eels at them. Have had a 4 footer follow back to the boat only to have a 6 footer following it. When we are lucky to boat one they are calm until they hit the deck. Then they will try to wreck the boat with all of the trashing around. Best to gaff and slam in a cooler and sit on it for a while:)
littleblue posted 07-20-2011 02:41 PM ET (US)
That kind of power, I would guess a Thresher shark.
Chuck Tribolet posted 07-20-2011 03:05 PM ET (US)
I Googled up a bunch of pictures of cobia, and they are very
different from our lings.
The bottom fish in this picture is a Ling.
http://www.ncups.org/sea/SEA2009/california/index.html

Chuck
martyn1075 posted 07-20-2011 03:19 PM ET (US)
I am pretty sure Lings are unique to the North West Coast region. They are pretty much prehistoric creatures almost went instinct in our waters in Vancouver due to over fishing. The chinese love Lings pretty easy to catch most of them but don't grow in huge numbers like some species. The giant lings are like really old and are quite something, as well fight pretty hard will take line swim deep and bury behind rocks and just stay there for hours with your tackle!! I played one for along time and did just that went down 80-100 feet and just locked itself into a rock. I tried to out wait it by putting it into a rod holder for like an hour and still nothing. I cut the line after that never to be seen again.
Martyn
martyn1075 posted 07-20-2011 03:23 PM ET (US)
Holy cow funny video! Please fix link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icND-gu1fj0
lizard posted 07-20-2011 03:31 PM ET (US)
Chuck- I liked the photo of the mola mola in your link. They are amazing creatures.
Chuck Tribolet posted 07-20-2011 09:01 PM ET (US)
The pix in that link are the winners of a 2009 photo contest.
Dave Hinkel, who took the mola picture, usually does well in
the local UW photo contests.
The ling pic was taken by Adm. Linda, my GF.

Chuck
lizard posted 07-20-2011 11:45 PM ET (US)
Chuck- Linda's shot was great as well, in fact they all were. Are you a dry suit diver, being in the water temps that you guys are?
17 bodega posted 07-21-2011 12:20 AM ET (US)
I've been spooled like that too. There were theories that it could be thresher shark, blue shark, mako, etc.. all the way up to white shark. you can foul hook a whale or dolphin too. It's the ocean so it's hard telling... could be any of the above mentioned suspects.
It always keeps me wondering the many times I've missed fish that fought hard, or felt huge at the other end and I never got the chance to see.
It's probably one of the things that keeps us returning to the ocean. Every trip there is something new. We had a pilot whale surface several feet from the boat that startled my boating partner while salmon fishing.
Amazing place we have here in our backyard.
Steve
Tonym posted 07-21-2011 09:25 PM ET (US)
Maybe you hooked a fish and had a sea lion try to steal it
and foul hooked himself. It's happened to me in northern Baja. They can strip you in a few seconds.
Tonym
David Pendleton posted 07-22-2011 10:31 PM ET (US)
I'm thinking it was the Landlord...
Mr T posted 07-23-2011 04:16 PM ET (US)
I'd put money on a WSB or perhaps a thresher shark. Last year outside the golden gate bridge, a buddy had almost the exact same type of grab and run, the fish snapped 30# mono like nothing after about 50 yards of a reel SCREAMING. We saw 8 WSB taken in the are that day, in the 35-50# range. Pretty awesome power on that first run!

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Author	Topic: The one that got away off Half Moon Bay, thank goodness, but what was it?
boatdryver	posted 07-18-2011 11:02 PM ET (US) What the heck could this have been? We were winding up an afternoon of rockfishing out of Half Moon bay this past Sunday. On the way back to the harbor we stopped to jig the 25 foot shallows 50 yards off of the outer breakwater, North of the entrance. I was using a borrowed rod and reel and jigging a hair raiser type lure . The engine was off and there was only a minimal wind drift. The rod went down dramatically and the line went out against the drag so powerfully that I wondered if I could hold on to the rod. within 20 seconds the line was down to an old backlash that had not been cleared and snapped. It was a surreal experience. We expected to see a seal surface, but never saw anything. I've caught salmon up to 40 lbs and snagged the bottom plenty. This was off the scale from anything I've experienced. So what was that thing? I'm guessing I foul hooked a large shark. Any other ideas? JimL
martyn1075	posted 07-19-2011 12:03 AM ET (US) Do you guys get ling cod over there? A big ling will take line out much like a salmon. If you can hang on they can drag line to the bottom and hide behind rocks. I have heard of this before guys hooking big Lings on light tackle not prepared for a giant to actually hit. Martyn
martyn1075	posted 07-19-2011 12:04 AM ET (US) Do you guys get ling cod over there? A big ling will take line out much like a salmon. If you can hang on they can drag line to the bottom and hide behind rocks. I have heard of this before guys hooking big Lings on light tackle not prepared for a giant to actually hit. Martyn
Blane	posted 07-19-2011 12:10 AM ET (US) White Sea Bass is my guess,they are starting to show in the area.
domlynch	posted 07-19-2011 03:04 AM ET (US) This is one of the great mysteries of fishing .it keeps us coming back for more.
dneal33	posted 07-19-2011 07:09 AM ET (US) Over on this side in Tampa Bay iv'e hooked and landed and lost some large live creatures. Sea turtles and rays as big as my truck hood,fast moving large sharks and the big slow moving 400 pound Golitith (jew fish) grouper. Have had to cut 80 pound braid to stay out of the shipping channel after an hour chase because a big ship passing. That's fishing
andygere	posted 07-19-2011 11:13 AM ET (US) 1) Leopard shark 2) Big Striper 3) Halibut (if the jig made the bottom first) 4) Bat ray
boatdryver	posted 07-19-2011 11:33 AM ET (US) stiff rod, stiffer than I used for salmon 30 lb test mono very rocky bottom frequency of rod pumping suggested something very long strength of pull if the critter was unworldly. would have spun the boat if line had not broken so soon. Yep, that's what keeps us going back... JimL
dneal33	posted 07-19-2011 01:10 PM ET (US) Martyn, we have the ling down in Tampa Bay ,but we call them cobia. They like to hang around markers and other large structures in the bay. We will slid up to a marker and look for the big shadows down around 15 feet. Will back off and toss 8 inch black rubber eels at them. Have had a 4 footer follow back to the boat only to have a 6 footer following it. When we are lucky to boat one they are calm until they hit the deck. Then they will try to wreck the boat with all of the trashing around. Best to gaff and slam in a cooler and sit on it for a while:)
littleblue	posted 07-20-2011 02:41 PM ET (US) That kind of power, I would guess a Thresher shark.
Chuck Tribolet	posted 07-20-2011 03:05 PM ET (US) I Googled up a bunch of pictures of cobia, and they are very different from our lings. The bottom fish in this picture is a Ling. http://www.ncups.org/sea/SEA2009/california/index.html Chuck
martyn1075	posted 07-20-2011 03:19 PM ET (US) I am pretty sure Lings are unique to the North West Coast region. They are pretty much prehistoric creatures almost went instinct in our waters in Vancouver due to over fishing. The chinese love Lings pretty easy to catch most of them but don't grow in huge numbers like some species. The giant lings are like really old and are quite something, as well fight pretty hard will take line swim deep and bury behind rocks and just stay there for hours with your tackle!! I played one for along time and did just that went down 80-100 feet and just locked itself into a rock. I tried to out wait it by putting it into a rod holder for like an hour and still nothing. I cut the line after that never to be seen again. Martyn
martyn1075	posted 07-20-2011 03:23 PM ET (US) Holy cow funny video! Please fix link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icND-gu1fj0
lizard	posted 07-20-2011 03:31 PM ET (US) Chuck- I liked the photo of the mola mola in your link. They are amazing creatures.
Chuck Tribolet	posted 07-20-2011 09:01 PM ET (US) The pix in that link are the winners of a 2009 photo contest. Dave Hinkel, who took the mola picture, usually does well in the local UW photo contests. The ling pic was taken by Adm. Linda, my GF. Chuck
lizard	posted 07-20-2011 11:45 PM ET (US) Chuck- Linda's shot was great as well, in fact they all were. Are you a dry suit diver, being in the water temps that you guys are?
17 bodega	posted 07-21-2011 12:20 AM ET (US) I've been spooled like that too. There were theories that it could be thresher shark, blue shark, mako, etc.. all the way up to white shark. you can foul hook a whale or dolphin too. It's the ocean so it's hard telling... could be any of the above mentioned suspects. It always keeps me wondering the many times I've missed fish that fought hard, or felt huge at the other end and I never got the chance to see. It's probably one of the things that keeps us returning to the ocean. Every trip there is something new. We had a pilot whale surface several feet from the boat that startled my boating partner while salmon fishing. Amazing place we have here in our backyard. Steve
Tonym	posted 07-21-2011 09:25 PM ET (US) Maybe you hooked a fish and had a sea lion try to steal it and foul hooked himself. It's happened to me in northern Baja. They can strip you in a few seconds. Tonym
David Pendleton	posted 07-22-2011 10:31 PM ET (US) I'm thinking it was the Landlord...
Mr T	posted 07-23-2011 04:16 PM ET (US) I'd put money on a WSB or perhaps a thresher shark. Last year outside the golden gate bridge, a buddy had almost the exact same type of grab and run, the fish snapped 30# mono like nothing after about 50 yards of a reel SCREAMING. We saw 8 WSB taken in the are that day, in the 35-50# range. Pretty awesome power on that first run!