The Ghost

Lately, I've been getting back into it: hopping in the water at different spots, dialing in conditions, figuring out what fish are out there and what the regs are (literally made myself a powerpoint 😂🤓),  etc… not a lot of shooting but learning a lot.

A little while back a friend was in town and she wanted to go shoot some fish. She's used to NorCal diving so going out in San Diego was no big deal for her. We found some kelp and had been bobbing around for about 20 minutes with no luck. I had seen a little something in the distance but nothing in range and nothing big (visibility was about 10’ in the kelp).  Then, I popped back under the surface and after about 15 seconds saw the last thing I expected.

I've read about White Sea Bass, heard people give talks about them, heard how elusive they are and skittish and all that; they call them ghosts for a reason. I pretty much wrote off seeing one until I had put more time in the water.

But there it was, right in front of me. It silently emerged into the green haze from behind the kelp, slowly creeping towards me. I had never seen one in my life, but I instantly knew what it was and I only had a split second to pull the trigger before this thing saw me and vanished forever. Before I knew what was happening, the spear was rocketing towards the shadow that had already turned and ran.

Not the best shot I've ever had, but it held. The fish was just legal so nothing to write home about... but I hadn't shot a fish in years and to land one of these creatures had me through the roof. I told the lady that I was ready to stay out or head in; it didn't matter because I was so stoked (and we had a wedding to drive up to in LA). She wanted to stay out.

About 15 minutes later I was working around the patty, still getting comfortable swimming in and out of kelp with a fish on my waist, not paying much attention because I was already happy as a clam and nothing could take me down from that. As I crept through the kelp, which was thick enough that it blocked most of the light, offering only 5-8' of visibility, I saw another shadow. And it was a big, big shadow. Big enough that it scared me to pull the trigger. Big enough that I'd never been in the water with a fish that big. A fish like that is a  rare, rare find and when it turned to run I knew I'd never see it again so I shot.

The fish took off and took about 3/4 of my reel with it. My heart rate was through the roof and I couldn't stay underwater for more than 10 seconds at a time. When it stopped spooling, I tried to pull it in a bit but felt it get hung up on the kelp. I dove down there and honestly wasn't sure what I was going to do with a tangled up pissed off fish that size. I had my knife on me but this was out of my comfort zone. However, when I got down there the fish was gone.

In the words of Ron Burgundy, I was in a glass case of emotion for the rest of the weekend. I was so mad that I'd let that fish get away... partly for bragging rights, but much more so because I'd essentially ended that creature’s life for no reason. I've since heard that they're very soft and a slip tip is required. Maybe it was the fact I was using a flopper that it got away.

(Flopper on the left, slip tip on the right)

Though I was kicking myself, I was through the roof with excitement. Seeing that thing emerge out of the shadows, knowing what it was and how ridiculously lucky I was to be there in front of it, was a feeling I won't forget. I completely understand how some people dedicate their lives to hunting this fish; I think I just became one of them.

Here's some of the aftermath...which tasted great

Here's a video that explains a little more, and will show you what hunting them looks like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R2JAM6GNzA