Seeing Ghosts: Catching My First White Seabass From The Shore

Catching Massive Fish From the Surf… Continued

Nine years ago, I began learning how to fish the surf. Nine months ago, I started that process all over again. The big difference? Surf fishing with swimbaits and all that came along with it. Rather than providing all the background again. I’ll link the relevant articles leading up to this moment at the end of this article.

For those of you who have been following this blog, I’m sure you’re aware of my recent pursuit to catch a white seabass from the surf. That journey began about nine months ago when I seriously started pursuing them. Was it the right time to start targeting them? Not at all. But, would I take any of this 9-month hunt back if I could? Not a chance.

Seeing Ghosts: The Story of My First White Seabass From Shore

I woke up and loaded my gear into my car before heading to work. It was the second night of the most recent grunion run and I had a good feeling about tonight. A couple days prior, I had a killer day with multiple legal halis and the itch to get out there again was overwhelming.

When my 8 hours were up, I wasted no time. I was outa there. When I finally arrived and rigged everything up, it was 5:30pm.

The evening didn’t start right. A couple things were off… Since I tie my leader-line via an FG knot to keep it as thin and strong as possible, avoiding kelp etc., every time I have to cut a lure off, it gets shorter. It’s not the quickest knot to tie while on the sand so at first, I didn’t bother taking the time to retie. After rigging up, I had a bad feeling about losing a potential monster due to a leader that was too short.

On top of that, conditions weren’t great. In fact, they were terrible at times. Oh, and my buddy was late. That good feeling I’d had earlier in the day was quickly fading away. Short leader and all, I began fishing.

About every third cast would come back mostly clean while the rest would accumulate more weeds than I prefer. Maybe thirty minutes went by with no action and nothing but weeds. My buddy finally arrived, and I decided to take the time to tie a new leader on and wait to see if the bite would turn on for him.

After one failed attempt at the FG knot and one incorrectly tied Texas rig, I finally finished tying my leader and got back out there.

Oh, I Almost Forgot… See My Lure Throwing Set-Up Below:

• Rod: Okuma SST-S-902HA – 1/2-2oz | 10-30lb | 9ft | H | MF
• Reel: Penn Spinfisher VI (3500 or 4500)
• Main Line: 30-pound braid
• Leader Line: 30-pound mono
• Lure Options:
  • Lucky Craft FM 110 (jerkbait)
  • Keitech Fat Swing Impact (4.8″) | Warbaits 0.5-ounce Weedless Jighead
  • BioSpawn ExoSwim (4.75″) | Mustad KVD Grip Pin Swimbait Hook (5/0 | 1/8oz)

While the lure options listed above are the ones I’ve been throwing most often, today, I was the 4.8-inch Keitech listed above on a 6/0, 1/6oz, weighted Z-Man TT Lures ChinlockZ SWS Swimbait Hook rigged Texas style with a 1/2-ounce bullet weight.

Something Made Me Stay… I Couldn’t Leave

By the time I get back out there, my buddy has just about had it. Between the weeds and the rough surf, he gives it another fifteen minutes and wishes me luck as he heads home for the evening.

So there I was, literally the only person on the sand as the sun began to set. I couldn’t see the sunset, just gray clouds and the occasional bird flying by. It was darker than usual for this hour as “May Gray” had certainly set in, but as bad as the conditions were, I couldn’t leave.

I remember thinking to myself that if something happened this evening, it would be a heck of a story to tell. I literally felt something that wouldn’t let me leave. It wasn’t as if something told me to stay. The best way I can describe it is that something literally kept me there. I even remember noting that something was keeping me there…

Timing My Casts

Until about 7:45pm, most waves were big and choppy and timing was everything. Every three or four minutes, there’s be 30 seconds of calm and I’d try to place my lure perfectly during that 30 second period for a clean and effective retrieve. That changed at 7:45pm. I remember one last big wave and then things got calm again.

Now, every three or four minutes were primarily filled with mellow, billowing waves followed by a bigger wave or two that I’d have to wait for to pass. It changed that quickly.

The Cast I’ll Remember Forever

On this cast, I got some pretty good distance. I started my retrieve and I recall at least four separate occasions where my lure filled up with a bunch of seaweed and each time, I dipped my rod quickly to get the weeds off. My lure had to be 75% back to shore when it got ever so subtly tapped.

Following the tap, I felt a slow and steady increase in tension. I set the hook hard and connected. We’re on! It was a sporadic fight. After it hit very similarly to a halibut, the fight was much different. Almost like a smaller scale soupfin would fight. Some quick and strong runs and a little bit of side to side action.

I could feel him heading toward the structure but I did my best to keep him out. It was then that I said outload, “I think I’ve got a white seabass!”. I’d never said that mid-fight prior to this moment. Maybe 45 seconds into the fight, I saw my chance. That one big wave that would come every three or four minutes was coming now. I didn’t even think, I just reacted and my feet took me back up the sand.

It was dark and it all happened so fast. I stumbled over a big strand of kelp that was on the shoreline and with the strong surge, I lost the feel of where the fish was at this point. As the wave receded back toward the sea, I didn’t feel tension any longer, I looked down around my feet and saw it. Hook perfectly set in it’s upper right corner of the mouth and the most beautiful fish I could have imagined.

So there I was, literally the only person on the sand. The audio that followed was that of uncontrollable excitement, satisfaction, and content. As I snapped my photo, sent the beauty back to sea, and attempted to put another swimbait on my hook, my hands and entire body were shaking. Nothing but gratefulness filled me in that moment.

Video coming soon!

Be sure to subscribe for more and if you want to catch up on this journey of mine from the beginning, the articles below are listed in order.