[PAL]

Edit: Hah! Jim and I were posting about the same time. Sorry about the repeated pics.

The Islander is always an epic time. We had a great set of anglers and free divers on board, and like Roby says, the Islander crew... there's none better. And wow, did Jim Sammons and Sebile ever load us up on cool baits. Easily $100 worth, probably more.

Hey Roby, nice butt. Grats on the day 1 JP. I told Drew he should ante up. Bet he does next go-round. It was his first time on a west coast sporty. He's still learning about our style of fishing, and he was lucky too. He got his halibut right up on shore while bass fishing. Even pulled its head out of water at landing from the video I saw. A mellow fish and skilled angler. That thick flatty was doomed.

That first day, the wind and south swell were nasty. Jim was looking for big calicos for his TV show, so we worked the one reasonably fishable set of boilers hard for hours. They didn't want plastic. Jim nailed a nice 7 but only by baiting a live sardine in danger close. As I said on Facebook, payment would be extracted. That's not my story to tell.

It was a relief to get out of the wind. Conditions were gorgeous on the lee side, if not as fishy. Picking away at smaller calicos in the thin band of shore structure up by White Rock wasn't too inviting, so I slow trolled a dine out in 50-60 feet. Hooked up a nice yellow and that devil tail went straight for the only structure in sight, the anchor of a 6-pack sitting 150 yards down current. FUBAR. I wasn't up to the challenge. Fail.

I talked to Capt Coniff that second morning. He expected the wind to build all day. I don't think anyone was thrilled to be motoring back to the lee, including John. We all made the best of it and still had a great time.

I spent most of day 2 looking to make good on my farmed yellow. They were around; Adi had a school swim right under him. By late afternoon we'd worked south to better shoreline structure with plenty of water movement just as the wind started ripping outside, so I rejoined Sammons, Gregory, Jackson videographer Jameson Redding, and Jim's cameraman Will Richardson in close where I belong. If I'm anything, I'm a calico guy.

The bass bite lit up, and I was fortunate to pull a 7 out of the stones on one of Jim's Sebile Magic Swimmer Softs - an epic weedless boiler bait. I was feeling redeemed (whew!), and the structure kept getting more dramatic, with cliffs soaring overhead and big wind chop thumping hard against the rock. The whole calico crew had it going, and then - wham! - I'm on another boiler beast.

This one rainbowed my rod and hung tight to the bottom. I was getting sucked into the stones. The fish rolled - Gregory and I saw an enormous dark head and then it was once again pinned on the bottom. Gregory bumper-boated me out of danger as I thumbed the spool tight.

When I got it yakside, the big bass was barely hooked on the outside edge of its mouth, so I jammed my hand in and pulled it out. Hurt so good! 9 lbs on the Boga, finally getting me over the 8 I was stuck on for 3 years. Thanks to Jim for the photo, and Drew for the assist. First time I've ever won a daily JP on a C&R'd calico.

We stayed out until the light faded, and the guys had a couple more shots at big boiler bass. Damn, is SCI ever good for monster bass! I'm ready to go again.