A buddy and I went fishing down in Palos Verdes this weekend for calicos. The night before, we attempted to patch my leaky tube and did so successfully. However, we managed to only get ONE of the holes.... I realized this as soon as I got out past the surfline. We started catching bass right away. Small ones at first. Then my fishtrap got sucked down 20 feet from the kelp fringe. I set the hook and didn't even move the fish. He took about 15-20 feet of 15 pound line on four pounds of drag. Then he sat on the bottom and sulked for a minute. I pumped him up slowly and saw a ball of loose kelp with a bigass tail. I called Chris over and lifted a super fat 6 pound calico out of the water...my personal best. I caught a 4-4 several years back and I remember that fish was a real beast. This fish was so much bigger. This was the second largest calico I've ever seen. I know some people get fatties out at the islands, but this fish came from a piece of coast that gets fished all the time. I'm still stoked. Unfortunately, this was one of the rare days I left a waterproof disposable camera in the car 200 yards from the beach. At least Chris saw the beast.

In 1.5 hours, we caught 13 or 14 calicos. I also got a 3 pounder...all on swimbaits. I shortly had to leave the hot bite 'cause of my sinking tube. I'm so glad I had 15 pound line on...that fish certainly would've got to the kelp with anything lighter.