Laguna keeps producing

Got the call from Josh that he was heading out on a bug dive in Laguna tonight. I was already planning an earlier night dive so I told him I’d meet up with him after checking out a couple of spots. Well two spots down and two legals pulled. Met up with Josh and it was time to dive again.

Waves weren’t too bad as we pushed through the surf. Sometime they’re so large you have to time your entry just right. But tonight they were just waste high. Well we jumped in the water and after quickly giving up on finding a halibut in the murky sand it was time to look for some bugs.

Thanks to Josh we spotting the right area in no time at all and I started working around some nice rocky holes for a chance at snagging a succulent lobster. Those critters were there alright, but practically every bug was a safe distance into its hole. By the time you got your hand next to a crack they were already scurrying out of the way and out sight.

Well after searching for a while I managed to see a couple legals and a bunch of undersized bugs. Josh found a good 5-6lb sheephead and plugged it in the face. Meanwhile I was still holding on to my empty bag with nothing to show for this dive. Then luck hit me and I found my first bug of the dive. It was a foot out of its hole (which was more of a crack than a hole, just chilling there. Not wanting to miss this opportunity I went straight at it and pinned the lobster to the ground before it had a chance to bolt back into its home. With my grip secured I yanked him off the sea floor. Back on the surface I called Josh over so he could check it out and then we shoved the oversized cockroach into my bag. Not a big one, but it’s an easy keeper.

More searching and I can’t find a single sign of a legal bug anywhere. Whatever bugs left here must have been scared deep into their holes by now. And since it's getting late I decide to call it a night. Josh had been searching for a massive sandbass just 15 minutes before, but apparently it gave him the slip and he was over finding it again. So we changed directions and headed back to shore.

We both snagged a meal from the sea, which meant the night was a great success! But we’ve still got some rocky ground to cover before we get back. So we both continued to dive, but aimed towards the shoreline with each submersion. Not like we’ll see anything. I never see any legals in the area up ahead and rarely do I ever see more than one undersized bug crawling the rocks in that area. But you never know, so I kept at it.

At first I was in front of Josh, but I love to search and a few dives later I end up having to speed up just to catch up to him. So following his lead I'm now tailing behind Josh.

Then one dive down I spot something of interest! It looks like a cave with sandy bottom, so I swoop down to check it out. It’s wide enough for me to glide into it, but first things first. I shine my light into the cave and see what’s there. Maybe 12ft in, at the very end of the cave looms a very vicious looking moray eel starring at me, mouth wide open. It’s kinda dark back there, but within a few seconds I can make out the entire cave. And there’s not a single bug in it. Ah well. Saying good riddance to the moray I give up on the hole. Turning around I move my head out of the cave and aim for the surface ready to take another breath of air. Scanning to my left near some wavy brown kelp my view passes by a glint of orange and instantly I do a double take as my brain screams, “That’s a massive lobster leg Daniel!” Swinging my head back and looking for it again I can’t see anything. The kelp was perfectly covering whatever I had seen.

My hunger for air beats my curiosity and I breach the surface gulping in some much needed oxygen. Two breaths later and I dive right back down to make sure I wasn’t just seeing things. At the bottom, hovering above the kelp strands next to a rocky wall I wait patiently for the next swell to reveal what I thought I had seen. The surge pulls the thick brown kelp out of the way and a massive carapace emerges followed by thick orange legs. No way! I couldn’t believe a bug like that could be here, but I was damn glad it was. I don’t wait a second and swim straight for it. Snatched it with both hands and bolted for the surface. I’ve grabbed bigger, but this was so unexpected that I had to yell out in excitement.

Josh quickly heads over and just like me he can’t believe what he sees! A fat 5-6lb bug clinging to me. Josh said he thought I had to have found a fish in a hole when he first heard me yelling. So seeing the bug was even more a surprise. I quickly spill the beans on how I found it and I’m intrigued to find that Josh had just swam over this area and checked out the very same hole himself, not knowing that right next to it, maybe two to three feet away, sat this monster of a bug.

That bug made the night for me. And since I had grabbed two more bugs earlier in the night I decided to split the catch and give Josh two of my bugs (of course the smaller ones XD ).

Great night! That’s one less monster bug for the Laguna MLPA XD

Quote from Bamz

Nice Bug Daniel! You gonna do a mount of this one?

I may. But for the time being he's staying alive in the garage. Got an aerator and cooler full of water. I'm going to check on him tomorrow to see how he's doing.

Quote from LunkerBuster

Looks like a great way to end a dive. Great report as always. Thanks for sharing

:cool2:

Quote from Don Paul

My only report from Laguna today is ....my kid says '' hey dad I made the honor roll again, you owe me 50bucks...right?'' Then he hit one over the fence at Riddle field with a wood bat and won 9 to 7 along with getting the game ball.
I had planed to dive CC tonight but now after celebrating with two fat vodka martin's I'm going to puss out.
Life is good but the freezer is getting thin.

Nice story Daniel, way to go on the bugs mate.:thumbsup2:

Cheers, Don

Congrats on your son's win. :thumbsup2: But $50 for the honor roll? Man I if I got straight A's as a kid I think the most I earned was $10. You're spoiling that kid Don

Quote from The freediver

Nicely done dude. I don't even dive Laguna much for bugs or fish for that matter anymore, but you guys seem to do just fine. Well done.

Yah I'm just having fun diving Laguna while I can. There's still plenty of bugs out there to keep me interested, but by next season I'll be expanding my lobster hunting grounds to the rest of Orange County and with some carpooling LA and San Diego as well.

Quote from The freediver

To be honest I may eventually cut it out completely. I like lobster alright, but really prefer the hunt of some gamefish. I may go here and there for years to come, but I'm not sure it'll be as much as before. :crazy:

More for me then

But you know I love the way they set up lobster season. It ends right as the ghosts start to trickle in. That way I don't have to choose between my favorite gamefish and lobster diving

Quote from chris oak

Nice haul Daniel, way to end the season!

Thanks Chris. I'm going to try and hit it one more time late Sunday night and see what I can find. I'll post a report if I get lucky.

Quote from ladvr

Nice bugs. The WSB spearing has been a year round fishery the last few seasons.;)

I've heard of at least one person catching a monster in the past couple months. But I'm still waiting. Last year my waiting paid off with my first wsb dive of the year producing a 57 pound fish within the first 30 minutes of getting in the water. I want to get in another dive like that this year

Quote from The freediver

No doubt that would be a good feeling to have the success on your first trip for them, BUT I must say that it feels that much better when you hunt for them and really feel like you earn it! I do think that sometimes I start hunting them too early, but when I get that first fish damn, it feels great! I'm sort of a mad man though. :crazy:

I did that on my first one. Over a dozen trips until I had a clear shot on a wsb. Felt great after all that hunting and finally getting one. Then that feeling kinda went away with the next fish. Lobsters I still get excited over seeing.

But this year I'm not so interested in shooting any wsb. I'm hoping I'll be able to hold off on the first one I see and really hunt for a big one. That will be my challenge. Although I've said I'd do that in the past and I"ve given in to the temptation of shooting the first 30lb fish I see. I really think this year I'll be able to hunt for a nice sized one.