Fishing conditions were ideal late last May for catching a giant white seabass off the coast of Southern California. Paul Hoofe was in the hunt again for an IGFA line class record for the coveted and popular Pacific coast gamefish.
He was targeting the 12-pound line class world record and knew some white seabass big enough to break the existing record were prowling the coast.
The Stars Lined Up
“Everything was just right on May 30,” said the 61-year-old semi-retired homebuilder from Costa Mesa, California. “There was lots of bait like jacks and mackerel and sardines, the watercolor was right, and the tide was perfect.”
Hoofe was fishing two perfectly set-up IGFA 12-pound revolving spool reel outfits, each with a 1.5-pound nose-hooked live mackerel as bait. He was anchored in a choice spot near the coast, waiting for a giant record size seabass to show.
“Any white seabass weighing over 60 pounds is a special fish,” he said. “While smaller seabass in the 20-to-40-pound range are aggressive school fish, bigger ones over 50 or 60 pounds are usually loners.”
That May 30 morning Hoofe hooked and landed a giant 63-pound seabass off Newport Beach, California. But it wasn’t the record-breaking fish he was looking for. His huge 63-pounder was just short of topping the then current 65-pound white seabass 12-pound line class IGFA record caught in 1955 off Baja California, Mexico.
So, the following morning on May 31, Hoofe was back in the same Newport Beach coastal area looking for a record-breaking fish. He was fishing alone (as he usually does) in his custom-built, 246 Shamrock boat “Vortex” with inboard power.
While most white seabass are caught during low-light or night conditions, Hooke hooked a giant fish at 9 a.m. on May 31. He was anchored, and the fish hit a large live mackerel bait.
The fish took off on a blistering run, one of five it made that morning. Hoofe quick-released his boat from its anchor using a buoy system that holds the anchor line at the surface for later retrieval.
He followed the big fish carefully with his boat, knowing his comparatively light 12-pound test line would be strained to the max battling a potential world record seabass.
Born to Run
“I got it close to the boat after one run, and I saw its sides flash, and I knew it was huge,” he explained. But it dove deep and that puts a huge belly in the line, and that can be disastrous.”
Hoofe says he’s lost many big seabass during long fish fights. Often a seabass spits the bait and hook because with lighter tackle the hook set isn’t as sure and the barb doesn’t drive deep into a fish’s mouth.
But on this day, after a 50-minute seesaw battle, Hoofe got his seabass close, solo gaffed it and hauled the fish aboard his Shamrock boat.
During the fight his boat drifted over 370 yards from where he hooked the seabass. He then ran his boat back to the anchor buoy, hauled the anchor aboard, and headed back to shore with what he hoped would be a record-size fish.
At the Balboa Angling Club near Newport Beach, Hoofe’s seabass was put on certified scales by the club’s official weighmaster. His catch weighed 67 pounds, 9 ounces, with a 59.34-inch length and a 31-inch girth.
A New Record
Hoffe’s catch easily topped the existing IGFA 12-pound line class record white seabass of 65 pounds set in 1955. Within weeks of his catch Hoffe filled out all IGFA paperwork, along with samples of his 12-pound test Dacron line (30-pound test mono leader), photos and witnesses attesting to his catch and fish weighing.
Hoffe says his seabass had already spawned, and potentially lost 5-pounds or more, which if caught prior to spawning would have weighed even more to break the 1955 record.
Just recently IGFA approved of his line class record, something Hoffe says is humbling because of so much dedicated time in achieving it. He also has great reverence for many other anglers who have tried for years to catch the same record-size seabass.
“I’ve chased that record for 12 years, making about 400 trips to catch such a fish,” he says. “I know two other anglers who also have tried for years to break the same 12-pound test seabass record. Those anglers have put in 800 to 1,000 hours of dedicated fishing effort.
“To those anglers, and the angler who caught the record in 1955, I have nothing but respect and admiration for their devotion to our great sport of fishing.”
