FISHNCHIPS
07-29-2009, 05:46 PM
Really busy this year and too tied down but got out to my favorite harbor in the world,(so far), and got down to some serious fishing for two days.
Sunday,July 26,we tried our best for halibut all day but not a bite. The sea had been rough and it seemed that it turned everything off including crabs.
We were fishing due west at 360 feet and my boy caught an 8 inch sand dab and my fishing buddy Robert pulled up a 20 inch hake. That was it except for the 10 crabs we pulled from the 7 pots that had been set two days earlier. We were expecting around 50.
My son was swearing into the Coast Guard on Monday morning in Eureka so it was Me,Robert and his lady,Bobbie heading out a little late on to the launch but better rested than the day before. I was feeling that something good was going to happen today and came so close to signing up for the Ling Cod derby but thought I would hold up boarding Robert's 22 foot boat and we hadn't decided yet what we were going after. I even wanted to troll for salmon for the fun of it since it was foggy and the things were jumping on the surface.
As we started out of the harbor robert asks what I wanted to do and I said the name of my favorite rock in the world north of Trinidad and he says we didn't top off the fuel. After about 15 minutes of debate we out voted Robert 2 to 1 and off we went at 2600 rpm. The water was a little choppy but it had smoothed out at 10:00 the day before and it did the same. We got to the rock and I put my new Shimano 2-speed on one of Robert's Seekers and put a huge green scampi on. I wasn't looking for snappers today,I wanted something heavy and I didn't care how many hooks I lost on the bottom trying.
About 15 minutes and my pretty new reel had it's first fish and with 50 lb test Dacron he was only going one way. It was a hard fighting 8 lb ling that I unhooked as that was not what I was here for. As Robert and Bobbie scored some blacks,Rosy's,greenling,cabezon,copper and olive,it was slow for me until I thought I caught the bottom and it started moving. Got him away from the rocks and let him fight a little,then cranked up a 19 lb Ling to the gaff. It's like a roosterfish,tou can't believe a fish that size can pull so hard. I was excited to catch my largest saltwater fish outside of Mexico.
Bobbie then got a nice 9 lb ling and I pulled up and released another small one. We caught a few more rockfish and decided to head back closer to port so we wouldn't get caught in the wind for a long ride.
Half way back it was still calm so we pulled in near some rocks South of Patrick's point and thought we would pick up a few more rockfish for the freezer. I put on a smaller Apex jig,silver and blue, with squid on it for blacks or cabezon. It wasn't long and again I thought I had the bottom but in seconds knew I had the one I came for I got him off the bottom quickly but she had a few dives in her and I was glad this new reel had such a nice drag set up on it. Got to fight her for about five really happy minutes with the rod doubled . Got the 25 pounder to the gaff and luckily got it in the box as it was hooked in the face by a quarter inch piece of skin.
Both of my fish would have been in first place in the derby but that's ok,I'm happy with them.
We saw a group of 10 pilot whales the first day and dolphins and one gray whale on day two. There was fog but we had sunshine mid day both days.
One humorous thing that happened on day two. I was jigging on the rear of the boat facing the side and leaning over a bit when instantly my peripheral vision catches something gray and big coming right at me from deep in the water like a missile as it broke the surface,I threw myself backward onto the bait tray and motor house and then scrambled for safety at the front of the boat. I didn't wait to see the big sea lion fly up over the corner of the boat where my head had been,all I could think of was a nuclear submarine missile or maybe one of those flying great whites from South Africa. All we could do was laugh and wipe the tears out of our eyes. Nothing scares me these days but that scared the **** out of me for a second.
One of the best days on the ocean,ever.
Sunday,July 26,we tried our best for halibut all day but not a bite. The sea had been rough and it seemed that it turned everything off including crabs.
We were fishing due west at 360 feet and my boy caught an 8 inch sand dab and my fishing buddy Robert pulled up a 20 inch hake. That was it except for the 10 crabs we pulled from the 7 pots that had been set two days earlier. We were expecting around 50.
My son was swearing into the Coast Guard on Monday morning in Eureka so it was Me,Robert and his lady,Bobbie heading out a little late on to the launch but better rested than the day before. I was feeling that something good was going to happen today and came so close to signing up for the Ling Cod derby but thought I would hold up boarding Robert's 22 foot boat and we hadn't decided yet what we were going after. I even wanted to troll for salmon for the fun of it since it was foggy and the things were jumping on the surface.
As we started out of the harbor robert asks what I wanted to do and I said the name of my favorite rock in the world north of Trinidad and he says we didn't top off the fuel. After about 15 minutes of debate we out voted Robert 2 to 1 and off we went at 2600 rpm. The water was a little choppy but it had smoothed out at 10:00 the day before and it did the same. We got to the rock and I put my new Shimano 2-speed on one of Robert's Seekers and put a huge green scampi on. I wasn't looking for snappers today,I wanted something heavy and I didn't care how many hooks I lost on the bottom trying.
About 15 minutes and my pretty new reel had it's first fish and with 50 lb test Dacron he was only going one way. It was a hard fighting 8 lb ling that I unhooked as that was not what I was here for. As Robert and Bobbie scored some blacks,Rosy's,greenling,cabezon,copper and olive,it was slow for me until I thought I caught the bottom and it started moving. Got him away from the rocks and let him fight a little,then cranked up a 19 lb Ling to the gaff. It's like a roosterfish,tou can't believe a fish that size can pull so hard. I was excited to catch my largest saltwater fish outside of Mexico.
Bobbie then got a nice 9 lb ling and I pulled up and released another small one. We caught a few more rockfish and decided to head back closer to port so we wouldn't get caught in the wind for a long ride.
Half way back it was still calm so we pulled in near some rocks South of Patrick's point and thought we would pick up a few more rockfish for the freezer. I put on a smaller Apex jig,silver and blue, with squid on it for blacks or cabezon. It wasn't long and again I thought I had the bottom but in seconds knew I had the one I came for I got him off the bottom quickly but she had a few dives in her and I was glad this new reel had such a nice drag set up on it. Got to fight her for about five really happy minutes with the rod doubled . Got the 25 pounder to the gaff and luckily got it in the box as it was hooked in the face by a quarter inch piece of skin.
Both of my fish would have been in first place in the derby but that's ok,I'm happy with them.
We saw a group of 10 pilot whales the first day and dolphins and one gray whale on day two. There was fog but we had sunshine mid day both days.
One humorous thing that happened on day two. I was jigging on the rear of the boat facing the side and leaning over a bit when instantly my peripheral vision catches something gray and big coming right at me from deep in the water like a missile as it broke the surface,I threw myself backward onto the bait tray and motor house and then scrambled for safety at the front of the boat. I didn't wait to see the big sea lion fly up over the corner of the boat where my head had been,all I could think of was a nuclear submarine missile or maybe one of those flying great whites from South Africa. All we could do was laugh and wipe the tears out of our eyes. Nothing scares me these days but that scared the **** out of me for a second.
One of the best days on the ocean,ever.