Good times for such a bad forecast! I'm sure glad that we got some salmon action, just looking forward to a day we can get out and really do some prospecting.

Great time with you Terry, you didn't nag at all. Looking forward to the next time!

Probably a thresher shark, they are unstoppable when they are hooked.

Hey everybody, thank you so much for all the props, this fish is a textbook version of "One more drop, then I'll head in". I launched with the intent of targeting Halibut just about all day being fairly certain I would catch enough lingcod as bycatch so get a couple keepers to turn in. I headed south of the whistle and started slow trolling large Herring on the bottom while letting the current take me farther south. I caught nearly 20 lings and a few rockfish while doing this and was at my turn around spot about 4 miles from launch south and to the west of Tolo Banks. I just kept my bait on the bottom and cruised about 1.2 mph for about 2 hours until I caught a 26" ling and decided to keep it since I only had 1 Herring left, honestly I felt defeated. It was about 12:00 at this point and I'm 2 miles out with only 1 bait, not looking good. So I drop down my last beautiful Herring and start trolling again, about 5 minutes later my rod loads up big time and I immediately feel a huge violent headshake, I knew what it was as I have felt this kind of power once before. Just keep the drag loose and start cranking, letting him run easily every time he wants too. By the time I knew he was coming up and it was time to say hello to one another in person instead of our long distance relationship I made sure I had everything ready, net in lap, game clip open and secured, some rope, my knife in my mouth, and rage in my mind. They come up vertical so all you see is a huge mouth and a body sticking straight down so you have to plane them out flat to net them head first, by slowly letting the wind drag me backwards I waited and pulled him toward me and shot the net straight under him and he went absolutely ape shit when he felt the net. Luckily I was able to hold on and lean way over the opposite side to counter balance this new addition to the kayak. Usually they will stop after a few seconds but he kept on going and going which made me stab him in the head quite a few times resulting in lots of blood loss and he was relatively done moving for a bit. The problem with nets is they get their teeth stuck in the net and it makes it extremely difficult to secure them, I game clipped him through the net and also put lip grippers on him to slide him in between my legs where I could more confidently get him out of the net and shoved his head under my seat to kind of wedge him stuck. After all the securing and having no doubts I was getting him to shore I announced what I had on the radio, finding out I had to peddle faster than I have ever done before to get to shore by 1:30.  Shelter Cove is an amazing special place and I try to get there every chance I get because you honestly never know what's in store for you. Thanks for all the hard work in getting this event going Eric, this is sure one I won't soon forget. 

Cove was looking good today

https://www.amazon.com/1107-Medium-Large-Utility-Combo/dp/B0000DD5H8/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1525785489&sr=8-1&keywords=clc+bag

I have a couple of these, been using exclusively in the salt for 3 years and have no issues.

Thank you very much everybody! I couldn't be happier with the way things turned out! Lots of driving and lots of research on the water and off gave me the confidence to keep at it again after the 2016 season.

Rob, Ryan and I all joked about having a Humboldt sweep for the top 3 much earlier in the season and it's only perfect that it actually happened. Lots of new things I look forward to this new year, chasing after salmon, a barndoor Pacbut, and of course more flatfish action. Congrats to Ryan and Rob on 2nd and 3rd, Good luck to everybody competing this year and don't be afraid to send me a PM if you want to get together to chase something fun!