Shore Rockfishing 1-19-08

I just have to share my great day of fishing with my NCKA brothers and sisters.

Fished off the rocks today with my freind Ryan.
There was a negative 1.2 at 2:30.
After dealing with some crappy plumbing problem at Ryan's apt. we drove down the coast to check out the low tide.

Fished from 2 to 4:30.
Frozen squid on dropper loop rigs. 3oz torpedo sinkers. 5/0 octopus hooks. 50lb Spiderwire Stealth. 20lb Cabelas Salt Striker mono for leader material. 10ft spinning gear.

I hooked up a nice, green 16 inch cabezon on my first cast. Nice! Sometimes the 'first-cast-catch' is a bad sign. But not today!




He was barely hooked, so I tossed it back, hoping I'd get a chance to bag a bigger one.


Then a skinny, red 15.5 inch cab on my second cast.


Well, this one was lip-hooked too, so I tossed it back.


Two-for-two! Had to stop and enjoy my success with a Bud Light. Meanwhile, Ryan has broken off on both his first two casts. He's pissed. I tell him to swig some of that leftover JD and re-tie his rig.

Next cast, he brings in a fat kelp greenling.


After finishing up that beer, I got back out there and decided to try poke-poling with my regular rod and first try got a small grass RF. But it came off as I was hoisting it onto the rocks.

Excited about the prospect of only having to cast 10 fet to catch a fish, I did just that: casted only about 10 feet.
Guess what? Nice grass RF!


At this point, Ryan says he want to keep a few for dinner. So I dropped it into a small tidepool. Our own personal livewell.

Next up was Ryan with a fat cabby. This one was about 16.5 inches. Pretty big for a red colored one.


Another fish goes into the livewell.

Then I caught another cabezon! This one was only about 15 inches so back he went.


It was pretty much non-stop action the whole time we were there. And the best part was how close they were! We were only casting 10-30 feet, instead of the usual 100-150 feet.
Unfortunately, the tide came back up and forced us off the lucky rock.

But wait, I am going to make "one more cast right here." YOU KNOW what happen by now, right?
Another fish! This time it is a very big cabezon. A absolute pig of a cab. This thing measured 22.5 inches long and weighed about 6lbs. Forgot my friggin scale! Man, this fish was FAT!




Ryan has some better pics that he is sending me. I'll post those up later. This thing was a beast. It was a difficult decision to make: keep it or release it? Kept it.



At this point, I told Ryan we "were playing with house money" so we packed up and moved to a different set of rocks. I've only fished there one or twice before.
 
And WTF happens? We continue to slay rockfish.






We caught some more fish that didn't get pictures of. Couple more RF and greenling. But I was too busy 'catching' to take pics!

At the end of the day, we were treated to the best dolphin show ever! These crazy dolphins were coming in really close. They were tail-walking across the kelp and flying all over the place!
I really wish I had my good camera. Instead of my dang camera phone. All these pics are from my phone.

I tried to get a pic of one in the air but my phone is too slow.
You can see the splash from them in these two pics.






I filletted our catch on a rock and secured them in gallon ziplocks. Tossed the carcases back into the ocean to add to the biomass and make the crabs big+fat. Final tally was incredible: I was near double digits and Ryan scored 5 or 6. Hardly any small fish. All quality.

Planning to have some friends over for fish tacos and football tomorrow.
What a great day!
PK

Nice COTY points!  Cabezone of the year between us wins big!  You got the hot stick going there, PK.  Great report.   

Man, that is awesome, I miss those rockies big-time. I got to do that soon...

Nice report makes me want to hit the jetty.

Dang PK! You guys were killing them!

Good work!

Very enjoyable report, PK. Ya know, for a camera phone, those pictures aren't bad at all.  Just no zoom for the dolphins I guess.   Well, I can see that I'll be rock fishing soon.  Thanks for the inspiration.  -Matt

Thanks compa! That is the same spot we fished last year.

Ya, I really wish I had my good camera! Then I would've took some video of those crazy dolphins. Of the 10 or 11 times I've seen dolphins in that area, this was the most incredible. Just amazing.

I circled the dolphins in these two pics.
PK

Yea, I recognized it!  I am jealous!

Very cool catch - looks like you've got that place wired

Nice COTY points!  Cabezone of the year between us wins big!  You got the hot stick going there, PK.  Great report.   

Too bad it wasn't caught from a kayak.

Nice COTY points!  Cabezone of the year between us wins big!  You got the hot stick going there, PK.  Great report.   

Too bad it wasn't caught from a kayak.

Me and Abking have a personal competition going this year for biggest cabezon. It can be caught from shore, yak, boat, or speared. I know we'll get some bigger ones but this is a good start at 22.5in.
PK

Your signature says it all "Shore Rockfishing Pirate!"

WTG you are inspiring me, Patrick.

Allen

You really know how to post PK. Great job Seeing these photos is a real motivator to get out there. Thanks for the great report.

Ben

Thanks for the great report and pix, PK. Beautiful fatties! What an awesome day weather-wise, too.

I miss those rockies big-time.

Man, I hear ya! When is opening day???

Janice aka "Big J"

Wow! Way to go! Makes me want to try my luck at shore rockies, something I've always had very poor luck with.  (One reason why I bought my kayak!)  I just seem to pick the wrong spots...looks like it's time to try again though!  I have been inspired!