Ross Reds for Less.

Went to Ft Ross yesterday, determined to squeeze as much as I can out of this last month of rockfishing. Finally got what I wanted!



Also present were Jason, Slammer + friend and Amphibian + friend. We also met someone else + friend later but, er, I forgot your login mate, sorry.

Dropped some crab gear at the mouth of the cove and basically spent the day drifting around there, north and south, never far from the kelp. I was put off going too far by the conditions, which were perfect apart from……………



I used to read rockfish reports where some folks wrote in exasperated tones about blues and gophers. I never understood those, but I guess I’ve done this a few times since then. Both blues and gophers were everywhere. The blues in particular were frustrating because they were small. I decided to try and turn a sows ear into a silk purse and pinned one onto the bottom of a hex bar. He didn’t even make the bottom before getting slammed, but whatever it was let go. I dropped him straight back down and the same thing happened, this time I worked it all the way to the surface and saw a really good sized Ling. Amazingly, he wasn’t hooked either and spat out the poor little blue when he saw the net. I had to show the blue some mercy by this point; he went in the crab trap. Same thing happened at least twice more during the day. It was fun. I kept the two reds, two big gophers and 3 really nice red crabs. Netted plenty of dungies but they were all tiny.

The reds were caught at the edge of the kelp in ~40-50 FOW. At the same depth I also caught a couple of….err…… coal mine rockfish. I’m not sure what the protocol is for advertising the fact on a public forum so I’ll keep the actual name (and picture) from the search engines. But be warned and make sure you know your fish ID if you’re going to Ross anytime soon!

Stopped off at Moms Apple Pie in Sebastopol on the way home. Yum. Went very well with a fried gopher sandwich.

I sat at work on thu and fri watching some great conditions on the bouy reports, Today I'm going out with my 80 someting parents so that just about takes care of the weather window.

Phil,

glad you got out there and finally got your reds.....I haven't been paying attention are these your first?

Dale L

 

Nice--finally got yer reds! In the words of Borat "Great Success!"
Gotta watch out for those coal miners LOL.

Finally got the red thats great. I am gonna go out maybe next week one day and try and get a few more before the end of season...

Way to go, Phil.  Thanks for the great report.   

Right on, Phil! Too bad about the over cautious lings!

Nice reds!. I hope you gut them, scale them and cook whole. I truly think they are best that way. Glad to see they no longer avoid your offerings.

I got a few late pis from fishing at the Fort.

It truly was a fogged in...

1 pic: Bait fish jumping.
2 pic: My only ling of the day
3 pic: Tom with a big red one.
4 pic: The days catch.

Hey Phil, those reds are good deep fried with sweet-and-sour sauce chinese style or steamed with ginger and soy sauce.... yummy    .

LL

Stopped off at Moms Apple Pie in Sebastopol on the way home. Yum. Went very well with a fried gopher sandwich.

  

I'm reading this last line and laughing MAO - my wife asks me what is so dang funny, so I read it to her - somehow she does not find a "fried gopher sandwich" too appetizing at 6:15 in the morning. I explain it is a gopher rockfish which helps, but the grimace is still there, I continue to belly laugh!

Thanks for the story and pictures, great! Gopher rockfish make some of the best tacos ever - I'm gonna have to try the the sandwich method, I just need to be sure and get all that fur off......

Big congrats to you captain Phil. WTG on the reds finally!
Thanks for the report and picture.

Jedmo

I know the feeling when you finally hit that RED Target!!
WTGo Phil!! the WXs look as good as ever....and glad to see the rest of you MID-WEEK hunters&hookers into the action too!!
Thanks for all the pics fellas...IwasJUSTthereANDiMISSitALREADY!