(Hookup) Bolinas - this Saturday AM, 9/17

Went fishing for salmon, came back with a rock cod, and learned a lot about trolling while paddling a kayak.  Many thanks to Lloyd and the rest of the NCKA group that launched at Bolinas this morning!

Looks like we'll have a nice sized crew out there on Saturday!

Chinclan - I see you're new here. Got all your safety gear in order (wetsuit/drysuit, PFD, VHF, and compass at a bare minimum)? The Marin coastline can definitely get "sporty". Don't mean to discourage you; just want to make sure we all make it home safe.

Supposed to be some nice weather out there on Saturday, but that can change in a hurry.

Cheers,

~Alex




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No need to answer if you can't remember the conditions of that day, what would you say it was.......swell @ what interval and wind speed, it is a good video for study and reality.

I don't specifically remember that day, but I have a little rule of thumb that I'll definitely go look if the winds are predicted to be less than 10 kts at any point during the day. I also won't plan to launch from Bolinas if the S swell is bigger than 3 ft at 15 seconds. I don't worry about N or NW swells as much, unless they're big (say 6 ft) AND have a long period (over 15 seconds). The longer period swells pack a lot more energy, and actually wrap around the point and break at Bolinas.

What that video shows is referred to as "confused seas" or "jackass conditions". That's what happens when you have different swells, currents, and winds competing from different directions.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My report (cut-n-paste from Members only):



Arrived an hour later than I wanted and  I thought I missed the bite time.  'came slightly before Tsuri and I saw a yellow yak just launched, but no way I can catch up to him, gears are not on yet.  Tsuri and I both geared up together and he launched first and I launched around 8.30am.  Nice to meet you man!  Stick the launch, about 2-3 feet swell, no problem.  Flat going out, so that was nice.  Foggy and cloudy day until about 1pm or so.


'reach 30 FOW and I deployed a white glow krippled anchovy with a 2lbs ball, no flasher/dodger.  Big problem, I brought herring instead of anchovy.  Whatever!  It went in, all the way to the bottom.  'thinking about halibut on the way ...


'Saw Tsuri got a hookup, probably from about 200 yards or so.  Nice!  I was thinking the bite is still on.  'pedaled over to his spot, got a hookup, seems like a decent hali size, flat heavy going up and head shakes.  'came loose in 5 minutes, WTF!   I trolled the area for another 10 minutes, thinking about getting lucky but nada.  At this point I was thinking, forget hali, let's go for salmon, so I moved on toward Dux Buoy.  Marked the spot for next time.


By 10am, 'heard from the radio, Keith got one, Gabe got one, nothing for Alex yet, a hali for Tsuri.  I heard a couple of other guys, but didn't catch any name.  Still hopeful.


Trolled some more, then at around 50 FOW, I got a hookup at 40 feet deep.  I was like yes!  But it wasn't a salmon, it was an Olive RF, nice 6lbs size, it went into the cooler.  Trolled a little further.  At 55 FOW, got a nice strong tugs 30 feet.  I could feel the yak leaned to the side and 'knew it was a salmon.  'pedaled and reeled for about 10 minutes, I thought I had it nailed then the damn FUCKING thing came off!  Whatever it was, it avoided two embedded hooks and took more than half the bait.  No freaking way, but hard to argue against the half eaten bait.  I wished it could tell me what happened, but it just looked very unhappy.


At this point I was all pissed off, two hookups and nada (OK, I got the RF and really do appreciate the fish).   Somewhere between 10.30 and 11.30, 'heard Alex on the radio, "I got one."  No hell-yeah, no f**king this and that, just, "I got one."  Then, he said, "Good size too."   Damn, I knew it then was a good one.  Congratulated him and offered him a lift for the salmon, but no bite.


Trolled the rest of the day, nada.  A couple of scratch, but I didn't even notice any tugs.  'met Keith on his break and passed Alex and saw the bag. The guy was not shy for giving tips, he certainly pointed out the right areas.  Thanks for that Alex!


Took a quick break around 12pm. 'was gonna go in, but I was determined, so I stick around for the afternoon bite.  'saw Gabe with his AI and sail running circle everywhere, man, that thing can move.


At around 1:30pm, PBs were mostly gone.  Two commies and several PBs left, but very scattered.  'followed one of the commie for 15 minutes, but I realized it wasn't a good idea, so I started back toward 50 FOW.  At this point, only Gabe and I were left.  Radio had gone quite and no NCKA'ers.  Swell was not small, on the way in from Dux Buoy toward 50 FOW, so be aware of that.


Finally, at 3pm I gave up. Started toward landing, 'thinking about halibut on the way in, but nada.  Get this, I hooked THREE smolts on the way in!  'This shit place certainly knew how to give you an itch for the next time.  Sticked the landing at around 4pm, 'glad I did that, there were tons of tourists.


It was a very nice day and I certainly enjoyed being out there and met fellow NCKA'ers.  A long pedal day, I didn't even know I can do it that long, but 'glad to find out that I can.


Lastly, I didn't slay my demon, so see you all out there next time.


Good luck all, use anchovy!