Shelter Cove - 8/11/20

Tuesday with Gary.  Last weekend's rough water and funky bite are gone! 

Yesterday I got to guide Gary (Garyinca) on his first full-on foray into the ocean with his Hobie Pro Angler 14.  My guest showed up ready to charge hard for the day, and we were stoked to have smooth seas and plenty of biters.  Tom (tommcdo) was also in town looking for chrome, and he'd met Gary the evening before our trip.  We all had a nice visit at the ramp before launching. 

First fish to come to the yak was a hot coho - it got a no-touch release and got our hopes up for some of the right salmon species to show, but we missed the rest of our bites on the finicky chromers.  No problem - we went on to do the full tour, and Gary put away his first kayak lingcod and his first ever Californian along with a variety of rockfish.  Tom hit the Lotto with an early limit of kings and lings, and he hit the road - way to go, Tom!  It's always nice to see someone who hired me for salmon tutelage find their groove.

Gary and I did our day on the outside water and on our way over the inner reef heading for Deadman's we were trolling shallow over the pinnacles right outside Pilot Rock when I saw a big fish passing right by my yak.

"There's a big Great White - right there!  Do you see it?!!"

Gary saw it too, and it just cruised along right between us and maybe two feet below the surface - looked bigger than our yaks.  My heart rate increased only slightly, as I felt ready to react if necessary and otherwise calm.  NOT getting bumped by the Landlord is a very GOOD thing, and we both felt fortunate to see it.  A few minutes later my rod almost got ripped from under my leg as something violently took my gear.  I pulled up a cut leader, and it felt bigger than a thresher...

We went on to finish up with an hour on the hali grounds and a cold one at the tailgate-fillet-station before finishing our day and going our separate ways.  Had a nice visit with Kim and Tim (fisheducator) at the ramp.  Gary got lucky to see the biggest fish in town on his first offshore trip, and I am lucky to share work space with such a magnificent beast.

I have added a new asterisk to the map of the reef around Point Delgada that I show to all of my guests before we launch.

Don't slack, NCKA - if you want to come have a chance at a salmon, halibut, lingcod and GWS-sighting combo, you know my #.   

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Another cool report/update from the Cove. Thanks Eric, can we just fast forward to the 22nd already?!

See you soon
-Evan

Another cool report/update from the Cove. Thanks Eric, can we just fast forward to the 22nd already?!

See you soon
-Evan

OMG - I failed to connect the dots or hear you say your NCKA handle.  Can't wait to meet you and do our trip.   

NOT getting bumped by the Landlord is a very GOOD thing...

Understatement of the year...

Thanks for the great report!

Thanks for the land lord sighting report and pictures Eric