Shelter Cove - 5/13/21

This windy week's weather window was brief, and the ocean had a wind-hangover, with slop and riffletops to deal with.  Thursday I met up at the Cove with Tim and Michelle from Mendocino.  Tim joined me for some offshore hours where rockfish and lingcod were the targets, but the latter was higher on the list.  Our early talk of how big of a lingcod we might catch, what ideal size to keep, and even how we'd release a big spawner was a big mistake!  We apparently managed to curse our lingcod bite with such folly, because even on a pretty good bite day, we hooked exactly zero lings.  I'm not actually superstitious, I think...  I don't bring bananas on the water, and I think I'll cover my ears and look away babbling if future guests want to discuss plans for what to do with the fish we haven't hooked yet.  Totally not Tim's fault - I've been a nut for a long time.   

We ended up with nice stringers of quality rockfish, and hanging out at the Tailgate Fillet Station with Tim, Michelle, their little puppy Juno, and some friends of theirs who came by for a bit was really nice.  Moving all of my fish processing down to the beach last year has been great, and I'm planning to keep it that way - I only visit the fillet table to dump my bucket of carcasses (or to spray the scales off of a salmon - to be continued in a future post!).

Today marked my two weeks after the 2nd Moderna jab.  Bring on the summer fishing bonanza!   

Beautiful looking verms...  thanks for the excellent write up as always.

Looking good Erik!

Planning a trip up there next weekend. Hoping the winds and water calms down by them. If not just planning on doing some sightseeing.

Good job Tim and Eric. Love those verms👍

Thanks for another great report and pictures Eric.

Nice stringer! I need to start planning a trip up!

Nice haul guys!