Shelter Cove - 10/24/20

Nando and I got out at the Cove yesterday.  Forecasts have been all over the place with a recent call of "15 to 25 knots with gusts to 35" and "8 foot seas at 8 seconds" on NWS and all double digit winds on Magic Seaweed as recently as Thursday, I hoped we would have fishable water at least until late morning.  The breeze was persistent from the southeast along with a ripping current going the same direction, but it turned out to be pretty flat with the winds never getting over 6 knots or so.  The bigger challenges were thick fog for most of the day, temperatures in the 40's and the fact that zero powerboats or other yaks were on the water with us.

Right away after launching we put our gear out to troll through clouds of bait that are often around the moorings, and, boom, I was on a hot coho!  I let it dart back and forth and jump around my boat for a minute before it shook itself loose from my barbless hooks.  Nando thought I was kidding at first because this bite came so immediately, and it was a fun way to kick off the day.

We made our way out to the Bell using the compass and GPS and soon we had a legal ling on the clip - Nando had played it well and fulfilled my Shelter Cove "fresh fish guarantee".  My guest had the hot stick - which always makes a guide happy!  Nando caught a pile of lingcod - mostly smaller, and we released a couple of legals.  A handful of rockfish showed, and we managed to hook two more salmon - both likely coho and both self-released after brief and frenetic runs on the surface around us.

We made our way inside to look for a halibut down the coast a ways, but the water has turned cold and the flatties seem to have vacated for the season.  One more run out to the bell to finish our session turned into the hottest action of the day as the drift and wind had pushed us out in front of the hotels where black rockfish were preventing us from making any progress back to launch - it's a good problem to have when you're getting bit so frequently that you can't get away.  First world probs...

We wrapped the mission around 3PM, both of us cold and well worked by the paddling and pedaling that was required for the experience that we'd sought.  We didn't get a Chinook, the Cali's were a no-show, our lingcod weren't trophies, and the rockfish hadn't really lit up until late in the game, but we had a blast out there.

Nando thanked me for showing him my ways, and I expressed my gratitude to him for engaging my service and for bringing enthusiasm and joy that are such important factors in my business.  That word - business - has connotations of a transactional relationship and monetary priority, but the commerce that I am focused on has much more to do with a human connection and tapping into a deeper relationship to the wild things around us than it has to do with money.

I don't share all of the details of my trips - it's a very deliberate and contemplative intent on my part.  I want to open the window to you, so you can see how these adventures are vehicles for discovery and challenge as well as opportunities for fellowship and growth.  Anything that we do in life should be tied to these concepts because we're not here just to achieve longevity and gather stuff.  We go fishing so that we can gain better perspective on what kind of human being we want to be.

Thank you, Nando, for giving me your best and accepting mine in return.  That's the transaction that I seek.

 

Thanks for the guide trip report and pictures Eric.

Nice report and perspective. Thanks, Eric!

The best thing I've ever done to improve my fishing and expand my circle of friends was to spend a charter day (or two or three!) with Eric out of Shelter Cove.  He not only taught me how to catch salmon and pacific halibut that I was later able to turn into success, but to show me how to use my fish finder, to locate the underwater structure and read the weather and ocean signs on what is safe and when it's not. 
Thanks for your reports as it puts me right back out there and our trips. 

Thanks Eric for the hospitality and generosity. Learned a ton and am still visualizing the best hookups of the day. Best moment for me was us fighting the current to get back past the rocks onto more sheltered waters, on an extremely fast, half-hearted troll. All of a sudden, big bendo and line ripping out fast, going to the surface. Tried to loosen my drag a bit, big mistake. With braid/fluoro and no stretch, that was all he needed to shake loose. Still, those 10 seconds were epic and im already looking for more. Also thinking about the monster ling that took me into the cave and cut me loose. Felt twice as large as the others we kept.

Trip was great overall, felt great to fish a spot not as pressured as everything down here in the bay. 4 keeper lings - one monster lost, couple of bowling ball sized rockfish, a 16.5" greenling, and 3 salmon hookups between the two of us. Eric called it a slow day for the cove haha. More important than that, we managed to reach that state of just sitting there in peace, appreciating how lucky we are, and realizing we are happy men. That for me is what fishing is about. Needless to say, I'll be coming back.

See you next year, Eric!

Thanks Eric for the hospitality and generosity. Learned a ton and am still visualizing the best hookups of the day. Best moment for me was us fighting the current to get back past the rocks onto more sheltered waters, on an extremely fast, half-hearted troll. All of a sudden, big bendo and line ripping out fast, going to the surface. Tried to loosen my drag a bit, big mistake. With braid/fluoro and no stretch, that was all he needed to shake loose. Still, those 10 seconds were epic and im already looking for more. Also thinking about the monster ling that took me into the cave and cut me loose. Felt twice as large as the others we kept.

Trip was great overall, felt great to fish a spot not as pressured as everything down here in the bay. 4 keeper lings - one monster lost, couple of bowling ball sized rockfish, a 16.5" greenling, and 3 salmon hookups between the two of us. Eric called it a slow day for the cove haha. More important than that, we managed to reach that state of just sitting there in peace, appreciating how lucky we are, and realizing we are happy men. That for me is what fishing is about. Needless to say, I'll be coming back.

See you next year, Eric!

Right on, brother.   

Awesome trip! Thanks for sharing.
I was a hiking guide in my 20s and I totally dig your attitude.

Great write up and the fishing looked solid!  Thanks for sharing!!! 

Makes me Jealous