Davenport 9/9

Another perfect fall morning on the water. We fished davenport area. I tried iron, bomber squids & swimbaits, with limited success on all. Smallish gophers, blues, etc. were the catch. My last two drops got me a ling each time, but one was only 20" and the other was marginal, probably 24.1" so released it as well.
After making BH the previous day I guess I took the mini surf at Davenport for granted, as I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time on the way in. I looked up to see a 1' dumper jack up behind me. I was just a little too sideways, with no way to do anything to avoid the inevitable. I felt like wile e. coyote holding up his parasol. I believe I had enough time to say "Ah, Cr%$" before the boat rolled over in the soup . I tucked flat to the deck & really hoped there were no rocks where my head was going to be.
Well, live n learn. After all my successful launches & landings the past few years I guess I was due for a reminder. Only losses were my cheapy sunglasses, a bit of halibut tackle, and my 2nd fish billy for the season. Fortunately all the important stuff (reels, GPS, n stuff) were stowed.
A La Cabana super burrito & a cold anchor steam made it all better
Lessons here?
1. leashes work
2. anything not stowed should be expendable and/or able to withstand burial in sand
3. paddle with someone who can dive in to rescue your new floating fish gripper

-Sean

Yep, we're all destined to make that mistake someday. With all the time we put in on the salt she seems to always find a way to surprise us. I learned surfing to never turn your back on the ocean.. and yes everytime I learned it, it was the hard way .

Glad to hear you didn't lose anything big and you had some good fishing action. Most important . And a La Cabana super burrito and Anchor Steam will make most sh*tty days become a little brighter.

Thanks for the report! Next time don't forget the camera...  I miss the NorCal coast. 

Z

Way to get out there two days in a row, Sean!  I wish I had that kind of energy.  It damn near takes me a day and a half just to get my yak and gear unloaded, washed, and fish cleaned, lol.

Way to get out there two days in a row, Sean!  I wish I had that kind of energy.  It damn near takes me a day and a half just to get my yak and gear unloaded, washed, and fish cleaned, lol.

Oh, I needed a nap in my hammock on Sunday afternoon for sure Eric! Jim, being a lucky retiree, spends his days swimming, fishing, surfing and boating. He has more energy than I do & wears me out every time he visits. I love it though. Best paddling/fishing/ocean partner a guy could ask for. I wish I had half his water skills.
All I did on Saturday was rinse & dry the wetsuit, left the rest of the gear for Sunday (I just hate a cold damp wetsuit). Rinsing & repairing the gear after paddling is actually one of my favorite things. It's like re living the whole experience.
Part of the reason we released everything caught Sunday was that I didn't want to clean any more fish!

Z, I know, I sooo need a "mooch"-type camera.
The worst part of the wipeout was that it was in a real soup of kelp & bits of seaweed. The cleanup took almost an hour just for the kayak!

Still, I'm lovin it all.

-Sean

Z, I know, I sooo need a "mooch"-type camera.

Ebay braddah. I got a bit lucky and picked up a Pentax WP for $50. It was damaged but knew a camera repair shop that could easily repair it. There's some great deals out there. $155 brand new here http://www.millenniumcamera.com/viewproduct.aspx?ID=3216492&l=Froogle

Z

Wish I were ther to witness, Sean.

thaks for sharing.

Dport has been kinda poor fishing this year, hasn't it?

Allen

Thanks for the happenings from the southside Sean! I've only driven past Davenport on my way to hunt for waves.
Do you make that long carry down? or launch from a different area and paddle to there.
 Seems like the bigger fish to the weekend off along the WHOLE DAMN COAST!  Glad to read that you didn't lose too much.(pride not a factor)
 I thought the swell was gonna be up for the weekend down here, so I had to head north and it was cleaner up there.

Sean, sorry to hear about the roll. I should have called you or something, I fished near you and by myself.
A legal ling is never poor fishing in my book.  maybe the fishing was just about to turn on?

Did you run into the huge schools of jellies?

John

Allen: Yes, I agree with you that the whole coast north of SC has seemed subdued this year. I did manage a couple of lings on a brown swimbait right before we left. That was around 10:30am, so the tide may have been a factor?

FishHunter: We were fishing at the landing, which is just north of the town.  Come down man, we'll fish there sometime. The carry isn't too bad (more civilized than Bean H) especially with 2 people. We rolled the yaks across the sand on carts & then carried em up the steps on the way in (since cars were parked across our other path). The swell was not really a factor at Davenport at all as it is quite protected inside, the problem was more just my own lack of attention at the critical point. I had a spare set of sunglasses, made a new fish billy Sunday afternoon, and will have to tie up a couple of halibut leaders, so loss was as minimal as it could be.

John: Funny, I saw your post & wondered where you were. No big schools of jellies, but there were quite a few big individuals around, moon jellies I think. I suspect the fishing was perking up as we were leaving. We saw several bait balls on the surface, and a couple of harbor porpoise feeding on them.

-Sean

Sean, I do think it was picking up a bit when you left, but it sounds like you did fine with back to back lings at the end. I fished from 8 to possibly as late as 1. I fished shallow, from 25 to 65 and with lures only. highlight for me was 4 lings, all above 22", the first came at 9:30 and the last on my way in through the kelp just past noon.  I would call it a 'steady pick' on 5" fishtraps with a white teaser fished slowly. slow pick on iron. If I just swam the swimbait slowly, I would start to get hits, then once I had one fish on, a second often hit. whenever iron doesn't work too well and there is little wind or swell, I break out the swimbaits.

John

It was funny, all morning no lings, just gophers & other smallish RF. I got them on a megabait and some on swimbaits. The last brown swimbait I tried was something I got at the bargain bin in outdoor world maybe two years ago, never tried it. It supposedly has a scent on it. I dropped it down with a white shad head & immediately hooked a ling. Next drop down, tap tap tap, and another ling.
I'm using the swimbait first next time .
I actually was thinking of your teaser setup while I was out there, but was too lazy to tie it up that way. We were going for big individuals so I just kept to the single lure. I've filed the teaser idea away though, & will use it one of these days....

Thanks for the kind words, Sean.  It's always great to fish with you.  The ocean is an equalizer.  About the time you get comfortable and think you've got it figured out, the ocean will show you not to take it for granted and will dump on you when you least expect it.  The worst thing about seeing you take a roll is thinking Uh-oh, am I next in line?

Jim