Moss 7/11: luck, not skill

Launched at 7:00 from around behind the south breakwater with a salute from the squirting clams.  Bright and warm with fog almost gone,left over wind swell seas steeper than I prefer, short intervals, better further out, no wind.
   as I was getting ready to launch, a guy towing a PB trailer asked me if I knew where the fish were, and told me they were at 49/50, near the 5 buoy.
   Sounded as good as any where else, so I headed there trolling my green apex and flasher behind deep 6 diver (small one) way out behind me.
   Got no hits, but I caught a pb's lines(or vice versa), second  in a week, who seemed way out of my path. They were pleasant about it, and I got my gear back.  they had a shaker on at the time.  Iwas in 200 ft of water near the numbers by now(but no bouy in sight).
    I started to tie it back together, then switched to the 8 oz banana with watermelon apex about 3 feet back.  Got it out on about 125 ft of line, paddling about 2-3 statute mph.  About 15 mins later(9:30), as I was about to pull it up and put the flasher on, I got a big hit, looked for snagged pb's, seeing none, I went for a sliegh ride, got the fish up to see it was a big one, thought I'd better wait to net it, then it took off straight to the bottom and 15 mins later I had it up doing circles around the yak and then  in the new bigger net I'd bought yesterday, lieing in  my lap.  Knifed it in the head and it quit flopping.
I gutted it there and it looked worse than most autopsy photos I've seen, blood everywhere and me thinking about sharks and nasty sea lions - do you guys risk that every time?
   Wanted another, got no nibbles, and radio chatter wasn't good.  About 10:30 a little breeze came up, at 11 I headed in trolling now with a silver dodger).  At least today I think it makes sense to make a real wide left turn when reentering the jaws from the north to avoid the bigger swell and confused sea (flooding).
     31" 15lbs gutted    Lots of fun, I hope July goes on forever!

Right on.... Tom!
It's good to know they're still there.

Nice work Tom, I usually don't gut fish on the deck while I am out, a little for the sharks but mostly cause I want to get back to fishing as soon as I can. So a few whacks on the head and either over the side if I am not trolling or in the hatch if I am.

Now I have not landed big salmon on my prowler yet so I am going to have to figure out where to stash them.

Nice fish Tom!

I was out there a few days earlier...no fish, but I was trolling at about 40 ft deep.  What kind of Rod/Reel combo do you use to troll 8oz at 125 feet? I think my set up is too light.

Rich

Glad to see they are still out there! THanks for the report  

I don't gut my catch till I'm on land. I do bleed it when I'm inside the harbor or in very shallow water.....shark issues...you'll never know.

Now I have not landed big salmon on my prowler yet so I am going to have to figure out where to stash them

Bill - I've always kept my fish inside a burlap sack (keeps the fish moist - just splash some water to it every now and then) and leave 'em laying in between my legs. Keep the head of the fish pointed towards the bow. Leaving the fish inside the kayak's hull on a hot day can spoil the fish easily = just my 2 cents.

Burlap bags only cost a couple of bucks and are re-usable (they don't stink either)

You guys don't throw a couple of bags of party ice inside the hull?
kayak = big ice chest
-Brian =)

kayak = big ice chest

Brian, I always thought that was a good idea, although I haven't tried it yet.  One idea I want to try is using an extra large duffel bag or garbage bag to help contain the ice and fish in the same place below the hatch.  It might serve as cheap alternative to one of those fancy fish bags.

I purchased a really cool bag from SCWAFISH.  It wasn't too expensive and if you think about the bag cost vs. the cost of all your hard work and expense to catch a nice fish, it is worth every penny.  We used them down in Baja and I used mine the other day for the salmon I caught at Noyo and everything stays nice and chilly.  Just my 2 cents.
Dave

Guys at my office got me a massive dry bag "backpack" I use that now instead of an ice chest since my ice chest is cursed.

We used to always clean all salmon before landing.  The past few trips with fish in a burlap sack, then transported to and ice chest with ice  just don't cut it.  The fish start to get real soft in the belly/ribs when I gutted them.  

IMO, to cool down a salmon, it should be cleaned, then iced in the belly.  With the guts inside, it just doesn't seem to cool down fast enough.

This year, any salmon under 27lbs will be gutted on the water and iced down.

I really wouldn't worry about attracting sharks in Monterey Bay.  The biggest risk you run (esp early in the season is a furbag.  Had one ripped from my dad's hands when he was rinsing over the side of the boat and also had one pulled out of a NET!!  Also, Brian G lost a FAT striper to one too.  Those things are BRUTAL!!!!!

Stuart

Someone asked what kind of rod reel I used to troll the 8 oz sinker: I'm a rookie at this, but:Rod: BWD2200 8'0" Action ML(12-30lb line) Ugly Stik Tiger
reel: Tidewater 30L with 20lb trilene (strong enuf for a power boat to troll me around when snagged).  With the 8 oz it's got a good, but not severe, bend in it.  I bought it as a combo at West on sale for about $70.  I bought another cheap combo with a Penn reel, and that reel seems more solidly built.
     The reason I gutted that fish was because I'd picked up a booklet at Bayside in S.C.:
 " Recommended Procedures for Handling Troll-caught Salmon" by Calif.Salmon Council, says it can be downloaded at:
www.calkingsalmon.org/induinfo/
and
http://seafood.ucdavis.edu
  Says belly burn can start in  ten minutes-sour odor, bitter flavor of belly cavity.  I wonder how it's possible to,as suggested, stun the fish in the water but yet sever the gills to allow heart to pump out most of the blood.  A fine touch with the club, enuf to knock it out, not enuf to kill it?