Not Quite Skunked at MacKerricher State Park:

Took the yak and the family to MacKerricher just North of Fort Bragg on Xmas Eve ,  hoping for a triple catch of trout and crayfish in Lake Cleone, and pick muscles off the tidepools.   Very windy and cold.  Fun though.

Yaked out onto the lake, playing in the wind-whipped little waves.  Dropped the cray traps and cast for trout.  No bites.   Maybe too windy and vis very low.

Went out onto the rocks, waves crashing, wind howling, and got our limit of muscles.  Was too windy to pick up the cray traps that afternoon so went back on Xmas morning and caught 16 little crays, but they are Louisiana Reds, not the native Signal Crays I was hoping for.  Imposters!  Gotta go on Navarro River for the coveted Signal Crays.

Well, no fish that day, but two out of three ain't bad.   Had a great Xmas dinner:

I see banana people:



Persistent seagull and I had a little stare-down contending the legal ownership of said sub sandwich.   Settled out of court:



Ran into some of those darn pesky Oriental poachers.   No, wait.  That's my daughter in law:



Ken (# 1 son) meet Crayfish.   Crayfish; Ken:



Steamed muscles:



Steamed crayfish:



Our Xmas dinner.   Marikos' sushi, Matt's muscles, garlic bread, salad, white wine. This one's for you, Mooch!:



And finally, on Xmas day, Ken and I get downright medieval with some crays, while Mariko, as usual, has the last laugh:



Later that eve; #2 son showed up and beat us all royally in Chinese Checkers.  But Mariko is still the ultimate Chess master.  As for me, I'll just see you all on the water.  Happy Holidays Everyone, and I hope to meet you in 2008 up here in Mendocino.  Cheers,  -Matt

Great report, Matt!  I'm partial to anyone who goes out in the wet and cold for adventures this time of year - especially those who provide a report about it.   

The Image Shack seems a little bogged/slow, but looks like a cool place.  I'll have to do a little poking around in there later on.  Nice to match a face to a name - you look like a real person!  (if'n ya know what I mean!)   

Yep.   Here come the storms.

Hi Matt:

          I'm back in Sunnyvale till next week. Big River
was a lot of fun.
                     Thanks for your help with the "Old Green Back"
                      Health, Wealth, Happiness and,
                      the Time to spend them,
                   
                                                        Ernie

The Navarro River is loaded with MONSTER 'dads! Or, at least, it is in the early spring near Paul Dimmick campground. Because my family goes up there every year for abalone and we stay at Dimmick. Done a lot of searching up and down the river in that part and always see giant 'dads. Look back beneath the undercut banks.
Good luck, and thanks for the report!
PK

Matt -

Nice report and excellent spread of food. You north coast boys have the good life. 

scott

nice looking harvest hobie. what do you use to get the mussels off the rocks?

  Hi KayakJack,

I just got the heads up from "Sin Coast/PK" that using a tool to pick muscles is illegal, and muscle picking must be done with bare hands.  No word about that in the DFG rule book.  Hmm.  I'm going to ask DFG.   What a dumb rule because with the dull hook knife I can be very careful and selective.   Picking by hand is easily very destructive to future muscle generations and disturbing to baby starfish.

I don't want to encourage anyone to like eating muscles.   They taste horrible and are very poisonous and are allways very bad.  They are terrorists.  Don't ever eat them whenever there is a red, green, blue or yellow tide either.   -Matt

thanks for the tips hobie. i like to steam them in white wine,garlic and jalapeno. then i pull out te mussells and melt a little butter in the poaching liquid and dip my bread in that. one last question. how do i know when its red tide?

KayakJack;

Your jalepeno muscle recipe sounds good.  I am thinking of attacking it in a sort of pincer-movement.   I am using olive-oil instead of butter these days, not for health reasons, but because it it just that much more tasty.

As for how to know a red tide, I just look for red waters, but I'm going to let the experts in the group answer that one.   -Matt

oh yeah, dont forget the chopped fresh cilantro.

Try steaming them in a traditional wine, garlic, onion recipe, then cool them and poour over them a marinade consisting of:

Cider vinegar
Maple Syrup (or sugar)
chile peppers
garlic
red onion
olive oil

Slosh them around in this marinade for at least a few hours or overnight, making sure all the mussels get some good soaking. Serve cold. Very different and very good.

And watch for pearls. If they're crunchy that's usually a pearl. I have a jar full of them.

KayakJack;

I like cilantro.  In all due respect.

I'm getting some good evil kayak and canoe ideas about The Navarro River thanks to you.  Dimmick to the Coast.


 
Malibu2:  Now that your mention it, muscles and maple are a natural combination.

Please excuse me while I drool.

Hi Matt:

          Good Picks., . of your catch. My Son's would go to the "Hole" during the Summer for Dads' and Ta-Tas' sunbathing across from the the Drain Pipe, on the West end of Paul D. Park.
           
                                                                                                       Sea-ya
                                                                                                       Ernie

                                                                                                   

   Good morning Ernie,
Thanks for the tip about the 'Dads at Dimmick.  It sounds like a good place to start:   Set the traps at Dimmick, cruise down the river for a pick-up at the bridge, then back to Dimmick to pick up the 'Dads.

Do you think you'll get back up here anytime soon?   Meanwhile, Happy New Year to you and the family.   -Matt