NCKA Hookup on the Lost Coast - 5/18

Kick-ass NCKA hookup #57146-B!    

Dave (Pescador/DaveW) brought his buddy Jonny (join up, Man!) up and camped out even with the forecast "marginal" by Abking standards.  I talked to my bud the mailman, Greg (join up, Man!) at 5AM and it sounded rough at 7.5' from the west @ 13 seconds at the Cape buoy.  We agreed it sounded crappy, but I headed over the hill to at least hookup with my NCKA brethren that had made a trip - Greg mentioned that he might show later.  As I came down the hill at the Cape the fog was obviously a big factor.  I cruised the good launches around 6:20AM - it didn't look inviting at all - couldn't even see the water most of the time.  When it's a 3' swell you have a margin for error - 7.5 from the west and fog can be serious!  I drove right on by and wound down the road to and through Petrolia and down Lighthouse road to the campground at the mouth of the Mattole where I found my partners packing sleeping bags and tents and brewing up a pot of camp-joe.  We meeted and greeted and got on the road and got launched by around 8AM - into the fog.  It's disconcerting to look at a fog-limited view of your launch and wonder how cocky you're really being to think you know how safe it is...  It was safe!      We cruised out into the low vis and 15 minutes later we were on the reef and catching fish.  I'm not aspiring to be a guide, yet...  I was proud to have Dave, a salty sea angler who's been around the block and led kayak tours on the ocean, email me back with "thanks for guiding us..."   The mailman showed up while we were out there, and we all had a great time fishing from 8:30 to noon and thinking the wind was coming up any minute.  By the time we were getting ready to drive off - after filleting fish in the tidepools and draining several brews - the fog was finally blowing off and there were huge whitecaps on the fishing grounds.

There's no two ways about it:  THIS PLACE IS UNFORGIVING, UNPREDICTABLE IN RELATION TO FORECASTS, AND SELDOM FISHABLE...   

9 doubles!!! Freaking awesome video!! Thanks for sharing.

-FF

that is SWEET!   I sure wish I get into some action like that someday......thanks for the movie-envy AK!
the conditions don't look too rough, but i'm sure it was......can't wait to get up NORTH!

Nicely done!  What's your secret to all the double hookups!??
-Ben

WTG.  The video is awesome.

AK...I like your set-up....Iron below and teaser fly just inches above it....nicely done Great Vid too

What's your secret to all the double hookups!??

By far the most doubles I've ever had.  The ling fishing was slow - I jigged a 10 oz. leadhead with a massive piece of white rubber on it for probably an hour and a half for nada...  I went back to the smaller gear and the fish just wouldn't stay away!   

Spectacular outing. Living the life.

Another fine Abking production! Very entertaining, but no bicycles this time.

Vurrry niiice! Sweet video man.

No wonder you guys had a hard go of it with the Lings... you couldnt get your gear past all those blacks.  Maybe you should have sent one of the little guys down to see if he could turn up a ling for ya!

Great video and thanks for sharing. We have a week and a half till our opener here but we do hope to get up there soon.

Sorry I couldn't make this trip.  I was on a business trip in Dallas, Texas for the last 3 weeks!  Wow ... 9 double hook-ups ... Thank you for sharing the video.

Thanks for the adventure AK!  The direction even outweighs the fishing action.
 I still have permagrin.

you set the bar high, way high on your posting.  nice