How I Spent My Summer Vacation (Epic Tale)

Hello all.

I just returned home to Roseville from New Brighton Beach State Park where my family and I spent the last week. Weather was beautiful and apparently I missed all the lightning and wild fires out this way.  Anyway, about the fishing.........

I brought my kayak (OK Malibu Two LX) and the fishing gear in hopes of wifey letting me out a few mornings to fish. Well here's how it happened.  I got to fish last Sunday out in front of Cannary Row as Wifey, Kiddo and the In-laws (I know - camping with the inlaws.... ) went to the aquarium. Well, it was blowing like 100-miles an hour at least and I couldn't even jig with a 5oz hex bar without having my line go sideways.  One morning down. The next few mornings were WAF generation so I got out again on Wednesday at the beach at New Brighton. For two and a half hours I paddled and jigged with white grubs tipped with squid (that's what the reports said they were hitting) for nada, nuttin, squat. There were anchovie everywhere to the point I was snagging them with the jig just past the surf line. This was not looking too good as I got blanked at New Brighton last year on vacation.

I went to the beach in the afternoon with kiddo and the mutt, and ran into Ron, a guy I saw last year also who only fishes bait. He was cleaning a nice ling so I stopped to talk with him. Ron was very helpful and told me there's a reef out there (pointing out to the water) that the fish hang in and I shouldn't waste my time in the kelp beds. We got talking about fishing and he told me to jig up some bait as bait works the best here. Ron was just one of those nice guys who you'd like to have as a drinking buddy.

Anyway, Thursday morning I get up at 5:30, load the boat and haul it down the beach access path/stairs from the campground (thank heavens for Rolleze!!). Get to the bottom and realize the paddle is back at the campsite. Back up the stairs. Back down the stairs and there very long and steep stairs..........

Launch uneventfully and put a sabiki rig on the spinning rod. Only one problem. No anchovie. Like none, gone, vamoosed. Guess they heard I was coming. Put the sabiki in the water and put the rod in the holder and paddle. Twenty minutes later, paydirt! I found the reef. Out of character, I brought my GPS and immediately stuck in a waypoint. Now bait.........

I have never used a sabiki and only got them because I got this stupid deal on E-bay and figured I'd use them eventually. Well it was not going well. I spent like 10- 15-minutes jigging and only managed to hook and loose one smelt. Sitting there holding this stupid sabiki I think to myself that I caught more anchovie on a jig than I did trying to catch them with this thing.

So, away goes the sabiki. Out comes the baitcaster with the 2.5oz Megabait in anchovy pattern. I proceed to go back to the reef and cast out the jig. Let it settle to the bottom and then lift it up about 8-feet and let it flutter back to the bottom, picking up any slack line with the reel. If you watch the Bass Pro's, it's how they said to fish a jigging spoon for bass on a point. First drift I hook a little black deep and have to keep him. Paddle back. Second drift nada. Paddle back. Third drift the spoon falls maybe a foot or two and whammo! Nice fish. Fishie go up then down and up again. At about 5-feet I see it's a ling. Now remember I never caught a ling before and this thing is at least two feet long, which is big in my book. I think to myself I need the gaff. I look around and wonder where's the gaff, considering I'm in a 14-foot long, 3-feet wide tapering piece of yellow plastic so it can't be too far away. Well it's just out of reach and have to employ toes. Great, have gaff. Bring fish up to gaff and then notice the tennis ball on the point. DOH! Now I'm trying to rub the tennid ball off using one hand on the gaff. No go. Meanwhile Mr. Ling decides to head to the bottom again. Explative which rimes with DUCK!!!! Get ling back to the surface again. Get gaff now sans tennis ball. Now again remember that I have never gaffed a fish before jsut because I never owned a gaff before. Bring Mr. Ling to Mr. Gaff. Mr. Ling's head breaks the surface and he gets mad and heads straight back to the bottom again! Double DOH and a few more DUCK DUCK DUCK!!!! Finally get Mr. Ling back to the surface and realize that he's hooked in the upper lip with a 3/0 swiash and the entire Megabait jig is exposed. Forget the gaff, I bring lingey over and grab the jig and hoist him out. I now truely understand the alligator death roll everyone was talking about. Pick up Mr. Gaff again and BAM. Then some more BAM BAM BAM with a little KAPOW for good measure. Put him on the stringer and fish some more. No more hits on the metal on the next couple drifts, so I switch over to a chart/firetail FT with the same cast, lift, and drop retrieve for a nice 2lb grass.  It's now 8:30, I'm cold and in desparate need of coffee. I missed some hits and could have farmed a few more rockfish, but I had a great morning and did I mention that I CAUGHT MY FIRST LING AT CAPITOLA!!!!!:groupwave

Ling tasts good on the campfire grill with olive oil, garlic, lemon and a side of couscous. Oh, a little Longboard ale didn't hurt.

The things I really learned this trip are:  structure is very important. This is the only decent piece of structure out there as far as I know. Electronics are critical. I would never have found this hump if I didn't have a decent graph. From the surface it looks like nothing and there's no kelp near it. Just water. And lastly, I used my GPS to pepper this hump with waypoints. I know where it starts, ends, and the general orientation. I also used the autotrak to make sure my drifts were over the hump as the wind shifted slightly so I had to adjust my drift. (The Bass Pro's are great. They had one show dedicated to electronics.)

That's it. Have pictures but they're on wifey's camera and will post them when she gives to me. She doesn't let me touch the new camera.  Long story.......

rob
jrsyboy

Great report !!!  its funny how one little tid-bit of info can make all the difference. congradulations on your ling. i like that campground but never had any luck there.

Congratulations on your first ling.  feels good doesn't it.  Nice report, cant wait for some pics.

  Great read!  Glad you had a great trip!

WTG on catching a ling,  took me acouple years to catch my first, now can't seem to catch anyting but lings


                                                                   

Great report, Rob.  Way to go on the lingcod.   

WTG!!!

 I loved all the play by play,  Gaff...??  Huh?... Never Gaffed

 I did not Gaff my first fish till my Yellow Tail, I was shocked at how well it went,

Or Maybe it's those KZ Gaffs...

 Great Report, and for your next Big Adventure... GET A CAMERA!!!!!

Pictures.

I'm not allowed to touch any of my wife's cameras (she has two, a normal digital and this way expensive digital). I need a new graph so you will have to accept my play-by-play. Sorry.

rob
jrsyboy

Oh, now thats the way to cook fish over an open fire. Great report! Thats a nice way to start the day, hope the in-laws like fish.

mmmm campfire grilled ling, i can't wait for elk!

Great story..............start to finish. Cooking fresh caught fish while camping spoils you for life!

DUUUUUUUDE!!
One of the best posts I have read in along time. I was laughing my @ss off. So much of what happened to you has happened to us all. Trust me on that. Thanks for making me smile from ear to ear!

First of all, thanks for the laugh and secondly,congrats on the first ling. Love the
picture of the fish on the open fire.

Jedmo

A good report w/humor and FISH! Thanks for the details and pics!
 That must have made your trip, when you show up at camp with fish to cook!
A real "provider".  

Whats with the baby rockfish bro? I know there is no size limit but you should let that thing go. Especially if the fishing is no good there, dont take the babies.