Farallon Treefish - Non-yak (duh)

My wife is away for the weekend and I have a carpool lined up and my car packed for Limekiln. Then my SUV dies and I have no way to transport my yak.  Not wanting to waste a WAF free weekend, I decided to fish on the New Seeker out of Emeryville on a rock fish trip to the Farallon Islands. Everyone was fishing live anchovies and were catching mainly olives, blues and quillfish. I was targeting lings only and decided to use artificials only. This turned out to be a bad decision fishing wise but I only fish bait if I have to or in competition. Did end up cathing a few decent rockies and a treefish which is fairly rare in NCAL but more common in Oregon. Really cool looking fish, great lips  . Had a good time with a great skipper and crew but it made me realize how really good kayak fishing is. Hopefully may car will be fixed soon

Scott

Tasty too. Love those treefish, look like they put on lipstick!   

Sorry about your ML being in the shop.  It was all those trips from the East Bay to Sur, it finally needed some vacation.  Dang, there's another variable to factor into our trips, "VAF" - Vehicle Approval Factor.

Or should it be Automobile Approval Factor (AAF, 2AF)?

Cool fish - I'd hope I wasn't a little buzzed when I saw one of those, or I'd think it was about to start talking to me!   

Good looking fish Scott.

At list you did not stay home. I was expecting to see you at lk.

maybe next time.

Those Tree fish are cool. Caught at least 1/2 a dozen around Coral st near Pacific Grove. Never caught any around Santa Cruz yet.

Scott, Good thinking on your part to find a way to get on the water. Noticed  that you were representing with the NCKA sweatshirt     Where does the Treefish get it's nickname? 

Sweet pic of the treefish! Nice catch.

I've never heard of there being a lot of treefish in Oregon but Monterey has a bunch and so does southern Cal, usually around kelp beds.

My wife is away for the weekend and I have a carpool lined up and my car packed for Limekiln. Then my SUV dies and I have no way to transport my yak.  Not wanting to waste a WAF free weekend, I decided to fish on the New Seeker out of Emeryville on a rock fish trip to the Farallon Islands. Everyone was fishing live anchovies and were catching mainly olives, blues and quillfish. I was targeting lings only and decided to use artificials only. This turned out to be a bad decision fishing wise but I only fish bait if I have to or in competition. Did end up cathing a few decent rockies and a treefish which is fairly rare in NCAL but more common in Oregon. Really cool looking fish, great lips  . Had a good time with a great skipper and crew but it made me realize how really good kayak fishing is. Hopefully may car will be fixed soon

Scott

Hey Scott, sorry to hear about your SUV. I will do the same... not to waste a WAF free weekend! They seldom come. Nice report!

LL

According to Love et al's "The Rockfish of the Northeast Pacific", the treefish are a southern species.. San Francisco to Central Baja.  As for the name, the book just mentions that it was a common name used by Portuguese fisherman in Monterey in the 19th century.  

The similar looking tiger rockfish is probably the fish Scott was thinking of as being more common in Oregon.

Anyway, very cool fish.  I'd love to catch one someday to add to my life list of species caught.

Making PlanB on the fly!!  probably would have been happier completing PlanA and not have the breakdown, but you kept your spirits high, like a good NCKA'r should and took advantage of the condition and time you had...IwouldHAVEbeenPISSEDbeyondRECOVERY!!
and way to stick with the HEROorZERO approach on jigging for lingys!