Tomales halibut tourney 8-9-08

When I left petaluma this morning the fog was pretty thick at 5:30. I thought wow I wonder how foggy its going to be on the bay at nicks cove. It was just getting light when I arrived and you could just make out Hog Island from the parking lot. Sailfish was there and he was the only person I met from NCKA. What a great guy , very positive and friendly. We waited till 8am to launch just to give any PB's jamming in the channel enough visibility to see us. We tried to make bait a couple of different times to no avail. We tried drifting bucktail jigs with a frozen chovie, nada. I cahnged the jig a couple of times but it just was not in the cards for me today. We gave it a good 6 hours with a small lunch break. Yes , I know you were wondering, the power boters got fish. Not many but one boat had a 18.5 lb flattie.6 kayaks on the water = 0 fish. But all in all it was a good day to be on the water. The sun popped out briefly while we ate our lunch and I think Sailfish had a good time. It was his first day on the bay. I am going to Reef or Ft Ross on Sunday am and will be looking to hook up with someone to fish and dive with. Ranger JIm was a real nice guy also and we talked about possibly having a nother tourney but closer to the mouth of the bay and launch from Lawsons. Any day on the water is nice and the fish are just the icing on the cake, right?

That's correct, Rave - it's about the time on the water and the people.  But, yeah, a fish makes it all the better!  Thanks for reporting.   

Sailfish was there and he was the only person I met from NCKA. What a great guy , very positive and friendly.

Pretty much describes all the NCKA'ers we have met on the water.

We were interested in the derby as well, but Tomales on a weekend (especially with fog) is a bit unnerving. Glad to see things cleared up enough for you to get out on the bay. You'll get them next time!

  Thanks to all who attended the Derby, we had a total of 53 anglers with only 6 yakers as Ravensblack posted previously . We weighed in 10 fish with the smallest going 4lb. 13oz. and the largest at 18lb. 5oz. and 34 1/4 ". Most got their fish using popsicles behind a dodger or flasher setup bouncing it off the bottoms. Hog Island down to Marshall sounded like the hot bite spots for most. The Sandbar area was fishless as far as I heard.
  I have some leftover swag so we will need to do an event out of Lawson's sometime in Sept. or Oct. I'm thinking a multi-species event so it will be pretty wide open and a total weight/fish being the winner. Ghosts should be in the area along with some good lings and rock fish with a halibut thrown in as a clincher for someone. More to come later and I'll nail down a date. Tight lines to all,

I heard reports of Threshers come Late August/September...

 I'm going to be out there 8/23ish for a few days, Maybe see ya out there.....

Made it to Nick's Cove before 5am and it's still dark.  After signed-up for  registration around 5:30am I met Craig and we decided to wait until the fog lift a little before heading out.  This is my first kayak trip here but thank to Craig (a frequent kayaking in Tomale bay), he gave me a personal tour while drifting for Halibut.  We coverred lots of water for nada but it's still a great day for me as the Tomale bay scenery is beautiful and I'll return soon.

Here are some picture I took yesterday:

Craig aka ravensblack:


Stop for lunch:


Nice shoreline:


Craig show me how to dig for clam:


Saw a Jelly fish in the shallow:


Weight-in time:


Sailfish

I got to see the 18#'er.  It was a solid fish for Tomales. 

We got there late as we were shaking down a sailboat while taking some of Brother's friends for a ride.  Due to the early fog we decided to drift a bit and came up zilch as well.  Thanks again Ranger Jim for letting us park in the Fire lane to rig.  Sails boats arne't really condusive to Miller park on a busy day. 

I saw a couple fish yaks out there but never got close enough to say hi.  Ran into plenty of the Kayak tourers/day trippers though.  A couple of the guys I ended talking about their homemade narrow wood paddles.  I think Greenland paddles?  Nice guys even without fishing poles.

Thanks again Jim next time the sailboat stays home and I bring the yak.

 

I know this "tourney" was a month ago... BUT... I just want to let everyone know that Ranger Jim kicks butt!!!

Seriously tho, this guy we never even met before (that is my wife-to-be and I), was standing at the boat launch when we pulled up at well past noon. We say, "hey, are you Ranger Jim?"

He says, "Yeah, that's me." And proceeds to kindly welcome us, and give us a real friendly low-down on what's up for the day; absolutely no elitism what-so-ever.

As total greenhorns the whole gig felt a little daunting at first.  So it was cool to get a little encouragement. But he went well beyond that (as if organizing the event was cool enough on its own)!  Like I said we just met this guy, and next thing you know he lends us his kayak. I brought one, but my girl had none. Because of Ranger Jim we both got to get out on the water together.  Originally I was just going to leave her on shore with the car & dog.  The second kayak created this whole other dynamic of togetherness =^).  She was able to find out just how cool kayaks are, and while she felt fishing was boring and had no interest in it before, that day changed things as she joined me trolling a live shiner-perch, tying her own knots, and loving ever moment despite catching nothing. Although it was really foggy the the conditions were fairly warm and pleasant.

We had a blast!  Ever since this day, I have this new amount of respect and support for my hobby from the significant other (see Wife Approval Account) which originally was looked upon as a money and time drain and not fully understood for what it is.  Now we're looking into getting kayaks for the whole family.

I'm deeply thankful to Ranger Jim for making the whole thing happen. It was a really cool day. Also want to say the other kayak anglers we met on the water were super cool too, giving us warm greetings and good vibes. It's so great to that this board is full of such nice people.

Cheers!

we both got to get out on the water together....The second kayak created this whole other dynamic of togetherness =^).  She was able to find out just how cool kayaks are, and while she felt fishing was boring and had no interest in it before, that day changed things as she joined me trolling a live shiner-perch, tying her own knots, and loving ever moment despite catching nothing....We had a blast!  Ever since this day, I have this new amount of respect and support for my hobby from the significant other (see Wife Approval Account)......Now we're looking into getting kayaks for the whole family......the other kayak anglers we met on the water were super cool too, giving us warm greetings and good vibes. It's so great to that this board is full of such nice people.

Amen, Bro!   

And THANK YOU, Ranger Jim, for being a great ambassador of the sport! 

b. shadee - welcome to the MADNESS, my Friend.   

Thanks for the kind words b.shadee, I just think it's part of my job to help out others if I have some knowledge or skill to share. My boat wasn't doing me any good sitting on shore, it was just automatic that I would offer it up to your gf, I'm sure 99.9 % of the members here would do the same. Tight lines and good luck to you both,