Carmel Big Red 8/14/08

Tried to get down to Stillwater at around 6:30, but the gaurds wouldn't let us in because of a huge party and the car show.So buddy Bennett and I drove a short distance south and carried our boats down the narrow stairs to the launch at Carmel beach.The sky was mostly foggy.The winds were flat and never blew over 5 kts all morning, but there was a 4-6ft swell.As we were gearing up I counted waves in each set.I finally went for it and timed the launch perfectly. I got out dry.Bennett waited out the next set and also made it out clean after punching through a waist high wave in his Tarpon 160i.We slogged/poled our way through the dense bull and giant kelp until we found a clear channel through the forest.At around 45 ft we made our first few drops.Gopher cod would bite on any bait, so I switched to the silver and black Megabait and started catching some decent  blues and a small olive.Then, in about 67 ftow WHAMO.A hard take down and a steady retrieve later, I brought a bright red vermillion aboard.Later,we made a move to the NE and started working the the kelp off Stillwater for some chunky blues and kelp rockfish.On the landing, I almost got caught by a sneaker set wave and had to side surf until I hit the shoulder and leaned out of the wave.Then I had to scramble to turn my boat straight on to the beach and follow the wave in.Plenty of rockfish and an exciting launch and landing through the surf.Great day on the water!

Nice going Aaron,


I'll be in town for the MBK Derby So I hope to see ya!

Great catch!  I Wish I was A fishing.........

Now that's a great report! Thanks Aaron

Nice work, Aaron.  Good to see a report from you.   

Hey Aaron, What's up, meet u a few monts back at moss.got a rod holder from ya. I've been going out on my frenzy evey weekend at carmel. You scored on the verm,I've been getting a few small fish out there.I wish I would have hook one of those verm.Hit me up the next time you fish carmel.here's my email  [email protected]. Lately if thee is swell I'll surf then go fishing.

Thanks guys.It's been a while since I've posted.I've been so darn busy working three jobs, trying to buy a house and doing closed-deck expeditions in my Prijon Kodiak (which I also plan on fishing from sometimes).My usual fishing day is Thursday, so it's hard to hook up with guys that have real jobs.
I will be working at MBK for the derby, so I hope to see some of you there.The forecast looks good and the halis are in.

Congrats on the stringer of fish Aaron. Thanks for the report and awesome
pictures.

Jed

So how come people like vermilion rock fish so much? Why do people despise gophers so much? How do you all feel about grass rock fish. Do they taste different? Do they put up a better fight? I usually catch grass rock fish, almost never see any caught in th posts on here. The biggest grass I've caught was 20 inches, they really put up a decent fight. I also catch a lot of (alotta should be a word) browns, They dont fight at all and are almost always only 7 inches.

I have found that gopher cod meat is a bit mushier than the firm, flakey and deliscious verm meat.Fighting larger gopher cod, kelp and grass rockfish is fun though.I C and R gophers, but I'll keep the blacks,blues, coppers and reds if I'm going to eat them with the fam..

Browns above 14" or so fight well, and taste good in my experience.

gophers vary based on what they eat.  but they are small, and hit hard then are overpowered by the gear and give up.

verms are almost always good and also bigger than other rockfish on average.

I have heard grass both fight well, and taste good, but I've only caught a few.

big coppers fight the hardest of all the rockfish as they seem to resist baratrauma better than the rest and can be big and solid. they are my favorites but I usually release them if I can even tho they taste pretty good to me.

olives are the fastest rockfish and are really fun on light gear, especially if you catch them way behind the boat.

blues are fun on light gear too.

So how come people like vermilion rock fish so much? Why do people despise gophers so much?

Cuz gophers always puke and crap on me!

its also a ethnic preparation thing too.  Some chinese guys I know feel gophers steamed whole is the ultimate fish.  However if you try to fillet them, they dont yield much meat relative to others, so would be less desirable for a white fish and chips kind of guy.

I have tried blind taste tests on my friends and family and so far the results are that the only rockfish that folks repeatedly can identify are lings and cabezon.  All other rockies they seems to confuse over time.

for catching Im with Jmairey; olives near the surface on light tackle are my favorite followed by big blues.  Im guessing that if you catch alotta (!) grass rockfish you are fishing shallow, and any rockfish shallow is more fun to catch in my opinion