MBK 6/6 - PatR's First Ocean Adventure

Beautiful day on the water. Great to see PatR bag his first rockie. I was there for a sand dab fix and they were great. Pics and details to follow.

Scott

I am looking forward to those pictures. 

Well, this was my very first time fishing in the ocean and fishing for Rockfish; we’re talking total rookie here.  I have only seen rockfish or sanddabs in photos, but never the real thing. I have been talking with GreatBass2 on and off for about a year about venturing out into the Big Blue, so I have been slowly buying the needed gear to do so. In the middle of the week GreatBass2 (Scott) gives me a call and asks “are you ready yet?” and if so lets go fishing in Monterey Bay for some rockfish and sanddabs.  My reply after checking with the boss was “count me in”. My first worry was getting seasick which I am prone to do but as you can see in the photos it was like fishing a lake Del Valle-- prefect conditions for a first timer if you ask me.  I am well aware that this was not the norm, but was very happy it was that day.  We started off fishing for halibut in the morning with no luck so decided to try for rockfish in the kelp beds.   We tried that for about an hour with no luck then Scott says lets go try for some sanddabs. We paddled out to the sanddab spot, which was in 150’ of water and started fishing; the first sanddab I brought up from the depths I had thought I caught a baby halibut.  As I was staring at it, it fell off the hook and swam back down. We caught a hand full of sanddabs and decided to try for rockfish again; Scott says do you see that can, that’s where we were going.   My reply was “THAT CAN”.  I do not think of myself as a strong paddler so keeping up with Scott in his Prowler was quite a chore.  I kept looking behind me to see if I was dragging a bucket or something. We made it to Scott’s rockfish spot and started fishing -- after about an hour, the winds picked up and got pretty choppy out there so we decided to head in for the day.  I ended up catching about 6 rockfish and some sanddabs.  I only took three rockfish home for dinner that night, Scott did about the same, taking the sanddabs home with him. That’s my story for the day!  I would like to thank Scott for hooking me up with the fishing gear and taking the time to show me the ropes.  I had a great time and look forward to the next time .


Pat R       

Nice variey of rockies Pat. Good to see Scott is still spreading the love. Be careful though...madness is contagious!

nice outing for the first trip in big blue, calm water, fish to hand and good company, congrats pat, cameron

Nice looking fish, I didn't think there were anymore verms in that area I thought they were all fished out, J/K. Sounds like you guys caught those at the yellow buoy, Chase reef. The red can area is a nice spot for the dabs. I bet there was a lot of boat traffic whizzing by though.  We were a little south of you guys fishing near the point. Next time you guys come let me know and I could show you some hotspots

Thanks for the report Scott(GB2) I can't wait for the pictures.

Hey Pat, WTG on your first Big Blue trip. Congrats on the variety of RF. Thanks for
taking some pictures. It looks like glass out there. Ditto to what Sin Coast said, be
careful, rock fishing is very addicting.

Jedmo

Nice looking rockies! I was thinking some of you guys would be out here.I guided a nonfishing tour at MBK that morning and it was super flat until about 11AM.
I caught a kelp crab and a decorator crab for the kids to see from my closed deck kayak.

Nice fish!  If you want to do more catching than fishing, Scott is the guy to go with. 

great report, Scott and Pat.   Water conditions looked perfect.    Wished i were there!

Pat -  you have a great teacher in Scott.    Scott took me on my first trip to Big Blue, and life has not been the same ever since.    I am deeply hooked.

I Hear you guys about it being contagious, I am sitting here at work thinking when I can go again . When I came home from fishing that day my wife asked me how was your first time in the ocean, my reply was I think I am going to need a rockfish rod dear her reply was you can't use one of the twelve you already have. I will have to work on that one .

Pat R   

Very funny Pat. BTW, in case you do buy a rock fishing rod. Try the
trevala by Shimano. I love mine. It is light and has a lot of back bone.
I have mine paired with an Avet. It is SWEET!

You should try Ft. Ross this Saturday. It is one of my favorite place for
rock fishing.

Good luck and I hope to see you OTW soon.
Jedmo

WTG, Scott, for getting a Bro on the water.  WTG, Pat, for being ready and achieving success on your first trip.  Good stuff.   

Congrat for your success on the maiden ocean trip.  Thanks for the report and nice pictures.

I always wondered how that first rockfish bite felt like from a yak.  
When it happened I could not wipe the grin off my face.
Glad you had a good outing on your first time out the the blue Pat