Stillwater South 5/7

Finally got out for my first fishing trip of the season with my friend Ed.  Got on to the beach about 7:15 and met Ray and Gabe who drove down from Pittsburgh.  Was a pleasure to meet you guys, I didn't see you out on the water so I hope you had good luck and it was worth your trip.  There were many kayakers out on the water and I also met GTO19 out there, we fished near each other and chatted for a while.  Sorry I don't have any pics but my camera has decided to retire, and I can't get it to do any work.  Can't afford another for a while, so it is just words I can contribute.  I fished a rubber white twin tail for about an hour til I got that familiar yank that I missed all winter.  The fish and I had a disagreement, he wanted to go down and I wanted him to come up.  After a few minutes I convinced him to come up and I barely got him into my too small net.  Measured out at 29.5 inches.  The remembered taste of Ling cod swept over my taste buds once I got him onto my fish keeper.  The taste will be reinforced in about 2 hours.  My friend Ed got a beautiful 19 inch cabbie, that I'm sure he is enjoying just as much.  After another 3 hours I raised another ling, it was only 22 inches but I still enjoyed the excitement.  All I got for my efforts was two fish, but I'll take those two fish every time.  The water was so clear you could see down 25 feet.  Occasionally I could see blues swimming beneath me.  It was a beautiful day although the wind did get annoying after a while.  I'm already looking forward to my next time on the water, even when I don't catch anything the experience of being on the water and meeting other fishaholics makes it worth it.

nice report hermit, congrats on your first ling of the season, cant wait till i can get out on the 17th for my first shot of the year, cameron

stillwater therapy, best kind in the world.

Nice report Hermit.  Can't wait for opening up here.  Might just visit that area myself soon

Way to go on the ling Hermit!  It was a slow day for me out there.  I got 2 small gophers a blue and a rainbow perch. The wind got the best of me around 10:30 and I headed in. This is the only picture I was able to take before my camera died. Time to go shopping i guess.
Rob

Congrat on the Ling and thank you for the report Hermit.

That is a striped perch. Rainbows bodies aren't as dark and even more rainbow colored. Striped perch are very beautiful fish non the less. i think even more so then rainbows even.

Hermit,

It was great meeting you and Ed. Gabe and I really appreciate the advice you gave us on where to fish. This was our first time at Stillwater South and we are still ocean newbies, so all the advice really goes a long ways. We did end up fishing close to you guys, but like you said there were several of us out there. I tried fishing a 5 inch white twin tail scampi with a shrimp fly tipped with squid for a while with no luck. I switched to a shrimp fly only setup and nailed a fat grass rockfish. WooHoo…first rockfish of the season. I ended up getting a couple more by the end of the day. Gabe and I quit around 1:00, the wind was getting the better of us and we still had a 3hr + drive home. Met Gto19 on the water and he was generous enough to donate a couple rockfish for the grill, Thanks!! I also met naerob on the water. All of the NCKA folks I have met so far have been really cool people, willing to share info and lend a hand when needed, thanks guys. All in all this was a great first trip of the season and what a great place to visit. I am envious that there are so many of you who call this place your backyard. Until next time.

Ray

I will need to post pictures later as I am having problems due to the size of the pictures.

Following are some photos taken on my new Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 camera. I am still trying to figure out all the options this camera offers.

Way to go guys!  Glad to see you on some fish. Ray are you going ot make it to Vierras this weekend? Ill be there with my kayak

Jeff

Hey Guys,

Awsome meeting you Hermit and Ed. Had a great time fishing in the Big Blue. The water down in Stillwater is Beautiful. The colors were amazing and the clarity was phenomenal. I could see school's of blue's swimming around but they seemed to have lockjaw when I presented them with a treat. Tried a green and yellow splittail swimbait at first and missed a nice bite. Then switcheed over to a shrimp fly rig and managed a few fish but for some reason they were all dinks. 2 gophers and 1 blue. Oh well at least I got some action. Here are a few pictures I took while out and about.

Gabe

Jeff,

I am going to be at Vierras during the day on Saturday I believe. Probably not going to bring the yaks as I will have the wife and kids with me. I may take my Dad's boat out. He has it in a slip up there. See you this weekend.

Ray