hmb to pigeon, 11/30/05 - don't cry

big rollers, no wind, no chop, ran wide open all day.  launched out of hmb with joel





and ran straight to honey hole #1 at pescadero for a slow pick.  had to move around alot to find fish, opted to head south, wound up off the lighthouse,



jeez, will ya look at that water!  hey eli, thanks for the hat! 

worked our way back and decided to try pescadero honey hole #2.  it was loaded!!!!!!!  if i would have gone from pescadero honey hole #1 straight to pescadero honey hole #2, we would have been done in an hour instead of 6.  go figure. 

so we ended up with a nice pair of rockfish limits, 2 underlings and one 33 inch keeper that i guesstimate at 12-14 pounds. bill, thanks for the swim baits!  i was casting with your 7 inch light green swim bait and was picked up by a 16 inch ling cod.  then my 33 incher grabbed on and hitchhiked all the way back to my kitchen sink!  those 7 inch baits fit perfectly on doug mooney's 4 ounce shad heads.



 it was a beautiful day on the water and a nice way to end ling cod season.  we saw only one other boat all day.



you guys missed a fabulous season ender!    uh oh!  c'mon, guys, don't cry!

But the big question, did Joel hurl???

Well I am glad at least some of my baits made it out. Looks like you guys had a blast!

Blue... so how was you landing?
I don't have to ask about Alan and Joel's.

I saw the water in Moss Landing late morning and was so jealous of you guys making it out with such glass.  Yee haw, what a change!!!!
I got my last cab and ling in fine style so I will sleep okay till June.
Congrats to you all on your season enders.

Nice work guys! I must say that the light green swim baits are Ling killers.  When I turned to the 7 inch light green swims my Ling numbers increased vastly. Joel calls them the 80's swims baits.  I can't wait until next year already.

Jason

But the big question, did Joel hurl???

Well I am glad at least some of my baits made it out. Looks like you guys had a blast!

Uncle Joel took some Bonine (a pill the night before and half a pill before launching) and it helped big time.

Alan = thanks so much for the invite! I was hoping to see a white shark (I was secretly chumming ) but that all faded away when you let me "take comand" of your boat. YES, I WAS ABLE TO "MOOCH" A BOAT - am I good or what?!!  Allen had me on wheel and I had fun dodging the crab pots on the way back to Pillar Point (slalom baby!!!) Also had fun learning more about the hi-tech gadgets that Allen had on his boat....top of the line sonar, GPS - with auto pilot...side winder-heat seeking- missiles for those damn kayaks that get in the way 

Blue - I thought all along that you were going to fish HMB.

      

(I know how much fun it is to gloat!  "dude, you shoulda been here yesterday!" so I'm playing along! ).

I bet almost any 7" swimbait is good for a ling.
I have used 7" purple and white and the 7" brown and orange
and gotten good hits, using that same shad head.

It's probably hard to have a swimbait too big for a ling.

What I really want is some of those shad heads you have.

Alan, what do I have to do to get a half dozen of your 4oz shad heads?

fisherman's warehouse is always sold out of those things,
(the method of stocking a store based on national averages
is sooooooo stupid...  ) although maybe they'll have
more now that the season is over.

Is it just me, or is the white haired guy in the Osprey fishing with two rods???  One in his hand and one in the rod holder.


Brian

Is it just me, or is the white haired guy in the Osprey fishing with two rods???  One in his hand and one in the rod holder.


Brian

maybe he was drifting for halibut?

Blue,
Launching north of the lighthouse?  Impressive!!!!!  I pretty much get my @ss handed to me in 2 ft surf.

Alan/Joel,
You guys went on a long boat ride.  I recall salmon fishing just barely S of the lighthouse and it was a long back breaking uphill ride back.

Stuart

Blue,
Launching north of the lighthouse?  Impressive!!!!!  I pretty much get my @ss handed to me in 2 ft surf.

Alan/Joel,
You guys went on a long boat ride.  I recall salmon fishing just barely S of the lighthouse and it was a long back breaking uphill ride back.

Stuart

yup - Allen did mention that he rarely goes that far South....I guess the conditions were just too good to pass up. On the trip to and from, I was watching the shore break and all I saw was WHITE.....Blue, I can't believe you launch on those conditions! You are a "MAD MAX" 

Ouch!!!  I got the visual and and I know it had to hurt.

The last time we salmon fished off Pigeon was commercially, so it was probably in the 20-30 fathom range.  Its hard to tell, because you can see the lighthouse from far away.
I'd be guessing, but a couple miles, which would be ok for you. 

Maybe next year, they'll post some numbers on coastside, but I dont think a lot of the HMB boats run that far south.  They probably go down to the deep reef area instead, with fuel costs being so darn high.

Stuart

in order for a rogue wave to take me out, it would have to crest at 20 feet or better, and/or it would have to have a serious curl at the top.  joel and i saw several dozen swells that came in at 10 feet.  you go up, you go down, and that's it.  a true rogue wave with a curl would starts miles offshore, and would take out everyone, whether you were one mile or 100 miles out.  as for staying out of the surf zone, i've got the main engine, the kicker, and an anchor with 20 feet of chain and 400 feet of anchor line. i don't know how joel was, but i felt pretty safe. 

I would like to try that spot for salmon next year.

Capt. Alan Tani at the wheel.....