Shelter Cove Salmon Action

I should've gotten up earlier...  I slept in and didn't get to the Cove and in the water until around 10:30.  It was flat but choppy--the Pt. Arena buoy showed 20ish knots pretty much all day, but it was only 5-10 near shore where I was.  I went to about 2 miles out and trolled a total of about 2.5 hours.  Slow troll over shallow reefs on the way out produced 2 blacks, a blue and a nice rock greenling--all released of course...  There were only about half a dozen PB's out and they were for the most part about 1/2 mile farther out than me, so I was about to bail when I got my first strike.  That got the adrenaline going quite nicely.     I continued to troll around in that spot and got a salmon on within about 8-10 minutes.  I was using a small DeepSix with a flasher and a double-hook chovy rig with nice herring.  It came to the surface briefly about 15-20 feet from me and I knew it was a salmon and that it was legal--probably 10# range.  Got it to the boat and had the net ready when it made a little run, then--snap!  I think my leader fell victim to salmon mouth.  DAMN!  I was still stoked to have had one that close.  Of course I then had to troll another 1 hour or so.  I only saw one PB hook up and it was right in that area right after I did.  The report on shore was slow, but I did see some fish being cleaned at the table.  I then drove down to toss a ball of ab gut and some leftover herring into about 15' of water at Abalone Point just up the road.  I got a nice one on--probably a cab I figure, but it was off and the bite was gone.  I cruised over the hill and decided to stop at the South Fork of the Eel in Humboldt Redwoods State Park--Rockefeller Forest, the largest continuous largely old growth redwood forest.  The place is awesome.  I used my new Rolleez cart from GWKC to cruise down to Garden Club of America Grove beach where I paddled to the mouth of nearby Canoe Creek.  Canoe's watershed is almost entirely old growth, and it's a spectacular place.  I watch salmon spawn there in December and sometimes into January, but today I thought to look for Steelhead.  I didn't get far though, it was getting late and I was BS'ing with a flyfisherman from Berkeley.  Beautiful and fulfilling day.

Mouth of Canoe Creek, Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Thanks for the cart, Sean, I love it!

Can't wait to take my sand-wheel cart down the Lost Coast in April.

Beautiful pics, glad you love the cart.

great report! what test was the leader that broke on the salmon?

cool to know that you were able to hook up, that is fantastic.

I'm not sure what test my leader was because I have a few leftover hook-rigs from last year that my dad made.  Probably 15#.  I was likely guilty of needing to use brand new leaders...  I'm spoiled on not needing top condition gear for rockfish and such...  Next time I go for salmon it'll be all new gear.   

Nice report.  Sounds like a great day, beautiful pics too.

jason