Moss 4/9 Success!!

Short story -- Mooch and I each caught 1 salmon - my first salmon landed on a kayak.

Long story --

Alarm goes off.  I see light - should be dark, 4:30am.  Pounce out of bed and realize it is 6:20, the rest of the gang is already heading out of Moss, and I'm just waking up.  Scramble, scramble, scramble, drive, drive, drive, launch at 7:50, paddle, paddle, paddle.  Find the others a couple of miles out south of the canyon.  Alex, Scott, Bill, and Mooch had been farther out, and were sitting there mooching.  Stuart was still out farther.

We float for a bit, then somewhere around 9, Mooch paddles off a bit and starts shouting that he sees bait.  He hooks up, brings it to the surface pretty quickly, then spends the next 10 minutes (not that much of an exaggeration) trying to net it.  Finally does, and it is a nice 30" beauty.  We're all shouting so loud that Stu, nowhere in sight, can hear us.

I start trooching over his way, paddling pretty slowly.  Feel a thump on the rod sitting on my lap, pick it up, and feel the 16oz. ball fall off.  Fish on!!  I horsed the fish up pretty quickly, and had it netted in about 30 seconds (also not that much of an exaggeration).  As soon as I held it out of the water, it went ballistic on me, but after several whacks, it settled down.  My first - it was all I could do to stop my self from gnawing on it right then and there.

But, that was it for the day.  6 kayak anglers, 2 fish.  Still not a bad day.  I think there's something to sleeping in (Brian G has been preaching this for awhile).

Bill's hopefully got pictures .  More details to come.  Time for a shower.

-- Dave

how was the weather? i hope it is good next weekend, i am anxious to get out in the ocean.

More details to come. Time for a shower.

Ahh, much better.  Blue, today proved that they weren't all deep.  Mooch's fish came when lowering his bait, somewhere around 40 pulls.  Mine was deeper, about 125'.  All in about 250 to 300 feet of water.

I can't speak for Joel's bait, something about krill-injected herring.

Mine was caught on a reverse-threaded anchovy (head down).  I was also using one of the fish head shaped weight release, both for trolling and mooching.  I'm definitely an advocate of those after today.  The head has enough flash to it there's no need for a flasher/dodger.

Conditions were really nice today.  Virtually no wind, minimal swell.  Paddling in was tough once in the tidal outflow, and the jaws were a bit exciting.  But at least until noon or so, no complaints about the conditions.

Great to see Pat and Randy pull up just as Scott and I beached.  Sorry you guys couldn't fish today, but here's hoping the conditions Wednesday are tolerable.

-- Dave

good work you guys, gives me hope! I guess I need a sonar unit tho if I
keep having to paddle out by myself.

well, the ahi  (poke) and shrimp (tempura) I had today as consolation
not to mention the champagne my wife opened when there was no cold
white wine have me feeling generous towards the salmon I didn't catch.

congrats Dave and glad to see the mooch is at least 1/2 the fisherman
freddie is,  . or maybe 5/8ths as it sounds like he matched the
bigger unit.

How big was your fish Dave? and what is this release you are talking about?

Best,

J

How big was your fish Dave? and what is this release you are talking about?

I'll get a picture of the release.

My fish was about 28", and on the spring scale someone had at the landing, 12lbs, where Mooch's was 13lbs (30").  I've got some doubts about that scale, as on my digital scale, the fish weighed 9.5lbs.

Whatever it weighed, half is dinner, and the other half is vacuum packed and in the freezer for later.

-- Dave

It was great that you guys found 'em..........it gave Randy and I something to smile about as we ate a cherished ling filet.....

Dave, Persistence is paid off. It is great to hear the news that you got salmons. Way to go ...

wow, I didn't realize a 28" salmon is that heavy, even the lighter 9.5 version is pretty fat.

way to go!

my reverse (savage) threaded anchovy slid down on the hook, so the head was at an angle after
a bit. Do you tie or otherwise do anything to stop this from happening?

thanks,

J

Here's a pic of the fish head weight release...



Find them at Fisherman's Warehouse on Saratoga.

Do you tie or otherwise do anything to stop this from happening?

I use tiny rubber bands, ask your orthodontist for 'em.  Actually, I'm pretty sure FW has them as well.

-- Dave

Great fishing with everyone today. My day started the day with Stuart picking me up at 3:30 am  We met Joel at Moss and launched into darkness at around 5:40 am. Pretty spooky going out the jaws when you can't see anything. To top it off I almost ran into the green can. I had one solid chance a few minutes after Joel and dave caugt there's but I could not get it to stick. I did however catch some pics.

Nice pictures............I'm smiling looking at them!

Bill, 3:30am??  Hope you've learned that lesson.  Just think of those 3 hours of extra sleep I had.

Also, you'll love to hear that I not only had an ice chest in the truck, but ice in it.  So much for that hex...

Thanks for the pics.

-- Dave

I don't think all ice chest are cursed, just mine 

Next time I am carpooling with you and a 6:30 am crew  but I must thank Stu for driving, it is always cool to carpool.

A few more stats: total travel distance 12.26 miles. Time to get from red whislte bouy to just inside the jaws 45 minutes (should normally take 20) That was the toughest paddle I have had to date. The green bouy was angled over and had a nice whirlpool behind it.

Nice going guys... even you Mooch.

Glad to see that you got some fish. I guess the fishing is still pretty slow. I can't wait until it turns on... I mean really ON. It's all good though. Nice looking fish too... Looks like... mine. 

Freddie

why to go guys