Salmon Creek Grub Skunk, 9-Mar-2014

With all of the recent chatter of perch grubbing floating around the board I decided to hit the surf myself yesterday. I shot out to Bodega armed with my 8' Sabre and some Perch Power and Amber Hologram grubs. First stop was Bodega Dunes where I was greeted with a sign stating that the day use area was closed for repairs. Next stop was South Salmon Creek where I was greeted with another closed sign, and a little warning to the surfers/swimmers.

I decided to park on the street and head in anyway.

It was a beautiful 73 degrees with light wind when I hit the beach, but the conditions were less than ideal.

Doesn't look too bad in the pics, but the waves you can barely see breaking in the background of the third pic are legit 12 and 13' rollers.

There were lots of sandcrab beds and a ton of discarded shells on the beach. The tide was just starting to come back in and there was a little bit of decent water to fish in between the super quick sets. The water was a little dark where I started out, so I started with the Perch Power grub smeared in sardine smelly jelly.

I worked a couple of holes and walked South towards Bodega Dunes. The water was a little bit more clear there, so after a nasty tangle I switched to an Amber Hologram grub.

After about thirty or so casts I was getting a little over-confident slingin' my grub way out and I got a nasssstyyy rat's nest. Messed around with it until I got to that point where I randomly started cutting line. Finally got my reel spinning again and starting pulling line to remove any of the stuff I cut.....and kept pulling, and pulling, and pulling. Turns out I cut one of the last few wraps around my spool and I now had zero line left. Didn't feel like trying to re-spool on the beach so I turned from fisherman to photographer.

It's a trip how once you sit down for a few seconds and look around the whole beach is crawling with life.

There's four snowy plovers in this picture. I watched 'em run to where they are in the picture, looked away for a second and almost couldn't find them again.

Here's the boardwalk at Bodega Dunes. Looks like the last few feet have recently washed away.

Sounds like most of my perch fishing career. Slow fishing but nice scenery!

Thanks for the report.

-Eliot

At the base of Bodega Dunes someone had stuck a couple of pieces of driftwood straight up in the air. You can kind of see them in the pics above. It looked pretty cool, and since I was no longer fishing I decided to decorate the entire stretch of beach from South Salmon Creek to Bodega Dunes the same way.

 

 

Can you see the snowy plovers? There's four of 'em.

1 - Some cool flowers.
2 - Which trail was it? Real easy to take the wrong one.
3 - Big, empty parking lot.

Dude, this is the best "skunk" report I've ever read!  GREAT photos and documentation of the whole scene.  Felt like I was there!

ROTM nom for March right here!

I love that place Dustin! I've gone through 5 dogs running them out there. Then the GD state in all of the wisdom and capacity they own, banned dogs from the beach while the horses shit and cavort freely. The world is in disrepair my friend. Al my kids have built driftwood cottages there. Thanks buddy for the pics. A Monday morning smile just happened.

Salmon Creek is special. My grandparents brought several lots in what was called Ocean View Estates in 1920, now called Salmon Creek Village. There were only three other dwellings plus the old Marshall place, once a stage stop, on the hill overlooking the creek when they built their cabin. Some of my earliest memories starting in the late 1940's were walking to the beach along the creek. The creek was much deeper and the lagoon far wider extending close to where the state park buildings off Hwy One are. Boats actually trolled for coho in the lagoon at that time. There was dune grass on the dunes closest to the ocean but the dune interior was comprised of white shimmering grass less sand dunes.

Starting in the early 1950's I was permitted to spend my summers there and took part in many hikes down the beach to net surf smelt and fish for numerous large red tail perch.

Everything changes. Then dogs accompanied us on our beach trips. Fires were built to cook hot dogs, and the Fourth of July night sky was lit up with fireworks. Sparklers sizzled in the surf. I hike the beach down to Mussel Point maybe twice a year and cast for perch as I walk. Occasionally I catch a couple and remember how it used to be.