Trinidad 5/15/14 Rockfish Opener Report

Headed out to Trinidad this morning and met up with jlstormseeker, got there around 6:45 and launched by 7:15. It was my first time using my kayak in the ocean today. My Xfactor was more that stable in the tiny swells and lack of wind.

We paddled to prisoner rock and jigged for a few minutes before jlstormseeker landed a black rockfish. Shortly after I hooked up on a 5 pound 11 ounce linger to start my ocean fishing career! I released him and noticed a couple wales surfacing nearby, which was an awesome and humbling experience in the kayak.

The fishing slowed down for the next hour or so as the fog rolled in. We paddled out to a farther poop covered rock but had no bites so we paddled back to the cove. I switched to a rootbeer colored squid, dropped it down and got slammed on my first cast. At first I thought I was stuck but soon realized I had a big ol ling!

I was using my light bass rod and it was one hell of a good fight. I eventually got him to the surface and he shot right back down. I was honestly worried that my rod was going to break. I finally got him back to the surface and jlstormseeker netted him for me. A whole octopus fell out of his mouth once we landed him He weighed in at 13 pounds and 34 inches.

I dropped back down and got hit again but it popped off. The fishing slowed and we headed back to prisoner rock. I hooked up on three more decent sized fish and either got pulled back into the rocks or popped off. All in all I had a blast. I will be there as often as I can, maybe even tomorrow!

Thanks to everyone who helped me get setup and on the water. I hope I meet more of you guys and I'm excited to catch a bigger one next time!

Way to go!  Congratulations.  Nice post and photos.

Hell yeah man, that's a dandy!  Hoping I can find his brother on Saturday!

Way to go! Beautiful ling!

WTG Baron, there is something very special about Trinidad,  one of my favorite spots, plus that is where my first time in the ocean was!!! Very cool, hope to go over there in a few weeks, if I can wait that long after GS8 !!! 
Jeff

I can not wait to get out there thanks for the post. congrats.

Great report Baron. Lets see a pic of the bass rod you used. . Nothing like going the lightest tackle possible.

Alex

Nice! Sounds like an awesome first day in the salt.

Did you send that octopus back down on a hook after the ling burped it up? That practically guarantees you a big ling or cabezon.

Way to kick off your salt career with a quality limit of lingcod.   

Great way to star your salt career! That ling is a beast!

Hey thanks everyone! Here's a quick video of the end of the day. Cameras never do fish justice but here it is

 

Congrats on your first trip and nice ling!!! Your video comes out "private" so it can't be seen. I'm sure you'll have more fun to come!!!

Ebyekewabjeget

Sorry about that, I changed it to public

Congratulations! That's a huge fish! I've only fished Trinidad once. Hope to see you out there this year. Was it crowded on the opener? I know a lot of kayakers were at GS8.

NotaSeal

That's the way to do it!  WTG!