I think we've still got some learnin' to do- Noyo Salmon Report 7/12/14

First off,  a big thank you to all the NCKA guys that lended advice and reports to help me and my buddies on our first attempt at yak-salmon fishing.

So, we woke up at 2:00am (after going to bed at 11:30pm... yawn!), by 6:00 we were at Noyo harbor. By 7:00 we had rounded the red can, lines were in the water and we were paddling south toward the fleet. We were running double deep sixes, herring dodgers and herring on cable baiters. Early in the day we were all down about 30-40 pulls per the reports we'd been reading. A bit before 8am the action really started to pick up. It seemed as though 1/3 of the boats around us had a fish on at any given moment. We were all sure that our chance would be next. My brother and our buddy had a few damaged baits but for me... nothing. Not strike, not a scratched bait, nothin'. Finally around 10am, as the bite was slowing for everyone else, my brother hooked up. He got the fish up to the boat and it spat the hook before he had a chance to go for his net. Oh well, but at least he got to pull on a fish! Shortly thereafter he was hooked up again, this time he got the fish alongside, the net down, and after a struggle (and a horrifying couple moments where pressure was released on the line!) the net was under the fish and a 20# hen was in his tank well.    Fish was caught in about 90 feet of water with his double deep six out 50 pulls (we decided to try deeper and that was when he hooked up almost immediately). We all exchanged high fives and fist pumps and hollered and screamed our excitement.



The boaters all around us were super stoked for us too. They all seemed pretty impressed to see kayaks out amongst the fleet in the first place, let alone one with a 20# salmon in the back. I've gotta say, I had heard some horror stories about boaters being unkind to kayak fishermen, but all the guys outta Noyo on Saturday were super friendly and helpful, offered recommendations on depth, asking how we were doing, and generally seeming as though they wanted to see us succeed.

Bryan had one more hook up that he brought up along side, but in the effort to get the net under the fish, he lost it. Our buddy Alex hooked up on a fish as he was retrieving his bait to check it for damage. Unfortunately it came unbuttoned before he could get it within netting range. As for me... nothing. All morning, nothing. The bite finally shut down around 11 and the majority of the fleet headed in. We had brought dive gear and so we started working our way back toward the harbor. Bryan and Alex finally turned and went all the way in, suited up and had a nice dive. I was too stubborn and refused to give up without ever even having a hook up. I continued to troll hoping there might be an afternoon bite as I had heard there had been on previous day.

By 2 o'clock, I was trolling up around the northern fleet and started seeing some fish coming over the rails again. It seemed it was warming up. I started to get hit and lost probably 4 or 5 baits. I got a hard strike that actually pulled out line and recovered my bait to find it ripped in half. By 3:30, I was dead tired and my arms were failing me, so I clipped off to Bryan's yak and took a brief nap while he and Alex dove (pulling some nice scallops and a solid ling). By 4:00 I was back at it. The wind had picked up and the glassy conditions from the morning and mid-day had deteriorated to moderate wind chop and the occasional small white cap. Finally, around 4:30, I was on. The fish came to the boat fairly easily. I was thinking to myself how I was going to brag to Bryan and Alex about how my persistence paid off big time as I saw the fish come to color. Unfortunately the nice 15 or so pound salmon I had on had other ideas. As soon as it saw the shiny yellow underside of my kayak, it gave a hard run and came unbuttoned almost immediately. I trolled until 5:00p for no more action. Alex and Bryan were headed for shore, so I finally gave up the fight and trolled in.

It was a hell of an adventure, a hell of a work out, and a looong day.  According to my gps, we were averaging about 2.5 kts throughout the day.  By the time I stepped out of my yak, it was 5:40, so I had put in 10 hours of paddling once my nap was subtracted. That's a conservative 20 miles- perhaps not a great feat to some of you here, but definitely my longest paddle to date. It didn't quite live up to what I had been hoping for, but I don't regret giving it my all. I will definitely be kayak fishing for salmon again soon, but I think next time I'll work harder to convince a more experienced buddy to come along so that whatever mistakes I was making can be more readily identified (because I remain a bit mystified).  I think I'll also make pretty sure that all my buddies with boats don't have room to give me a ride  .

On Sunday (after a whole lot of sleep), I filleted out Bryan's fish for him (he was tied up with girlfriend duties). Bryan must be either as giving as a saint or as crazy as a loon because he allowed Alex and me to have half of his fish, which we split evenly. To stretch the catch even further, I baked up the carcass last night and my girlfriend and I picked the delicious oily scraps from the bones. This is a technique I've seen others do before, but this was my first time doing it. It won't be the last time. There was a surprising amount of meat in there- enough to give us both our fill. 

All's well that ends well!

Great job Carter!!!!

You had a plan, you stuck with it, didn't give up and got a hook up!!

STOKED that your brother got one, and I know you'll land one next time!!

Congrats on a great experience and thanks for sharing!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

ps...one more post and you'll have 10 and will be able to see DaveW's report of the the hog he caught out there on that same day. Dave lives in Mendo and is great guy and I always enjoy seeing him when I am up there!

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=57116.0

Very good report!    Thanks

Great report and great try.  You probably weren't doing much wrong - it's just the nature of the beast.   

A twenty mile paddling day is huge for anyone here.

Congrats - you are now addicted.   

Way to stick with it! My legs are tired just thinking about 20 miles! I started fishing for salmon last year and had 4 up to the boat, but none in the boat. This year 6 up to the boat and 4 in the boat. It does take some tuning that happens by doing.

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. I'm already eyeing the coming weekend forecast for the possibility of another try. I seem to have a problem (or so my girlfriend will say when I tell her I'm considering trying 2 weeks in a row...).

P.S. This post is definitely not just a blatant attempt to pad my post numbers so I can get into the hidden reports section... 

Awesome dude!

That was a great read---thanks for posting. And 20 miles has got to be iron-man territory...

a good post and a fun read!

That is one of my favorite little beaches, Noyo harbor beach. never have paddled out from there, though every time I visit it I think it would make a good launch point.

congrats on the adventure and some salmon reward to go along with it.

Way to go. I went out on a boat Friday and Saturday and I was encouraging all the kayaks. Its like David and Goliath out there. Awesome report and way to use the reports.  I did see one dumb SOB do a flyby on a kayak and I yelled at him and told him he was rude.  I am pretty sure I did it without swearing, but my fishing partner said he thought I snapped.   Either way I go out on yaks and won't tolerate that crap.

Way to stick to your plan bro. I get crap all the time because I have done the same thing. try all day and maybe get 1 fish.

Job well done!  thanks for the report and pictures ApneaAddict.

Dude, you're a friggin animal.........20 miles....yow!  Yeah, I met you guys on the Noyo dog beach.  Great to meet you guys.  Shoot I was pretty proud of myself for paddling 10-12 miles that day.

I got that one good fish that day using roughly the same amount of pulls, but I learned something from my friend, Madison, the next day:  He said the fish were in 60-70 feet of water and to let out like 110 feet of line using the # 1 Deep diver, which I did and it worked.  I think I was basically bouncing the bottom.  I think we weren't running deep enough on Saturday.  The one good one I got on Sat was in real shallow on my paddle out.

I also had good responses for the PBers.  I think we're starting to get some respect.

Great report,

Dave

Oh, Dave, I didn't realize that you talked to Bryan and Alex on the beach. I was still out there trolling my arms off. Yeah, I decided that I was probably too shallow most of the day. I think my biggest mistake was that I kept on doing the same depth or near to it all day despite suspecting I was too shallow early on. In retrospect of course I should have done 40 pulls then hit 50 then 60 then 80 and see what caught fish. A pull is generally about 18" of line?  ... I guess I just kept telling myself that it was a numbers game- i wasnt doing anything wrong the PBers just had more lines in the water. So I kept thinking that my number was about to come up and didn't want to change anything. The missed opportunity will probably haunt me for a while but it was a learning experience.

Well done Apneaaddict ! With a report like that and as much time that you put on the water. It seemed as though you have been here for a while. . Great job ! Get some sleep next time before you go out ! 

Alex