Shelter Cove - 8/12/15 - 3 weeks later video...

I'm going public!  Just with my reports on NCKA though.   

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Yesterday's Cove trip was pretty awesome. The forecast was to be the best of the week with "variable winds to 5 knots" and a 2 foot swell - that's about the best prediction of conditions that we ever get up here on the Lost Coast, but, as many of us have come to know so well, the forecast doesn't always match reality...

After a really long day on the water Tuesday, I didn't wake up before my alarm on Wednesday. Instead, the blaring beep of my clock radio incorporated itself into my dream - I was trying to get somewhere, and this sudden and overwhelming audio signal seemed to be impeding my progress. In my deep slumber I couldn't understand the urgency of this unwanted and annoying alert, and I felt a strong desire to find whatever was making the noise and destroy it! They say dreams only last a few seconds while seeming much longer, and I did manage to fumble around and turn off the alarm before my wife had to kick me or anything... Even though I could have fallen back asleep and contently dozed for a few more hours, it was time to go on an adventure, and I didn't need to hit Snooze.

I made my way to the already loaded truck, packed bait and food from my freezer to the big cooler and hit the road for the Cove by 436. Driving requires full attention and a dedication to being ready for unexpected occurrences - especially at night along remote mountain roads with wildlife potentially hopping into your path around every corner. I've come to appreciate the opportunity to let my brain and body chill as I make my way down 101 and then across the rural and winding Shelter Cove Road. Focusing on safely completing the drive while at the same time prepping myself to meet and guide a client, I have learned to use the drive as a warmup for being totally engaged and energetic for the day's trip - it's much like stretching before a run.

As I descended the last big hill into the Cove I could see that the fog wasn't too bad - a high ceiling allowed for seeing the buoys and the small fleet of commercial salmon trollers anchored up out past the moorings. This was good news, as it can be daunting and demanding of attention, time and energy to deal with limited visibility out there. So while I was stoked to be able to scan the horizon, I wasn't as upbeat about what I saw on the water's surface - an unpredicted south wind had about a 4' wind chop battering whatever was in its way. This short period 'slop' is bad for kayak fishing. With no swell to speak of, it can still look quite flat from shore, but when you take a closer look it's apparent that any boats on the water in these conditions are constantly bobbing up and down, taking water over the bow, and not making much progress for their efforts.

I pulled on to the ramp right before 6AM, and the only person there was my guy. Matt and I shook hands and got acquainted as I started to unload my gear, and the conversation quickly turned to two big issues at hand - the first being my good friend Domenic's recent sightings of a Great White Shark right outside the harbor, and the second was the morning's unexpected and raspy wind and accompanying inhospitable seas.

Regarding the GWS, many of you probably saw Dom's report from Sunday where he described an encounter with a 14 to 16 foot shark that circled his boat three times and then swam right toward his starboard before he pushed it with his paddle and it disappeared. Well, Tuesday's trip where Domenic joined Bob and I was an opportunity for Domenic to get right back 'on the horse'. We'd had a great 10 hours out there on a lake of an ocean, and by the end we'd basically forgotten any concerns about seeing or otherwise experiencing the big predator. Bob and I were making our way in, having pulled our lines out of the water, and Domenic fell behind us a few hundred yards as he finished up his session with a final lingcod. He'd just pulled the gills out of his fish when a commercial boat made its way in front of him, basically cutting him off. It was no big deal, but then he looked down and had a driveby from the same or possibly an even bigger white that went under his yak and turned its body to look at him as it passed and descended into the green nearshore water. Being the second time in three days that he'd had such an encounter and been by himself, Domenic was not thrilled with such a strong omen. He got on the radio to try to pull me up, but I'd turned my VHF down due to some earlier chatter and missed his call. He bee-lined for launch, coming around the end of the breakwater a few minutes after Bob and I had landed, and when he shared his story I was blown away at the odds of what had happened to him. Domenic and I spent our drive home that day talking about what it all meant. When you experience things such as this in life you need to look for a lesson or a message. This was surely some kind of omen, and the best that we came with was this: we go together for a reason, and we should stay together to maintain whatever advantages that partnership presents. I felt bad for leaving him behind us and for missing his radio call, but I'm glad nothing happened and that we are looking for meaning and inspiration in this rare event.

Back to Wednesday - I filled Matt in on Dom's 2nd sighting of the shark, confirmed that he was still totally down for our trip, and we moved on to discussing the shit conditions that we were looking at launching into. Matt was stoked for the day and ready to go for it if I thought it was the move to make. He'd told me right up front that a recent hip surgery had him committed to only spending 5 hours in the yak seat, and I give him props for that wisdom and discipline. I suggested that since the water was looking crappy we should just take our time getting ready and go out when it started to improve - surely that excellent forecast must materialize after this anomalous wind subsided. Matt was down for it, so we spent more time than usual going over gear, bait hooking technique, rods and reels...etc., and he even got me to deviate from my usual ritual of a bowl of cereal by offering a yummy breakfast burrito - thanks, bro!

By 8AM it seemed like the wind had let up a bit, and the slop was down a notch, we hoped... We launched onto water that was just junk even right outside the ramp. For every foot of progress toward the Bell Buoy to the south, we had to go up and down a few feet of confused wind waves and brace for bow-slappers that were sending spray across our decks and water draining around our front hatches. The ocean's surface was full on corduroy, and paddling was challenging enough - I wasn't sure we'd even be able to fish. Matt was ready though. His stoke was strong, and he was able to put a herring down and start fishing right outside of Pilot Rock. I was pleased to see his determination and that his skill level was such that he was safe and comfortable in the conditions, so I dropped an anchovy and we made slow progress toward the outer edge of the green inshore water. I was still considering pulling the plug on the mission, but the fact that we were both on Malibu X-Factors was a big deal. Being one of the most stable and seaworthy kayaks on the market, I had full confidence in our ability to be out there safely fishing where many makes and models of boats would not have that assurance.

Right away Matt gets hit on the herring - the lingcod candy is fantastic bait, but I was a bit surprised that in this wind he'd gotten bit so fast. He pulled up and got another herring on the hooks, sent it down and was bit again. How nice that these quick bites were getting our mind off of the challenging conditions. When Matt's 3rd herring produced a hookup, I could see that his rod was in full bendo mode. I thought surely it was a ling. So Matt deals with a couple short runs under his boat in only 20 feet of water, very proficiently lifts and reels down on this fish, and as he gets it boatside I'm like, "lingcod?", and he seems to be nodding at first, but then his eyes get huge - "THRESHER!!" he exclaims, and all at once I'm both ecstatic and confused. "Yes! He's got a thresher" I'm thinking, and at the same time: "Why the hell's it just sitting there under his boat?!" I pull my line up and sprint over to Matt's side. I can see a good sized thresher right under the surface. It's well hooked in the mouth, and it also has something hanging out of a wound on its back. I warned Matt that the shark could go totally apeshit at any second, and we watched as this beautiful animal writhed around on his line, seeming to be getting ready to take off like a rocket. It didn't though.

Matt came in to this trip wanting to catch one of the big draws that the Cove offers: salmon, halibut or, at the top of the list, a thresher. In that moment where we were contemplating how to proceed, Matt confirmed that he wanted to go for it and land this big fish if we could. I was all in - I felt thrilled to be guiding someone who brought the skillset and the attitude to be in this situation and ready for a challenge. He asked what we do next, and I told him that I need to get ahold of the tail - this was accurate info, but since this badass hadn't even done the usual big runs and long sleighride yet I was apprehensive about some kind of shitshow that may be about to go down! Matt kept great tension on the fish as it did dodge my attempts to grab it for a minute, but then I had it by what was about a 4' tail fin. I could feel the strength of this 90 to 110 pound fish, and I was readying myself for it to explode into action to try to free itself, but it didn't happen. A few body contortions was all I was feeling as I started trying to drag the shark on to my lap. This wasn't a small one, and I knew that I was risking my gear and my safety as I leaned in counterbalance and got the thresher further and further up on to my legs. Matt assisted with his paddle, pushing the shark's head up as I hauled from the tail end - the fish didn't like that and started doing a more violent body shake that almost made me let go of it, but it quickly chilled again, and now we had it completely out of the water.

I got Matt's barbless hooks out of its mouth (20 pound leader!) and got my booted foot up under its mouth and nose. We were only a few hundred yards from the launch, and that was key because the crappy conditions were making paddling progress slow anyway. I did my best to paddle while holding the shark in my lap, my leg almost cramping as I lifted its head, not wanting it to feel the water which may have encouraged it to try to escape. At one point just outside the harbor the shark came to life and started thrashing around. I did my best to keep it corralled in my lap and made the last mad dash toward shore. We got inside the breakwater and as fast we could got our yaks and Matt's catch up on the sand. We'd done it, and it wasn't even 9AM!

High fives, pics, grinning interviews with complete strangers and a beer for mid morning snack followed. We left our rigged up kayaks at the edge of the ramp and made our way up to the cleaning station where Matt's family and girlfriend came and met us. I sliced and diced, Matt took a big bite of the beating heart, and soon we were sending his folks back to their rental house with a cooler full of some of the best eating shark on this planet. What a way to start the day after showing up to such ridiculous water!

The nasty wound with a cable hanging out near the shark's dorsal turned out to be a reward tag from La Jolla - bonus! We will never know whether the wound around the tag or maybe a battle with another fisherman influenced this shark's behavior and lack of fight, and I feel that the wound was surely a big factor - it was nasty.

Timing can be everything in fishing, and we were now on the good end of the bad conditions. The wind had subsided and the ocean was glassing off. Our next move was a no-brainer - we're going fishing! We got back down to our boats, refreshed supplies as needed and launched again by 11AM, ready to do the Cove tour, try for a salmon and enjoy what was already a great day in the books.

While the rest of our trip was a great example of what makes the Cove great, our big catch for the day was already in the bag. The water quickly crept up into the mid 60's, the salmon fleet on the radio wasn't finding a good bite, and even the rockfish and lingcod were a bit slow to come around after the morning's south wind influence (when the wind it blows from the south, the fish they close their mouth). I enjoyed watching as Matt focused on and became proficient at hooking choves and herring and getting them down in the zone. The water continued to get nicer, and soon the lingcod were on a strong bite. I kept supplying Matt with big Crescent City herring from my cooler, and he showed that he's got obvious skill and some great mojo - on multiple occasions he pulled up lings that were either being latched on to by bigger lings or just had other lings swimming around them. I've never seen so many lingcod competing over one herring! On one hookup Matt brought up about a 28 inch ling and it had 3 others right with it - 4 nice lings just circling around under Matt's yak! He boated two very stout models in the low to mid 30's and too many other nice keepers to count. We also caught the usual bushel of blacks and assorted other reef dwellers, the water got just beautiful, sun was out, and the day was great fun. All of the aternoon's catches were released unharmed, and after the morning thresher party I wasn't even in full paparazzi mode for the big lings. No problem, I backup my mental hard drive all the time by writing out my adventures and saving vids and pictures on Youtube, Facebook and Nor Cal Kayak Anglers.

 It was great to meet you, Matt, and I look forward to fishing with you again. Let me know how you and your folks like that thresher, and don't forget to cash that tag in!

KA-F*KING-BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great job Matt and Eric!!

STOKED for both of you!!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks, BJ.   

What a blast Eric. Are you gonna add, Thresher Fishing guide now to your list? cause it seems like you got it down to a science at this point.  Congrats to Matt! that's a tasty fish. Great on the grill and on kabobs!

Nice write up Eric.

It's amazing the number of Thresher's that seem to get hooked right in that area.  Mainly by kayaker's.

Please, would you or Matt post whatever information you are told about the tag.

Thanks again Eric!  Another fantastic write up.  The Cove is so magical. 

Josh

Damn they're gonna have to put threshers on aoty pretty soon!!  Lol

wow, helluva trip eric, u da man!!

Great report. 

Hell yeah such an amazing day! Still stoked on it.

If anyone is looking for a guide- Eric is your man: super friendly/helpful and a master of his craft.

Great pics! Congrats!

Awesome catch there Matt. Thanks for the report and pictures Eric.

Jedmo

Thanks for that great report and fish porn. 

If anyone is looking for a guide- Eric is your man: super friendly/helpful and a master of his craft.

Thanks, Matt.   

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

Here's pics from Tuesday's trip with Bob where we spent 10 hours chasing salmon and playing with lots of lings and rockies:

Badass !!! That's nuts I gotta get up there one day.Good work