Timber Cove 9/13

Fish Junky joined me for a trip to the big blue.  We’ve never fished from the yaks in the ocean so we gave it a go.  We launched at 7:45 and headed out to the local reefs.  Junky did OK but I was using too little weight so my fish count didn’t match up.  I did snag on the kelp bed twice and ended breaking the but off my rod…..thought it was a BIG fish but no cigar.  NOAA reported calm seas….1 at 9 seconds with little or no wind.  Well this is not the first time they’ve lied to me.  The swell was about 3 feet at 9 seconds but the worse part was the wind waves at 2-3 feet.  Kinda choppy.  We fished until noon then called it a day.  Junky ended with 5 rocks and a ling and I had 3 rocks.  This was all new to us so a little trial and error is expected on the next few trips.  It was a welcome relief to the heat and smoke of the valley.  A few photos for your approval….

PS....Rockfish I hope you found your doughnuts!!

Junky draws first blood with a nice ling.



The WX started to get a little dodgey but still do-able.



Junky with a nice vermilion.



My meager catch.  Bigger sinkers next time.

Transitioning from fresh to salt is not as easy as it sounds.  The best thing that happened is that you launched, caught some fish, didn't flip and got back.  A perfect day.  Next time you will nail them.

Nice job guys!

well NOAA reported good condition for our trip but it wasn't to be. the launch was terrible at that condition. and we all got seasick. i don't normally get sick.

well you guys did good on your first salt outing. plenty more to come and bigger hogs. If I can convince people to head north and not south I want to go TC and try it out. same time ab as well but we'll see.

well NOAA reported good condition for our trip but it wasn't to be. the launch was terrible at that condition. and we all got seasick. i don't normally get sick.

well you guys did good on your first salt outing. plenty more to come and bigger hogs. If I can convince people to head north and not south I want to go TC and try it out. same time ab as well but we'll see.

There were two groups of divers out there Sunday.  They claimed to "catch a few"so it must be a decent spot.

We saw you guys paddle out. We were camping right on the beach. Wondered how you guys did I saw you guys head south.

We saw you guys paddle out. We were camping right on the beach. Wondered how you guys did I saw you guys head south.

It's a small world.  Did you guys have the silver pickup that got stuck in the sand?  We saw someone pull them out.  I didn't know you were Norcal otherwise I would have introduced myself.  Maybe our paths will cross in the future.  Thanks for the heads up.

Sam

Right on guys. Good report and congrats on a successful mission! Both of you are welcome to join me OTW any time down here...it's been flat for last 2 months in Monterey/Santa cruz.

Congrats on a successful first adventure!  Questions...How much weight were you using?  How much was Junky using?  How deep were you fishing?

Oh and were you using flies?  Jigs?  Bucktails?  Bait?

Sorry, for all the questions.  I am going for my first adventures next week.  Would love if you could share a bit more.  Thanks either way for sharing what you have!

We saw you guys paddle out. We were camping right on the beach. Wondered how you guys did I saw you guys head south.

It's a small world.  Did you guys have the silver pickup that got stuck in the sand?  We saw someone pull them out.  I didn't know you were Norcal otherwise I would have introduced myself.  Maybe our paths will cross in the future.  Thanks for the heads up.

Sam

No that wasn't us. We left before you guys got back in.

Congrats on a successful first adventure!  Questions...How much weight were you using?  How much was Junky using?  How deep were you fishing?

Oh and were you using flies?  Jigs?  Bucktails?  Bait?

Sorry, for all the questions.  I am going for my first adventures next week.  Would love if you could share a bit more.  Thanks either way for sharing what you have!

I unfortunately was using 3 oz on a fly rig....way too little.  I later added 2 oz and started picking up fish.  Junky ran a 5 oz bar jig on the bottom of a fly rig with all but one fly removed.  We decorated each hook with a small piece of squid.  We looked for fish on the reefs in 45-80 feet.  Some blues/blacks were in suspended schools at 35 feet.  When you launch do so quickly.  Those waves, despite being small,  are relentless and will turn you sideways in a hurry.  Have fun but be careful and don't fish alone.  Good luck.

Thanks for the update!  That's really good to know.  I was planning on trying to get by with 2 oz. and was thinking I might have trouble.  Knowing that you had trouble with oz. is a big help.  It's really hard to find big jig heads.  Maybe someone can tell me where they buy their stuff?

Thanks again.  I have a bunch of 4 oz. jigs and bucktails that hopefully will keep me down in Monterey.  If not, it could be a hard lesson.

Fish_ON

I use a minimum of 4oz lead heads with 6.5" Big Hammers. Sometimes I use up to 8oz shad head jigs with the same Swimbait. I run a fly up a foot or two when I want rock fish just to kill time while looking for the bigger rockfish or ling etc.

Cool pics! Thanks for the update! How's the launching area there? Pretty well protected or no?

Not too bad if the swell/wind from the south isn't really strong.  Parking is somewhat limited and the fee is kinda high......$8 each person.  Not too bad for access on the north coast.