Dinner from the Olive Garden

Poked around over near the Cape again today with my sling.  Pulled two olives out of holes between boulders and spied a bunch of 8 and 9" abs.  The big olive had an eel in her belly, and they both had crabs too.  They also both had roe - bummer drawback of keeping fish this time of year.  Didn't see any cabs and only one sea trout.  Once again, the water was the best therapy I could've hoped for after too many hours working lately.  Need some yak time though...

Nice fish and report.   I really need to get out for some water therapy myself.  On a picky fish nerd side note... your olive rockfish looks an awful lot like a grass rockfish.  Your description of its location also seems to back that up; Olives tend to be more semi-pelagic like black rockfish whereas Grass rockfish are often more benthic (like between rocks).

Brian

Way to go Abking! I agree that that's a grass rf (and a fat one too).I pulled one like it from the rocks yesterday with a pokepole.Sadly, it too was laden with eggs.

I think you're definitely right, Brian.  I figured it out a couple of years ago based on others' reports and some time studying F&G charts and such, but I can't break my habit of calling them olives...   

Nice report again...fresh rocky....mmmm

Good hunting Abking. Are you gps'ing those ab hangouts. Great picture with the setting sun as backdrop.

Abking - I envy you! You have a wonderful "play ground" 

I thought i was gonna get to go to dinner with somebody??....."Catchy" header Abking!! and nice pics&port too!
Not trying to piss you off,but is there a way to tell that they're holding eggs?
Either way it goes,you got a GOOD MEAL of it.

That's a nice fat one. Good job.



 

I hear what you're saying, FisHunter. I wondered that too, but I don't think there is a way to tell - her belly was really full, but that was the eel, which was around 8-10" and fat, and the crabs, as well as the egg skeins.  I guess a big hanging gut is an idicator that there may be roe as well as a full stomach, but I wasn't in a position to make that judgment, as I just plugged them as they sat in holes.  A few years ago when ling was still open year around I brought home 2 from a February yak-fishing trip - 18 and 20 pounds - and they both had big hanging bellies and roe.  It was a bummer.  I'm actually glad ling season is closed during spawning now.  I was swimming around out there yesterday figuring I'd have a dilemma if I saw a big cab because I wanted to avoid being in a situation where I took a big spawner, but I don't feel as bad about knocking off a couple of grassy's. What's funny also is that when I kept those two lings a few years back I'd actually been just about to release the second one (the 20#) when Brandi said, "don't do it!  I'll take it", and I pondered and said, "OK, if you release the big cab you just caught."  So she did, and I gave her a ling.   Her cab was around 8-10 pounds. 

Oh yeah, Hawk/Swellrider:  I don't GPS the ab locations - they're in shallow enough water around landmarks I'm familiar with that I can re-locate them.

The shot above shows Windy Point in the far distance, around 10 miles away, which is a bit less than 2 miles south of the mouth of the Mattole.  The rocks in the foreground, near-shore are almost all in less than 15' of water, and I was diving today in the smaller slick spot, just to the south-east end of the long rocky island just outside the big slick spot.  I was never deeper than around 6'.

Mooch - you're right, it is a fun playground.  When the mud-water sets in and the viz is literally zero inches all you can do is fish off the rocks, so the rare clear-water opportunities are pretty cool.

Plug-on Abking!!!  is the visibillity at its best,since the lack of rains? I dont dive but it would be cool to see the under....
Adam

The vis is definitely more likely to be bad when the rivers are spewing mud, but it's also somewhat random.  I find that this section of coastline just to the south of Cape Mendocino (farthest western point in the continental US), since it faces southwest, tends to get some halfway clear water pushed in-shore when there's some south to the swell or wind, or when the north wind is creating an eddy affect.  It's very unpredictable, but the far inshore shallows are more likely to clear up when there's a minus tide like there was.  You've got to get in the water, Adam, it's way cool under there!   

Poked around over near the Cape again today with my sling.  Pulled two olives out of holes between boulders and spied a bunch of 8 and 9" abs.  The big olive had an eel in her belly, and they both had crabs too.  They also both had roe - bummer drawback of keeping fish this time of year.  Didn't see any cabs and only one sea trout.  Once again, the water was the best therapy I could've hoped for after too many hours working lately.  Need some yak time though...

Is there a different rock fish season on the north coast?

It's open to spearfishing and fishing from shore year-round.  I think that's true where you are too.