Shelter Cove - 8/23 and 8/24/16

Tuesday I met up with Andrew / Bucketmouth at the Cove.  With lots of freshwater yak fishing experience, he was looking to expand to the salt, and Shelter Cove is the place to be right now.  I was super stoked to get him on the bite that's been happening down there!

We met up at 6AM and got all our gear together.  This was my first trip putting someone on one of my X-Factors with sonar.  It was great having both myself and my guest wired up for depth and temperature, and Andrew got a nice dose of what it's like to fish a big SOT on the big blue.

We headed out towards the fleet and Matthew Mayes was already on his way in with a thresher he'd subdued - what a way to start his day!  Andrew and I got to fishing and it wasn't long before we had a shaker halibut up top - they were biting early!  I did my best to show him how I use a few different trolling techniques to target a variety of potential biters, and Andrew took right to it - I love guiding experienced fishermen.

We both missed a few bites over the next hour or so, and then Andrew got one to stick.  He brought it up and soon we had a fat Cal hali in the net - score!  For the next few hours we enjoyed great water and lively conversation where Andrew did a great job asking questions that would bring him up to speed on the ocean scene - it didn't take much because he's done plenty of powerboating down around Sonoma.  Next step - think about what model SOT you're aiming to get - sounds like maybe another Dark Side candidate... 

So by the end of the day we had two 10 pound halibut and a decent little salmon on our clip - it was a good day and, as always, a hell of a lot of fun.  Thanks for signing up for an adventure with me, Andrew - see you around.

Today was "guide's day off".  I slept in, made a hot breakfast and was drawn back to the Cove by the awesome forecast and the fact that my bro Domenic would be down there.  I texted him that I failed to get up at 430, and wouldn't you know it he'd experienced an early salmon bite and had a 16 pounder in the bag before 7AM!  I made my way down there and got on the water by about 10AM.  I was setup to do stand-up-fishing, so I did some laps like that and missed one strike.  Went in for a while to change my FF battery and have a brew around noon, and just generally kicked back all day.

At one point Rob comes on the radio to announce that he had a big hog salmon on, so Dom and I headed his way and got to see him battle this bruiser as it towed him around, dodged his net, got tangled in the net, and then finally Rob climbed out his bow and nabbed it - beautiful 25 pounder or so!  Nice one, Rob.

Also got to see Tony and Eric/Yakhopper boat some hali's - Andrew was back out there and had at least one hali, and a few other fish were caught.  I ended up with another 10 pounder - the Cali hali thing has been great - they sure are easier to net than salmon!

So that's it - the story right now is all about the Cove.  This bite is historic - my highest recommendation is to Get To Shelter Cove SOON.

Adios~

Glory Shots from yesterday and a few shots from a kicked back session today:

Epic!  Great stuff Eric!

Great pics.  We must have a lot more fishing pressure down here.  You guys tend to catch more, bigger stuff.

And that shark at the top looks real surprised.

Thanks for the great report from the cove and fish porns Eric.

You're report is always awesome my Bro!


-Kiel

Are you guys drifting live sardines?

Are you guys drifting live sardines?

I didn't see any drifting going on.  We're all trolling - vastly varying speeds, but trolling.

Part of this has to do with the fact that many use mooching slip rigs, so mooching it would be illegal for salmon south of Horse Mtn. 

A bigger part though, IMO, is that the trolled presentation is better - especially in 10 to 20 FOW where you don't want to be just hanging something under you - too shallow to give confidence.  What's ironic though is we ARE actually catching stuff right below us in as little as 10'.

I repeat.  I repeat:  GET TO THE M&#$)&^%&ING COVE BEFORE THIS SHIT EVAPORATES!

Are you guys drifting live sardines?

I didn't see any drifting going on.  We're all trolling - vastly varying speeds, but trolling.

Part of this has to do with the fact that many use mooching slip rigs, so mooching it would be illegal for salmon south of Horse Mtn. 

A bigger part though, IMO, is that the trolled presentation is better - especially in 10 to 20 FOW where you don't want to be just hanging something under you - too shallow to give confidence.  What's ironic though is we ARE actually catching stuff right below us in as little as 10'.

I repeat.  I repeat:  GET TO THE M&#$)&^%&ING COVE BEFORE THIS SHIT EVAPORATES!

Do you make bait (sabiki?) or you bring frozen. I am heading there this weekend and like can only fish Sunday. Thanks

Sabiki!

Sabiki!

Sabiki!

It's like Tora!  Tora!  Tora! but for fishing... 

Love the report Eric!

I was trolling/trooching using the 2 barbless octopus hooks, but a live bait drifted or trolled slowly on a single 4/0 circle hook would work well too and imo better for hooking a calibut.  If you have dead bait you want to troll with the 2 hooks cause it will just spin fast with on single circle hook.  I got that salmon on a good size live sardine.  There are some real big 12" sardines that would be good for eating too.

Btw the salmon taped out at 37.75" and weighed 21.08 lbs on a certified scale after being bled, gutted, gills removed and bloodline scooped out.  Easily a 25lber after bleeding.

Good luck to those that come up this weekend.  I probably won't see anyone since albacore will be my target saturday through Monday on power boats.

I was trolling/trooching using the 2 barbless octopus hooks, but a live bait drifted or trolled slowly on a single 4/0 circle hook would work well too and imo better for hooking a calibut.  If you have dead bait you want to troll with the 2 hooks cause it will just spin fast with on single circle hook.  I got that salmon on a good size live sardine.  There are some real big 12" sardines that would be good for eating too.

Btw the salmon taped out at 37.75" and weighed 21.08 lbs on a certified scale after being bled, gutted, gills removed and bloodline scooped out.  Easily a 25lber after bleeding.

Good luck to those that come up this weekend.  I probably won't see anyone since albacore will be my target saturday through Monday on power boats.

Let me know how you do for Albies. I have the 1st week of Sept off and itching for a good report.

"Let me know how you do for Albies. I have the 1st week of Sept off and itching for a good report"
Local guys went 50 miles for about a dozen each on Mon. than a few less on Tue.

As Eric mentioned, the Hali bite has been good and you want to hit it soon.
Most are using bait, but mine have come on a hoochie behind a small dodger.

Verna is out of town for a few days so I'm stuck at the hotel,
 but when she gets back, I'm going to try a few other lures that have worked in other areas.

Hey Eric (yahhopper), I'll be over in the cove next weekend...hopefully get to chat it up with you.

I'm the guy that you been trying to get my s2000 (yellow) seat for your datsun lol

hope all is well.

Sorry to post in your thread Eric...great report as usually. Hopefully I get to meet up with you as well.