Shelter Cove - 6/9 and 6/10/17

With salmon season recently closed at the Cove the focus is on rockfish, lingcod and hopefully some halibut will show up like last summer.  Of course, with news of a 12.25" abalone recently harvested, that's on the potential catch list too...

Friday I had a great followup client - Dave W. from Oakland.  We did a couple days for salmon at the Cove a few years back.  A busy restaurateur, Dave has been enjoying great success with his gig, but fishing opportunities have been scarce - he came north to scratch that itch at the Cove, and I was honored to host and guide him for a day.

Good friends and local badasses Domenic and David S. joined us on the water for a strong session down on the Tolo Bank where we combined to catch a dozen species including some stout lings and verms, coppers, blacks, blues, canaries, yellow tail rockfish, quillback, greenling, cabezon and even an ancient and super fat yellow eye that was carefully descended back to where it came from.  Right around midday a slight breeze started up, so we headed back to the north.  We found that the NW to SE current had taken us a bit further than we'd planned on, but with a guest on a Revo I wasn't concerned about getting back up the hill.  1.5 hours of paddling and pedaling later...  we were fighting quite a bit more wind along with the current, and we were ready to call it a day.  I still had a chove running behind 8 ounces of lead with hopes of getting a bite from a halibut southeast of the moorings, and what do you know, I managed that 12th species - short, but a great sign that we've got another Cali-Hali summer coming on!

We were soon landed and enjoying the sun at the ramp while we packed up the gear.  Dave and I enjoyed a brew up the hill while processing the catch - I'm pretty good at fileting fish, but Chef Dave and his Bubba Blade were like watching a TV show.  Great stuff, bro!  And thanks again for the followup call and the generous tip - it all goes to my kids' college fund. 

After visiting with my favorite innkeeper at The Tides I hit the road for home where I'd clean gear, re-pack for Saturday's trip, fuel up on our favorite Mexican takeout and crash hard for the night.  Saturday I was up just before 4AM again and on the road to the Cove to meet up with Stephen.  I've known Stephen for a few years through Eel River work and interests, and he was recently sworn in as a Humboldt Bay Harbor District commissioner.  Stephen was at the Cove for Friday evening's public meeting concerning the launch and fish processing facilities, and I'm very glad to have a connection to the inner workings of that process and the issues surrounding it - the old, half-burnt building by the fish cleaning station is to be torn down and replaced with a new state of the art facility, and the fish cleaning station is to be dismantled and transformed into a processing facility where the fish offal will no longer be dumped into the ocean.  There's also talk of big changes for launching as well as access, so I'll stay close to the news on these issues and report here as I have info.

Anyway, Stephen has a Cobra Tourer and has done some crabbing at Trinidad, but he'd not fished from a kayak prior to our trip yesterday.  With the forecast a bit scattered it wasn't a day to go back down on Tolo, and Stephen's first trip would be well served by the strength of the bite right around the Cove and Point Delgada - black rockfish and lingcod it would be! 

Here's the meat of this report, to me.  Friday I had a veteran NCKA member with me who's salmon trolled Bolinas and other tough spots, is master of a Revo, and who knows his way around the open water in terms of safety, motion sickness...etc.  But Saturday's guest was much different.  Stephen's in good shape and has some experience on the water, but he hadn't had any introduction to paddling and fishing at the same time - let alone landing spiny rockfish and toothy lingcod in your lap!  My work is specialized - the right trip for Dave with his experience, fitness and gear was different than the right trip for Stephen.  I felt good about making these considerations my focus as I tried to provide the best possible experience for both guests.

Stephen and I had a great morning of glass before a squirly southwest wind kicked in and had us on unorganized chop for the balance of our session.  Over the course of the morning Stephen quickly gained proficiency in trolling bait, reacting to bites, hooking and landing, and re-deploying gear to maximize opportunity and success.  The blacks were biting really well between the Bell and Whistle, and the lingcod didn't let us down when we hung herring over them along the reef.  Stephen earned his SOT Offshore Fishing card yesterday, and I got to mark down another happy guest's first catch and first lingcod in my guide log.  After fileting fish in the rain, sending Stephen on his way, being treated to lunch by my innkeeper buddy and enjoying one last view of the Cove, I was on the road for home, smiling all the way up 101 as once again the best kind of fatigue was so awesomely counter-balanced by joy and appreciation for the opportunities that I have been so fortunate to cultivate.

Thx, NCKA.  See you soon. 

Still Friday:

Friday into Saturday...

Right on, E!

Great pics, as usual.

Nice yellowtail!

Great report and pics! I'll be heading your way sometime in the near future

Awesome!
Beautiful pic of that verm. So red!

Awesome news on the short cali! Glad to hear about the new facility.
P.s. Those new hats are hot!

Aloha,
Isao

Thanks again Eric! That was a fantastic trip. As always, it was a pleasure fishing with you. It always amazes me how much I learn when I'm on a trip with you!

Shelter Cove is truly a magical fishery. So many different species are in such a concentrated area, you will never have the same trip twice.

I will be back! Hopefully later this year for some salmon action, and next year for steelhead and.. possibly a pac hali!

Cheers,
Dave

Thanks for the nice comments, guys. 

Thanks again Eric! That was a fantastic trip. As always, it was a pleasure fishing with you. It always amazes me how much I learn when I'm on a trip with you!

Shelter Cove is truly a magical fishery. So many different species are in such a concentrated area, you will never have the same trip twice.

I will be back! Hopefully later this year for some salmon action, and next year for steelhead and.. possibly a pac hali!

Cheers,
Dave

Dave - Thank you!  Great trip. 

Thanks for the great report and pictures Eric.

Since I can't be at the Cove all the time, its such a pleasure to read your reports and see all the pictures.

Its a great thing that you do, being able to guide people to memorable fishing trips.  And the office view ain't so shabby either! 

Thanks for the report Eric!

Sweet!!!!

Thanks for sharing another great adventure with us!!

Beautiful pics and great write up as always!!

WTG Dave and Stephen!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim