Bucket List Fish...

My 78 year old Dad Virgil had never caught an Ocean Salmon and we have tried several times over the years to make it happen without any luck.

When he told me he was coming out to visit in July, I knew we had to do everything we could to try and get him one...

I had some success in April with my buddies Jeff and Martin on Jeff's beautiful boat the Porto Bella (5 nice fish in 2 trips), so we made a plan to get him out (weather permitting) for 2 of the 5 days he was gonna be here.

I also reached out to my friend and amazing artist Amadeo to get a custom, framed, signed print of a Chinook Salmon over a nautical chart of the Monterey Bay to give him to celebrate his first Salmon (or as a consolation prize if he didn't get one).

https://www.abachar.com/collections/fish-on-vintage-nautical-chart

I met up with Amadeo at his house the day before my Dad was due to arrive and (as always) he did an amazing job on the print!!

Was awesome to chill with him and his beautiful daughter and wife for a few beers and chat, and we discussed recent reports from the area, and he also gave me the number of a commercial fishing buddy of his (Jason Collins) that I could maybe hit up if we didn't catch any fish to at least get my parents a whole fresh fish.

Jason is the owner of Fished and Foraged, and is also well known for his professional surfing career:

https://www.fishedandforaged.com/who-we-are

Plan was to fish on Sunday and Monday...Saturday AM I got a text from Jeff though and he said he had just been down to his boat and the ocean was rough and nasty, white caps by 8am, and the two boats he saw coming in had no luck at all...he said let's skip Sunday and just go Monday.

Of course you can never argue with the owner of the boat (especially when it comes to weather and the decision of whether to go or not) but I knew that cut our time with hooks in the water by 50%, and thus also our chances of landing Dad a fish...

We knew that charter boats up by SF had been slaying them, but Dad and I both decided we would prefer just being together on Jeff's boat than driving all the way up there for a charter...

By Saturday afternoon I had drank a few beers, was getting worried about our chances, and decided to give Jason Collins a call to see if he had any fish that he was willing to sell...

Jason let me know that Commercial Salmon had just closed and he had just sold his last few fish! DOH!! 

But....he told me he felt he had a good idea where the fish were and that they were close enough that we should be able to get on them even with the rough seas...

I asked him if he would want to jump on Jeff's boat with us, and help try and get Dad on a fish and he said sure! 

Called Jeff, confirmed he was down to try and that he was cool with Jason coming along, and we made a plan to meet at breakwater at 6am.

As soon as we met Jason we were impressed and stoked on how friendly and mellow and fun to be around he was...never know when you meet someone for the first time if you are gonna enjoy fishing with them, but it was an absolute pleasure having him on the boat, swapping stories, and picking his brain for tips and techniques of what we could do to increase our chances...

A few hours into trolling we hooked up and could tell it was a nice fish!! Unfortunately it spit the hook about 30 feet from the boat!!

I was heartbroken and was really worried that might have been our one shot...

Jason was confident though that we would get another bite so I stayed positive and joked with Dad that he needed to drink more beer to get the fish to bite. 

Seemed like forever went by, and we switched depths and tried different tackle etc...and then finally we got another bite!!

I was so nervous I felt like I was gonna puke and could barely watch as Jeff and Jason directed Dad while he brought the fish closer and closer...when Jeff netted the fish and I heard it hit the deck I was so STOKED!!!!!!!!!!

   

Beautiful, bright ~15 pound fish!!!

Once we got the lines back down, and the fish gutted and gilled, I went into the cabin and brought out the Amadeo print that we had hidden down below.

My dad was VERY surprised and impressed (he has met Amadeo before and loves his work) and I will never forget the grin on his face when I took a pic of him holding up the print while Jeff and Jason held the fish underneath it.

We trolled for a while more with no more luck before heading back in.

Said goodbye and THANK YOU to Jason and then headed to a local pub for some food and drinks. Ran in to Steve aka 57fishy and his wife and enjoyed chatting with them for a bit.

Back at home I scaled and filleted the fish and fed 10 people on sashimi and grilled collars and head with a ponzu dipping sauce.

The next day we were moving a little slow  , and Martin picked us up at 7am and we headed back out.

Gazillion jellies had us working hard to clean lines and got two BIG Horse Mackerel before we finally got a Salmon on.

Jeff was bringing it in, and I hopped out onto the swim step for net duty...fish came in pretty easy and then went BALLISTIC!

We hadn't cleared the other three lines or the two downrigger wires and it was going in and around them!!

Every time I thought I had a chance to net it, the fish took off screaming drag and head shaking and bulldogging back down!

Finally it gave me a shot and I scooped it up and as soon as it hit the deck the line broke right above the hook!!!

There was also a deep gouge on its shoulder from where it been fighting against the downrigger wire!!

Beautiful, wild, bright ~20 pounds fish

I still can't believe we landed that fish...I'm convinced it was a "good karma" fish for Jeff for being such a generous and gracious host on his beautiful boat for my dad and me and our friends.

 

We decided Jeff would keep that whole fish for a BBQ he was going to the next day, and Martin and I would take the mackerel to try. We still had the main fillets from my Dad's fish so no need for anymore.

After a few beers at the Alvarado Brewery we headed home and fed 10 more people on baked salmon fillets (even had a big piece leftover for my parents to take with them on the road) , and horse mackerel done sashimi and grilled (super yummy!!).

Words can't explain how grateful I am to Jeff, Martin, Jason, Amadeo and everyone who helped make this Bucket List fish happen for my Dad...I know neither of us will ever forget the experience.

 

Here's a bunch of pics.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Day 2 pics!

 

great write up and pics Jim!
 Mission accomplished indeed!

 

that's awesome...way to get your dad on his bucket list fish and the beautiful artwork to remember it by.

I still remember meeting Amadeo randomly out at Big Sur last year for the first time. Great guy.

After I get my first salmon, I'll have to get a print from him

great write up and pics Jim!
 Mission accomplished indeed!

Thanks Sean!!

that's awesome...way to get your dad on his bucket list fish and the beautiful artwork to remember it by.

I still remember meeting Amadeo randomly out at Big Sur last year for the first time. Great guy.

After I get my first salmon, I'll have to get a print from him

Thanks dude!!

Yes, Amadeo is a great guy in addition to being an amazing artist, and donates a LOT of his time and work to our events and competitions!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Bad ass Big Jim.
Congrats on getting your Dad on some chrome.
Amadeo, well his work is the best. Nice print to go with his salmon.


Tim

Wow. You are a great son, Jim.

So awesome Jim! Glad you could get your dad on one of those beauties!   

Yeah Pops !!!

What a great report!!! I really enjoyed reading and felt as if I was there too. Thanks and congrats.

Epic all around.

I will definitely bring beer next time if that's what it takes. 

Mission accomplished!  Thanks for the great report and pictures Jim.

DUDE!! Thats Awesome!!

Nice write up and good on ya' for making it happen for your pops, well done. Two legends on one trip Big Jim and Ratboy, too much.