Shelter Cove - 8/12/19

I've been guiding for over 5 years and have around 300 trips under my belt. Some of the time I'm taking folks out who are new to kayak fishing. I love to outfit and instruct, and helping someone discover the sport and the beauty of the offshore environment is one of my favorite aspects of the work.

As much as I love introducing my guests to a brand new experience, I have often said that my 'ideal client' is someone with their own gear and plenty of fishing experience who is looking to learn to target new species to them or to discover new places. In these cases I know that my job is to pass on as much info as I can about the layout of the local reef, where and how fish like salmon, halibut and lingcod have been caught, safety, forecasts, currents, the local vibe...etc. I do my best to help these more seasoned kayak anglers gain the knowledge and experience that they're seeking, and I'm fine with the fact that we may only be doing one trip together before they're up to speed with what I have to offer. I often see past clients on the water at the Cove, Trinidad or Humboldt Bay, and another one of my favorite aspects of guiding is to see these 'graduates' of my guide service finding proficiency and success on their own.

Yesterday I had the privilege of guiding Cody Baughn of Arcata. He's studying fisheries at HSU, and he just got his Hobie Outback up here to the north coast. With plenty of experience catching SoCal species like Yellowtail, Calico and even Blue Fin tuna, I quickly found that Cody ranks up with the best kayak fishermen I know in terms of his familiarity with hooking, fighting and landing fish. He brought top flight gear along with the skills, so right away I learned that I wouldn't be netting all of his fish or even hooking his baits! Cody had hired me up with the express intent of learning our local target species - he wanted to do some salmon trolling, and he told me he'd never bagged a legal halibut. I offered that we could target those two - arguably the most coveted of our nearshore fin fish - and that we would likely have plenty of rockfish and lingcod action while doing so. Cody was all in.

We met up at 430AM at my place, and by 6AM we were the first ones at the ramp and ready to hit it hard for the day. I suggested that we should do a few passes over the halibut grounds before heading offshore, and Cody was all about it. 15 minutes later my guest had his first ever legal halibut on his clip. Our next move was out across the reef heading for the salmon zone. The lingcod and rockfish were actively pursuing our baits, and we soon had a couple of bottom dwellers added to the stringer. It was time to go for some chrome.

The salmon bite has been OK at the Cove this summer - not red hot. My guests and I have caught a good number of Chinook this season, and I have no complaints - it's just often a tough scratch to find a hookup. Yesterday's fleet was pretty quiet - the charters headed further from the Cove and skipped even trying for salmon early, and only a few local powerboaters were giving it a go out past the Whistle with not much talk of any fish landed. Then Cody spotted someone fighting a fish a couple hundred yards from us. Did I mention that this kid is totally on it?!

We watched as a local fought and landed his salmon, and before long we were formulating our plan to find our own. For as much as Cody was obviously very capable with his equipment, I really appreciated that he was fully devoted to following my instruction and using the gear that I prepared for our use. We'd already utilized a couple of trolling methods and done some mooching, and now it was time for the flashy stuff. We put gear out that is more demanding of energy and focus, and we'd be running it deep. I felt like we had our biggest challenge of the day in front of us as we began trolling a heavier gear train at a more vigorous pace than what we'd done all morning.

When Cody soon hooked up a salmon I was so thankful and surprised - my dude had brought serious mojo on this trip! He skillfully played the salmon and had it up to his yak before it whipped its head violently, breaking the leader and swimming off in an instant. Cody was thrilled! So was I, but, knowing how hard it can be to get bit by these hot Cove kings I was worried that what could have been our only salmon opportunity may have been gone that fast. We were all smiles as I set up a new leader for my guy, and I was thriving on his positive attitude and great energy. When we got to trolling again I was incredulous when Cody quickly hooked another fish and had it up to his yak. When another leader broke I was about to be mortified, but Cody's continued attitude of joy overwhelmed me! I had no choice but to reciprocate with my own - I can't say enough about what a gift that moment in time was.

To cut to the chase here, Cody went on to break off two more kings, but he also landed a limit to 17 pounds! I was in the Twilight Zone - wondering what was going on with freshly tied 30 pound Maxima leaders while at the same time rejoicing in the fact that my guy - my new protégé! - had hooked and fought 6 kings in an hour, breaking 3 off right at the boat and landing 2. But that's not all - in all that time I had a few driveby's that stole my chove, but I did not hook one fish! ALSO, the fleet of half a dozen boats and another yakker that I called in to the bite had only landed a couple of fish in that time. Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

I've seen plenty of bites where one guy does way better than others - I've been that guy, and those are great days. I've also been on the skunky side of the equation, and you have to take them as they come. I have never - NEVER - seen one guy get so much of the action. I was astounded and thrilled all at the same time, and Cody was riding the wave of his own self-actualized fulfillment.

We soon went in, stowed our catches at the truck, met with the CDFW fish counters who whacked off the head of Cody's big king before we could get on-shore pics, had some much needed food after 9 hours on the water, and then we headed back out to the halibut grounds for 8 more shakers and one barely legal that Cody elected to release (did I mention that this young man is a superstar?).

With how the fishing day played out so amazingly, I was pretty busy in my head through the late afternoon considering how this report would shape up. The way Cody dominated was the obvious and valid theme, but a night's rest has me very clear on what my biggest takeaway was from yesterday's trip. This person, Cody Baughn, not only put on a clinic using my methods on my home waters, but he did it with the most genuine and thorough positive attitude that I've experienced as a guide. I'm not just referring to his ability to bounce back from breaking a fish off. All day long - from 430AM until after 9PM when we got back to my house - Cody displayed courtesy and conscientiousness that I have only rarely experienced in my lifetime. When he addressed me it was, "Eric, may I get a few more anchovies please?" or "Eric, what do you prefer?" regarding equipment or a technique. He always used my name and very politely and kindly with a friendly tone of voice. Over 17 hours together if there was ever a little quiet stretch Cody would initiate a new conversation with an unassuming and very caring approach. This type of positivity is infectious, and it's one of the most important things in life - to see it in a 23 year old was refreshing to say the least. Being a sometimes crotchety 50 year old, I am impressed and affected by what my time with Cody brought. I am renewed.

What happened at the end of Cody's line will remain mysterious and wonderful. Other than what I call the "Salmon Lottery", where we all run similar gear at similar speeds and depths and only a few may find success, I am chalking Cody's success up to his positive attitude. Cody brought the mojo by choosing to be an Ambassador of Affinity in the way he lives his life, and I believe that through that focus and his dedication to it Cody self-actualized a set of amazing outcomes. This is real, and I believe in it 100%.
Thank you, Cody, for taking me under your wing of Love yesterday. I am a better person for our time together.

I can't make this shit up, and I want to thank the NCKA community for the support and inspiration.   

 

Awesome write up Eric, it was a great read.

the power of a positive attitude is huge.

thanks for taking the time to write this up. 

Dope! And I actually read the whole thing for once
Thank you...and nice job Cody!

Nice job on the water. Looks like a fantastic day

Thank you for sharing your great story and pictures Eric.  See you in September.

Awesome write up Eric, it was a great read.

the power of a positive attitude is huge.

thanks for taking the time to write this up.

Dude I highly recommend Eric. We should come visit him to the cove one of this days. Hire him to be a guide I will tag along 

Awesome write up Eric, it was a great read.

the power of a positive attitude is huge.

thanks for taking the time to write this up.

Dude I highly recommend Eric. We should come visit him to the cove one of this days. Hire him to be a guide I will tag along 

+1  Can I join?  lol

Great article and catch, enjoyed the pictures!

Took me a day to think about this post and let it set in before replying. Eric your a good man! You have a certain vibe of yes experienced angler with years of knowledge etc. but more importantly a good human,family man, steward to the environment. I’m sure Cody’s vibe just meshed well with your always positive vibes which created a pretty cool experience that was shareable. Appreciate you sharing your “takeaway” of the day and the importance of noticing memorable experiences other than just a good day of fishing.

Example: I took with me soo much more knowledge and respect for a positive attitude after spending some time huddled inside the building at GS while it was pressure washing outside rather than time on the water. Seriously couldn’t have asked for a better stockwell clinic for the day.

Anyway thanks for the “refreshing” write up.

Cheers

-justin

Thank you, Shane, PK, Doug, Sonny, Darius, Nolan, dyoung and Justin. 

Writing and sharing helps me get the most out of the trips.  I try to always express my true feelings.  I think that being offshore with the intent of having experiences to share later helps me to have better experiences with more feeling.  It’s my own self-actualization, and I discovered it through NCKA. 

Geat write up Eric. Watch out for Cody guys, he might out fish all of you 😂😂.

Sounds like a great day on the water!

Reading that post just made my day that much better.
Thanks for sharing Eric!

Reading that post just made my day that much better.
Thanks for sharing Eric!

+1

Eric, you should seriously consider writing a book.