Shelter Cove - 7/19 and 7/20/21

Jason contacted me last year about a Cove trip for salmon and other targets in the salt.  The stars didn't align for us then, so this spring we set aside two days for our mission.  Mid to late July usually has a strong salmon potential and some of the best water of the year, but this year there are less fish around and the winds have been pretty relentless offshore.  Here's the deal though:  it's Shelter Cove.

Day One - We met up just after dawn and got acquainted before launching onto a decent ocean with a slight south breeze.  Making our way to the point, the water was still sloppy on the outside, and the rockfish were annihilating our offerings.  Since my guest was camping out, day one wasn't about stacking up the fillets - it was a salmon focus, so we'd try to avoid the rockfish and only keep the higher profile targets or the few fish that may be injured by the gear. 

Before long we were headed back toward the inside where a fleet was working bait balls a mile and more south of the harbor.  We were just passing the 'green can' and I thought to snap a photo of Jason with the buoy right behind him when my line was suddenly stopped cold.  I tugged, back-tracked, tugged more, moved around it, shook it, felt my weight going up and down at 60 feet, and thought to just try to saw the leader off on whatever rock my hooks were attached to, when it moved.  Whatever 'it' was, it was very heavy.  I couldn't budge it, and then it would peel line like I was hooked to a submarine.  I've caught a 100 pound thresher before, and this thing 1) didn't come up and make wild runs and jumps, and 2) it felt like a log.  After 10 to 15 minutes of tugging and feeling it move around on the bottom, I managed to get it up where we saw it - giant thresher!  I'm thinking it may have been hooked in the back - not the tail, as we saw that body part multiple times.  Anyway, I was wondering what we would do with over 100 pounds of meat (I think it was a 200 pounder), and a powerboat had offered to come take it if it came up tired and nearly expired, but my 25 pound Maxima hand-tied leader finally gave out and that was that.  I felt kind of bad for burning 45 minutes of our trip on the fight, but Jason was having a blast and it was a cool experience for both of us.  You never know what will take your hooks out there.

We continued on to the inside where a few salmon had been caught by the powerboaters, but things seemed to go a bit cold for our own trolling hours - we saw one fish caught, and most boats skunked.  The coho were active - we fought five and had to unhook 3; the others shaking the barbless gear.  Eventually we made our way back toward the launch having only retained a couple of rockfish for my guy's dinner at camp.  Then Jason was on what looked like a better fish.  The action on his rod said halibut, and I was in position quickly with my net at the ready.  He got it up, and it hadn't really realized what was happening - we were both watching for it to go apeshit and didn't want a heart breaking moment for the end of day 1.  I pushed the net toward it as it lay on the surface next to Jason's yak, and it started to fidget.  I quickly retrieved the net, lifting it out of the water to avoid any contact with his gear, and it made a little run down toward the bottom.  He coaxed it back up as I adjusted my positioning, and working together I scooped as he led it to the opening of my big net, and we had it!  Nice 'but in the bag!  It was a great way to end day 1 on the water.  We finished up the session at the Tailgate Fillet Station before I headed out of town to refresh my gear and bait, get a good dinner and try to get to sleep while it was still light out (one of the biggest challenges of this gig, BTW...)

Day Two - After a better than average 6.5 hours of sleep I woke up early (alarm's only actually gone off once this summer so far), got on the road, and when I arrived at the Cove just after 5AM the stars were out along with the skunks!  I enjoyed a bit of quiet time before walking the campground, avoiding the famous skunks, finding Jason and telling him I was early.  He was totally on board and met me down at the ramp very soon afterward.  We got geared up and were on the water shortly after the first boats, and this day we had a distinct plan:  get a salmon if possible, retain any legal halibut that came along, and build stringers that would translate into ample take-home for my guest who lives in the Sierra foothills and doesn't get to enjoy the ocean and its bounty as often as some of us.

The day had a pretty amazing start - two halibut on the stringer by 630!  We went on to work our way toward what had become a scattered fleet - everyone was looking for where the fish were today.  Remember - it's different every day, and that's a big part of what makes these trips so rewarding.  It wasn't long before we were putting away some quality rockfish, but the fleet wasn't really finding any salmon - only one announced by mid morning.  The south breeze that comes up at the Cove when the north is blowing hard offshore was kicking in too, so we let it push us back toward the launch and held to a strategy of taking it easy and then being ready to get on it if the boats got on a good bite.  We were enjoying our own few acres of bait balls in easy inshore water when our main quarry showed up.  A hot Chinook had found us, and nothing in our two days together had as much intensity and focus as our wish to get this fish in the net.  After several runs in all directions and the typical eyeing of the net - where you clearly see the salmon's gaze as it sizes you and your net up - this stout fish ran and dodged to the best of its ability, but this would play out as another validation of my hand-tied leaders.  The de-barbed Gami one-ought's were solidly planted in its jaw, and soon we were celebrating with about an eighteen pounder in the bag.

We went on to experience a nearly wide open bite - multiple rockfish species, a legal lingcod finally showed up, another coho, a smoothhound shark, and we even landed at least half a dozen big red tail perch on the troll!  No more Chinook though, and we were up against the clock - don't want to push it much past 7 hours on the water, or the guide and the client both might be a notch past the "toast" level of tired.  Fishing is full of such 'first world problems', and we are fortunate indeed.

A cold beer at the Fillet Station, some visits with friends and banter with locals, and a strong fillet session capped our two day trip.  I really enjoyed getting to know my guest and spending the hours together.  He thanked me for what he learned and the overall experience, graced me with a generous tip and I was able to exhale and kick back for a bit before making my way back over the King Range, over the Mattole, up 101 and back to my main focus in life - my home and my family.  I try to take it all in and live in the moment, and pushing myself so hard often leads to being a bit frazzled.  Emotions flow so easily in this state that I've described, and I like that.

It was, again, just another couple of days fishing at the Cove and appreciating what I have and what I can give to others around me in a way that makes me feel like I know how to make the world a better place.

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Oh Hell ya Eric thanks for helping me decide what Im gonna do this weekend.

GOIN PERCHING

Oh Hell ya Eric thanks for helping me decide what Im gonna do this weekend.

GOIN PERCHING

 

Great trip! I love reading your reports.  So exciting, as you really never know just what you're going to catch at the Cove!

Great trip! I love reading your reports.  So exciting, as you really never know just what you're going to catch at the Cove!

Thanks, Greg!   

Looks like that salmon enjoyed the beer too!

That perch looks like a bruiser. Great pics!

Great read! Getting me excited 

Outstanding. I retire in February and look forward to booking a trip with you  in 2022.

Thanks for sharing another adventure in SC.  Love the details on your report and great pictures.

Thank you Eric for the report. I truly miss that place!

Great report...thanks for taking the time to share with us Eric.

Good to see someone is getting after it.  Good job!