Shelter Cove - 7/24/21

Saturday at the Cove with Nando, Jamie and Paolo.  What a ride!

Nando and I did a Cove trip last summer, and Paolo and I have been corresponding and trying to pull off a day since the summer before that.  This year they added in their friend Jamie for a group trip with me where we'd focus on salmon.  Nando had scheduled their day with me early this year, and I steered him toward late July, as right now into early August is usually prime time for opportunities to land a king in the ocean.  As our booking drew near I was excited to let Nando know that the bite's been good and it's picking up.  The forecast was also better than it's been in a few weeks, so by the time we met up at just before 6AM yesterday, we were all smiles and even planning how we'd deal with catching so much salmon that we may have to come in early to gut and ice some fish...

Never talk in such a way.  I should've known better!

I had visions of landing limits for all 4 of us.  There's nothing wrong with aiming for that, but the odds and the history of kayak fishing and these guided trips don't really play out in favor of it happening.

We got on the water by 630 or so and made our way along the coast to get acquainted with the gear I'd provided and the way I wanted to present it.  We'd avoid the fleet for a bit and see what they announced - there were lots of boats and other kayakers too, since it was the best forecast in weeks and a summer Saturday.  An early halibut came up but looked barely legal or short, so we shook it off and continued on our salmon focus.  A snag happened, and gear was quickly re-tied.  The clear and calm weather changed rapidly to cold fog with a breeze, and we bundled up a bit - the guys were ready for coping, and it felt like our potential short day of limits was quickly turning into a more challenging affair.

We trolled with the fleet for hours as fish were announced here and there - yakker buddies calling out, "Stockwell - got a fat one over here," and some of the powerboaters starting to stack some numbers.  Our hooks weren't getting bit by the right species though - black rockfish, mostly small, were stealing high quality baits meant for salmon, and silvers were providing strong fights that aren't much consolation for not catching a keeper.  At one point, Jamie had a small king to the boat, but it darted here and there and everywhere and was gone from the hooks before I could net it.  Me telling him that it looked too small to keep - under 20" - wasn't much consolation either.  Nando did bring up a lingcod, and we'd kept a few of the larger blacks, but our salmon quest was coming up empty throughout the morning, and it felt like time to switch gears. 

Working from about 2 miles southeast of the launch, we went inshore and ran bait along the 20' contour looking for a halibut or more fat blacks - staying barbless in case a salmon showed up.  Our slow troll in formation didn't produce any bites over more than a mile, and another hour of our supposed-to-be-epic salmon trip was gone.  I was starting to get a little bummed out, and what was really hitting home for me was that it may just be that much harder to guide three people at once that I lose some of my edge in the sport in that situation.  Whether it was a fair assessment or not, I was feeling like I was letting my guys down.

As we got back up toward the harbor we started to talk about cutting across to the reef to change gears again and look for rockfish and lingcod - it wouldn't be much of a look in all likelihood - they're usually pretty easy targets as long as the water's nice and the wind is down.  We were just about to make our way toward the point when Domenic came on the radio:  "Eric, you on here?"  "Comeback, Dom", I answered.  "You guys might want to come over here by the rock in 12 feet" he answered back.  I told my guys that my best friend and long time fishing partner doesn't make such suggestions without good reason.  Dom had experienced a slow bite for the morning too, and that had been another consolation I'd offered the guys - not everyone was getting bit.

I asked my guests if they wanted to stick it out inshore or keep heading to the reef, and we were all pretty ambivalent if not resigned to just going.  I felt I had to at least run over there though - Dom had bothered to reach out, and we were on a salmon focus.  So we land over on his spot, and Domenic had himself a nice salmon - it was time for us to buckle down and try to see if he'd caught a loner or there were more around.
 
Within minutes I was on a nice bite with head shakes - it stayed down and I quickly identified that I had a flat one on the line.  Pulled a nice Cali into the net and we kept working.  My guys didn't seem impressed, and I knew that even if we caught more halibut it wouldn't take the place of a salmon.  This kind of pressure on the trips isn't always present, but I have to embrace it and welcome it - this is what I'm doing, and this is what I choose.  It can be a tenuous situation to want a salmon so badly.

We kept plugging away, and we probably only would've lasted a bit longer before returning to a plan of throwing in the towel and going for bottom fish, when I hooked up a super hot pumper!  I fought a stout king for over 5 minutes, and the whole group saw it on the surface.  I thought I had it tired and was fixing to lead it to my net when it turned and spit the hooks right at me and was gone.  It's crushing when that happens, but in this instance my loss had a profound effect - my guys now knew for sure that we were doing the right things to find such a potential trophy, and they were sold on continuing the pursuit.

It wasn't long before Jamie was on one.  He fought it really nicely, tired it enough while I stayed in position with the net, and we had it.  With a king on the board, the complexion of the trip had changed.  Even though I'd lost a big one, I always want my guests to have the success anyway - we were moving in the right direction.
 
Now Paolo was on.  I got up to him and waited as he played and tired his fish, and soon it was in the net too.  The celebration was short-lived because now Nando had his hookup.  Within a few minutes all three of my guys had a fish - this trip was getting better and better and could've ended like that and been great.  The salmon weren't done though.

Even though others around us saw our success and they were trying too, it seemed like my trio and I were getting the lion's share of the bites.  Within another hour we'd all gotten our second except for Jamie - he'd had the hot stick early with the short king and a coho two miles to the south, and then his was the first keeper to make it in the net where we were now, closer to the harbor.  Now Nando, Paolo and I had our gear put away, and I was cruising around with Jamie waiting to see if his devil fish would come.  The day was getting really long, and I didn't know how long I could stay out - Nando knew we'd gone way overtime, but this bite had been special.  I told him we're good - let's get this done.

Jamie hooked a nice one, and we watched while he fought it well, but it spit the hooks, and we were back to the start.  New bait, new tack, look for activity on the sonar...  We were about 11 hours into our day when he hooked up again.  As Jamie fought this fish, his intensity with the rod in his arms, his shoulders working, and the focus in his eyes and all of the movable parts of his face taut - almost pinched in determination, I and the others were silent.  A powerboater friend of mine, Grayson, passed closely on his way in - still trolling, he didn't have his devil fish either, and he could see that we were in a late day fight that would likely spell either victory or a final concession.  Jamie worked this fish so well - swinging his arms to the left and then to the right to keep just the right tension on the fish, and when it finally came up to where I could see it, it dodged the net - at least once!  He'd tired it though, and the next time up we worked together and got it.  It was done.  The four of us had limited on a really nice grade of kings in front of about 20 other people who were there trying.  We'd worked hard all morning and not found what we were after, and now, thanks in no small part to Domenic's calling us in to the bite he'd found, we had achieved the ultimate success.
 
For me, this trip went from feeling like one of my worst guiding days to being very near the top, if not the very pinnacle of my professional career taking people out.  What a lesson to learn that when things feel dire and disappointing, there's so much more need for hope and hard work that must be done in order to not just find the success that was originally targeted but to prove to myself and to my people that what we're doing isn't easy or predictable - it's challenging and dynamic, and those characteristics and how we react to them are what the value so often consists of.

It shouldn't take nearly 12 hours on the water (and don't expect that unless you're a followup customer with an experienced mutli-client trip!), but once you land on a bite like we were on, you do everything you can to finish the job.

Our glory photos had the widest and most authentic smiles ever, and our tailgate celebration was one for the ages.  For the day, I went from being the first one at the ramp at 5AM to the last one to leave after 830PM.  That kind of schedule and the work that got done is not sustainable or at all preferable, but yesterday was one of the funnest days of my life, and I think my guys would list it in theirs' too.

Feeling thankful.  And ready for the next chapter.

Wow. ! ! ! 

To finish well is the way to live!  Thanks for all the emotional details on running a business.  It’s quite transferable to many moments in life.  So glad for all the pieces to get this done. Total victory! 

wow*6

Got to get up there. Long hours, where’s the porta potty🤣🤣🤣🤣

Great writeup Eric! Stoked you guys got it done and I'm sure your clients were thrilled. It's great that you can appreciate your own hard work so well.

Wow! Chromefiesta

Loleta Eric's is probably booked through end of year now

reminds me, gotta call him

Loleta Eric's is probably booked through end of year now

reminds me, gotta call him

Ha!  I'm loving this gig I've carved out, but it's gotten harder and harder.  I ain't getting any younger!   

Big congrats to all    Thanks for another great report and pictures Eric.  You're da man!

Seems like the birds were following Eric on Saturday.

Excellent work Eric!  You and the crew look happy as hell!!   

Dang, that's a great story, and even better ending than anyone could hope for. Dom's the man, helping you guys out and getting you and your clients on some awesome fish.  Way to go, i'm going to try and get up there next month and give it a shot too.

My friend Jamie is like a brother to me - he is a recent dad, and this was his one trip before he moves up to Washington. He is the best and most experienced fisherman in our group by far, but he had never given yak fishing a serious try. My goal was to get him hooked on the madness before he left, because I knew that he'd be back for more.

Jamie is a man of few words, and doesn't make big statements lightly. By the time we had cleaned and vacuum sealed all of the 50 lbs of meat him and I had hauled in (not bad for 12hs work), he turned to me as he was about to leave, looked me in the eye and said: "This was the best ocean fishinig trip of my life". Jamie learned to fish from his dad, who passed when he was a young man. So that one really got me in the feels.

Eric, it's safe to say you went above and beyond for us, and all of us are incredibly fortunate and thankful to have experienced it. Seeing a 21lb salmon 3 feet in the air, and a red hot bite in less than 20' of water, for fish that easily averaged over 15lbs, was something i'll never forget. The power of those fish, the adrenaline of the hookup, trying to calm your nerves through humor and comraderie while hooked up, and finally netting and holding a hog, easily your personal best, and appreciating the beauty of the green, pink and chrome in front of you, is a rare blessing. Then watching your friends getting towed around at the same time makes it even rarer. It was something out of a dream.

This was also the best fishing trip of my life. We earned it early, we stuck it out and didn't lose faith, and man did the Cove deliver. The water was dark emerald glass. Beneath the surface, the dark profile of thousands of anchovies glistened and swarmed, covering the entire water column. The waves crashed on black sands and a wild coastline, just before the sheer black cliffs rose up, towering before us, disappearing into the fog. Humbling is an understatement, gratefulness as well.

To sum it up: you know it's a good trip when your buddy who doesn't fish regularly is frantically googling "deep freezer store pickup today" on the way home. 

Eric, I'll take a 0.5% commission on the calls you get in the next 24h  You da man brother, can't wait for next year.

So hard to leave the salmon here in the monterey bay for a 6.5 hr trek to the Cove.

But what a blast to catch a salmon near shore in a kayak ! Plenty of time left to make the trek that is so worth while.



Alex