Shelter Cove - 8/7/21

John and Joe booked for this early August weekend way back in the spring with high hopes for a strong salmon bite.  I've done several trips with my guys over the years, and this time they brought along Joe's brother Eric for his first time fishing the Cove. We got a nice ocean, but our group only got into one early Chinook and a hyperactive coho that leapt into John's kayak!  Around mid morning we made our way onto the reef for some fast action on blacks and lingcod, and we wrapped up our session targeting halibut and still hoping for another king to show up.  It's a repetitive theme, but every day and every group of personalities is different.  No matter what the day offers, I do my best to not only maximize our chances for fishing success but also to create an atmosphere of joy and appreciation for my guests and for me too.  Ultimately, the time we share together on the water won't just be measured in the fullness of the stringers or the number of salmon that we managed to hook.  The success of my group for any given day - our team - is based on the passion that our activities and our interaction evoked.  It comes out on the water while fighting and landing the fish, and it often reaches a crescendo when we toast our day with cold beer at the Tailgate Fillet Station.  Whatever happens on the water, I focus on getting the most out of every detail that I can control, and at the end of the day, my own fulfillment is measured by that true display of emotion that I seek in my guests and myself.  The day's pay and hopefully a generous and well-deserved tip are just lubrication in the machine.  The output is a form of love.

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Thanks for the report and pictures Eric.

Great pics, and awesome as always report.  Thanks Eric!  The smiles on their faces says it all 

Nice haul guys! That eve sesh when I launched I forgot my kickers so I was just paddling my hobie and we made it down to nopass, but my center hatch was taking in water pretty bad so I had a heavy boat.

Sunday we made it to the creek and found the bait and lots of hali but no kings, just silvers! I had a great day hali fishing barbless tho 3/7 or so.

the report was Kings were getting caught by commercial guys down at bear harbor. Some fish caught at the creek but we were surfing we were so close to the shore. Couldnt sabiki bait or net it so I ran out prettu quick and just fished a little yo-zuri chovy the rest of the day but the hali loved it!

Nice haul guys! That eve sesh when I launched I forgot my kickers so I was just paddling my hobie and we made it down to nopass, but my center hatch was taking in water pretty bad so I had a heavy boat.

Sunday we made it to the creek and found the bait and lots of hali but no kings, just silvers! I had a great day hali fishing barbless tho 3/7 or so.

the report was Kings were getting caught by commercial guys down at bear harbor. Some fish caught at the creek but we were surfing we were so close to the shore. Couldnt sabiki bait or net it so I ran out prettu quick and just fished a little yo-zuri chovy the rest of the day but the hali loved it!

Bummer on the missing drive! Nice to see you there, Yaad. Good to see and chat with Dominic, Mike and Jim as well.

It was good to have two witnesses to the Silver jumping in my boat - otherwise, NOBODY would believe it.