Shelter Cove - 8/15/21

Greg and Kerry did their first trip with me last November.  It was right after salmon closed - we caught and released a coho, and we only landed short halibut, but they had a ball catching and harvesting rockfish and lingcod.  Their introduction to the sport had Greg wanting to book another date right away, but life happens.  We landed on mid August for our followup adventure - yesterday was our day.

Kerry's coming off of shoulder surgery, and she's not supposed to push it.  This can present an added challenge for sure, as this sport requires readiness for tough and sometimes rapidly changing conditions.  With a pretty good inshore salmon bite still happening for some, the prospects of staying close to launch and having a good chance at landing a king definitely outweighed the chance that we'd have a slow day - our group was in 100%.

Our day arrived and other than a bit of smoke in the air, everything was looking ideal - smooth water, mild temperature, and not a complete zoo of people on the water for a Sunday.  Greg and Kerry arrived at the ramp just after 6AM where I had all the gear laid out and ready.  Soon we were paddling south at a super easy, shoulder-rehabbing type of pace, trolling our offerings through clouds of bait that have been more prolific than many years in the past two decades.  We were ready for salmon, but a halibut or lingcod were desirable as well, and we wouldn't shake a stick at any respectable rockfish that came along. 

We were enjoying velvety seas, easy conversation and the occasional bite, with two brown rockfish already spared and sent back down, when Greg announced that he was on.  I cleared my line and got up on him, and it seemed that he may have a halibut - it was staying below him but apparently had some size.  I had him on a really flimsy Uglystik though, so it can be hard to tell who's biting.  Greg works it up a bit, and the line goes from vertical to horizontal as the fish heads to the surface while moving away from us - definite salmon!  My guy worked it well, allowing the fish to take a couple of long runs, and within 5 minutes or so he had it up to us.  It looked ready, and I probably look like a killer with a net in my hands at such moments.  We had it.

Kerry had videoed the fight - 6 minutes and 40 seconds it turns out - and Greg snapped some nice shots of the fish in the net with the happy guide behind it.  Very soon I got them fishing again while I bled the salmon, and hopes were high to find another one.  With not many fish being caught by the fleet, we eventually moved back toward the harbor, picked up a few rockfish along the way, and Kerry decided it was the smartest move to be happy with a morning paddle and a few fish caught and to rest her healing shoulder.  We landed at the now sun-drenched ramp, got our fish photos, I cut the fish and got the fillets on ice, and Greg and I headed back out for an afternoon rockfish sesh.

The blacks were snapping for sure, so we built up another couple of stringers for a total of 15 rockfish harvested between the AM and the PM.  The lingcod were uninterested in our offerings, and the halibut bite seems to have cooled lately too.  You take what you can get when you're fishing in paradise, and we always try to focus on being thankful and taking what is needed instead of whatever's available.  Except for salmon - we will take whatever's available! 

By the time Greg and I were ready to wrap it up, the tide was coming in, and the afternoon sunshine Cove crowd was filling in...  I watch out for that situation where local partiers park right at the top of the ramp as the tide comes in and those of us who have been there all day, tucked in up at the base of the cliff and farthest from the busy part of the launch are now trapped by people who double park behind their friends and then take off down the beach.  I know - more fishing first world problems...

We landed, and I had to hustle to load the three yaks and wet gear in my truck and get out of there before I was stuck by an incoming 7.1 foot tide that was due at 5PM.  Got up to the top of the hill and had to fillet 11 rockies at the "meat packing plant", but an ocean breeze was keeping me from feeling Delta-covid uptight, and it was kind of nice to be up there cutting fish for the first time since December of 2019!

In the end, Greg and Kerry had a blast, and so did I.  We landed one salmon, and that was enough to make us all happy.  Kerry was feeling great about working her shoulder and fishing along the coastline, and Greg was stoked to have gotten her out with us and also to have enjoyed a strong bite on our 2nd half out on the reef.

Sometimes it's the more laid back trips with the more modest catches that provide the best opportunities to reflect and appreciate, and those are the things that we should end up doing in any case.

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Dang, wish I could stay up there for a month. Very nice, fun memories made!

Dang, wish I could stay up there for a month. Very nice, fun memories made!

Especially this past month, amazing how the conditions have more or less been holding there

Salmon Envy...exactly!