Ft Ross - Saturday the 2nd.

My buddy Bob and I will be fishing out of Ft. Ross on Saturday. We should be there between 6:00 and 7:00AM. Probably closer to 7:00.  

Anybody else gonna be around that day?

One yellow Caper and a blue Drifter.

I'll be there...  been looking forward to it for quite a while now.  

I'll try to get there by 6:00... plan to spend an hour or so looking for bait balls and a shot at a random salmon.  Then it'll be time to slay the Lings... maybe take a quick dive for some abs too.

Hopefully the weather forecast holds for us.

Erik

Abalone are closed for july!!!!

I'll probably be up there saturday, might wait 1 or 2 days for better weather, looks windy at the moment.  I'll probably camp the night before the outing.

Think I'd like to launch from stillwater cove rather than fort ross, IME the fishing was a little better and the launch/portage was ALOT better.

Ahh  dang... thanks for reminding me about that Abalone thing.  Forgot about that July closure... Son of a gun!

Care to try stillwater, guys?  I'll go whatever day the rest of y'all are out to ensure quality company.  I'll bring some extra tinsel jigs too for anyone who wants to try one.

Josh, I was considering Stillwater for Saturday too.

where is stillwater?

I was planning Fort Ross on Saturday.  I'd consider Stillwater as well.

-Allen

where is stillwater?

this Stillwater Cove is north of Jenner past Ft. Ross.  Approx. 3-3.5 hrs north of San Jose.  You can probably make it in 2.5hrs.  

I've never fished Stillwater.

Is that where there's a little drop-off point when coming around the turn, then you have to park and walk back down to your stuff?

How far is the launch from the drop-off point? Neither Bob nor I have a cart, so if it's farther than the haul at Ft. Ross then we'll probably end up at the Fort.

Here's what I think...

If it looks like the NW wind will kick up or the swell is large, I think Fort Ross will offer more fishable area within the protection afforded by the cove.

If the swell and wind are looking to be down, I'd be fine with Stillwater Cove.  

To launch at stillwater, you can pull off the road down in the gulch and unload your yak.  

I'm not sure if you can park there or not... if so... it only can accomodate a couple of cars I think.  Probably will have to drive up and park in the campground and walk back down to the beach.

The haul from the car to the beach is probably shorter than Fort Ross.  The walk to the car is probably a little shorter as well.

Erik

In relation to fort ross it's only about 4 miles up the road.  Stillwater cove is considerably more protected than fort ross.  No surf at all.  On the windiest day you can also probably fish inside the cove.  The parking situation is considerably better, with less than half the hike at fort ross and it's through a pretty forest path too.  There is a asphalt trail to within 100' of the water.  The bottom drops off a little faster outside stillwater, which I guess means it's more rocky.  Stillwater cove is part of a campground, so if you camp there the night before, parking is free and the commute aint bad either.  There are also some parking spots on the side of the road (free), about 4-6, which are open at kayak-launch hours.

If the water visibility is good I may do some spearfishing in the early afternoon.  I've never dove stillwater and it'd be cool to do some recon dives, check out the abalone, skewer a ling, ect...

Here's arial photos and charts of the two locations.  I think stillwater cove is the cove in the uper part of that chart, not where it's marked, based on it's layout.

BTW, know how to ID canary rockfish.  IME 1-4 are caught each trip up here.  I've probably brought up over a dozen total here, for all other areas - 1 (bean hollow).

http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=12380&mode=sequential&flags=0&year=2002
http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=12337&mode=sequential&flags=0&year=2002
http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm?lat=38.51222&lon=-123.24611&scale=25000&type=1&zoom=100&bpid=MAP0060030900%2C1%2C1%2C0&latlontype=DMS&searchscope=dom&CFID=976399&CFTOKEN=74661759
http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm?lat=38.543913&lon=-123.294906&scale=24000&zoom=100&type=1&icon=0&width=498&height=498&searchscope=dom&CFID=976399&CFTOKEN=74661759&scriptfile=http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm&latlontype=DMS

Right on, thanks for the info fellas.

I'll run this by Bob (he's driving) and we'll see what happens.

Sat
NW winds 20 to 30 kt. Wind waves 4 to 6 ft. NW swell 6 to 9 ft. Patchy fog.

May have to wait a day or two.  We'll have to see how it plays out.  Hopefully there'll be a window during the weekend/holiday.

Ouch!

-Allen