Shelter Cove - 6/25/22

I've taken a number of father-son teams out over the years.  I learned all about fishing, the environment and how to be a conscientious sportsman from my dad, and he's been gone for almost 15 years now.  Having the opportunity to take a father and son out is always a special time for me, and I try to make sure that it is for my guests too.

Omar contacted me several weeks ago, looking to book his third trip with me in the past year.  He was stoked to be getting his dad, Jose, out with us, and so was I.  As our day approached, I let Omar know that the forecast looked good.  With how bizarre this Spring's weather has been, it wasn't much of a surprise when a weird south wind picked up a few hours into our session.  What's more, the usual SE to NW current has returned and was doubling up with the breeze, so we spent most of our time battling pretty extreme drift that was taking us up the coast from the point.  Luckily the fish were biting pretty well, but whenever we'd hook up it meant that we'd have to work to get back to our desired spot on the reef.

After a few hours of hard work paddling against the treadmill of wind and seas, the fog came in to the point, the sea surface degraded further, and it was time to wrap up our mission along with most of the fleet.  We'd managed to bag several rockfish, a lingcod and a nice 13 pound Chinook, so the fishing was pretty good to us, considering the conditions.

It was really neat to watch the interaction between Omar and Jose, both on the water and back at the ramp.  My guests excelled in the challenging seas and did well to fish effectively while boating safely.  At the end of the day I asked Omar to let his dad know that he's now an official Offshore Badass and that I'd take him out anytime.  That might've induced the best simultaneous father-son smiles of the day.

Another chapter is in the books, and I'm looking forward to peak season coming up soon.  Thanks for following.