Tinker:
I decided to make a beach dash last Tuesday, after the rain stopped. The air was perfectly still - a condition we haven't seen down here all year - and I wanted to see if I could still do it by myself.
Not much was happening. I fished along the jetty, I fished the rocks, I fished along the bottom of the bluffs... nothing. Not so much as an arch on the fish finder, so when I felt the first puff of a breeze on my cheek, I headed back, taking the direct route across the cove instead of backtracking and making a few more casts.
I came upon an tiny, isolated patch of kelp and made that just-one-more cast we're all familiar with and hooked up with a rockfish. I could tell there wasn't much size to it long before I saw it, but when I did see it, it wasn't like any rockfish I'd seem before.
Down South we mostly see blacks. Sometimes a blue or a deacon, but those are truly uncommon. This was coal black with a band of yellow diamond-like spots running along the lateral line.
It barely passed my two-taco test and I'd normally toss it back, but I wondered if it was a healthy fish or some mutant, so I kept it.
I hate to be thought of as a perfumed dandy, but I have this stupid habit of riding the tiny surf right onto the beach because I don't like to get a half cup of sand in my boots just before hauling the kayak back up the dune. Every time I forget to force myself to leap out in knee deep water, the kayak turns sideways as soon as the bow touches the sand and the next little wave practically rolls it over.
Tuesday, I did it again, and the end result is that I got a half cup of sand in my boots trying to keep control of a bucking Trident, and I got a half pound of sand in the kayak. The exact same thing happens every time, and that's why it's a stupid habit.
It was a spring tide that morning and I had an extra hundred yards of beach to cross, then found that some punkinhead from Idaho had parked their motorhome completely blocking the head of the path up from the beach and I had to make a wide detour around that.
It was getting to be a bit of work for a single, small fish.
I've never successfully put the Trident back on the ladder rack on the first try by myself. Tuesday was no exception and after dropping the stern onto the tailgate of my truck three times, I finally got it right, but by then I was ready to give the darned kayak to the first person who wandered by, but, apparently having witnessed my travails, no one dared to wander by. Of course it could have been the fairly loud cussing coming from my direction that kept everyone away. Hard to tell which was the greater deterrent.
Finally loaded and ready to go I decided I might ask the skippers of the fishing fleet what was wrong with my rockfish. They know me, they're happy to help if I ask, and when I asked, "I'm concerned about this fish. Is it sick? Should I call someone?" they were overjoyed to tell me it was a China rockfish. They were so happy to help me out that one of them had to sit down because he was laughing so hard. From the joy of lending another mariner a hand, I presume.
A China rockfish. You know, I've seen them in pictures but they're even weirder looking in person. I would never have guessed.
The good thing about it - what may help me regain a bit of credence with the skippers - is that my Chna rockfish measured 14 and 3/4 inches. Whopper! For a China, anyway.
It's bad enough the skippers call me "Little $hithead" when I do a radio check. Heaven knows what they'll call me after this.
hdpwipmonkey:
Glad you got out and did some fishing and I'm glad you got to catch a new to you fish. :banjo: That's one of the reasons that I enjoy fishing the ocean, you never know what could be on the end of line.
Tinker:
I'm not sure what I like the most. I think it might be the challenge of launching and landing in the 8 or 9-inch surf that rolls in next to the big concrete block that's Port Orford's dock. Nothing beats risking life and limb - and a fly rod - in monster surf. ;D
sherminator:
Great story, Tinker! I could stand to see more like it - it put a smile on my face, which is a great way to start the week.
Squidder_K:
When I read your description and the thought "China" came to mind. I use to see these fishing off the Farlones or off Half Moon Bay. Not super common, but maybe every third or fourth trip I would catch me.