August 24th and 25th at PC...

Should the forecast hold for this Tuesday and Wednesday, I will be looking to spend a couple of days at PC for a multiplicity of the ocean's offerings. I will be dropping crab traps, trolling for salmon, bottom-fishing, ALL of that. My mistake last time was only going for one day when I should have stayed for two (the fact of which, besides my wife, a lot of my family reminded me).

If the forecast holds, and you happen to get out, I will be peddling the Ms. Salma in a bright orange hat, red top and monitoring channel 69 WITH MY HALIBUT HARPOON THIS TIME!!!

That is all...

Fred "True" Trujillo

Keeping my eye on Wednesday. Out of curiosity, are you camping out there or … ?

Got PTO approved for Wednesday/Thursday so hopefully the weather forecast materialize. I had my rudder line come off last time so we jerry rigged it on the water; will have to adjust it properly before I go.

Fred, I've been obsessing about halibut ever since talking to you last week. I plan to go on Wed or Thurs or both. Will go for salmon first. Got vhf working, Channel 69. Hope to see you out there.

I am not camping out there at any particular place, although I COULD if I could find a place out of the way to just sleep. I will take a sleeping bag with me and a small tent in case I find somewhere to go. I am leaving Monday afternoon to get a couple of things in Portland and maybe stop by a kayak shop or two to see what is new in the Land of Hobie. I hope to see all of you out there on Wednesday. Thursday looks a little gusty for me to make it a three-day excursion. Tuesday and Wednesday look like my best bets...

Fred "True" Trujillo

Fred , what about the tent camping area at Webb County park behind the Cape Kiwanda Inn across the road from the parking lot.

( bear in mind its been 10 years since I've been there so things have changed.  )

There doesn't seem to be anything available around PC to camp. I will end up finding somewhere to park and stay in the general area and launch Tues. and Wed. morning. The tent sites are all staggered due to social distancing so only half of the campsites are available. Dang! Ah, well. It wouldn't be the first time I've roughed it.

Fred "True" Trujillo

Understand.  Enjoy your adventure

It’s not in the exact area but I’m betting the old mill in Garabaldi is letting tents in the tent field. About 35-45 minutes away.

You might also try Sand Lake Rec area. Should be plenty of space to pitch a tent.

Here is a partial report from my two days at PC:

August 24th - Left early this morning to start the first of a two-day trip to the coast for some kayak fishing in case you haven't been following and in such case, Shame (rings bell)... Shame (rings bell)... #GOT. It was an uneventful trip and I was able to make it there in 2 hours and 40 minutes which wasn't a record as I traveled just around the speed limit (mostly). I wasn't in a huge rush to get out there as there was only going to be around 3 or 4 of us kayakers fishing around the area but a bunch of dory fishermen.
Got through the waves thankfully in a less eventful manner than the last time (flushing my nasal cavity with saltwater) and I went to drop my crab pot where everyone else drops them near Haystack Rock. started heading west of the rock looking for baitfish on my fish finder and saw a few dory boats about 1/2 from me. They MUST know something so I headed over that way to see how they were doing looking for rockfish and focusing less on Coho and Chinooks that were sporadically jumping about. I saw a LITTLE bait and dropped my jig down to the briny depths. A few minutes later I felt a tug on the line that felt like a rockfish and then nothing, but the weight was still there. I kept reeling figuring there was a hitchhiker on the line and sure enough, there was a HUGE lingcod that had the 12" rockfish in its mouth sideways. The rockfish had taken one of my small lures on 14lb test but the lingcod was more than a few pounds over that. I didn't want to take a chance of losing him and he didn't seem to want to lose his meal so I slowly pulled the net out of the back of the kayak and scooped him up which he thanked me for by splashing about and dousing everything that was previously dry on my kayak with his massive tail. The guys in the dory boat just looked at me and laughed. Yeah, but I got the fish! I released the rockfish as a thanks for bringing me the lingcod...
The rest of the day was a little less eventful except for the Coho I caught after checking my crab trap. NO CRABS FOR YOU!!! I mean, sure, if it's a visit from the doctor's office, that's what you want to hear, but if you're actually crabbing for Dungies, the statement is less than ideal. Apparently chicken wasn't the way to go today. I threw the 5 little sea snails back into the ocean as they didn't seem to mind my offering.
The Coho was a surprise, I mean, I was hoping to catch a salmon in the ocean, but I didn't think the fight would go the way it did. I dropped my flasher and hoochie jig (not that kind of hootchie jig) and let out about 40 feet of line to troll. About 5 minutes later the salmon just PEELED line out of my reel. I was worried she would throw the hook as you HAVE to fish with barbless hooks for a certain time during the season, but for the second time during the day my net saved the day and scooped her up! Of the hundreds I've caught, this was a milestone as my first salmon ever caught from the ocean and hopefully far from my last.
I got off of the water a little late (around 3 p.m.) and figure I'd been out there for about 8 hours straight. You know you've been out there a long time when you are the LAST kayaker or dory fisherman to land. Everyone else was GONE. Again, lots of people surrounded me wanting to look at the fish and take photos. I went back up to the parking lot to get my Ridgeline to make loading up of my kayak a little easier instead of dragging it a 1/4 mile up the beach. The sand always troubles me as I have seen a LOT of trucks get stuck when hauling their dories in and out of the water. She drove like a champ though and I was able to get everything loaded up without a hitch.
Driving over to a spot on the estuary where everyone cleans their fish and feeds the seagulls, crabs, sea lions and perch, I backed up and cleaned the catch of the day, three black rockfish, one cabezon, two lingcod (one at 38" and the other around 28") and the Coho salmon (at 25"). I definitely need to look into a board for my tailgate that would make it a little to filet my fish on. While I was there cleaning the fish, there was a friendly little discussion in the water behind me as one of the guys in their boat accused another one of stealing his crab trap. "DUDE! That's my trap! It has my name right there on it! You're a thief!" It was quite satisfying to see that guy get called out. He sheepishly handed it over and hung his head in shame. I just smiled and wondered why a guy who could afford a nice dark GMC and red Stryker aluminum boat with a 90 HP motor would feel like he needed to do that? Shame (rings bell)... Shame (rings bell)...

August 25th - Tossed and turned a bit too much last night and doubt I got a full 8 hours of sleep before heading out to fish again. Did that stop me from going out? Pffft! Yeah, right! My legs were a little sore from peddling my kayak 8 hours yesterday, but today was a new day! There were more fish to be had! I decided NOT to take out my crab trap today as it didn't produce any crab for me yesterday. I thought, "They're probably a little farther out than I have length of rope." So I locked it up in the back of the truck.
I started the day targeting halibut and picked up several black rockfish, throwing several back that were a little undersized. I caught some underlings (undersized lingcod) and a couple of small cabbies (cabezon). No luck on the halibut, but I did hook a couple of "somethings" that gave a couple of good head shakes but then threw my size 9/0 hooks out of their mouths.
About a mile north of the rock I saw that there were several pelicans that started diving about 200 yards from the shore trying to capture baitfish (most likely herring) before they escaped to deeper water. I tried to get over there as quick as I could to find the ball of bait, but it disappeared before I could take advantage of their presence. I did catch my biggest rockfish of the day though and I included it in this post.
Around 11:30 I met up with Wilyakfish who was targeting Coho but switched over to bottomfishing when he came by. He hadn't caught anything for the first 4 hours on the water so we fished together for the remainder of the day. I taught him how he should look for baitfish on his fish-finder and target the water below that where lingcod and larger rockfish would lie in wait to take advantage of the bait above them. I was rewarded with a 25" lingcod that was doing just that and he turned into a believer. I hooked something big again but after a couple of head shakes it threw the hook again. For you fishermen out there, I keep my hooks DANGEROUSLY sharp - maybe TOO sharp? Around 1:30 he had caught a couple of rockfish, but I told him I was going to head back in to land and try for my last lingcod near the point. Sure enough, there she was! About 24" long and a beautiful blue color. People wonder why some are blue and if it affects the taste of the fish or if it's even dangerous? Eighty percent of lingcod are female and the pigment that makes them blue is called biliverdin. It doesn't taste any different than "regular" colored lingcod, they just look like the Smurfs of the underwater world.
I pulled up to the beach and found several deep ruts that were made by trucks that were pulling their dories out of the water which worried me a bit. If THEY were having trouble with the shifting sand, what chance did I have with my vehicle? This made me make the hard choice of taking all of my gear up to the truck first in three trips and then haul my kayak about a quarter of a mile with the fish on the back of the 'yak. On a plus note, hauling that sucker made me realize that I need to purchase a beach dolly to haul my kayak over soft or hard sand. On my trips back and forth, I spoke to a young gentleman who had caught 8 Dungeness crab in one of his pots. Aaaiiighh! He said he was using shad instead of chicken and that he ALWAYS brought home crab when he used it. Drat it all!
I filleted the fish where I did yesterday and spoke to several people who came by to admire my catch and ask multiple questions about kayak fishing. The seagulls seemed happy I stopped by too. After that, I headed back home, tired but happy for the two days of fishing. I was a little more gaunt from only having a small yogurt I failed to mention that I purchased from Fred Meyer yesterday and wondered if it was time to turn a corner in my life to start eating healthier? That lasted for about 5 minutes on the road as I DID get that burger from Burger King. Yeah, I was sure that I would regret it later, but for about 30 miles on the road my taste buds were in some type of greasy Heaven.
I got home around 8 p.m. and unloaded what NEEDED to be taken out of the truck like my fishing reels and some of the things on the back of the truck. I was TIRED, smelled of fish and possible elderberries and could barely stand myself. I talked to the girls for a bit to see how things were going, showered and called it a night. The fish were on ice in the cooler still and I could let them go for another day or two before I needed to package them up into freezer packs. Time for Zzzzzz...

Good job!
I've been enjoying your posts, always a fun read!

Thank you. I tend to go on and on with my Facebook/NWKA posts so sorry if they go on and on. Sorry about the upside down photos too. I'll have to check on how I can flip those right side up. Also forgot to mention my "lessons learned" on this trip...

#1 - Some kayak fishermen wake up MUCH earlier than me to get first dibs on the fish. If you've seen my face, you'll know that I'm decades behind in my beauty sleep so have at 'em!

#2 - Time for me to look into a bloody beach cart with some Wheelez or Malone's or something. It was tough to drag a kayak through the dry sand in my late 30's but now in my mid-50's? No, gracias...

#3 - Keep some of the hundreds of shad you catch in the spring for crab bait. I used chicken this time and like last time was skunked unless that light blue dory was to blame. #ImWatchingYou

#4 - I don't care how many of your offspring may have been conceived in one, but you will not find 8 hours of comfortable sleep in the back of a 2007 Honda Ridgeline.

#5 - I am not giving up my Hobie sidekicks - EVER! Since I have used them in the salt, I have NEVER (don't say "NEVER", Fred, you're going to jinx yourself) had an aquatic yard sale over the last few years entering the water or exiting it. Sure, you might think they're training wheels, but they give me much more freedom to move about on a skinny Revo.

Tight lines, y'all!

Fred "True" Trujillo

I enjoy reading your posts also, a trick somebody taught me on the photos is to edit them on your phone and just ever so slightly crop/trim them and they should turn the correct way when uploaded. Not sure why that works but it did for me and I have an iPhone, not sure if that matters or not.