Beverly Beach Ling Expedition 6/3-6/4?

Talking with Fulltimeout about his experience has got me pumped. Anyone interested in a 1 or 2 day trip to Beverly next weekend, 6/3 and/or 6/4? My spankin' new Hobie Revo is itching to get wet.

I'd love to try it, but I'm not comfortable enough in my boat yet to venture off shore.  Love to hear a report though!

Just in case there are any folks hanging fire out there... this thing looks to be on. It's just that those of us that are hoping to make the trip have been doing most of our communication over email. We hope to have something like 3-5 boats in the water this weekend, but it's a big pond, you know.

Yup. This looks like an outing. One probable change: we're probably going to move the launch point to Salmon River bay just south of Cascade Head. Appears to be a promising site and more central to those expressing interest. We'll post more of the logistics as the weekend approaches.

Anyone interested interested who hasn't spoken up, now's the time to chime in!

--
Mike

Fisherfolk,

The wife has a conference in Lincoln City and asked me and my little girl to meet her there on Friday night. They'll come back to PDX on Saturday and I get a pass to fish the coast.  South of Cascade Head sounds good to me or,,,,?  Will's got new house duties so he'll miss this one.

I may bring an extra boat. PM me anyone's interested. Weather forcast looks good. Just don't forget your wetsuit and pfd.

IIIIII'm READY!
(sorry, SpongeBob moment)

Did you guys get out?  Where?  How did you do?

-Allen

Yup. Wannabe, Tupperware and me fished Beverly Beach Saturday and again Sunday (sans Tupperware). Wannabe got a nice bass Sunday, but mostly very slow going on both days. We nearly went out the mouth of the Salmon to fish around Cascade Head, but I really didn't feel ready to cross a river bar into open ocean. I feel better about the idea now, but still not totally sure. It didn't help that the guys at Tillamook Sporting Goods looked at me like I'd lost my mind when I mentioned it, but then, later, a local surfer said it shouldn't be too bad if handled correctly. He may be showing up here as yet another new recruit, BTW.

As has been mentioned here before, there's a lot of good looking water around that area. Tupperware and I both came down from north of Beverly Beach and there are a bunch of rocky areas that are just begging for attention. I also checked out, but didn't fish, Pacific City's beach on Friday and it's very do-able.

I'll be ready for a sequel after a little rest...

If you want to run a river bar, I recommend doing it during a flood tide, or at slack tide. I won't go in to the details about how I know this  but an out-going tide, when it hits the the incoming waves, creates bigger waves.  The difference between incoming tide and outgoing tide can be quite dramatic.

Pisco, how do you know this?   

Inquiring minds want to know ...

-Allen

Oh, and good effort guys!

I don't know what it was about this weekend.  I saw a lot of comments on NCKA about how off the bottom fishing was.  While I had a steady pick at Fort Ross, it was by no means what I'm used to from there.  Perhaps it was the large tidal swing we had this weekend.

FTN, good call on not wanted to tackle the bar.  A good thing to do before you actually attempt it loaded down with gear, is to just take an empty boat out there and play around in it to get a feel for it.

-Allen

Glad you guys made it out... one possibility for launching in that area would be padding across the Salmon River from the boat ramp, then wheeling your kayaks up the shore to the beach in front of Camp Collins, and launching there.  I was at Camp Collins for a wedding a few years ago, and got to camp on the beach.  Man what a beautiful place!  A friend of mine attempted to do some surf kayaking in his whitewater playboat... he got pummeled.

I've been thinking that for Hobie boats, surf launching and landing might be easier with the sidekick outriggers.  Anyone ever used them for this?

Yep. What FTN said. But I was not ready
Final score: Simplicity 1, Technology 0

I got there Sat. morning at about 7:30 after passing the meeting place and talking to a surfer 5 miles down the road who happen to see them before he left home (followed the GPS to Beverly Beach instead of Mike's instructions [tech: Strike one])

Got back to them and they'd unloaded their boats and started down to the beach while I put too much gear into my boat and assembled my wheels (ball 1). By then, Wannabe and FTN were at the beach. I rolled to what I thought was the ramp down to the beach and find 16 flights of stairs (ball 2). I think FTN mentioned there were a few stairs, but this was more than a few (Ok, it was really more like 6 flights). We got the boat down and I assembled my wheels for the 1/4-mile to the water. About 1/2 way too the water, my totally reliable cheap chariot (Steeee-rike 2!) breaks. I dragged the boat the rest of the way like everybody else.

Ken was already out at the rocks fishing and Mike got underway while I diddled with the fish finder battery and stowed the wheels (ball 3 full count). Finally I got out on the water and it was loverly! I'd not been in the salt for waay too long and this was very nice. The launch at the Devil's Punchbowl (just north of Beverly Beach) is really sweet. A point and the offshore rocks that we were planning to fish break prevailing winds and swell from the north. It makes for good surf just to the south and a rip that runs along the inside of the point that serves as a protected "chair-lift" that carries you smoothly passed the breaking surf. Bottom-line is I ended up with the easiest "surf" launch I've ever had.

  I finally got out to the rocks and FTN had scored a nice black and Ken was hard at work. Initially, the lifeguard and mother hen in me had me a bit worried about these guys, but they both have saltwater in their veins. Both of them were working those rocks like they'd been there all of their lives. So I started working a swim bait and loving pedaling instead of paddling. Gps got a lock in less than a minute and I'm seeing nice rocks and fish returns at 17' to 25'. Then I noticed the battery is about dead and the screen goes blank (Strike 3 tech is out). No biggie, you can clearly see the water breaking over the rocks on the surface. Fishing was a bit slow so Ken suggested we try the outside of the rocks. So off we go. Swell was running a solid 5' and the wind started to kick a bit, but the Hobie was handling it like a champ. That's when the drive went Zen on me and I heard the sound of one fin flapping. That was also the time I noticed that I'm a half-mile offshore and all I can see is rocks and breaking surf in the distance between dry land and me. Naturally, the wind kicked up a bit more at that point and my level of confidence went down. 

  I got the Hobie back behind the rocks and pulled the drive. (Did I mention that Hobie's don't paddle terribly efficiently with the drive just dangling?)  The shaft on the leading edge of the rear fin had worked loose and, one fin was flapping. As luck would have it, I did not have a 1/4 or 6mm Allen wrench with me (although I felt like I had the rest of a rolling Snap-On tool chest in my hull), but I improvised and got the shaft back in.

 Ken and Mike were still fishing but it was getting a bit big. So I decided to go check our return route because all I could see was bigger surf than when we went out.  I met Brian (the surfer Ken mentioned who should be joining the board shortly) at the top of the line and he detailed how to get back in (same way we came out) and from closer in, it was much easier to see. Comfort level back in place, I went back out to the rocks and the shaft fell out again. Fixed it again and Ken had mercy and said he was about done (that and he was getting blown around pretty good). I got Mike and we headed in for an uneventful (excellent) landing.

  The return up the stairs sucked, but would have been waaay worse if we didn’t have each other. When we got to the top and sat down to breath (at least I did) I started a conversation with Brian who'd returned from the surf. He was really interested in our plastic armada and was willing to share his intimate local knowledge of the water in exchange for getting him out sometime. That was a done deal before his finished the sentence and I think all three of us would be glad to get him out. It does not hurt that he lives in PDX and drives a truck big enough to carry a few boats (but that's what the trailer is for).

 Overall it was a good trip (except for the fish) but for me it was a good shake down cruise for the Hobie. Again, the final score was Ken, his boat, rod, and paddle (Simplicity), 1.  Me in my GPS/Sonar enabled, pedal powered, broke wheeled contraption (too much Tech), 0.
But look out next time.

Jeez, I gotta stop writing these book-long posts. (or maybe I should go on and write a book?)

Link to my usually reliable cheap chariot:
http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/220603834/m/3606023644?r=1386068154#1386068154

Allen-

1990?; Grays Harbor; BIG ebb tide; 16' fish and ski boat. Was trolling out the harbor @ dawn; buddy manages to get line in the prop. I was just unwinding the last wrap when his wife asks, "Should we be worried about those waves?"  "Oh, YES!!"  "Um, you guys better get down on the bottom of the boat."

It was almost the first (and only) time I've been seasick.  They both were sick. There was plenty of water in the boat for cleanup.   


For you Oregon folk-

I've been through that neighborhood, before. Nice structure. I take it that you launched from the north end, near Otter Rock and the little Mo's restaurant? However, it is pretty close to Depot Bay, and Yaquina Bay (Newport).  Both have plenty of commercial and private fishing boats operating from them. One of things about Oregon that I'm jealous about, is that you have long stretches of coast that are far from PB (power boat) access, but that you can easily drive to, especially with all the great state parks. I highly recommend going to areas far from harbors- then you'll be using the greatest advantage of your kayak, and be fishing over the best concentrations of fish.  This is most important for bottomfish, which tend to be territorial, and less so for salmon.

Sounds like you guys had a great trip.  I have to confess, kayaking in 5 foot swells near big rocks and pounding surf gives me pause 

Do you still have the factory Hobie cart?  I've been thinking about beefing mine up with some pneumatic wheels from Harbor Freight tools.

On the fin problem, maybe try a little loc-tite on the set scews?

Does locktite stick to plastic? I'm going to give the Hobie folk a call and see what they can do. The shaft’s back in place and the screw is set and it seems to be holding, but the hole got opened up a bit. I may have to sleeve it depending on what Hobie says.

PLEASE NOTE: Wali tends to take some poetic license in relaying a good yarn.

Seas were running no more than 3 ½ or 4’ and they were razor sharp rocks, but not that big.
 Seasick? You say that like it’s a bad thing. Where I’m from we call that a chum slick.

The truth is the conditions were bumpy but very manageable. That launch and landings really were the smoothest surf launch I’ve done. That point protects the launch/landing so you don’t have any breaking surf to paddle through at all. It really was a bit strange because it does not look that easy from the beach or from the water. I don’t know if that’s true for all conditions, but it really was great for us.
The stairs still suck.

Your cart should be fine although pneumatic wheels sure would not hurt especially in the sand. But I’m not crazy about the Harbor Freight wheels. Nothing at all wrong with per se, they are just really heavy. Mine is PVC that Hobie copied! (actually, I got the idea from Barrel on the east coast)
 I stuck a post up in the rigging board about my cart.