ORC?

Come on guys, what happened. Too much after party. Wish I could have been there. Art

Hey Art! Nice looking fish there, what are they?

ORC was a blast. It was bigger and better this year and had the same great mix of people, great food, and wonderful sponsors. Friday the fishing was tough, but Saturday the bite turned on better, despite some challenging conditions. I think the largest fish was around 16 lbs and cabbies took the top 5 slots. Hopefully we'll see you at ORC 14? There are also a couple of WA Salmon tournaments in August and October, if you are in the neighborhood. 

I checked the Yaquina Bay webcam yesterday to see if you all moved down there but no kayaks. Waiting to hear tales of peril, puke, and fish caught.

Thats a pair of King mackeral,  they get a lotbigger. Sounds like yall had a bkast, I may up there for the Oct Salmon fishing. Art
On

Nice smokers, Art!

Friday had some decent sized swell and very few bites. I did get my first keeper ling though and caught small rock fish. Fridays festivities were great. Dino hosted a killer pig roast, and we got a sweet captains bag with some sweet gear. Saturday morning came early. Most people got to the launch early since parking can be difficult to get. It was awesome to see so many kayaks in one spot. I went out in a group of 15-20 kayaks around 5:30 and it was awesome shooting the hole with a huge group. Saturdays fishing seemed hit and miss for a lot of people. The swell was a lot better, but the wind picked up in the afternoon and a lot of people came in around 11:30-12:30. I got a another ling (smaller this time) and a rock fish. Saturday nights taco feed and award ceremony were great as well. Some people got some awesome prizes from the sponsors. After the awards there was a raffle and I think everybody got something. Overall it was a sweet way to spend the weekend. I can't wait to see what the next years brings.

ORC was awesome! I met some cool guys and got to be part of a really awesome event. I had much better luck prefishing on Friday. I caught a snakey keeper ling that I released, a small cabbie for some AOTY points and about 10 really nice sized blacks that almost all went back. I used 3 blacks for some camping style ceviche...which was surprisingly delicious! I had never made it before and deciding not to bring any real food stuffs it forced me to rely on my luck/skill to haul in some dinner.

Friday conditions were fair. They weren't amazing but absolutely fishable. Thank you goes out to the Coasties for not ruining our tourney.

Saturday was not so bright but super early. Conditions were even better. fishing was better too...although my luck was not so good. I threw back a lot of blacks, Caught two 27' lings and lost some really nice fish. I'm certain I had a couple top ten placing fish on but they didn't stay hooked. One of these fish even hit my jig again after letting go half way up from the bottom. I dropped my jig down after she let go and just as it hit the bottom she grabbed a hold of it again! I did the same song and dance and she let go again just before I could see color. It was a sad day for me. Comparing that fight to the two lings I had landed...I would say that it was a much nicer fish indeed. This seems to be a trend for me. I get into a nice fish and for whatever reason I don't get a hook set. I play it back in my head every time and I can't seem to figure out what I am continuing to do wrong. 

The food was delicious! Romanian Redneck's signature sauce was fantastic. The award ceremony was awesome. Everyone worked hard for their fish.

I got some sweet door prizes in my Captains Bag. I even won a really 'sweet' Kone Zone hat in the raffle. Hopefully wearing that hat while trolling with my sweet new kone zone flasher(courtesy of the captains bag) will bring some good luck with the salmon this year.
By the way...that is sarcasm. If you ended up with one of these hats in the raffle then you know what I mean. I think it's safe to say everyone was praying not to hear their number when the hats came up for raffle 

It was an epic trip for me. Sturgeon fishing on the Willy with some super cool guys on Thursday followed by some sweet pre fishing on Friday and then the epicness of ORC on Saturday! It is sad to be back to real life. Work in the morning doesn't sound as awesome as waking up at 4am in the back of my Blazer to get ready to share the open ocean with 80+ kayak fishermen.

I can't wait for next year!
Thanks again Jammer and also everyone else who made this event possible.

I guess I'll go unpack my rig now and start scrubbing the dried blood,guts, and cabbie barf from my kayak.