PC 5/9/2010

Met up with MeanJoe just after launching into ankle slappers and no wind this morning.  There were also 2 older Japanese men fishing around the haystack in OK's. They said they caught a few blacks but not too much.

After all the talk and fish being caught, this looked like a good start. Caught Joe just beyond the rock and headed out towards the bell bouy.



My first drop of the old standard root beer scampi brought up this nice ling, just over 23". Not lingzilla, but a tasty start to the year. The next 3 drops all brought fish to the boat, 2 underlings and this 14" cabezon.



Not to be outdone, Joe was busy hooking up.......with the bottom. It seemed that every fish I brought up, Joe had another snag.



He did end up catching a few underlings and some blackies, including 1 for dinner tonight. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of that because, as Joe was bring a blackie in, I was also bringing in an underling. As I got it to the surface, dejavu hit me as I saw Jeff's photo of lingzilla clamped onto my underling, right below me. This guy was at least 36", likely a bit more. I've never seen one so big. Since he was latched on to the little guy and not hooked, I readied my gaff for a quick strick. Imagine my dissapointment when he unlocked his vice grip about 3 feet below the surface. I'm sure he ended up getting the underling for a meal anyways as it didn't swim well after I released it. Oh well, karma works for me today. He'll be even bigger next time.

What was weird was that, eventhough I was fishing down for lings, I only hooked one blackie all day. Even later on, when I was just trying for blacks around the kelp, I got no bites.



The wind came up early and chased us off the water by 11am. A good breakfast, hydration and NO meds today and my stomach only got a bit fuzzy once the wind started to make a mess of everything. It reminded me of last week's Victory at Sea tour of Crescent Lake.


Let's hope for more weather windows like this on in the next few weeks...especially on June 19th. 

Be safe,
Jay

Looks like you had a good time out.  Nice pics

Good going guys, it was a beautiful day on the water.

I limited out on the bottom today. After arriving home I removed every single treble hook from the Darts and Grim Reefers that I use for weight. Everything now has a single Gamakatsu hook. I guess I needed to learn my lesson one more time with the treble hooks. I did however catch three underlings today, which were my first kayak lings ever. A couple under cabbies as well. Class was in session as I went to ling school, taking a few tips from Jay. It was a good day of learning, fishing and whale watching, until the wind kicked into high gear.

First Yak Ling

Good work!

I'm hoping my first PC trip tomorrow is half as successful as this thread!

I am glad someone is catching fish. There wasn't much happening at Sunset bay yesterday!

Jay hauling in a Cabbie.

Great report guys!

I was watching the webcam today, green with envy. 

Nice job Guys! The Salt is always a good way to get a skunk off. Good job on the first Yak Lings Joe

Was nice here on the water. Fishing was way off.. I am finding the same thing Jay, Hardly any Blacks anywhere, most likely offshore feeding on needlefish, That's what Royg surmisses anyway. There not around here i know that.

Roy and i might have stumbled on a valley of Lingzillas. The first fish i had on was very large! i could barely move it, then it popped the jig off my 20 pound power pro like it was string. Later i was talking to Royg and he was fishing the same "valley" but a couple hundred feet north and he said he had a similar thing happen to him...Halibut maybe? seemed like not much structure just a valley.

Kept a 24 inch ling and 1 nice black.  It was nice enough to pedal out to Baltimore Rock.

Roy and i might have stumbled on a valley of Lingzillas. The first fish i had on was very large! i could barely move it, then it popped the jig off my 20 pound power pro like it was string. Later i was talking to Royg and he was fishing the same "valley" but a couple hundred feet north and he said he had a similar thing happen to him...Halibut maybe? seemed like not much structure just a valley.

Halibut!

Head shakes on a halibut are very distinct from a lingcod.  I'm no expert, but from my limited experience there is a noticable difference.  Instead of the short, quick pulses or crocodile roll feeling you get from a ling or cabby, they are very wide and pronounced.

That, and a whole lot more weight! 

Great pics!