Tillamook Head Sunday Report 8/19

The fish gods were smiling today!  The waves were tiny, the sun was out, the wind was light and the fish were biting.

Made it to coast around 9:00AM and rounded the head by 10:00AM.  Winds were 5-10 knots from the SW.  Not optimal but I managed to use it to my advantage.  I would paddle upwind and jig for a couple of hundred yards, then paddle a little farther upwind altering my line for the best coverage.
 
By my second pass I had a nice little Rockfish (I'm not sure if it was a blue or a black).  Several fish later and I was into a decent size ling.  Another pass and I had a nice size cabezon to the yak.  This lasted for about 3hrs before I decided to join my 4y/o for some body surfing and short trips on the kayak.

In the end, I came home with 4 fat rockfish a sunburn and a nice ling. 


More newbie notes:
I wouldn't call my kayak "rigged" yet but I have added a Ram mount rod holder up front with an extender. Thanks for the 411 Palegic!  I also added a length of rope running from the bow to my seat clip that allows everything I want tethered to move back and forth with me.  And finally, I anchored a milk crate in back for fish and tackle storage.  All I really need now is a cart.

Nice report! 

Lets see; ram mounted rod holder, bowline/anchor trolley, milk crate,,,, and you caught fish?
Ahhhh, your boat is rigged.

Great day fishing and hung out with the boy too? Sounds like one of the choicest Sunday's possible. Great report!

Lets see; ram mounted rod holder, bowline/anchor trolley, milk crate,,,, and you caught fish?
Ahhhh, your boat is rigged.

I suppose you're right but I'd still like to add an anchor, a drift sock and eventually a fish finder.  All those lines in the yak scare me though.

Great report! Where'd you put it?

Umm, scroll up.   

FFTW made a reply regarding safety knives which I moved to it's own thread ... http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/bb/index.php?topic=510

Spot, where did you launch from?  Nicely done!!!

-Allen

I launched from the open beach north of Tillamook head.  Most days that'd be unthinkable but the ocean was as calm as I've ever seen it. 

I took your and other's advice and made the mad dash to the beach on the back of a wave.  It was the cleanest landing I've made yet.  After unloading fish and gear, I went back out with my son and rode several waves to the beach.  Surprisingly, the Fish-n-Dive handles the soup a lot better than the Explorer.  I think that the tri-hull set-up on the Explorer probably bites into the water too much.  The F-n-D just seems to slip along on its' rounded hull making it much easier to correct when it starts to angle.

Congrats on the great trip.  sounds like you are hooked.  Last week had some great ocean conditions and the fish were cooperating for me also, even managed a coho on a coyote spoon trolled about 3/4 +- mile off the beach.  A drift sock really helps with the boat control when fishing (bottomfish).

A drift sock really helps with the boat control when fishing (bottomfish).

Amen!!!