Orc pre fish

I'm going to give it a shot tomorrow.
ETA 0600-0645
Saturday on the water is questionable at best.

I met up with Sherminator and Pmmpete at the ramp on Friday morning.  Thursday was nicer but I had to knock down a head cold.

Thank you Sherminator for the orientation day!  Friday was my first day on the ocean with the kayak.   I'm posting some photos I took while on the water.   I didn't catch fish (and didn't feed them either) but did lose a couple rigs, which I'm told is about par.   The wind made it quite hard later on to hold a position, so it was easy to catch a rig behind a rock or pinnacle.

The morning was breezy but otherwise manageable as seen in the first few photos.  But the breeze picked up all day (to about 20mph my guess) by the time we headed back to the hole.  The quartering swells on the approach from the bell buoy were the most harrowing for me, though Sherminator did guess correctly my eyes got large when I turned about to crest a huge incoming swell.  Call me crazy but it was a fun day on the water!   Glad Sherminator and Pmmpete caught some blacks.

And Thursday I had a special treat while we were casting wedding rings on ultralight gear from the pier when my son pulled in a just-under 27" hatchery steelhead on 6lb braid.  Woo-Hoo!

Wow! What an introduction to the ocean in those conditions. You will really love it when the water is smoother.

Wow! What an introduction to the ocean in those conditions. You will really love it when the water is smoother.

I agree - Dark Tuna got quite the introduction, and he did great! He has experience on the ocean in small craft, so he wasn't a total newbie, but he acted like he had kayaked in those conditions before. I only wish I had gone over and given him some advice on his bottom hook-up a little sooner. I think he hooked a cabbie that took him back into a hole and completely fouled him, while he had a rockfish on an upper hook. DT fought the bottom for probably 30 minutes because he could feel the rockfish (I saw the jerks) but he was solid bottom hooked and had to break it off. Anyway, he learned a few things and showed he's a real salt...

Dark Tuna showing the grin. Look at the flag - probably 15kt wind at that point...



Swells off the north reef were hitting probably 8ft. Notice the mast of whale watching boat at the top right - the mast is over 20ft tall...



fishing wasn't too bad though...

Here are some pictures of kayak fishing outside of Depoe Bay during the two days before the scheduled date of ORC.

Calm before the storm. Magic Mike and I chasing butts off PC. No luck on the halis. Mike was on fire with the lings and rocks.