Pacific City

It was really good to see so many friendly kayak faces out there last weekend. I am sure there are a lot of people I didn't say hi to - sometimes with all our gear on it's hard for me to recognize people. But it was great to see everyone and fun to talk to Casey, Zach, the other Zach, Mojo, onefish, DJ from Nestucca Adventures, snopro (from afar, I think), craig and wobbler (well I saw your trailer anyway)... man there was a couple of friendly new (to me) faces that I'm already forgetting the names of - sorry - it was great to see you all.

Mrs. Redbeard and I were blessed enough to be able to spend both mornings on the water and we decided ahead of time to try some new spots. That combined with some good luck got us some fun AOTY points fish, both of our personal best lingcod, and some new species. Seeing new species in the boat is a huge bonus for me - I really enjoy seeing all these beautiful fish we have here to enjoy.

On Saturday morning we got into the best rockfish top-water bite that I've ever been in. I have experienced this before, but in the past the fish have been on the small side and the bite dies off after a while. Not this time. Mostly 16-18" fish and I'm pretty sure it went on all day. But the cool part was that it stirred up all the other fish too and we caught lingcod mid-column and darn near surface in the same spot (I assume they were looking for easy rockfish meals). I also had a nice ling hitchhiker on a smaller ling, but she let go out of reach of my gaff.

Even the cabezon were stirred up, and Mrs. Redbeard caught this 25.5" in the bottom 1/3rd of the water column, not long before I upgraded my kelp greenling with a beautiful 16.5" female. In the early morning sun the orange fins on her glowed in the water - it was amazing.





After that adventure we charted a course for unknown (to us) waters. I feel like my lingcod game has been lacking this year, in spite of effort, so I have been trying to put in the time to figure out what works for me. Too early to tell if it's just luck or not, but between the last 3 weekends I've gotten my new personal best twice, so I'm feeling more confident I have some locations and baits dialed in and it feels good to have my hard work starting to pay off.

Of course none of that matters to my wife because she just pretty much calls the fish right into her lap on command.



I was even stoked to catch this little canary since I'd never caught one before. He went back home to get bigger.



Another new species for us was a nice quillback rockfish. I've never caught one of these in Oregon and I don't think I've seen one this big, at least not at the depth we were fishing. It was a really cool looking fish.



Mrs. Redbeard hasn't had much time to fish the ocean this year due to her work schedule so I was really happy she got some good fish. Here's her grip'n'grin with the 38.5", 18.5 lb. lingcod.



We were welcomed by beautiful views of the moon each morning.



Sunday morning started out pretty slow for us but after probing around a bit we found some willing biters and then Christine got into a nice vermilion. It was her first and our first in the kayak. It was so vibrantly red and beautiful and later it tasted every bit as good as it looked - easily the best rockfish I've ever eaten.



Another hour into the drift I finally hooked into a good lingcod, my personal best, and got her in the boat. I was really pleased and stoked to get an upgrade. My 31" two weeks ago was pretty skinny but this gal was not! 34", 15lbs.



It was good to see Casey and Zach (the other Zach) on the water!





While we were talking to them Christine just had to go and show off and catch her second 25" cabezon of the weekend. She sent him back to hopefully bite one of our lures next time.



Looking forward to seeing all of you out there again next time! I appreciated the camaraderie and enthusiasm. We are blessed to share this resource and our time on the water together.

Cheers!

Pretty sure that you and Mrs. Redbeard are the coolest kayak anglers ever. So kind and welcoming. I don't like that Mrs. Redbeard is kicking our butts at the saltwater slam, but other than that, coolest yakers ever.


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Great pics!  Wish I could have made it out there.  Can't wait for this weekend!

Redbeard photos are exceptionally colorful and fishy.  Way to go Christine - grip n grin is looking good!! 

Is there a fish cleaning station near PC?

Redbeard photos are exceptionally colorful and fishy.  Way to go Christine - grip n grin is looking good!! 

Is there a fish cleaning station near PC?

Pretty sure there is one right across the way at the campground


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There is one at the campground across the street. The fee to use it is $3.   It is often very crowded. I like to filet my fish at the truck end and use it to clean off the fish. The line can be long on popular days.

What camera are you using for those photos.

Most of the on-the-water photos were from my GoPro. I was using the "take a picture every 3 seconds" (not sure on the timing, something like that) mode. When I pick the ones I like later I do crop them and sometimes make adjustments. I try really hard not to "editorialize" my photos, but I want them to pop.

EDIT: If not the GoPro, then the pictures came from our cell phones.

Great seeing you out there and thanks for getting the only photo of me in my new Hobie haha

You too! Next time I've got to try crabbing out there!

I don't like that Mrs. Redbeard is kicking our butts at the saltwater slam, [emoji6]but other than that, coolest yakers ever.

Look out - a couple of years ago she caught the biggest kelp greenling I've ever seen, so she may climb that ladder further yet! Thank you for your kind words - it is much appreciated. Just trying to "pay it forward" for all the kindness and generosity others have shown me.

Way to go Christine - grip n grin is looking good!!

She's on a trip (non-fishing) or she'd pipe up and say Thank You! 

I haven't met you yet, but your youtube videos have inspired me to get to this point. This weekend will be my 1st ORC, and hopefully I will see you there!

That's awesome! I'm really glad to hear that. I bet you will have an excellent time at ORC - it's hard not to.

Unfortunately I have a scheduling conflict and can't make it this year. I can't wait to see how everyone does. Go get 'em, everyone!

Its Michael from texas, I finally made it back home.  First time out in the pacific was a blast!  Here are some pics I took.

Didn't manage a pic of a larger ling and a smaller one with really nice blue on his face.  Got the meat from 1 ling and 4 seabass? back to Texas on dry ice over 3 days.

Thanks to Patrick for answering my questions and lending a hand.  I know it would not have gone as smoothly had I tried my hand at fishing with no guidance, blind picking a spot on the Oregon coast! 




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Nice meeting you for your brief Oregon ocean trip, not sure of your area or his ( Texas is huge after all) but you need to try to hook up with upnorthtex as the name implies he's from Texas. 

Great to be able to fish with you.
Next year schedule your trip the same time as the Rockfish Classic.
Great people, sometimes great fishing, prizes!
I'm glad we could make the ocean behave for you, come back soon.

Nice to hear you're safe back home with some tasty souvenirs. It was nice to meet you and a pleasure to fish with ya.

Its Michael from texas, I finally made it back home.  First time out in the pacific was a blast!  Here are some pics I took.

Didn't manage a pic of a larger ling and a smaller one with really nice blue on his face.  Got the meat from 1 ling and 4 seabass? back to Texas on dry ice over 3 days.

Thanks to Patrick for answering my questions and lending a hand.  I know it would not have gone as smoothly had I tried my hand at fishing with no guidance, blind picking a spot on the Oregon coast! 




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Pic of the month IMHO...  (could crop out some sky perhaps)