Sunday. Sunday! SUNday?

Non-selective Coho Season:
Season: Open Sept. 2 through the earlier of Sept. 30 or 7,900 (updated) coho quota Bag Limit: All salmon. Two salmon per day"

I think we're good to go for wild coho OR chinook unless I'm reading it wrong?

Fred "True" Trujillo

Sounds great!

Blue Hobie Revo 16, launching around 7.  I'd like to put some names and faces together so please say hi if you see me.   

I'll be in the 13 ft. Gray Hobie Revo with "Ms. Salma" on the side... Hoping to get in the water by sunrise, drop pots, fish for salmon south of the rock, check pots and go from there.

Monitoring channel 69? What do people usually stick with out there when they're in their kayaks?

Fred "True" Trujillo

I plan on launching by 6:30, dropping pots, and fishing for salmon first, then rockfish.  I only check the pots once, on the way back in.  I plan on being off the water by 10 or 11 at the latest.  Beach looked pretty crowed after 11 today.

Any PC fishing reports on the salmon and/or rockfish?  Trying to talk myself into making the drive for Tuesday

Deptrai, nice fish from Depoe Bay

Report on salmon: Yes...but not the report that I was hoping to give as I got skunked.... I was mainly working south of the rock that apparently did produce yesterday. 
I did hear of some other kayakers hooking into Coho, and on the radio there were some Dory fisherman reporting (or bragging about) an early return to the beach because they reached their limits. However, by no means it was hot, as most folks that I spoke to got none. Still worth the drive and give it a try though!

Crabbing was phenomenal with quite some crab exceeding 2.5 lbs.

What a whirlwind of a trip!

I left The Gorge around 3:20 a.m., passed through burning Cascade Locks and got to Milepost 1 in Portland where a spinout had just occurred not 30 seconds before I passed by. There were people who had just pulled over to help and it looked like one of the drivers may have rabbited from the scene without their car. I continued through Banks and Timber that greeted me with multiple deer sightings on my way to Pacific City. Arriving around 5:50 (that's what happens when no one's in my way on the freeway), I was greeted by an army of Dory fishermen. I suited up and drove down to the beach to be greeted by Cosmo and Stinger Hook. We dragged our kayaks into the water for a pretty uneventful launch. The only issue for me was my stupid marine radio. The "rechargeable" battery on it only seemed to last for an hour or so even though I'd charged it for the last day and a half. 

On the water we went to drop our crab traps after passing a few choice swells on the way. As a Boogie Boarder, those breaks were pretty choice, as a kayaker, not so much. I was even more impressed by Cosmo's "over-the-shoulder crab trap release." TOTAL power move. I liked the technique, but I'll have to work on my core a little more before attempting it. #futurebayeraspirincommercial

From there I prepped for salmon and marked a couple of fish at 40 feet but didn't get any strikes for the next hour and a half. I did get a little salad on the line, but that was it. Switching to rockfish gear I tenderized the rocks below, but again, there was nothing to show for it.

The funny moment of the day for me was running into one of the vice principals of the school I teach in west of Haystack Rock. I called him and he looked around like, "What the Hell?! Who knows me out here?" We got a selfie, talked a bit and he excused himself to vomit on his way in to shore. "I don't know how you guys do it out here without blowing chunks." I told him not to go far as the chum was good for fishing."

Around 9:30 I decided to head back to the crab traps. I hadn't put a ping on my spot, but I was pretty sure I'd remembered how far from the rock I was when I dropped it. Sure enough, it was right where I remembered leaving it. I pulled it out and all of a sudden started marking fish on my Eagle 350. Well, of course, those were crab escaping from my trap! I pulled faster to find that there were still lots of fat crab in it. My next feat was to see how I was going to bring that almost full trap onto my Hobie Revo (i.e., putting a square peg into a round hole). After several minutes of contemplating it, and losing a few more crab to boot, I turned it sideways and pulled it right into my lap. From there I let it lay upside down in the front of my kayak. I didn't see any females right away so I started heading in.

On my way in I passed Stinger Hook and asked if he needed any help pulling in his trap. He said, "No, I should be able to handle it." "Are you sure." "Yes. I think I'll be fine." I wished him luck and landed pretty smoothly. I quickly went through my crab and kept the 12 biggest in my trap, throwing back 10 or more while I was answering questions that the tourists had. I'm amazed at how many parents let their kids just come right in to start touching crab with no hesitation or knowledge as to what a good sized crab claw will do to tiny fingers.

I hauled my kayak back to my Ridgeline and rested a bit. Stinger Hook came around 40 minutes later and said, "You were right. I should have had you give me a hand." He finally got the trap into his 'yak with a little work, but I'm sure it was a bear to grapple with.

Cosmo came up and had his limit of crab as well as well as a few rockfish. He'd missed a couple of coho and was a little deeper in the water than I was when he hooked them. I was sad to hear he'd lost them at the net. I hate that, but he said just a little slack gives them enough time to throw that barbless hook. That makes me think about bringing out my 12 foot salmon rod when I fish out there...

Overall, I think it was a great trip. That I didn't bring back any rockfish or salmon wasn't so bad as long as I got a fat limit of crab. Thanks to everyone who made it. It had been two years since I'd last gotten out on ocean to fish. Thankfully the kayaking skills hadn't atrophied. I look forward to my next trip out there. Anyone know of any good crab trap core exercises I can do in the meantime?

Fred "True" Trujillo

Well, I definitely WANTED all of them, but that'll be something I'll do from this point on. Thanks! Good looking fish by the way.

Fred "True" Trujillo

I know its a chore and I haven't found an efficient way to sort from the deck.  I also struggle with where to put all the guys once you pick out the 12 you want to keep.  I've been storing them in my landing net, but that hasn't worked too well. 

Dave

I soak them with my bilge pump on the ride in and drop the pot back in the surf once I jump out. Fish checker and the ODFW guy have been there multiple times without saying you can't bring them in to standing water and sort, this is also how we do it in the bay and has never been an issue. I'll call my contact guy at the Tillamook ODFW office and text my OSP game enforcement contact.

Thanks for checking!

Fred "True" Trujillo

Looks like we will need to start teaming up and bow sorting 

As for transporting your keepers, stop in at Tillamook Sporting Goods and grab a cheap burlap sack... put the CLOSED end center on your big game clip... soak and use to cover your fish while jigging...... fill with crabs then "stitch" the opening closed on your big game clip.... if no crabs then turn the sack inside out over your fish to keep the sand out as you eat a shitsandwich in the surf.

Yesterday was a great day on the water.  I launched with Fred just after sunrise, dodging the dory guys where were in a hurry to get into the water. They must have all anticipated a short fishing day, as they all parked very close to the water.  I of course, parked as close to the hill as possible.

We dropped the crab pots on a spot I have marked on the fishfinder, southeast of the rock, in 50 feet of water.  My goal was to troll for the majority of time, and then jig for rock fish once I got some salmon, or I when I needed to give the pedals a break.  I rigged up with a konezone flasher, dicks surespin and a herring, with 10oz of lead.  12 oz would have been ideal, but 10 was the heaviest I had. It was my first time trolling in the open ocean, so this was mainly an experimental trip.

I trolled from my crab pot spot, out to the yellow buoy, adjusting my line from 15, 25, 30, 40ft.  I could see fish cruising at 20 ft, and also what looked like fish at 10ft.  Not in big numbers but they were consistent.   About 20 mins into my first troll, the rod goes down hard.  it took everything I had to leave the rod in the holder.  I grabbed and it was fish  on for about 10 seconds, and then it came unbuttoned.  I wasn't upset, as I wasn't sure I was doing things right, rather I was excited, thinking "we are having salmon tonight", only 20 mins in and I had one on!

I rebaited and continued to troll around the yellow buoy, at 25-30 ft.  I could hear the dory guys on the radio saying they were catching fish at 60-200ft.  I couldn't see any dory guys within sight, so I thought they were out way deeper.  About 45 minutes later, the rod goes down again.  I grab the rod, set the hook and it's fish on. The fish starts peeling line, and I'm sure this one is hooked well.  A few minutes later, I can see the flasher in the water, and 10 ft on the line counter.  The fish isn't tiring out, it swims by, and its a chrome bright coho zipping by.  In my mind, I already have this fish photographed, filleted and on the grill.  I managed to get the net out of the rod holder, while the fish was still on the line with tension.  As I was setting the net down on the deck, the fish darts toward me, and there is a split second of slack, and he came unbuttoned.  This time, I wasn't so happy, and will have to edit the expletives out of the video.

Never the less, two hook ups in 2 hours was pretty awesome, given that I hadn't heard of any other kayakers getting into any salmon.  After that I trolled a bit longer, then went to one of my favorite spots in 120 ft, west off the rock. Two drops, 4 huge rock fish in the boat, then a small canary, and a short Cabazon, both released.  The 4 rocks were enough for several fish tacos, and were all I needed to keep.

I then decided to troll again as I went to get the crab pot.  I am very curious as to what fish were in that 10-15ft range, possibly coho, I'm thinking, but I couldn't get any to bite again.

I arrived at my crab pot.  I only check the pots once, on the way in.  Fred had radioed earlier that he had a limit in his pot, so I knew mine was going to be full.  As I began pulling the pot, I could feel that it was a heavy one.  I got the pot to the surface, and looked over the side to see a giant crab standing on top of the pot. I quickly reached down and grabbed him, and threw him in the foot well before he could escape.

The way I sort my crabs, is resting the trap over the top of the pedals, but within reach.  As I pull the crabs out, I gauge them, and put the keepers in the foot well, and try to keep count.  These crabs were huge. I had 17 keepers and 5 females in one pot.  As I sorted through the keepers, I looked for the biggest ones, all well past the legal size.  Next, I make sure the shells are firm, as the soft shell crabs have so little meat, they aren't worth keeping.  Turns out I only had one soft shell, the rest were perfect.  The 12 keepers go back into the pot, along with the rope and buoy, and over my shoulders into the well behind me, on its side, in between the rod holders.

I will be back out there soon, this time with 12 oz of lead for the troll.

I haven't found an efficient way to sort from the deck.  I also struggle with where to put all the guys once you pick out the 12 you want to keep.

Here's what works for me:

I sit sideways with both my legs over the same side of the kayak. I pull the pot/trap up into my lap and turn it on one end so the crab fall down there. It's now resting on my feet at one end and my lap on the opposite end. I open the end facing me, and reach in to get them one at a time. Unless it's really rough you can let go with one hand for a few seconds to measure, etc.

As far as storage I use a cotton bag that hunters use to put game meat from the field in. I hang that off the opposite side of the kayak in the water, attached with the drawstring. When I select a keeper, I open up the top of the bag, push it in down a ways, and cinch the top shut again so they don't swim out. When I'm ready to move I put the bag (it will drain slowly) in the tank well, at my feet, or on my lap. The wet bag will keep them alive for hours as long as they don't get too hot.

Hope this helps!

Nice write up, Cosmo!  Reading it felt like I was there.  Makes me want to get out and try.