Depot Bay Sat AM

Starting a new thread to check on who plans on fishing out of DB and what time folk are launching tomorrow morning. My first trip to the ocean and based on the advice from the Ocean Newbie thread I think I am prepared. Safety all done. Fishing we will see. looking forward to it.

Mango Outback
Yellow Dry Suit
I look like the Oscar Mayer Wiener Wagon

The previous thread made the perfect breaking strength line for rockfishing clear as mud, right?   

I'm gunning for an 0630 arrival.  Will probably park in the county park section of the lot, because I have a feeling the boat trailer lot's gonna be packed and they'll need every trailer space they can get.  The county park is to the far right (east) of the parking area, just east of the bathrooms and fish cleaning station.  No issue with parking there as long as you have wheels to cart your kayak to the ramp.

The mid-day wind forecast has me a bit leery on how far I want to prospect for salmon, so I may end up on the reef sooner than I originally thought.  The couple reports I read on iFish recently of power boats prospecting between Newport and Waldport reported zero salmon success, but it's a big ocean and very few people are looking.

If you see a silver F150 with a rack and a guy unloading an ivory dune Revo 13, feel free to come say hi  .  I'll have my radio on 69 too if you want a salmon report.

I'm planning on Sunday since weather will be more favorable.
Trying to be in the launch by 7am and this is my second time in Depoe bay from all the way from WA.
Anyone coming on Sunday, I'll be on CH 69.

Hobie PA 17
Dark blue Honda Odyssey
Mango Dry Suit mid 40 Asian guy.

-Ken

I was there this morning, pulled in around 7. Paddled out with two Hobies. Yikes! The forecast didn't indicate the kinds of slop that we're present. Very rough and multi directional. Really fast south drift. I didn't stay out more than 2 hours. I did however get a 29 inch ling, 2 nice black rockfish and a petrale or flounder or some sort. I will be posting a picture of the mystery flat fish.

The swell was fine, but that wind chop sucked.  When I saw the Newport buoy was reading 10-15 knot winds at 0500 this morning, I had a feeling it was going to be a bumpy ride today.  I ditched my plans to prospect for Chinook and just wanted to get my lings and get outta there.  Action was so-so for me: about a dozen lings and a couple big blacks while drifting herring.  I launched around 0700, off the water a bit before noon.

Silver lining was that the two lings I harvested (27 and 29 inches) were of the blue variety.  Taste just the same as the white-fleshed ones, but it's neat and usually becomes a topic of conversation for dinner guests.

Drifter2007, looking forward to seeing the flatfish pics!  So far my Depoe flatfish catch has consisted of butter sole, sand sole, petrale sole, and Pacific sand dab.


Oh, and Casey lost both his arms trying to pull out snags today  .

It was a fun morning of fishing. It was pretty bumpy for sure. There was an ok bite, but no monsters. Clayman was chomping at the bit to get video of me loosing an arm today!
Check out this Fukushima lingcod herp! Seriously though, any thoughts on what the cause of this is?

It was a fun morning of fishing. It was pretty bumpy for sure. There was an ok bite, but no monsters. Clayman was chomping at the bit to get video of me loosing an arm today!
Check out this Fukushima lingcod herp! Seriously though, any thoughts on what the cause of this is?

Rudolf the red nosed lingcod?

I believe it is a Petrale Sole. My first flattie from a kayak. I did btw hang up and yes I did have a little issue breaking off the line, actually straightened the swivel.

The swell was fine, but that wind chop sucked.  When I saw the Newport buoy was reading 10-15 knot winds at 0500 this morning, I had a feeling it was going to be a bumpy ride today.  I ditched my plans to prospect for Chinook and just wanted to get my lings and get outta there.  Action was so-so for me: about a dozen lings and a couple big blacks while drifting herring.  I launched around 0700, off the water a bit before noon.

Silver lining was that the two lings I harvested (27 and 29 inches) were of the blue variety.  Taste just the same as the white-fleshed ones, but it's neat and usually becomes a topic of conversation for dinner guests.

Drifter2007, looking forward to seeing the flatfish pics!  So far my Depoe flatfish catch has consisted of butter sole, sand sole, petrale sole, and Pacific sand dab.


Oh, and Casey lost both his arms trying to pull out snags today  .

Nice lings!  I love the color of the blue ones.

Question for you though.  Do you bleed out your fish and put on ice while still out on the water? 

I believe it is a Petrale Sole. My first flattie from a kayak. I did btw hang up and yes I did have a little issue breaking off the line, actually straightened the swivel.

Nice fish!  That's a sand sole.  Best way to tell them apart from the rest is to find the "free rays" on the dorsal fin just behind the head.  No other flatfish have the free rays.  The first picture I posted below shows the free rays.  The second photo is of a petrale, which can be best ID'ed with the large mouth and the "point" in the middle of the caudal fin.  Both are excellent tablefare.

Nice lings!  I love the color of the blue ones.

Question for you though.  Do you bleed out your fish and put on ice while still out on the water? 

Thanks!  Yes on the bleeding.  I'll immediately slice a few gill rakers while they're still in the net, then let the blood pump out for a minute or so.  But I don't normally bring any ice with me OTW.  It was in the low 50-degree range and cloudy out there today, so I just laid them in the boat.  If it's a sunny day, I'll drape a wet towel over the fish and dunk the towel occasionally to keep them cool.  Then when I get back to the ramp, they go into an ice-filled cooler in the back of my truck.

This has always yielded an excellent product for me.  Kills me when I see people filleting fish that obviously weren't bled.  If we're going to go the distance of buying the gear, going out, and catching the fish, why not spend a few minutes taking care of the catch?

RIP Casey's arms.