PC report, 08/14/09

Howdy all,

Quickie this time.  No huli.  In fact, I kind of cheated on the launch and landing, as I waded out to about thigh deep, dropped the rudder and mirage drive, and took off through the break during a lull.  I landed pretty much the same way.

Got to the beach at 8 am, didn't launch until about 9 because I was waiting for the tide to go out a little.  Got to watch a couple of unfortunate SCUBA dudes try and launch their Zodiac - water was too low to lift it from the trailer cradle, and they got their truck too far into the wet sand.  Bogged down to the axle hubs.  Luckily, they were right up at the high tide mark, and so the truck didn't get swamped.  A Dory driver dragged them out.  They managed to launch their boat, only to have the ignition crap out on them.

At some points in the day the water was glass smooth.  very little wind for the most part.

Four black rocks, three fattie Cabezons.  The biggest Cab was 22 inches and 5lbs, and the biggest rock was 18+ and 3.5 lbs.  Nice ODFW checker gave me the stats.  I hooked up with an undersize cabbie, and four underlings.  All three of the big cabs were on 3 oz. jig heads with brown/blue 5" swimbaits.  The first cab was actually a triple with two of the black rocks.  Woohoo!  All around the haystack or within 500 yards of it.

Highlight of the day, beside hitting a groundfish limit, was seeing a whale in the kelp on the beachside of the haystack.  I was dropping a jig down when I heard a huge "Sploooooshh!"  behind me.  I turned my head, and saw a plume about 300 yards away, and then the back and then the tail.  The whale hung out for about 30 more minutes, going northbound.  Way cool.

Struck out on the crabs in Netarts, and I have a feeling that someone emptied my pot for me before I got there (no keepers, no undersize, bait was all eaten up), as I dropped a ring in the same spot after pulling the pot, and came up with a female and three undersize males.  I figure I would have had at least a few undersize in the pot for the nine hour soak.

Looks like the ocean is going to get big and angry over the next few days, and I am happy that I managed to get out today.

Sorry, no pics - only had my iphone with me, and was more focused on fishing than on taking pictures of fish.

Cheers,
Madoc

Great report!  Gotta like days that have smooth launches, landings and a bucket of fish to go with it. 

Any pics?

Looks like the ocean is going to get big and angry over the next few days, and I am happy that I managed to get out today.

Ain't that a fact! Been keeping my fingers crossed for Wed, but, overnight, tuesday's forecast just got worse...

Great lil report, despite the crab frustrations.  I really wish the coast was a lil bit closer so I could more easily convince my wife it's worth the drive on short notice.  I also try to make my fishing time at least equal to, if not greater than, the driving time.  That hasn't happened my last two times out to the coast.