Awesome trip to Hobuck beach near neah bay

Okay, I went to Hobuck Beach today.  I didn't make it to any of the rocks because the swell was quite impressive to me, a little man in the middle of this grand universe...I am nothing to the planets, solar systems, galaxies, and spacial expanses.   I gave up, headed back through the surf, and had to hop out to save my frickin' detritus, even with all of it leashed.  It was disastrous, and my wife took a video and I looked bad and I lost my hat and glasses...we old farts acting young since we're tougher than the average hew-manns...I'm still trying to pressurize my frickin' ears...  If I go back to Hobuck, it will be to surf fish in a wetsuit with a pfd and I'm going to catch the hell out of the surf perch, damn it!!!  And I'll filet over 15 of them and eat them...

welcome to the club... we've all been there........several times.  But dang it makes great stuff to talk about later around the campfire. Glad you are safe.  doug

I recently decided that I would like to have a buddy or two or three along when i head out on the ocean. Very recently...two nights ago, in fact, I was talking to a commercial fisher friend of mine, and he told me that about two weeks ago, he spotted a large fin that he was certain was a Great White, just 1/4 mile south of the South Jetty here. This man is a surfer who has witnessed a Great White attack a fellow surfer in the lineup (Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, attack on the late Kenny Doudt in Nov 1979). He's seen a few out fishing, too. He claims that the fin he saw cruising not too far outside the outer surf break was definitely that of a GW.  
He regularly trolls for Tuna, (but now, of course, this boat is trolling for Kings) and know what a Thresher or Blue looks like.

This should be of no really great concern, since commercial fishers always talk about GW sightings, etc and never officially report them. Its pretty commonplace for commercial fishers to see all kinds of sea creatures when they are out there all the time. The GWs are out there, they say, but its just not that common to sight them.

Yeah, a buddy or two or three would certainly improve my own odds of not being the chosen one! How much do those electronic shark shields cost?

My Tarpon is "mango."  Shark attracting colors, they say. I wish I would have gotten "sand"  "camo" or something less bright, powerboaters be damned! I wonder if I can spray paint it? "Camo overcast grey" would be good.
My new longboard is glassed with a "resin swirl" paint job on the bottom, in  light green and blue... sort of a "whitewater camo."

Alfonso, yowsa! Glad you made it back in OK.

@ConeHead - I don't doubt you for a moment. 3 summers ago I had been halibut fishing at Neah Bay with my dad and the warm water was definitely in because of the presence of mackerel and sunfish. The water was that crystal clear blue ocean water so visibility was very good. We brought the fish up to about 10ft under the boat when a shark that was approx 13-16' long (and VERY big around in the midsection) circled the halibut. We both looked at each other and started to say "s-s-sh-h-aaark! - I can still remember the goosebumps that I got from seeing it (we were in an 18' boat so the shark was almost as long as the boat) - I ended up grabbing an oar and betting it on the side of the boat to try and get the shark to go away, and we didn't see it again after that and did land the halibut. I spoke to a couple tribal fisherman the next day and one mentioned they caught a baby GW in a net about 2 weeks prior to that. I also spoke with WDFW to confirm what I saw. I'm a highly skeptical person but the size of the jaws on the fish, the circumference of the belly, the white and gray color tones, all lead me to be 99% sure my father and I saw one that day out at Neah Bay.

Back on topic though - I am headed out to Hobucks Aug 20-23 to try my hand at 'Yak fishing in the area. I've been camping there for the last 26 years (I am 26/yo) about 2 to 10 times per year, and it is interesting to see how much that place has changed. Long ago it was all fisherman, then it was fisherman and surfers, then the kayakers came, I guess it is coming full circle now with kayak fisherman being there. Hopefully the fog won't be too bad, but Neah Bay in August usually = fog of the pea soup variety

Soleman, thanks for the story. A surfer friend of mine (my ex-GF's son), likes Hobuck for taking his kids and nephew up there to give 'em surf lessons and camp out. He says its a mellow spot for that. Good times!
Your plans sound like fun. Decent looking tides, too.  Should be a good trip. I don't know if I can get my act together for that, but I've been meaning to head up that way.
Earlier in the year, Holt and I were talking about doing a Lake Ozette camping trip this summer. (Holt! We have to zero in on those plans).

I was over on the Piscatorial Pursuits forum just now and found this recent thread, titled "Weird stuff at Westport" :  
http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/615279/Weird_stuff_at_Westport.html#Post615279

Hey Alfonso, you're too young to play the "old fart" card. I've been trying to hold off from doing that, myself!  I tried once, sometime last year, but an old timer in his late 80's just laughed at me.
I'll be 60 next month, so maybe I'll keep that one up my sleeve, just in case.

I think I'll try to go surfing today. Sure, Its not hard to struggle into the wetsuit and paddle out! Its not even hard to catch a wave. Its the process that used to be known as "popping to my feet" that has corroded into "crawling into a half crouch and then wiping out" that provides the challenge.

My Tarpon is "mango."  Shark attracting colors, they say. I wish I would have gotten "sand"  "camo" or something less bright, powerboaters be damned! I wonder if I can spray paint it? "Camo overcast grey" would be good.

Paint the bottom light blue with clouds.  You want it to look like sky from underneath.  

Good suggestion, demonick. A light blue and light gray camo. But only after I see if i can improve the torturous footpegs into really ergonomic footrests. If I can't do that, I'm getting rid of my Tarpon. The footpegs as they now exist are almost intolerable for a "stiff old fart" like me. (Hey, that card up the sleeve comes in handy!)

Hey tenderfoots, try these; http://www.austinkayak.com/products/1691/Wilderness-Systems-Padded-Foot-Pedals.html
 

Thanks for the link, WR. Those might work. I was already thinking of a full-foot design that sticks up higher from the floor of the cockpit. I was going to cut out some similar to the full foot design Native Watercraft used in my Ultimate 12.
Then I'll figure out a way to attach them directly to the existing pegs, slanting up at an ergonomic angle (not with a vertical face). These will be at least 11" long, maybe 12". Full-sized to match the soles of my booties. Slanted up from the floor at just the right angle, so that the sole of my foot contacts the foot-rest face 100% naturally flush.
Its not the lack of padding: its that the current set-up doesn't match up with my feet in any way that might be considered ergonomic. Current pegs seem too small, set at a bad angle, and set too low for my feet to contact them anywhere but in the arch.

For my particular, (probably unique to my own old carcass - Ha! "old age card!") feet, the standard footpegs that came on my Tarpon are just a really shitty, non-ergonomic design.

It'll be easier to make my own foot rests than to replace my feet!

Dude, when you start thinking of yourself as old you are old.

having size 14 1/2 EEEE feet i can relate to the non ergonomic issues. try finding shoes that size isn't easy.

also look online for "gas pedals for kayaks" or similar wording. there is a lot available , mostly from the DIY SInK side of the house

with your home engineering skills, i think we'll soon see a post from you showing off your new foot pedal adaptations...

Yeah, just up until a couple of years ago, I'd look in the mirror and still see that youngster looking back at me.
However, I keep getting comments from certain "sticks-in-the-mud" i know (mainly family members) like, "Hey man, you're not 19 going on 20...you're 19 going on 60!"

I just laugh at 'em.

They don't approve of my "risky" recreational pursuits. They all probably assumed that I would become a sedentary slug or somethin' after 50. Not so! Not at all! I'm back to feeling like I'm never gonna let that happen, as long as I can crawl to the water with some kind of paddle craft, be it yak or surf stick!

Unfortunately, no one else in my family has a clue as to how to really have fun, so I don't let that influence me. They seem to dwell on depressing subjects, like money and security. They never want to hear about any fishing or surfing...I see them get bored and cringe at the mere mention...  None of them have ever been fisher persons. My brother tried surfing, but didn't last long at it.

You are dead spot on there, demonick. I can't let these sorry lost souls bring me down!  I just have to conquer my cramping. I suspect having ingested two ibuprofen before heading to the beach dehydrated me...Even though I drink plenty of H2O, I think i've noticed a correlation between ibuprofen and getting leg cramps. I hadn't taken any on the times I didn't get cramped, and always seem to get them when I do eat any. So I'm ditching that stuff until after the sessions, and doing yoga more often to keep my leg and ankles more supple.

I'll be 60 years young in less than 4 weeks! My new 8' longboard still has to sit a bit so that the glass job properly cures to full strength before I'm going to ride it, but I'm hoping to get that first session in with it sometime in the next couple of weeks. My old 7'2" that I made myself still is plenty good!

I always chuckle a bit, and sometimes feel like a fraud, when I slip that "old age card" from my sleeve!

Thanks, WR, I'll search for the "gas pedals!"

 The 'senior card" plays well in restaurants, and the ferry system.