Good afternoon all, this is my 1st report on this site. Being from Northern Cal, I usually post on another site NCKA. However, I do make frequent trips down south for business and do plan on making some time to do some ya fishing while I'm down there for work
I hope that I will get the privilege to fish with some of y'all!!
Earlier this week, my 16 yr old "nephew" (actually my cousin's nephew, but we're all family) from Denver came to visit our relatives here in Salinas. He and my cousin Mike made an unexpected visit to my shop. It's been a yr and half since I last saw Isaac, and boy did he grow (6'3")!! However, he is still the same great kid that I've always known him as
Isaac looks up to his 2 favorite uncles here in Salinas like we're the baddest motherf'ers alive
But I'm actually just a simple guy (just the way I like it
) Anyways He knew I was into the sport of kayak fishing, and wanted to do it just like Uncle Dan. His grandpa (my uncle) was a fantastic fisherman who taught both me and he when we were lil boys, for which we both are very grateful for. Ever since his unsuccessful battle against cancer a few years back, my relationship with Isaac continued to grow.
I didn't think that I would be able to take him out since things have been hectic ever since my employee quit beginning of this month. However, my girlfriend who was helping me that day when Isaac came by overheard my conversation and offered to take care of the shops so that I can spend time with the kid, YES!!
Original intent was to scout for wsb as there have been whispers of ghosts present in MBay
But course of action changed when my buddy told me that he and a few of our friends have had some success for the past couple days going for the pink meat near Pt. Pinos, both trolling and mooching.
Next morning, I pick up the kid at 4:15am, and we're off to Lover's Pt. I have him set up with a deep six diver, red hot spot dodger and watermelon apex. I went with the deep six diver, uv purple dodger, and "stinky pinky" hoochie/anchovy combo. By 6:45 I had my first bendo!! Pulled the damn rod outta the holder and felt the headshakes. In that instant, the fish decided to swim toward me and I started to reel asap to keep tension on the line. As soon as it saw my 13.5' plastic paddle machine, it took off the other way to the bottom!! I let the fish run and brought the baby back to the surface. Soon as it saw my yak, it took off again. This happen several more times, especially when it saw my fish net lol!! Finally I was able to land that beauty
I let out a "F#*K YEAH!!" that was for brother Eric, as I instantly thought of ya when I landed this beauty
. At that moment, I realized that a boat was coming toward my direction and attempted to hold my ecstatic emotions in, not to let the pb know that I'm onto something lol.
As the boat passed by, I lifted my net out of the water to get a better visual of the fish. However, I really couldn't tell if it was a chinook lol. Unlike others I'm used to seeing, this damn thing looked more like a big rainbow with nice spots on the upper body with a beautiful greenish/reddish tint. I strictly follow the motto "when in doubt, let it go"
Happens to turn out to be a king from what my friends are telling me lol, maybe others can verify. Either way it's always nice to let fish go, and I like to believe that I was awarded for that for the rest of the outing
After putting a new anchovy on, I turned around to start back the troll. BAM another takedown!! Again, the salmon did the same thing like the first one; swims without much resistance toward my yak until it notices me and take several hard runs in the opposite direction. I have to give them much respect, as these fish never gets tired. Gosh, I love that!!
The next 3 hrs otw, I had 6 takedowns: the released keeper, my keeper, 2 shakers, and 2 unbottoned fish (one of those fish gave me a nice BIG silver gleam/shimmer 15' below the surface before it took off and came unbotton).
Besides these, I also c&r 4 olives on the troll and a shaker ling while briefly mooching. But who gives a crap when we've got pink!
As for Isaac, he didn't get much fishing in
By 10:40 we were both back in as Isaac got seasick on a FAC day lol! I even advised him to take a pill to prevent seasickness. His response to me: "I don't get seasick"
All of my hits were in the upper 60' range while trolling around 180'-200'. Lastly, I apologize for the crappy photos. What can I say? I'm a fisherman, not a photographer
Anyways, I hope some of y'all get your pink on!!
