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Old 04-09-2012, 06:24 PM   #1
winklecl
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Pacific City adventure 4/7 (Pics added 4/11)

I had a crazy day this last Saturday. Warning, this is long. If you're only looking for the results, page to the bottom. I don't have pics BUT they do exist.

The morning found me orating in Troutdale, OR to a bunch of scientists who've likely never set foot in a wetsuit and thus didn’t understand my hurry. At 12:09 pm, just moments after I'd answered the last question on my talk, I grabbed a sandwich from the buffet and (near as a big guying trying to be inconspicuous can) sprinted to the truck to make the 2.5 hour drive to Pacific City. I rolled up to see that the ocean was everything MSW promised it to be. I jammed the truck into 4 wheel and managed to avoid most of the small dogs and children attempted to block my path to the water.

As I was (very hurriedly) getting ready, a fellow with a spear gun approached me. Turns out, it was Josh (of No, I'm Josh)! He was beach diving; heading out toward the marine garden on the point. I thought to myself "that will never do, plus I should have a buddy to report last know location etc" so I offered him a tow on the yak out to the haystack. He seemed skeptical that this guy he'd only just met was offering to drag him a half mile out into the Pacific. People these days; so untrusting . Josh thought it over and after one round of refusal and re-invitation, he agreed.

I paddled out past the "breakers" if you can call them that, while he got prepped. As I sat there, I thought "geez it's nice today, I could probably just have him sit on the yak in front of me". So that's what we did. The Cobra fish n dive proved its 600lb rating.

We dropped anchor about 30 yards off the rock. Vis was a hazy 6-10'. Pretty awesome for these parts. Josh got in first, already being set from his swim and popped a black before I'd even exited the yak. Good start. I'd been poking around for may be 30 minutes before I'd noticed that Josh had hauled out on the yak. I thought something was wrong, but it turned out to be something very right. He'd taken his first ever ling, a beauty large enough to give his shaft a nice little bow. It went 32" and I'd guess was around 15+lbs. I spite of equipment malfunction Josh carried on to take a very nice stringer of blacks, a greenling and a fat ol' perch.

For myself, I took a limit of rockfish but the lings didn't working for me. I only saw two, both of which saw me first. They just weren't hanging in the caves I was looking in. On the plus side, I did manage my first Oregon cab which was a PB 27". These are one of my favorite fish to eat, and I'm super excited they're open to take again. I was also able (I think) to show Josh how/where to take rock scallops, but was disappointed to find their numbers were down in the area. I think in the end we took 10 or so.

The fun didn't stop there... as we were finishing up I discovered we'd managed to lose the kayak paddle. Definitely a "D'oh!!!!" moment on my part. By standing up on the kayak, Josh was able to see it not too far away (couple hundred yards). Word to the wise, 1) use a paddle leash 2) lock you paddle blades at 90 degrees (thanks for the info Josh), they are easier to see from a distance! During the search however, my splashing around like a dying seal (which luckily didn't attract the man in the grey suit) managed to get a good deal of water into the tank well which I'd stupidly left open. Needless to say, the yak was now VERY heavy with all the fish, gear, humans and water. Josh being a trooper wrestled my long blades awa...er, volunteered to swim for the beach will I tried to mount the now VERY squirrely yak. After dumping it only once (didn't lose anything thanks to the now full tank well), I managed to get on board and gingerly head for shore. Ever had your power steering go out at a stop light and try and do a U turn? Yeah, that's what it was like. Amazing the kayak was still floating fine, just low in the water. Thanks to the low surf I was able to land without too much problem and save a little face.

Having kissed the sandy shore, I suddenly realized that it was like 7:30pm and heading towards dark. I checking my phone and found the obligatory "TRY to get your butt home EARLY for a change message". I laughed a little and tried to hurry. I dropped Josh at his camp site, shook some hands took some pics and headed out. I didn't get home 'til 10pm and was cleaning fish/scallops and gear until 1:47am. Yeah it was a good day. Any my wife hasn't filed yet.
Thanks to Mother Ocean for the bounty and Josh for the company. Please chime in here and post the pics if you can.

Report abstract:

Location: Pacific City OR
Vehicle: Two crazy guys in a kayak
Conditions: Calm, 6-10' vis
Divers: Josh and Clayton
Game taken: black rockfish, greenling, surf perch, china rockfish, lingcod, cabezon and rock scallops
Fish highlights: 32" lingcod (Josh), 27" cabezon (Clayton)
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Last edited by winklecl; 04-11-2012 at 02:23 PM. Reason: Added pics
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Old 04-09-2012, 06:49 PM   #2
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Sounds fun guys! Great report!
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Old 04-09-2012, 07:17 PM   #3
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Awesome report! Loved all the detail. Let's hope Josh doesn't think all the Lings are that big.... 32" is a nice ling and 27" is a great cab!!
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Old 04-09-2012, 11:07 PM   #4
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Clayton - Awesome report! Had me right there with you! Maybe Josh can change out that pan of cockroaches in his current avatar for a picture of that ling!

32" is a big ling - but that 27" cab tops it for being really special. That is a huge cab, and that will be hard to beat for a long time. Really glad for you both!

And next time - carry a bilge pump in that kayak!
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Old 04-09-2012, 11:42 PM   #5
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Hey, did Josh use that telephone pole that he tries to pass off for a gun or did he get something a little more manageable?
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Old 04-10-2012, 03:54 PM   #6
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

That's awesome! It seems that I should have headed up to PC instead of going down to Newport last Saturday.
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Old 04-10-2012, 04:59 PM   #7
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Quote:
Originally Posted by LAURANCE View Post
Hey, did Josh use that telephone pole that he tries to pass off for a gun or did he get something a little more manageable?
He was packing a Omer. Looked to be a about an 80cm. I wouldn't have let him on the boat if he'd had anything bigger .
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Old 04-10-2012, 09:03 PM   #8
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Josh said he was going diveing Sat. Glad to here he got some fish and good vis. Don't knock Josh for his big guns...Clayton could of used it as a spare paddle!
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Old 04-10-2012, 11:00 PM   #9
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

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Originally Posted by nwsportsman View Post
josh said he was going diveing sat. Glad to here he got some fish and good vis. Don't knock josh for his big guns...clayton could of used it as a spare paddle! :d
lol!!!
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Old 04-11-2012, 02:03 PM   #10
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

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Originally Posted by Nwsportsman View Post
Josh said he was going diveing Sat. Glad to here he got some fish and good vis. Don't knock Josh for his big guns...Clayton could of used it as a spare paddle!
Excellent point. You've obviously thought this through more than I have.
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Old 04-11-2012, 02:25 PM   #11
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Thanks Lars for sticking up for me. The dropped paddle could only have been my fault though. This whole fishing from a kayak, cold water PNW thing is new to me so beware of that anyone who offers to share a day diving with me. :P
My hesitation to join Clayton in his kayak was because I was having a hard time believing he really wanted me to join him. I also was having a hard time believing my own dumb luck. I rock up expecting a murky shored dive then a fellow spearo offers to not just show me a honey hole but to paddle me there too??!!! Wow, sign me up!
Because of my over-weighted and awkward dry-suit (the air compresses when you dive along with your floatation so it's a struggle to get off the bottom once you get there), I stayed within a 50' radius of the kayak so that I could rest/hang from it. All the fish I got was just right there, proving Clayton's local knowledge. I lost my flopper on my second ling that was deep and in a cave and leaving me in no mood to go in after him. That was still early in the dive though, so I continued on without my flopper. I really liked it as it enabled me to get rid of my fish quickly and it seemed to help my accuracy too (I went five for eight fish stoned).
The swim back was a little hair raising. I swam on my back, navigating blindly well away from Clayton. We must have made quite a site for anyone watching with binoculars. Besides feeling like shark bait, the adventure ended well with memories for a lifetime. Thanks to Clayton for helping me to bag my first Lingcod, Greenling and Black Rock Fish. The Greenling went to 17" and the Black Rock to 18", stoked! I also wanted to say thanks to Laurance for his advice to me.
Here's some pics. Sorry Clayton to not have any of just you and your epic Cabezon.

My fish and my peashooter.
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Old 04-11-2012, 03:46 PM   #12
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Nice pictures. Glad you guys had fun!
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Old 04-11-2012, 08:53 PM   #13
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Great job, guys. Way to go Josh for your first ling, sure beats the bullheads. By the way what gun were you using...whatever it was it was working
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Old 04-11-2012, 09:33 PM   #14
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

Thanks Laurance. It's an old Omer I have for shooting fish in holes. My shaft is a 100cm but it's no good. It's soft steel and bent in about 5 different places and sometimes even needs to be straightened if the shaft goes through a fish and hits a rock too hard. Definitely lost time on truing my arrow between fish. I'm going to chop down a Rob Allen shaft I have and see if I can successfully replicate the trigger end of the shaft so I don't have to go through the hassle of drilling out another flopper hole. Wish me luck!
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Old 04-12-2012, 06:52 PM   #15
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Re: Pacific City adventure 4/7

clayton, in one of those pics i swore i saw a china rock. am i mistaken? i love those things! that heavy crab diet makes them delicious!
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