Breaking In The Old Boat At Central Coast

[Sharphooks]

Knowing my timing was off, knowing I'd more then likely missed the bulk of the Hakai push, I dropped in the boat at PH and decided to bust a move.

I’d just lost a girlfriend and a mother all in the same week so there was a lot of emotional havoc going on in my life---my usual approach when stuff like that happens is take a trip solo into the unknown...

Bumped into F/V Mackai --Ian on the way out --- he confirmed my worst suspicions---it's a narrow window up there and with 2012 not exactly shaping up to be be a barn-burner of a year for springs, he cautioned that I was probably making a low-probability move by going north instead of just staying put.

But I've never been to that part of the world before and if nothing else, I knew I'd catch some fantastic scenery. So I pushed off out of PH and headed north


On the way past C. Caution I C&R'd a nice tyee---as it swam away I questioned the logic of doing that on a down spring year ---I reminded myself there might not be another one-----but it was too early in the trip for the wood shampoo and I also knew I was heading to a part of the world where you don't get ice unless you're flown in by airplane against a very pricey ticket.

Made it to Rivers with no drama, promptly donated a downrigger ball to a ledge off Cranstown Point---a subtle reminder why in this part of the world most people mooch....

Lots of bait but no joy so I headed up Fitzhugh Channel to the Promised Land. By noon I stumbled into this place where I dropped the hook for the night---

Unreal----could have been a beach in Bali:

The next morning I mixed it up with the mosquito fleet at The Gap---never saw a fish and realized that hanging with the Lodge Crowd was not what I needed. So I turned the bow north again.

The scenery up there is like nothing I've ever seen before in my life---the rocks are totally different then what you see around PH---it's like a group of Incas swooped in, took a bunch of mescaline, and created an island chain:

I couldn't crack the code of the up close and personal kelp thing---every time I got near the kelp I ended up with a ling. I got the feeling that if there were any springs around in any kind of numbers, they'd beat the lings to my bait so maybe, just maybe, they weren't around. I'd missed them

So I concentrated on the cliff drop-offs to get away from the lings ---one nice cliff in particular had zero bottom fish in the area so I put the screws in. This is what the chart plotter looked like after fishing it for a couple of tides:

 

[Sharphooks]

But it paid off--- I picked up a couple of low 3 fish, both on this:

Gotta put the fish **** in ---when you fish solo there ain't no grip n' grin hero shots that your buddy takes so I thought I'd turn it into a landscape shot:

Got a few cookie cutters with shoulders on them like this:

I also got into a plague of coho---they were like locusts.

I think with one hand, God created coho to make guys think they're salmon fishermen. With the other hand, God created springs to make people aspire to become salmon fishermen.

I was thrilled to pick up a few of those, even though they didn't have the size on them we all dream about. It would have been nice to stick around longer and try and capitalize on what I'd learned for the time I put in. But the ice clock started ticking --- that's the down-side of a body count--- I was forced back to Rivers to protect the bounty

All in all, a fantastic trip. Unreal scenery, got a few nice fish without the mosquito fleet breathing down my neck---lots of strong joojoo going on up there in that part of the world---I hope to get back up there on a better spring year with better timing.

Here's a mood shot to top things off:

 

[Sculpin]

Awesome report sharphooks! Great pictures and story to go with them. I enjoyed that a lot. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
John

 

[eaglemaniac]

One hell of a great post there sharphooks. I'm so sorry for your recent losses. Looks and sounds to me like you chose a very personal way to grieve and I am glad you had your buddy with you. eman

 

[Pippen]

Awesome post!! Let's hope this is a good start to moving on to your next stage.


My condolences to you.

 

[getbent]

Great stuff there SH, very well done and very well said...
I am sure someone was smiling down on you...

Cheers,


Getbent

 

[Blue]

Sorry for your losses. Awesome pics! Got my blood pumping! Only 10 months until I’ll be staring at the exact same rocks.

 

[Sharphooks]

Thanks for the kind comments and the condolences, Gents. I didn't have any control over my mother passing but taking that Central Coast trip basically cost me the GF---she told me my boat was worse then me having a mistress... I'll admit it's a pretty boat, but a mistress?

Anyway, I thought the nail-biter part of the trip would be Cape Caution--- Truth was, it was a freaking duck pond both coming and going:


Here's the Cape at dawn with the only chick left in my life who'll put up with my boat habit:

No, the nail biter of the trip happened in a little hidey-hole I camp in

I'd dropped the hook for the night. It was pitch dark by then--- I'd gotten into a jag of fish on the evening flood and by the time I cleaned them that was it for daylight.

I pumped up the inflatable to bring my Sheltie to the beach so she could do her business. While she was on the beach, I rowed around in circles in the Bay sipping a drink. I called out for her---no movement on the beach. Nothing. I called again. Nothing. I row to shore, make a few quick passes on the beach---no dog. A cougar grabbed her? A bear? I get a swell of panic---she sticks to me like glue so when she's gone, she's gone.

By that time, at least 10 minutes have gone by--- it's so dark I can't see my boat anchored up in the bay. I row like nuts to where I think it should be---the plan was to get a flashlight. So I get to the boat and just then a feeble pulse of starlight flashes on something white---it's her head, just barely above water.

Shiat for brains (me) forgot to strap her into her zoot suit for the ride to the beach. She'd lost sight of me, panicked, and ditched the beach and had been swimming around my boat in circles all that time.

Her nose was just above water and I could see she was on the verge of shock by the way she was paddling and the way she reacted when I hauled her sorry arse into the inflatable....

I poured several shots of sake into the bay to thank the Lord for saving the one women I had left in my life. I realized quite clearly---I'd almost lost her; no doubt. If that had happened, I think I would have tied the last two downrigger balls I had to my ankles and put myself to sleep in a kelp bed

Here's another pic of her with my inflatable--

I had a blast exploring nooks and cranny's with that set-up: the original plan was to use it to fish springs, maybe get a Nantucket Sleigh ride out of the deal, but every time I tried fishing out of it it was all lings and rockfish---I figured sooner or later a tooth or a spine would pop a pontoon...

Great piece of equipment to have for that part of the world!

 

[Sitkaspruce]

Another great pictorial of your adventures up this way and beyond.

you and that boat sure love to explore!!!

Condolences to you.

Cheers

SS

 

[Sculpin]

Scary situation with the dog. Glad you two got back together and everything was ok. Do you tow the inflatable behind the Arima? How does that work when fishing out of the Arima and playing a fish? just curious. My condolenses on the loss of your mother (I forgot to mention that in my first post).

Cheers,
Sculpin

 

[Sharphooks]

hey Sculpin,

Thanks for the kind word. Much appreciated.

No, the inflatable stays rolled up strapped to the top of my cooler. One day I had a Eureka moment on how I could go about deploying it---I have a veritable fleet of Avon inflatables---I use them up in Skeena country chasing steel every October. So with all those toys I needed a small high-powered electric pump--- I power it up on the battery of my truck with alligator clips when I'm on the river to get them inflated.

The Eureka moment I had was realizing that if I purchased a Scotty twist-in plug (the newer version) I could get rid of the gator clips and attach the plug to the pump and power it off the downrigger socket. Short story---I can go from a rolled up lump of inflatable to an instant boat in two minutes flat then launch it off the cooler--it's slick, and you don't have to screw around with an inflated boat (nice to have when you're sinking but you only do that once a life time...)

Occasionally I do tow it. Here's a shot I took from a Ukee trip a few years ago--- You've heard of the Love Boat? Well this was called the Divorce Boat---I'd been beach camping with the dog for 6 straight days and we were getting on each other's nerves . It go so bad between us that I inflated one of my Avons and dragged her behind all the way from Bamfield so she wouldn't be in my face any more....

 

[-steelhead-]

Glad you made it up there and back safely!

 

[RiverBoy]

Not a sake fan, but I could read your prose all night accompanied by a nice single malt. Excellent literary work, I enjoyed it as much as the pics you posted. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Mike_R]

Great story! Well written and illustrated. It brings back fond memories of my time in Hakai aboard the Marabell. Sorry for your loss(es) and thanks for sharing!