The planets aligned perfectly for a Marin Coast Salmon trip. Rob Boydton, my fishing partner met me Saturday evening at 7:30 after the heat died down or so we had hoped, we drove down to San Martin where it was a cool 94 when we arrived, but the sun was down and there was a breeze so we manned up and powered through the heat and loaded up the Long Hall from its storage barn and towed it back to my place, hooked up shore power to top up the batteries enjoyed a cold beer and a dream of good Scottish spirits, and parted ways with the promise to meet up at my house at 0400 Sunday Morning. We headed north to San Francisco pier 52 boat launch where we met up with some friends who led us to the grounds.
How did you do?
We headed out following A Salt Weapon, buddy boating out the gate.
Quote from: David Hall on August 17, 2020, 08:13:28 PM
We headed out following A Salt Weapon, buddy boating out the gate.
Stand by I'm filling the post with descriptive analogies, and minor acceptable levels of fisherman embellishment.
Okay long story short, buddy had a crew of three on his boat and Rob and I on the Long Hall.
We started out fishing together and then I got distracted when I spotted birds working a spot and had to investigate. There was a huge bait ball moving up and down in the area so we started working that, it didn't take long and Rob was hooked up to a nice fish. A side note, the past week the grade of salmon off the north coast has been something special with many fish coming in at or around the 20 pound mark and far more than a few in the 30 pound class. We wanted to get us some of that action. So.....,,,.........old age striking me down, what were we talking about?
Oh yeah so Rob is hooked up solid to a nice fish and I'm dodging a fleet of commercial boats who as it turns out are all headed straight for our baitball. Soon Rob is calling for a net, the fish is still hot having only come up from 40', we tried to bring it to net to soon and it spit the hook right behind the boat. So Rob and I trolled around cussing like sailors for a few minutes then went back to work. The commercial boats took our baitball and whatever fish were working it, so we moved on and found another baitball where things improved.
Talk about every dog has his day, or even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then. Well Sunday August 16, 2020 was Rob Boydton day for sure, out of five guys and two boats, the only rod that got bit was Robs.
He lost the first fish out of sheer eagerness to get it in the net, he wouldn't make the same mistake again.
Next fish hits and Rob starts reeling, 20 minutes later we boat the fist fish of the day and it's a beauty, weighing in at 17lbs. On the next pass, Robs rod goes off again and he jumps into what would be the weirdest catch ever. This fish goes to the bottom and locks himself down there so Robs reel is peeling off line, I'm yelling at him what the hells going on here Rob? Shortly after he asked for some relief as this fish was putting a hurt on him, WTH? It's a Salmon! So I take the rod and cannot believe the pressure this fish is putting on the gear, I'm wondering if it's a fish or the bottom, I tell Rob, we have to chase this fish! So he turns the boat and heads up, finally I can get some line back, I'm thinking this is the fish of a liefetime, it's got to be 40 pounds. The fish finally starts moving and I can feel him on the line but I'm having trouble gaining anything back. I ask Rob what he has for line and leader on this rig, he says it's loaded with braid that Alan put on for him, so I'm thinking hot rod jiggy must have 65#, and no leader! Straight to the lure with 65 pound braid, it's a new ballgame now folks, I cranked the drag down as far as it would go and squeezed my thumb on the spool and lifted as hard as I could then grabbed two or three quick wraps on the reel, repeat, repeat, repeat, I fought this fish like it was an albacore and after what seemed like forever probably at least 10 maybe 20 more minutes I got it to the back of the boat and Rob got it into the net and on-board. It was a carbon copy of the first fish and weighed in at a whopping 17lbs. So how does a 17lb Salmon make a mockery of two grown men and take 40 minutes to bring to net?
Early in the fight it appears the fish spit the hook but the hook snagged him low on the left side righ at the boy part of the collar, the battle had sliced a 2" gash through his flesh and skin but the barbless hook stayed buried. We were both exhausted but excited. During the whole time we were enjoying a thunder and lightning storm that had started before we left my house that morning. Now we have two in the box.
at one point I had had enough, We had three fish in the box, all caught on Robs rig. I had pretty much thrown the kitchen sink at them on my rod, different flashers, no flasher, bait, arificials, nothing worked. So I used my authority as Captain at sea and I cut Rob off, no more fishing for you! And I will help myself to your gear! So Rob says okay and I unclip his flasher weight and crippled anchovies, and clip them right into my rod and drop in, after trolling around through the area a number of times I told Rob that's it, nothing is working so I am confiscating your rod, I pulled mine up, took Robs gear off it and stowed the rod. I then put Robs gear back on Robs rod and dropped it down, five minutes later and it was game on again, I took the lead and fought and landed the devil fish, not as big as the other three but still a very nice king probably 10lbs on the hoof. My buddy rolled past and Rob graciously offered to let them have the hot rig for the rest of the afternoon, they managed one fish after we left. We cleaned our fish and hit the throttle shortly after 1:00.
The scenery there is spectacular and the ride in was soft. I went straight across the channel at the bridge something I would never do on a bad tide or windy day,
And we Finished off the day back at my house with a cold beer and another dram of spirits.
A great day and an even better report!
Particularly liked the 'descriptive analogies and minor acceptable levels of fisherman embellishment' :D ;D
That collar-hooked fight was Hemmingway-esque!
Well done and thanks for sharing, Justin
Great work David. while you were describing that fight I thought albacore. The side hook thing made it a memorable fight. Good going. Dominick
Nice day, thanks for the report
Nice looking fish Dave !! Looks so good you might have been fishing up here ...... except for the 94 degree heat ............... we would die !!
Cheers:
Todd
Well done!
Fantastic fishing report,,,,fish,,,photos,,,, ;) great eating tooo,,,,,,, ;D
Thanks for the ride David :)
Quote from: Hardy Boy on August 18, 2020, 03:22:20 AM
Nice looking fish Dave !! Looks so good you might have been fishing up here ...... except for the 94 degree heat ............... we would die !!
Cheers:
Todd
It wasnt quite 94 Todd just a balmy 78 with thunder lightning and rain most of the day, and 40MPH wind gusts every now and then.
Thanks for the ride along...great lookin' catches! 8)
congratulations!!!!!
Congrats on the great day!
Quote from: David Hall on August 17, 2020, 09:17:41 PM
so I'm thinking hot rod jiggy must have 65#, and no leader! Straight to the lure with 65 pound braid, it's a new ballgame now folks, I cranked the drag down as far as it would go and squeezed my thumb on the spool and lifted as hard as I could then grabbed two or three quick wraps on the reel, repeat, repeat, repeat, I fought this fish like it was an albacore
I would have worried about the leader as I usually use 30 lb fluoro
What kind of rod and reel did you use,,,,,, ;D
Quote from: Benni3 on August 19, 2020, 02:12:25 AM
What kind of rod and reel did you use,,,,,, ;D
Gear was an old stand by, the venerable Ugly Stik Tiger and a tankish Jigmaster. Cortez plates / Tiburon frame / power handle. Tani'd drags and service by myself (CF and Cal's, light grease everywhere). The stick is a decade old or so. The reel went together early last season. Alan spooled the 29L-500 while on a Beachmaster 250 with shot gears at some point early on. I have a newer Ugly Stik but I like the older one better. Nicer colors and guides. It was nice to see Dave work it like he did, I don't think you could break it on purpose. Run the gear you have! 8)
Rob
Cool. My last purchase before they shut down the local K-Mart was that rod. Seems to be real good quality for the price.
All right David and Jose! Workin it serious-like. Got to live vicariously through your adventures especially with those great photos and the narrative.
Boss shut me down for fishin today and rest of week cause the State finally made their snap decisions on how to start the school season. "Tomorrow? Boss yer killin me here, I'm all ready to go in the morning!" Alota Yellowfin are being caught now.
Very nice set up,,,,,,,, ;D
Very nice!!!
Thanks Dave great report, & details, cheers Don.
I think this is my favorite pic from that day. I am still reliving it. Thanks again to Dave, a great skipper and an even better friend.
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