Continued from Part 1... and Day 1 for fishing.
That night we went out to dinner and I was in the mood for crab! I got crab cakes and a basically Oregon version of the crab boil (Clams, Corn, Crab, Potatoes, Sausage). It was a bit pricey, but I rarely treat myself to good food, so I splurged. After dinner we took a walk and retired to the room since it had such a great view, as well as a fireplace. We noticed that it wasn't dark until almost 10:00 which is a stark difference than San Diego.
My gear was prepped and I was itching to get out in the morning.
Morning came and it was all marine layer. It was weird seeing such a shallow huge beach and a stark difference between low and high tide. (Haystack Rock in the background)
(https://i.imgur.com/sVjdggp.jpg)
The surf was not huge, but it was covering any troughs so detection wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The rock looked so close but I felt like I walked for miles trying to get to it.
(https://i.imgur.com/HSJ7Vwo.jpg)
I heard there are Crested Puffins here, so that is a bird I'd love to see (Only seen them in pictures before). I casted crack out since I didn't see any signs of crab, clams or worms. I kept working the beach making my way to the rock. I figured there must be structure over there.
I missed a few bites and finally got my first redtail! (#375)
(https://i.imgur.com/P5qvdi0.jpg)
It didn't take long before I started to dial it in and found an entire community of surf perch! It was really steady perch fishing at this point and when I turned around, there were two people fishing next to me. They DIDN'T have waders so must have been cold as f@ck. One older dude had enough and waded right up to me and asked what I was using for bait. I showed him the sand worm and he just looked puzzled. I noticed he had a top/bottom rig with something I couldn't identify on the top and a scraggly little black grub on the bottom with a pyramid weight. I was ready to leave if he started fishing next to me. There was a strong current and it really would have sucked fishing next to him. Finally the fly guy caught a perch and it was a little guy... I mean half a palm perch, but he was stoked!
Then the guys couldn't take any more of the cold and left while I was still fortunate to be on them. I'm pretty sure I got a few Calico Surf Perch in the mix as they were rounder and had smaller fins.
Calico Surf Perch (#376)
(https://i.imgur.com/1wlXBcC.jpg)
I then thought I had a big skate on. I actually didn't know what I could have hooked, but it felt like it was fighting me back and was heavy! I was excited to see what it was and.... Well damn! My first Dungeness Crab!
(https://i.imgur.com/3Pkaglr.jpg)
In any case, I stopped counting perch at 2 dozen and easily caught a dozen or more.
(https://i.imgur.com/rjczUcb.jpg)
Half the fish had a brown dot on one or both pectoral fins. I think it was a parasite, but for a moment kept thinking I was catching the same fish over and over.
(https://i.imgur.com/kqp7X3h.jpg)
I then had a REALLY good hit and I knew it was a bigger perch. I was walking back to beach him, but the damn edge was far away and then I saw him... HOLY Crap! 14"? 15"? It was big and I got stupid. I went to cradle him when he was by my legs and pop... hook came out and he was gone... Ugh, that sucked...... No time to cry, so I kept fishing.
The majority were around 9-10" but a quarter were in the 11-12" range.
(https://i.imgur.com/jZkqbem.jpg)
I saw a ton of birds flying around the rock and thought they were all puffins, but after some flown in front of me, I realized they were just Common Murres.
Then I saw it, my first Crested Puffin flew right by my face clear as day! I was pretty stoked as August is the tail end of them being here, so I was pretty stoked just in general!
The perch continued to chew
(https://i.imgur.com/qOY9Okd.jpg)
Then it happened again! New Species! Silver Surf Perch (#377)
(https://i.imgur.com/mq4z4AK.jpg)
I think there were shiner surf perch in the mix, but these guys were everywhere the redtails weren't.
(https://i.imgur.com/huqsKaQ.jpg)
I kept trying to force myself to leave since we had breakfast plans, so I said "One More"....
(https://i.imgur.com/lCB1whj.jpg)
Time to go!
(https://i.imgur.com/pOY8xex.jpg)
I wanted to explore more surf, but there was no time, and I was happy to find the hidden holes that I found.
Got back to hear the girls say they wanted room service breakfast, so I was down for that. Well, since I was on my crab kick, I went all in and got a Lump Crab omelet. lol
(https://i.imgur.com/XJ2K8Ds.jpg)
Then the girls wanted to do a beach walk. I don't think they were prepared for a 6-mile hike, but they were troopers.
(https://i.imgur.com/NRNW4kM.jpg)
The wife wasn't digging the cold water.
(https://i.imgur.com/EcHZmP6.jpg)
but my daughter was just loving the walk!
(https://i.imgur.com/b2gR8dI.jpg)
During the walk and the rising tide, I swore I saw some giant sand crabs... then I found a shell!
What a MONSTER!
(https://i.imgur.com/wXr0Nvq.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/botB1ED.jpg)
I then saw they only showed themselves at the rising tides. The little ones were about just as big as the big ones we get down here!
(https://i.imgur.com/FyA3tfR.jpg)
We got to the Goonie Coast and made our way back.
(https://i.imgur.com/mQP2cwC.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/aOzOY8t.jpg)
It was already time for dinner and we found that Cannon Beach doesn't have enough restaurants to support the summer crowd. We got into dinner, but it wasn't easy. Afterwards, I told the wife to relax and that I'm doing an after dinner session. LOL
There were too many people waiting for the sunset, so I opted for a quieter stretch of beach with less structure in order to have peace and quiet. It took a bit to find them, but I found them.
Well, actually it started with a flatfish!
I think it's a Speckled Sand Dab, but I didn't know they were in the surf zone.
(https://i.imgur.com/bSxciFr.jpg)
Then it picked up for the usual suspects. I got a dozen more to add to my totals before the sun set.
(https://i.imgur.com/CFptkA1.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/53m3yXv.jpg)
Time to head in and get some family time in. That and prep for the next day's fishing. LOL
I'll have Part 3 later, but this was a start. So much happened in a single day. LOL
To be continued.....