9/11 - Newport Canyon's Edge

[Dave Legacy]

Hey dudes,

Launched from NPH at 0640 on 9/11, with my oldest son, with rockfish in mind. I left all the bass gear at home as I have found that I simply carry too much stuff.

About a 30 minute paddle out to 180' of water. Water temp holding about 164.9F and not a whole lot of structure on the sonar, so we just started blind dropping to get an idea of what might be around.



So, two small rockfish. Evan's was able to swim down on it's own, but mine needed the assistance of a descender. I decided to move as I didn't want to put anymore little rockfish at risk.

I found a big cloud on the sonar at the bottom around 170' so I had Evan make a drop just to see what the fuss was about:





Got my answer with a double-Mack-attack. I should have sent one back out on a hook, but I really wasn't prepared and I didn't bring my bait tube. We released them both.

Drifted into about 165' and Evan caught two Sand Dabs and a Lizardfish:





Evan decided to keep the larger sand dab for dinner, so on the clip it went. Sun started to peak through around 10:00:



I got seasick on the first drop, so I was really just sticking it out for my son. I was starting to feel the breeze starting up, so I decided it was a good time to head in at around 10:30. Gave a quick holla to some BigWatersEdge dudes over the VHF and fought the tide back in.

Quick glimpse of Pirate's Cove:



Seemed only appropriate to get a shot of my boy with his catch at the launch to finish up the day:



Despite the vomiting it was a great time playing guide for my son. Next time I'll do some trolling, so I can fish while still navigating the kayak.

Best regards,

Dave

[Latimeria]

Great post Dave!  What a great trip with the kid!  I especially like that last picture.   

(Man, you really get seasick... Have you found anything that helps?)

[Dave Legacy]

It's really hard to tell what might work, because I'll often lead a trip with 4 hours of sleep. I have some more scolpamine patches, but I'm kinda nervous about trying it again after becoming so violently ill the last time I used one. I might get with my doctor to see what other ideas he can come up with. Dramamine isn't working, so I'll try Bonine next. I have made some real progress in that I can paddle around on the open water and sometimes not get sick at all, but if I stop "driving" it gets ugly fast.

[Eric H]

Very nice outing for you and your son, hopefully you can keep the barfing under control.