Canon Beach - Part 2

[Latimeria]

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)



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.



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)



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)



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!



In any case, I stopped counting perch at 2 dozen and easily caught a dozen or more.



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.



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.



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



Then it happened again!  New Species!  Silver Surf Perch (#377)



I think there were shiner surf perch in the mix, but these guys were everywhere the redtails weren't.



I kept trying to force myself to leave since we had breakfast plans, so I said "One More".... 



Time to go!



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



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. 



The wife wasn't digging the cold water.



but my daughter was just loving the walk! 



During the walk and the rising tide, I swore I saw some giant sand crabs... then I found a shell!

What a MONSTER!





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!



We got to the Goonie Coast and made our way back.





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.



Then it picked up for the usual suspects.  I got a dozen more to add to my totals before the sun set.





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.....