Saturday on Pilar

Pilar · 08-24-2003, 04:47 PM

Puffin's crew did the other day, so I'll do this one.

Thank you Fishmstr for making Saturday a very memorable trip and for your outstanding choice of substitute crew for the absent Gary.

Gary, I hope your parenting responsiblities weren't too big a deal. We missed you, my friend.

We left the beach loaded for TUNA! and hopeful of a grand slam. The ice load was a little less than normal but full fuel and more of the black label herring since we ran out the first day. The ocean was flat with no wind and long 5 to 6 foot swells, one of my favorite combos. As we went out our teammate, Sea Swan diverted to the rockpile to get the ling, salmon and flat ones out of the way. I was hoping to get to the TUNA! grounds first as the weather was ideal for running to the NW but we went to the pile.

This later proved to be a good decision, thanks Danny. We went to the same location on the east side of the pile that we plugged the boat with chinooks at the previous day and got off to a slow start. The fish had moved and the water was murkier.

We managed to get a nice halibut for the guy from Toledo (Doug) with the serious Boston accent. To say he was thrilled was a serious understatement. The more thrilled he got the harder it was to stop laughing at words like Caaaaaah. It did not matter that he was from Boston 12 years ago the accent is like a tattoo, it never fades out completely.

The bite was slow compared to Friday but my crew was having a ball anyway. There is something to be seen in the faces of the new guys. A sense of wonder that some of us have forgotten to some degree. Thank you guys for that, I love it.

Some time later the wind made an appearance and began to herd sheep and bang us around a bit. Bug flicker followed when Spoiled Daddy called us onto a hot bite a few miles SW of our fishing spot, right on the pile at 150 ft.

'Fish are on the bottom and we are killing them now.'

Not much I can add to that report. We hauled up and ran for the radio fish. Not long after that we dropped in on the numbers and immediately hooked the second flattie and then another nook.

The wind really kicked up then and Bug_flicker and his crew decided to run in. A wise choice, Keith. Your respect for the big blue will keep you alive and happy.

I imagine a fair amount of learning went on in that boat on the way in. About things like driving off plane in sloppy conditions, navigation and trimming the boat to get a better ride.

We hung out at the other spot and with many Ifishers, pretty much the rest of the time. Once the blow kicked in it was UG and us alone at the radio fish spot. We boated 3 lings, including one monster, 2 halibut and 4 nice kings for the day.

Back at the ramp my crew was jubilant and quickly cleaned our catch. Bill Monroe came in from the Irish and with about 50 lookie loooos watched the crew of the Irish pile 70 Tuners on the deck near the cleaning station. That guy Ken on the Irish is a fish catching machine! I saw quite a few P-nuts in the 3 to 5 pound class and thought of Santiago in his small skiff off the coast of Cuba .......

I saw one in particular, shiny, about 4 pounds, perfect in every way and pictured it with about 200 lbs of Marlin chomping on it. Man ..... I wanted that little fish bad. Finally I gave in to the temptation and asked Bill Monroe for a P-nut. He thought for a moment and picked up the very fish I was fantasizing about and handed it to me.

Thanks, Bill. I won't let you down. Your gift will be bartered against the sea for a much larger and notorious fish. We'll call you on the Sat phone and announce our success if at all possible.

2 days .. 4 halibut, including the 80 pound harpoon lead busting, caught on 25 pound mono with a salmon mooching rod boat record halibut, 10 kings including several 25's and the big 32 pounder, 3 lings (one a monster) and an olive rockfish. Yep, quite a weekend. Great company on the drink and many memories made as well as new friends.

I'll be back, soon.

Orca · 08-24-2003, 04:54 PM

Awe - the beauty or it all. I need my fix soon.

Nofish · 08-24-2003, 04:58 PM

Pilar,
Thanks for the great report (as always). Do you know where and how far the Irish had to go to find albacore? Cheers...Bob

Gregotis98 · 08-24-2003, 05:03 PM

I too had a great time out there fishing with the fleet, even though it was not one of my more stellar weekends. Fishing by myself in a sinking boat is sort of nerve wracking too say the least [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] .

Pilar · 08-24-2003, 05:19 PM

Are you shooting those Halibut in the boat again, Greg?

I told you about that the last time it happened.

Irish fished west of Heceta bank. I do not have the numbers. Bill Monroe reported 57 miles to the fishing grounds. You could do a distance arc and see where that puts you on the chart. Off Heceta but where exactly?

They were in the mother lode school. That's the only place you see many jumpers and P-nuts too.

Ken is a fish catching machine, it will be sad when he hangs up his skipper's hat.

puffins crew · 08-24-2003, 07:02 PM

WTG John, getting more of us addicted to the salt.

Thanks for the report. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Peace, Tom

Bill Monroe · 08-24-2003, 08:22 PM

Look on Rod's post with the map...the one complaining about no hot water...we were in that finger of yellow between newport and Coos Bay, although there was more yellow and a little (very little) orange the day before.

BTW, I hope the small boat that followed us for three hours got back all right. He stopped half an hour short of where we fished and we didn't see him again...assumed he thought we were going halibut fishing and finally decided he might run out of gas...

Fishmstr · 08-24-2003, 09:14 PM

Thank you John (aka Pilar) for such a great day on the water. And thank you salty dogs for calling us in. That makes 3 weekends in a row that a salty dog has called fellow dogs into a hot bite. And each time it made for a memorable day, otherwise it may have been a slow day. John is right, we are all brothers out there. And I think Mike (Blitz) coined it correctly when he said that we are all scouts for each other. What a great since of community out there. I love being a part of it.
John already told the story, but I'll add that he waited 20 minutes for my buddy to get to the boat (I woke him up at 5:30 with cries of "there's an open seat on the Pilar!!!!" after a quick check with the wife, he was at the dock and ready to fish in 30 minutes...way to go doug!). Then John handed off his first nookie to my buddy... a fat 25-30 pounder. The only thing that beats a TUNA! off the Oregon, is a big, fat, mean nookie caught mooching on a light rod. Those fish are hot!!!
Doug and I learned a ton (from secret mooching rigs with green corkies to knots to techniques) and had an amazing time. It was great fishing with you John. Thanks a ton.
Other memorable moments:
Mike and Popeye having a "discussion"
Greg telling us about his "sinking boat"
The Pilar acting like a homing beacon for other boats in the area
Nookies peeling off 30 yards of line!!!
The Monster Ling!
And others I'm sure I'll remember later and make me long for the ocean.
Can't wait to get back out...
Best fishes,
Steve

new member of Team Pilar!

PS
John,
did I leave a green fleece in your boat?

The Bad Fish · 08-24-2003, 10:23 PM

yeah i banged the boat down a couple of times.. i never took any waves over the bow and i was constantly trimming trying to get the right feel. i took your advice and took my time.

i never feel comfortable out on the ocean, i am only there as a temporary guest and when things start to get breezy i know i have worn out my welcome and leave. i know it kinda sounds corny, but i think that is what keeps me out of trouble.

it was great fishing with you all, weather permitting i will maybe be there this fri and sat. kb

Badger · 08-24-2003, 11:20 PM

John, thanks for a bunch of fun over the weekend. Friday morning I was heading to a spot where we'd caught a couple nice 70-80 pounders with Puffin two weeks before, then saw you and a couple other familiar boats so I decided to stop for a few. Had a flattie within 15 minutes or so, nothing to brag about but it was the first fish in the box.

Left you and limited on flatties a little further south. Then caught up with you later for the bodacious afternoon bite. Who was that in the sled that broke the gaff landing the 70-80# flattie next to us, didn't put the boat/moniker/call sign together at the time?

As things slowed down later in the afternoon we went a few miles further north, off the upper end of the pile, and got into some nice chinook. Caught a nice 35#er and a two more in the mid 20's, plus a bunch of coho all using light tackle. Way fun! Ran into Sea Swan there on his way back from chasing Tuna, hope picked up a few nookies on the way home.

I was really anxious to hunt Tuna on Saturday with you and Sea Swan, if you couln't tell. Probably a good idea we didn't head north after all, as one of my crew cancelled at the last minute and it would have been difficult with only the two of us aboard. There will be another day soon I'm sure, and I look forward to being your wingman for the carking run. Gonna have to try and find a few other ifishers that can fill in on short notice like you were able to do as this happens from time to time -- any takers, email me with name, phone number.

Saturday was slower for us also, same luck as you initially then we went out for the radio fish shortly after you. We couldn't catch a flattie there so after about and hour or so we switched over to salmon gear. Then couldn't keep the ho's off the line. Tried to keep the riggers down below them but ho after ho after ho kept hitting our bait, and back in the water they went.

We did have one really nice king on as the wind started picking up -- hit as I was putting the cannon ball down, then ran back and forth from one side of the boat to the other. Got it to the boat and it ran around the other downrigger wire, then tangled itself around a transducer as we were passing the rod underneath from one to another. I got out on the motor mount pod and tried to untangle it but no luck and I wasn't about to leave my boat on account of that fish. Tried to pull it in by hand next (with glove) but too big a fish and couldn't get much of a grip on the tuff line. We tried everything we could until he finally broke off.. hate it when that happens. I guess it was just Mr. Nookie's lucky day, he was in the 40# plus class.

All in all, a great weekend, and thanks again for all you shared with us. Till we fish again.

Bryan

Pilar · 08-25-2003, 05:41 AM

No, thank you guys.

Steve, I'll get the rest of the stuff out of the boat today. I think I saw something kelly green behind a seat. There is a grey Nalgene water bottle too.

I'll gladly trade a hand off rod for the look of surprise on a guys face that did not expect such a thing. Sharing is its own reward. Mike and Bruce are alot alike, though neither will admit it. They are both pretty awesome guys and I am glad to know them.