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#1 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Posts: 424
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Thanksgiving NorCal Camping/Fishing Trip
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend! I took the opportunity(and some vacation days) to drive 600+ miles North to spend some time in the wilderness away from all the craziness. My buddy and I loaded up our yaks onto his truck and headed out before sunrise on Wednesday. Traveled up to the beach campsite about 1.5 hours north of Fort Bragg and set up camp on the bluff overlooking the beach. Weather was awesome, though near freezing in the mornings and howling offshore winds(thank God for coffee). Only downside was a massive swell was pounding the entire coast which kept us off the water most of the trip. Wasn't a big deal since I was just stoked to be camping somewhere with no cell service available for at least an hour drive in any direction. Still managed to make a Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and Hawaiian sweet rolls with butter all cooked on the camping stove on the tailgate while listening to the waves crash on the cliffs down below. My kind of Thanksgiving! ...BUT, I was still itching to fish, so we loaded up the truck on the second to last day and drove a few hours South to a new campsite with a MUCH calmer beach. It wasn't nearly as remote, but we could set up the tents on the sand and the beach launch was like a lake. Got in about an hour's worth of fishing that evening before sunset, then got up early the next day and fished for a few hours before the brutal 13-hour drive home. Overall, the fishing was awesome. I never really target rockfish specifically, so it was fun to explore a new area and try different techniques. Water temp was around 48-49. No wind at all. Hardly any swell on the South-facing cove. Got my personal best Lingcod(about 25-ish"), lots of Blue Rockfish, about 4 or 5 decent Copper Rockfish(I think?), and a handful of what I think were small Olive Rockfish. Not a bad count considering I was only on the water about 3.5 hours total. All fish were caught in under 100' of water and were resuscitated and released. Made sure there were no floaters and they could swim down on their own power. Definitely looking forward to getting back up there and spending more time on the water! Here are some pics. I'll post the fishing ones first, because that's probably what most of you are more interested in.... ![]() |
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#2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Posts: 424
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Some more pics:
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#3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Posts: 424
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And a couple more:
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#4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Fort Lauderdale
Posts: 1,866
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Fort Bragg was our go to place for Abalone when I was at school up Nth. I wonder if it's been wiped out. Nice photos! A picture is worth a thousand words, Congrats on your first Ling.
Last edited by JohnMckroidJr; 12-03-2020 at 02:02 AM. |
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#5 |
donkey roper
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Pacific Beach
Posts: 968
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Damn that's a rad trip. Must've been nice to get away from the ratrace of elections and lockdowns. Dude, next time go 600 miles south, you'll be into a whole different kind of paradise. Cheers!
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#6 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 2,523
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WOW
Epic post. Thanks for sharing your experience. Looks like Paradise.
![]() BTW How do you like the Hobie outback? |
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#7 |
Junior
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Pacific Beach
Posts: 29
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Now that's livin
Thanks for sharing |
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#8 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 400
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I've said it before, but your photography is just wonderful. These could be in an outdoor mag.
You really put care into your shots and it shows. I always love when someone can document a trip and make me feel the pull of the experience with a few compelling shots... Especially those tent and truck photos. ![]() Thanks for sharing!
__________________
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars https://www.youtube.com/user/MrSpencerallen https://www.instagram.com/el_spencerino |
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#9 | |||
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Posts: 424
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Quote:
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Any time! Wish I could just stay out there all the time, but this annoying thing called "reality" keeps showing up and making me go back to work... lol |
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#10 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Posts: 424
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#11 |
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Pine Valley when not fishing La Jolla
Posts: 2,629
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Looks like a great trip and some great memories. Love the photos, makes one, want to be there at least before the really cold weather. Thanks for sharing, Salty.
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MARK ......... 2016 MALIBU X FACTOR, 2020 SOLO SKIFF (Fishing Kayak on Steroids ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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#12 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 400
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Quote:
If I'm being honest, I hate filming with a gopro. I get so used to having the control and the tactile experience with a DSLR or even my TG-5 and it just frustrates me. Remembering to turn it on while I have tunnel vision diving or fishing, *and* battery issues, and it just starts to feel like it's *always* something. I'm actually endlessly impressed by anyone who can pull off good action/adventure footage with a gopro without using auxillary batteries plugged in. I would love to see both the DSLR and the video footage ![]()
__________________
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars https://www.youtube.com/user/MrSpencerallen https://www.instagram.com/el_spencerino |
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#13 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Menifee
Posts: 2,509
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That looks so cool!
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”The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” ~Thomas Jefferson.........maybe ![]() |
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#14 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Posts: 424
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Quote:
And I haven't had much of a chance to really go through my DSLR phots, but when I do I'll post some here for you! Thanks! The photos really don't do it justice.... |
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#15 |
The Kayak Peddler
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: North Hollywood
Posts: 591
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Wow if only I saw this earlier. I live in north most California up in crescent city. That spot is only 20-30 minutes from me. I own a restaurant here next time shoot me a message!
__________________
Keep your rod close, your gaff closer, and your paddle on a leash. |
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#16 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Posts: 424
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Oh damn, if I had known I would have loved to stop by and support your restaurant! I've been through Crescent City only once on a camping roadtrip from here in OC to Brookings, OR. Didn't have a surfboard with me at the time, but I was surprised how fun the surf looked! It's a really cool area.
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#17 | |
The Kayak Peddler
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: North Hollywood
Posts: 591
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Quote:
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Keep your rod close, your gaff closer, and your paddle on a leash. |
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#18 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Posts: 424
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That whole area looks like kayak heaven! We'll definitely be back again at some point and I'd love to fish that area and stop by your restaurant!
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