The August issue of Ocean Paddler magazine features a "how to" article on hand line fishing from a sea kayak, written by yours truly, featuring photos by Chris Bensch. You can currently order them through the
Ocean Paddler website, and they will be available at
Alder Creek in Portland within the next few weeks. We are both totally stoked to get our obscure addiction recognized in such a fine publication.
All though my postings have been few, I have been spending my last few weekends sea kayaking at the Oregon Coast. My girlfriend has been excited to play with sea kayaks in the surf, and I have to admit, I have been pretty excited to put the hand line aside and play on the ocean.
On Sunday August 8th, we hit Cascade Head on the Oregon Coast. The swell was 5-6ft out of the NW, winds out of the W at 15kts. Temperatures were mild, in the low 70's, and we managed to stay out of the fog in a sun break for the entire day.
Shay and the guys paddled out the river mouth and turned into the surf. The first set was a big one, and she was dumped immediately. She is in the process of learning to roll, so I decided I should get out on the water just in case she needed a hand. After she recovered, I paddled out to the end of the head and caught a few really nice and clean 3-4ft waves; something I find quite rare on the Oregon coast.
We regrouped after everyone had surfed or swam until they were content, and Dave said he was going to head into the beach for lunch, then surfed in on a wave. I decided to head in also, and caught the next wave after Dave. As I started the drop down the wave face, I saw Dave broadside to me in the trough. I had no alternative but to capsize and roll to stop my momentum, but still managed to pop some gel coat off the front right gunwale when our boats bumped. I thought my self rather fortunate, seeing as how later in the day Dave would break the stern half of his kayak in two pieces, splitting it right at the seem during a rock gardening session.
After lunch on the beach we paddled out around Cascade Head and into one of the large caves along the towering cliff face. On the way into the cave we had a close encounter with a group of large sea lions. They seemed to be running from something other than us. They flew full bodied out of the water across our bows and really didn't seem to notice us at all. The whole thing made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Of course it didn't help much that I'd been watching Shark Week a few days before.
When we returned to the river mouth that evening, we pulled the crab trap we had dropped on the way out. There were several crab in the trap, but all were undersized or female and were released.
All in all it was a fine summers day on the mighty Pacific Ocean. I am always blown away by the power and immensity of the ocean. One thousand yards from the beach and you are truly in the wilderness and drop a few notches on the food chain.
On Monday, August 16th, 2010 I was set to return to Cascade Head and fish the rocks just outside the river mouth. The swell was three feet and the ocean was basically flat. Every now and then a two foot wave would break across the sand bar. This was a rare opportunity to fish this spot as the surf is usually exploding all around these rocks and the wind is usually gale force.
Earlier in the day I pivoted on my left foot while closing the car door and felt a pop in my foot. It was not exceptionally painful unless I put weight on the ball of my foot at my big toe. Thinking it was no big deal, I continued on with the trip to the coast. I had my friends unload my gear and float my boat, and we paddled out the river mouth to the three rocks a few hundred yards off shore. The conditions for fishing were about as perfect as they get, yet I felt a little jittery in my boat, every time I applied a bit of pressure on the foot-peg to hold steady, I winced in pain. I tried to adjust my foot position to accommodate, but could not make it work, so I headed in to the beach to take some vitamin-I and rest it for a bit.
As I paddled over the sand bar towards the beach, a little two foot wave stood up and broke right on top of me. I tried to brace on top of it but winced in pain and capsized. I set up to roll and as soon as I pushed on the foot-peg to snap the boat upright I stalled in pain. I tried again on the other side but it was no better, so I pulled my skirt and exited the boat.
I have to say I was a little embarrassed with my two buddies and girlfriend watching the whole pitiful thing go down a few yards behind, but when I finally made it back to the beach I realized my day was over. My foot was starting to throb and swell, and going out on the ocean in that state was really not safe even though the conditions were so mild.
It's been a couple of days and my foot seems to be getting a little better. I am hoping it's just a sprain, but if it's not better in a few more days I will go and get it checked out. I will have to wait again to complete my quest for the "Greatest Day on the Oregon Coast" personal challenge. My goal is to get a group of sea kayaking friends to the coast and drop crab traps on the way out of the mouth, surf many glassy waves, paddle around the headland into the caves along the cliff face, paddle back in to the three rocks and catch a few lingcod, then pull the crab traps and cook it all up on the beach at sunset with a multitude of cold adult beverages.
It's good to have goals.
On a sad note, my infamous pink waterproof Olympus Stylus camera was lost in a tragic accident. This is the reason for the lack of photos on this posting. The one picture from the caves was taken by Dave White. If any camera manufacturers are interested in supplying me with a new waterproof HQ digital camera, I will gladly sing your praises to the world, and credit your fine company with all published pics taken with said camera.
-Jason
