After guiding several trips to the San Juans over the last few years, I finally had the opportunity to go with my girlfriend and another buddy. It's been four years since I've hit the SJ's for fun, and this trip was definitely worth the wait.
On Tuesday, May 4th, We drove from Portland, OR to Anacortes, WA, barely avoiding a fifteen car pile-up on I-5 North of Seattle. After arriving at Washington Park in Anacortes where we'd camp for the night, we were subtly soothed to sleep by the thunderous roar of Navy bombers practicing low altitude bombing runs over our heads. It wasn't quite the peaceful nights rest I'd hoped for, but as one local put it, "That's the sound of Freedom."
We rose early on the 5th, quickly packed up camp, and headed for the ferry to Orcas Island. Once at Orcas, we drove to Deer Harbor, where we packed up our kayaks and paddled out to Jones Island.
We established camp on Jones in time to cook a nice meal and sip on a cold beer as we watched the sunset around the fire.
The following day, Shawn was feeling ill and spent most of the day resting and trying to get well. Shay and I decided to fish around Jones Isl. and take it easy. I managed to land two undersized lingcod, two rockfish, and a cabezon while jigging the handline from my sea kayak before lunch.
After catching a dozen fish or so that day, but no keeper lingcod, we enjoyed another magnificent sunset from Jones Isl.
We woke on Friday and Shawn was feeling a bit better, but still not one hundred percent. We decided to take a hike around the island with the hopes of a little exercise aiding his recovery.
I enjoyed the views, and I have to admit, taking time to enjoy the islands OUT of the kayak was a nice change of pace.
After our hike, Shay and I hit our boats and fished a bit more while Shawn got ready for touring. For some reason the fish just weren't biting like they were the day before. I changed jig colors a dozen times with no luck. I couldn't figure out why the bite had completely turned off, when I looked to my left and saw a dozen people staring at me from a boat on the water. I quickly glanced around and saw 4 boats with people on deck all staring at me. All of the sudden it dawned on me that they were whale watching boats. I turned to Shay and said " I bet there's an orca around.", not really believing my own words. I looked up the shore line and saw Shawn launching off the beach in his kayak. Shay and I started paddling towards Shawn, when all of the sudden, I see a huge black dorsal fin breach the surface 200 yards behind Shawn. "ORCA!!!" I shouted as I pointed out the dorsal. I've spent over 40 days touring the San Juans by sea kayak, and this was the first time I had ever seen orca whales. Needless to say, the three of us were giddy with excitement as we observed the whales pass through the channel right in front of our camp, sometimes coming within 300 feet of our boats. As the whales left our area, the tourist boats raced around the point to follow them as they headed North of Jones Isl. Although the experience was completely thrilling and amazing, I felt sorry for the whales. I thought about how stressful it must be having a half dozen power boats chasing you your entire life. I decided I would never follow the whales if I ever saw them again. I would simply sit and watch as they pass through and be thankful for the experience.
After the adrenaline from sighting orca whales from our sea kayaks had worn off, Shay and Shawn decided they wanted to paddle over to Limestone Point off San Juan Island with the hopes of running into them again. Shawn had left his digital camera at home, so I gave the camera to Shay, thinking pictures of orca are way better then pictures of me and fish. Without a doubt, when ever I don't have my camera is when the bigger fish strike. Shay and Shawn saw no orca, but I managed to boat two fat little lingcod two inches shy of the 26 inch minimum size. Later that evening, as I was fishing at dusk on the North side of Jones Island, I felt my jig snag. I didn't feel the clink of the jig hitting rock, so I thought I had possibly snagged kelp and tried to pull the jig free. I felt it come up off the bottom briefly and I thought it was free. As I tried to wind in my line, again I felt the jig hang up. I pulled as hard as I could when I felt the jig begin to thrash around. It felt like a BIG lingcod, which I thoroughly enjoyed for two seconds before it took my leader to the rocks and snapped my forty pound line.
At 7pm I paddled 100 yards off from the sea lion colony on Jones Isl., hoping to avoid a territorial dispute, and then continued South along the shore. Just as I rounded the South point, my VHF starts chattering, "kayaker Jason, kayaker Jason, kayaker Jason. Come in kayaker Jason. Do you read me? Over." Shawn and Shay were calling to inform me they were at Limestone Point, over two miles away, beginning the channel crossing towards Jones Island. I replied back, "Roger kayaker Shawn, I read you loud and clear. Estimating your arrival at Jones at 8pm. Confirm. Over." Shawn replies, "That's affirmative. 8pm arrival at Jones. Over."
I was impressed with the range and clarity of the VHF. A few seconds passed as I thought about our communication and how professional it sounded, when I hear Shawn's voice again on the VHF, "Kayaker Billy Bob, Kayaker Billy Bob. Come in Billy Bob. This is Rubber Ducky. Kayaker Billy Bob, you don't have to make that 'Scchht' noise. It does it automatically. Over." I couldn't help myself, and I replied, "Roger Roger. What's your vector Victor?" That incredible bit of comedy quickly put an end to any hint of professional communique.
I fished until I had a visual on Shawn and Shay crossing the channel, then paddled back up the West side of Jones towards camp to meet the two. After devouring another amazing dinner and a few adult beverages around the campfire, we drifted off to sleep, still buzzing off the orca encounter and the hook-up with the huge lingcod.
The following day was our last full day in the San Juans, and as I'd spent most of my time floating and fishing around Jones, I felt the need to do some touring. We decided to cross the channel to San Juan Island, paddle the shoreline South to Friday Harbor where we'd refill our water bags, then cross back over to Shaw Island and head back to Jones North through the Wasp Island group. It felt good to cover miles and hang out with Shay and Shawn on the water. The currents were mild, the weather was sunny and beautiful, and it was an exceptional day just goofing off and paddling.
We battled a bit of wind and current in the face as we paddled back to Jones, which was actually a nice change from the pond-like conditions we had experienced so far. I fished briefly after our return with no success. I'm pretty sure after pounding the island for two days strait, I had annoyed every fish there. It was time to move. Although I didn't catch any fish that evening, I did enjoy another spectacular sunset on the water.
The last morning we packed camp and loaded up our kayaks for the trip back to Orcas Island. I was feeling a bit discouraged after not hooking up the previous evening. Usually I drop the jig, and within a minute or two of jigging I have a fish on. I decided to just enjoy the paddle back to the launch and not concern myself too much with fishing. Just as we rounded the South West corner of Orcas Island, Shawn said he had seen a fish jump. I thought that a bit unusual and asked, "Was it shaped like a big trout or like a dinosaur?" I didn't think there were any salmon species present in the San Juans at that time, but wasn't really sure. The only way I could imagine a bottom fish jumping on the surface was if it was chased by a sea lion, so I assumed Shawn was joking. I asked Shawn, "Are you telling me you want me to fish? Because, you know I can make that happen for you." As we were talking, I dropped my rootbeer colored scampi 40 feet down to the bottom. One pull, two pulls, strike and miss. One pull, two pulls, FISH ON! I managed to boat another nice rockfish in about 15 seconds of fishing. Shawn managed to get the fish being landed on HD video, which I'll post here as soon as it's available. It was the perfect way to end a perfect trip.
We unloaded our boats at Deer Harbor, threw our gear in the jeep and caught the ferry just in time to make it back to Portland Sunday night.
All in all, quite an amazing experience that I can't wait to share with clients in early June. There is still space available for you to join us in our epic adventure. Call 503-285-0464 to reserve your spot today!
-Jason
