Adventures Chasing Big Flat Fish
Tuesday morning, somewhere around 3:30, Homey Kirk Johnson, his sons-in-law Ben and Morgan, and I met up with new friends Mike and Paul at the door of Captain Don Davenport’s Ocean Sportfishing (www.oceansportfishing.com) office on the waterfront in Westport. We would pay for our day on the ocean and walk down the pier to board the Rock-n-Roll. We would run to the halibut flats and then chase ling cod and sea bass.
The Rock-n-Roll is a “six-pack” boat – the smallest in Captain Don’s fleet – one of a handful in the marina which only takes six fishermen out onto the big water. This is a great adventure, in several ways.
On the plus side, the boat is faster than any of the larger boats, so we fishers leave port later, and get to the fishing ground earlier, than other boats. Because of the small number of fishermen, the boat will generally limit earlier than the bigger ones, and move on for other fish. It will often be the first boat back in the marina at day’s end. This leaves us with great stories to tell.
On the other hand, that “small and fast” stuff can make for a bumpy ride in choppy seas. Last year, the fast and very bumpy ride to our outstanding fishing took a toll on a couple of our fishers, including our dashing young Captain Steve “Need for Speed” Connally. Over the off-season, Captain Steve had the hull on the Rock-n-Roll deepened so that it might cut through more waves and fly off fewer. Tuesday’s weather promised to put the new hull to the test. Brisk winds were kicking up six to eight-foot waves with very short wavelengths. Translation: steep, frequent and pointy waves almost guaranteed to make a dicey trip to the halibut flats. With that in mind, Cap gathered us and deckhand Clel Perez for a serious conversation and a group decision.
We could fish inshore, in quieter water, find plenty of sea bass and maybe a handful of ling or halibut. We could head out to the normal halibut flats, taking the weather as it is. We might luck out with settling water by the time we got there, and if the waves and chop were just too much we could head inshore for the first option. If we could manage the halibut grounds and get our flat fish, Cap would get us to his ling cod structure in much smoother water. Somewhere in there, we could pick up a pile of rockfish – sea bass.
After a half hour or more of looking at the options – and listening to the weather reported by the big boats already heading out – we opted to head for the halibut flat; 5:00 a.m. There was never a concern about the safety of the boat and us fishermen, the whole issue was the rough water getting there and keeping lines in the right spot once we made it.
It was almost immediately obvious that the work to deepen the Rock-n-Roll’s hull was a big improvement. Through mile after mile of rain and wind and steep and deep waves, and Captain Steve’s work at the wheel, the boat generally slid from wave to wave, with only moderate slapping.
On two occasions, however, a sharp wave slipped under us so quickly that we hit the water with a hard “bang” reminiscent of a year ago. In one of those, Kirk slammed into his seat hard enough to hurt his previously-repaired spine.
We reached the halibut flats as the wind and swells settled down a bit. Kirk acknowledged his pain and showed us how to wrestle a halibut off its feeding grounds more than two football fields deep. He cheered on his sons-in-law and the rest of us as we filled our limits with 15- to 30-pound flatfish. He made himself as comfortable as possible as Cap made the smoother run to his ling cod honey hole and its much quieter water.
Over the next two or three hours, we caught eight- to 12 pound lings and black cod and sea bass. At one spot, the canary rockfish – a protected species – were so plentiful that we moved on to another structure. We all caught lings, although I had the hot hand this day and brought in six of them. Kirk somehow kept his sense of humor and his ability to keep moving. We finished the day with limits of halibut and lings, and enough cod and sea bass to go around, and headed back to Westport.
In port, we grabbed a bite to eat, gathered up our fillets, and thanked Captain Steve and Deckhand Clel for a good day on the water. Once everything was on ice, we loaded up for trips home.
For my money, it was a fine day of fishing; nobody got seasick and we all caught fish. The worry that still hangs in my mind is Kirk’s back. The guy is always honest – he was in big pain – but he’s not a complainer. The summer will not be the same if he is not fishing. He promised to get checked out, and be ready for our next adventure ASAP.
So begins our 2015 big fish adventure season.
