Having fished the day before with a couple of guests aboard for a halibut trip that netted one halibut, several lings and a true cod in less than ideal sea conditions left me a bit wore out. I needed a solo trip in much better expected sea conditions to soothe my nerves. I headed out just before sunrise and was soon rewarded with great sea conditions and sighting a half dozen or more gray whales. I shut the boat down and just sucked it all in. Peace! Pictures just would not have done it justice. After a while I continued on my way. At first, fishing was disappointing as non halibut days confines you to a smaller area, less than 180' depth and within certain physical boundaries described in the regs. After multiple locations I got a hankering to travel real close to shore, headed East. Just at random I happened upon some islands and approached cautiously, looking for pinnacles reaching up from the depths to tear a hole in my boat. Eventually, I got into some sea bass, aka black rockfish, and after a while with much effort at avoiding the rocks just below the surface ended up with my 10 fish limit. I cautiously motored out of the area to hunt for lings. Again, after a few stops I found the honey hole and filled my 2 ling limit. My attempts at a near shore halibut drew snake eyes. At about sunset, I headed East across the bar and back to the ramp. The beautiful day on the water fishing solo was just what the doctor ordered for clearing out the cobwebs from these past few months of Winter and Spring. Tight Lines!

PS: There was no fried chicken at the WP Red Apple at 9:30 pm for the drive home. :(

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