Don and Matt's excellent adventure!

Tell us your tale of coming nose-to-nose with a 6 gill [--this big--], or about your vacation to turquoise warm waters. Share your adventures here!
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Mateo1147
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Don and Matt's excellent adventure!

Post by Mateo1147 »

I would like to start this trip report with a big THANK YOU to Don-B. He allowed me to come along on this trip based on another divers suggestion and he was a great skipper and dive buddy!
Don, Andrea and I met up on Friday evening out at Sekiu. We went over the diving plans and what to expect since I had never been on the Washington coast before. Saturday morning we left the dock at 06:00 bound for cape Alava. Once we arrived the fun of choosing a dive site began. We tried to anchor up on a pinnacle but the current was running too hard. We then moved over in the lee of some rocks and got the anchor to hold. With our gear on and some last minute coaching for the spearfishing newb (me), we rolled over the side and met up at the anchor line. We made our descent and checked that it was hooked in. Then the hunt began. I watched Don take the first couple fish and then made a couple practice shots on some black rock fish. The viz over all was good until you got within five feet of the bottom. The place looked like it had a ground fog but it was krill. I didn't score any lings that day but Don did. We fished with hook and line during our surface interval to help fill our limits. By 14:00 the sun had come out and it was a darn nice day to be on the water. We headed in and cleaned that days catch for a total of about 30 pounds of various fish.
Sunday we left the dock at 05:30 and headed for Point of Arches to some rocks we had scouted the previous day. We geared up and headed out. This is when things started to go sideways. On the surface my spear still had a tip. At the anchor it was just a threaded shaft. On the plus side there was no krill here and about 12 feet of viz. Rather than give up I decided I would be the designated goody bag carrier and see if I still couldn't get a fish. This site had a lot more fish to choose from than Saturdays location. Don drew first blood on a Cabezon that I had swam right past. Dope! Five minutes later a spotted a nice ling and moved in on it. As soon as I fired a got my hand on the spear and held it to the rocks until I could get my other hand below the fish. It worked! I had my first ling! Don Shot three more fish and I missed two. After this dive we were both really tired and decided we would finish out the day fishing with jigs. Sundays catch was about the same as Saturdays. We headed back about noon so that everyone could get on their way home.
I can't wait to go spear fishing again and given the chance it would be with Don. :supz: :partyman: :supz:
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You breath like a girl! -Blaiz
I thought she was right until I dove with eliseaboo!
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Jeff Pack
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Re: Don and Matt's excellent adventure!

Post by Jeff Pack »

glad you guys had fun, sorry I couldnt make, still shaking off the last of this cold.
Last edited by Jeff Pack on Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don-B
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Re: Don and Matt's excellent adventure!

Post by Don-B »

Thanks Matt for going along.It was a fun trip and your welcome back any time.
We stayed at Curleys in Sekui and the couple of air fills we got there were good.

Diving in the Big Boy Water was fun and interesting.
I have always had respect for the ocean and now even more.
I was really surprised that you could still fell the swell surge at 30-40ft down.
The water was also warmer then i expected. 56-57 degrees from the surface down to 55ft.

i will and some more info later i have to start work know.
Last edited by Don-B on Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Alexitt
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Re: Don and Matt's excellent adventure!

Post by Alexitt »

Nice catch Guy's... I've been wanting to try out along the N. Coast but never seem to have the time or Buddy to go with...
Sounds like a great time was had by all!!! :burntchef: I did manage to get out and do a bit of crabbing for opening day though... That was pretty entertaining...
-Alex-

"so in the interest of advising something...let's see..."the early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!" -Eliseaboo



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Norris
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Re: Don and Matt's excellent adventure!

Post by Norris »

Jeff Pack wrote: If anything in the above post needs to be changed or modified, ask spatty to do it
For the record ANY moderator can modify/change posts, not just Spatman.
**Pinch it, don't stick your finger through. You're just pinching a bigger hole.
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coulterboy
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Re: Don and Matt's excellent adventure!

Post by coulterboy »

Nice first experience for you Mateo. Good size ling.
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
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Mateo1147
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Re: Don and Matt's excellent adventure!

Post by Mateo1147 »

Thanks Tom. It was a great first outing and I am really excited to do it again. :taco:
You breath like a girl! -Blaiz
I thought she was right until I dove with eliseaboo!
Don-B
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Re: Don and Matt's excellent adventure!

Post by Don-B »

Here are some pics of the area we were at saturday.
this is out in front of Cape Alava.

i had been out here fishing a half a dozen times but never dove out there.

pictures don't do the area justice.
there are so many spots to choose you dont no were to start.
Because we didnt have a live boat i played it safe.
a lot of the more interesting spots we too exposed.
the swells coming in made it imposable to hold the boat anchored if you were not protected.

The underwater structure is a lot different then in the sound.
the best way to describe it is theres more of it.
the rocks are bigger,deeper cracks, and spires.
I anchored the boat right in front of the middle rock for our first dive
I anchored the boat right in front of the middle rock for our first dive



we dove in front of these islands for our 2ND
we dove in front of these islands for our 2ND
Sunday we did the Point of Arches.
I will say i liked the spot we did better than saturdays.

I will be going back late July early August.
last year the first week in August the water was like glass.

This was a good first trip and i'm looking forward to the next.
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