Species: Deacon Rockfish (Sebastes diaconus) Location: Off the coast of Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 14, 2011 My last entry featured a Red Irish Lord. I noted this was the last “new species” I’d recorded in my paper fishing journals, and as of the time those journals were written, that was true. But as of August 27, 2015,…
Species: Red Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus) Location: Off the coast of Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 14, 2011 I began this blog with the first story I ever recorded. That story took place in 2004, and I wrote about it afterwards in a spiral-bound notebook by hand. My last story from those hand-written journals takes place seven years…
Species: Calico Surfperch (Ampistichus koelzi) Location: Chetco River South Jetty, Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 12, 2011 Misidentification is to fishing what the New England Patriots are to football: an unfortunate everyday reality that can’t be ignored. Fortunately, just like tonight’s Patriots’ Super Bowl loss, good can get a foothold in the fight against evil and make that unfortunate…
Species: Canary Rockfish (Sebastes pinnager) Location: Off the coast of Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 15, 2010 Many people experiment with drugs in college. Don’t spit out your coffee, but I was one of them. I experimented with Dramamine in the fall of 2010, and it wasn’t bad. If you were looking for more dirt, that’s the end of…
Species: Buffalo Sculpin (Enophrys bison) Location: Chetco River South Jetty, Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 13, 2010 This is a story about misidentifying sculpins and feral cats and world records. Yes, you read that right. I’ll start with the record. Here’s the picture of my record-setting fish. My first saltwater All-Tackle World Record was for Buffalo Sculpin (2017), but…
Species: Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) Location: Big Butte Creek, Butte Falls, OR Date: August 14, 2010 I debated how to record this species. The reason being that there are 10-to-14 living subspecies of Cutthroat Trout (depends whom you ask), and many anglers document and note each subspecies separately. Obviously I do. And while I’d like them to be…
Species: Northern Anchovy (Engraulis mordax) Location: Brookings-Harbor Marina, OR Date: September 10, 2009 Rashomon Effect 3-of-6: My Mind All through the night, I dreamed of catching fish. My unconscious mind raced through the possibilities the dark waters of the ocean holds, stopping only briefly to rest in between visions. As the marathon of dreams flew my waking mind,…
Species: Brown Rockfish (Sebastes auriculatus) Location: Brookings-Harbor Coastline, OR Date: September 10, 2009 Rashomon Effect 2-of-6: My Heart The dark majesty of the Oregon Coast rests in it’s rugged, untamed power. The shaded mystery of the forest and what lies within speaks to the adventurer in all of us. The whistling nocturne played by whipping winds over the…
Species: Yellowtail Rockfish (Sebastes flavidus) Location: Brookings-Harbor Coastline, OR Date: September 10, 2009 Good and bad often go hand-in-hand. This was one of those days. In less than 12 hours, I landed 26 fish representing 11 species (six of them new). Since this series on my blog showcases a story for each individual species, I was presented with a…
Species: Speckled Sanddab (Citharichthys stigmaeus) Location: Myers Creek Mouth, Gold Beach, OR Date: September 9, 2009 After an eventful day, today paled in comparison. My friend Ben Blanchard and I tried fishing the Rogue River Jetty in Gold Beach, but the sea lion sirens were deafening, so we didn’t stay there long. *** On the drive back to…
