Sean and I went rock cod fishing again. Turned out to be a pretty good day, with some drama.
615am
First thing I wrote down were the names of our deckhands:
Darren
Damon
You need to know the names of your deckhands. If you want some help, calling out, “Hey, Darren!” or “Hey, Damon!” is way better than screaming, “Hey, you! A little help here!” Learning their names is important because little things mean a lot. Knowing their names isn’t just being nice; it might be the difference between catching a fish and not. Deckhands know what techniques have been working and what is not very effective. You also want the deckhands to gaff your big fish.
702am
I’m sad. Sean is not feeling good. Slightly sea sick. He is in the cabin with his head on his arms. I took him outside and showed him the rail but he doesn’t need to throw up yet. I always feel better after I throw up, not good, but better. Hoping Sean doesn’t need to throw up.
I want to give him the Sea Bands but I don’t want to bug him. Next time he looks up.
718am
Sean stirred so I tapped his shoulder and offered him the seabands. He shook his head and closed his eyes.
719am
I had visions of Sean winning the jackpot. The jackpot is an optional prize pool. If you want to play, you put in five bucks and the biggest fish takes the whole pot. I’ve never won. My friend Andy won when we were in high school My friend Martin won a few years ago.
I thought of buying Sean a lifetime fishing license so he would continue to fish despite this trip. They are over a thousand dollars. ROI is less than 20 years. (My license this year was $49.94. The price goes up every year so $50×20 =$1000. )
*{If you want more information about getting a lifetime fishing license, see my research at the end of this post.}
734am
No cell phone signal so I put my phone in airplane mode. Sean’s still out of it. Frustrated and discouraged. I really wanted this to be a fun trip for him. And me.
858am
We just finished trying a spot for ling cod. I started with the big yellow swim bait but I got nothing. Sean pulled himself out to fish. He tried to throw up but couldn’t pull it out. Even though he is sick, he still caught several fish. He only kept the biggest. After watching him reel the 3rd one in, I gave up on my swimbait and tried a lingcod jig. It got snagged. I rigged a feather jig and used the new rod. It is too small, feels like a toy. But it pulled in a couple big browns so we have 3 fish. Sean is still queasy. He is staying in the cabin. I’m feeling ok but not great so I went out to get some fresh air.
It is a beautiful day. Seas are calm, sun is shining, marine layer.
Captain says we are going 9 miles and dropping again. Not sure how long 9 miles will take to get there. Small rocks ahead. Probably going there.
922am
We’re almost to the rocky island. Behind us, I can see the coast in the distance. I can just make out the hazy outline of the radio tower above UCSF.
We have 3 fish. Limit is 10. But it is still early and the last spot was for lings, not rock cod so maybe we are even a little bit ahead of the curve.
A Chinese guy is smoking. He was in the cabin earlier and he would let out this piercing cough, almost like he was yelling. Really irritating when I was trying to nap.
1044am
Sean is still inside. The friendly deckhands have given us 3 lingcod and we have caught 9 rock cod. So we are almost halfway there to our limits. However, Sean isn’t next to me. I feel sad for Sean. I checked on him earlier and he is trying to nap.
1110am
Sean came up on deck and spit up a little. He caught a couple fish but couldn’t get the big heave out. Darren, the deckhand, just gave us a few more rockfish.
1113am
Damon, the other deckhand, came right behind Darren with a hose and sprayed the fish to keep them moist and cool. I had to jump up on the rail to keep my feet dry.
Captain just announced that we hit our limits of lings. Oops, I did it backwards. I tried to catch rock cod first. I should have gone for lings. Lings are harder to catch. It seems like everyone else knew that. Sean is the youngest and I’m one of the younger guys too. Should have asked the deckhands more questions.
1118am
Sean gave me a half hearted smile and a sideways thumbs up. He is feeling a little better but still not great.
We will go home with a bunch of fish but no jackpot. I feel ok about signing up because it is good to dream and because the other fishermen gave us the extra fish.
Also, we are heading to our last stop so we might be home early.
Sean is still struggling to throw up. He said, “It’s because of mama’s dumb prayer. ‘I pray that none of them have to throw up.’ ”
I smiled. “Gotta watch out for mama’s prayers. I can’t get a job because mama doesn’t want me to get one yet.” That got a smile out of Sean.
1155am
We caught more fish. I got tangled so I guess I should say that Sean got more fish. He got three doubles in a row! (A double is when you catch two fish at the same time.) One his bigger blues fell out of his bag. I left it there, figuring we could get it later.
The deckhands did a count and found we almost all had limits of rockcod. The captain told us to wind them up but I wanted to catch one more fish. He told us to check our bags and put our extra fish on deck.
I asked Sean if he wanted a picture and he shook his head wearily. I wanted to insist, “C’mon, you gotta take a pic!” But then I realized he is still feeling green and gave him a break. Mr. Sensitivity I am not but every once in a while I get it right.
1202pm
I’m tempted to ask him again. I really want a picture. Part of me is afraid that this will be the last time that Sean goes with me.
Also, the guys in the cabin were showing each other pictures and I felt left out. Dave had a bunch of pix yesterday and I felt bad I didn’t have many pictures. I should take more.
1205pm
The hacking Chinese guy just sprayed my foot with the hose. “Oh, sorry.” I patted him on the shoulder and told him not to worry. Now he is scaling his fish. It saves a few bucks. I’m just going to get our fish filleted. I don’t want to deal with them.
I thought about asking Tammy is she wanted whole fish but I will just make it simple. Fillets, some to keep cold and the rest in the freezer.
1224pm
We are waiting in line to get our fish filleted. The deckhands have to leave the skin on the fish because DFG (Department of Fish and Game) wardens need to know what kind of fish you caught. If you come in with a bunch of fillets without skin, they worry you might have been taking protected fish.
“That’s a lot of meat,” Sean observed. I nodded.
They lift the fin and cut diagonally toward the gills. Then they work the knife over the spine to the tail. They flip the fillet over and run the blade against the skin, almost cutting the skin off.
106pm
Our fish are filleted and I got 3 fish heads in case Tammy wants to make fish head soup. While the deckhands fillet our fish, I saw a Chinese guy with a gleam in his eyes. It was like he was stealing, except he wasn’t. Most people don’t want the fish heads, but the Chinese know that fish heads make the best fish soup. I know this little secret from Tammy. The deckhands passed him the fish heads and he surreptitiously slipped them into his bag, like he couldn’t believe how stupid the other people were. I’m not stupid! I want my fish heads! Well, not all of them. Gimme the 3 biggest ones.
Sean asked, “The bucket full?” I nodded. It is overflowing a little bit. The plastic bags of fish peek over the top.
Deckhand says we have over an hour left. What to do?
It’s a beautiful day. If we get in at 230pm, we could get home by 3. That would be nice. Shower and put the fish in the fridge and freezer.
I turned airplane mode off but I got no service. Wait, one bar! Text from Tammy from this morning.
141pm
Still outside the Golden Gate but close to shore and I figure we will be under the Gate in twenty minutes. I came out to check on Sean and he gave me two thumbs up! He is going to be starving when we hit land.
I’m looking at some buildings with red roofs. I’d guess it’s the Presidio but it is on the wrong side. It is to the left of the Gate and the Presidio is to the right.
It seems governmental because there are more than ten buildings, all the same, white structure with a red roof. Maybe it is a resort? Facing the Pacific. Marin side. Took a pic.
We will also pass Alcatraz. We passed it this s morning but i was worried about Sean and kinda tired. I’m feeling good now. Ate both my sandwiches and three of the four bags of chips. I left a big bag for Sean.
150pm
Just entered the mouth of the Bay. There is a cool lighthouse with a white suspension bridge leading up to it. Marin Headlands?
The air off the mainland feels warm. I think it is really hot today. The breezes off the ocean are much cooler. My 2pm Golden Gate prediction looks dead on.
There is a black sand beach to our left but I don’t see how they reached it. Must be by boat.
Took a pic as we went under the Golden Gate.
2pm
We didn’t catch any lings but we did get some big browns and Sean got some good sized blues. The boat got limits early and Sean got a taste of sea sickness.
I think last time Sean took the Dramamine the night before. This time, he took the non-drowsy formula 30 minutes before. He took a second one later but by then it was too late.
206pm
Just passed Alcatraz. Sean came into the cabin. San Francisco is on the right and we are coming past Treasure Island. Almost to Emeryville. We are not in a hurry.
528pm
Rods are rinsed. After you fish in the ocean, you need to rinse the salt water off your rods and reels or they will rust. I rinsed them off by my peas in our garden so I they would get the extra water. There is a tiny bit of salt but not enough to cause any damage. I had to keep Jirachi on the other side of the fence so she would stay dry. She ran off and pooped so I had to clean that up, too.
Sean helped me drag the cooler upstairs while Jirachi sniffed it carefully.
I thought about using my new cleaning table but it is way too hot out there. I finished cleaning the fish in the kitchen sink. I love air conditioning! I removed the rest of the skins and used big ziplocs to bag the fillets. Tammy came home when I thought I was almost done.
She was excited to see all the fresh fish and she wanted to save the big ling fillets for Ma’s visit next week. No problem!
I split the fillets into three bags: little ones we probably caught, the lings, and big ones we caught.
We gave a bag of fresh fish to our great neighbors. Tammy double bagged two more to give to friends.
I cleaned up my mess -and realized I forgot the fish heads. Whoops! I opened the cooler and found another bag of fillets! A good problem to have.
===
*Notes on a lifetime fishing license.
I did a bunch of research about lifetime fishing licenses. I ended up getting sucked into a black hole and I’m still not sure if I’m going to buy it. This is my dilemma.
Wait a minute! A lifetime license for Sean is $900. For me, it is only $810!
Should I get a lifetime license? At $810, that’s a 16 year ROI for me. I will still be fishing in 16 years. So if I’m still fishing, I made a good investment. Right? What about investing the $750 over that time?
Assuming 5% compounded return, investments double in about 16 years.
Assuming 8% return, investments double in 9 years.
I could double my money instead of buying a lifetime license.
If the price of fishing licenses stays the same over the next 16 years- Hah! Fat chance! They are almost certainly going to go up. Yeah, I just found an article that says that there is an inflation schedule and the licenses will go up every year. Even if they change the pricing schedule and remove the inflation increase, I highly doubt they are going to reduce the price.
What are the risks? I’m almost certainly not leaving California. Moving to another state? A different country? I don’t think so.
What else would I do with the money? Invest it? A lifetime fishing license is not a flashy purchase. Nobody brags about it, except hardcore fishermen. If I fish more than 16 years, I break even. I’m 45. Add 16 years and I’m 61. Will I still be fishing at 70? Sure. 80? Maybe. So I need to fish 16 years to break even and if I fish 26 or 36 more years, I’m way ahead. What if I get hurt? That would suck but I certainly don’t want to plan for that. Will I resent my lifetime fishing license?
Hmm, at age 62 or older, the price drops to $550.25. That’s about a third. So if I wait 17 years, then the price will be a third less.
Every year, I also buy the second rod stamp, which costs almost $16. I like the second rod stamp because I feel like I double my chances when fishing. How often do I use it? This year, I’ve used it at Lafayette Reservoir probably 6 times. Did I catch more fish? Not the last trip. Still, that’s how I fish Lafayette. The lifetime cost for the second rod stamp is called additional fishing privilege package. It costs $372.25. That’s more than a 20 year ROI.
So the question is, do I want to drop $1200 on a lifetime fishing license with two rod privileges? Financially, it makes sense. I have the money. I’ve been thinking about getting a lifetime license for a long time. Should I punt the decision ’til next year? If I do it now, I think I get a refund for this year’s fees. If I wait until next year, I have to purchase a 2020 lifetime license. I don’t have that form.
Not worth it for Sean because we don’t know if he is going to want to fish for the next 16 years. Also not sure if he will stay in California. That’s a sad thought. If he moves, we will want to visit him. And our grandkids.