Trip Report - SRC first season

[Jake]

I've done most of my fishing and catching on flies I tied myself. Next up - rod building!

I wish you the best in that. A willow branch with string is still beyond my skill level.

 

[adamcu280]

I wish you the best in that. A willow branch with string is still beyond my skill level.

I figure wrapping guides on a blank can't be too different than wrapping feathers on a hook....? I guess I'll find out!

 

[adamcu280]

Lunch break provided my 3rd largest cutty to date. I was standing on the beach, not even wearing waders, and I watched her smash my olive bugger with the loop not more than a couple feet from my rod tip. I got the full "runs and jumps" treatment then sent her on her way.

This spot seems to tick all the boxes: oysters, cobbles, and freshwater flowing in about 15' away.

 

[plugboots]

Kinda funny to see hop in this redneck forum. You could post in the fish squeezing thread too.

 

[Irafly]

It's a great beach for sure! I've had better and more consistent SRC luck elsewhere but it's still a go to spot! It's where I got my best coho and also where I picked up my world record bullhead.

As a marine biologist, you should know better than to call that a bullhead. Don’t listen to me though, I’m just insanely jealous of that record looking sculpin!

 

[adamcu280]

As a marine biologist, you should know better than to call that a bullhead. Don’t listen to me though, I’m just insanely jealous of that record looking sculpin!

Ok, we'll go with Pacific staghorn sculpin Leptocottus armatus. My MRES advisor once commented that my papers were too colloquial. Guess I haven't learned!

I remember watching MTV sports back in the day and there was an episode where they went fishing with Primus. The best part was they bought bait at the bait shop where I worked. The worst part was when they caught a PSS they called it a "bullhead" and flashed a graphic of a catfish on the screen. Nooooo!!!!

 

[Irafly]

Ok, we'll go with Pacific staghorn sculpin Leptocottus armatus. My MRES advisor once commented that my papers were too colloquial. Guess I haven't learned!

I remember watching MTV sports back in the day and there was an episode where they went fishing with Primus. The best part was they bought bait at the bait shop I worked at. The worst part was when they caught a PSS they called it a "bullhead" and flashed a graphic of a catfish on the screen. Nooooo!!!!

Much better, as a teacher, I’ll change your grade now.

 

[adamcu280]

Much better, as a teacher, I’ll change your grade now.

Here's the Primus video.


Re-watching it I realize they get all kinds of names wrong. The "kingfish" (which is a correct colloquial name) is a white croaker Genyonemus lineatus. At least they got the white sturgeon latin name correct!

 

[adamcu280]

Kinda funny to see hop in this redneck forum. You could post in the fish squeezing thread too.

Haha I haven't posted there in years!

 

[underagroove]

Hell yeah dude! I've yet to catch an SRC myself but since I've started targeting them I've become a sculpin slayer. I really like your homemade stripping basket. I'm currently a marine biology student at SU and I'm definitely looking forward to getting jobs that give me access to beaches. I think it's a shame that land owners in WA can own land/water beyond the low tide line.

 

[Stonefish]

I've become a sculpin slayer.

Strip faster.
SF

 

[adamcu280]

Hell yeah dude! I've yet to catch an SRC myself but since I've started targeting them I've become a sculpin slayer. I really like your homemade stripping basket. I'm currently a marine biology student at SU and I'm definitely looking forward to getting jobs that give me access to beaches. I think it's a shame that land owners in WA can own land/water beyond the low tide line.

I need to make a bigger stripping basket, especially for two-handed strips with the 8wt, but the prototype works decently enough for SRC and it only cost $2!

Haha I was catching sculpin on topwater the other day. If they want what you're offering they're going to get it no matter where it is!

 

[VMP]

As a marine biologist, you should know better than to call that a bullhead. Don’t listen to me though, I’m just insanely jealous of that record looking sculpin!

Ok, we'll go with Pacific staghorn sculpin Leptocottus armatus. My MRES advisor once commented that my papers were too colloquial. Guess I haven't learned!

I remember watching MTV sports back in the day and there was an episode where they went fishing with Primus. The best part was they bought bait at the bait shop where I worked. The worst part was when they caught a PSS they called it a "bullhead" and flashed a graphic of a catfish on the screen. Nooooo!!!!

Much better, as a teacher, I’ll change your grade now.

Hold your horses! It may be time for a grade revision... are you sure that's a Pacific staghorn sculpin Leptocottus armatus? Although sculpins vary quite a bit in coloration and certainly in their common and street names, there are some that stand out such as the staghorn sculpin for its antler-like gill spines (hence the staghorn name). The sculpin in your picture doesn't seem to have said staghorns, there is also the issue of the dorsal fins shape and spine counts, staghorn sculpins tend to have more rounded first dorsal and a smaller count of spines (6 or 7) while the dorsal in yours has its spines protruding and numbering maybe 10? There are some suspicious nose spines, lack of a typical dark spot on the back of the first dorsal fin and it seems some dark bars on all fins (staghorn do not have darker bars on lower fins). There are other distinguishing features (e.g. lack of scales, shape and coloration of tail) harder to tell with just a picture or that varies quite a bit within a species but if were to guess it looks more like a Great sculpin (Myoxocephalus polyacanthocephalus), it matches the number of dorsal spines, shape of first dorsal fin and overall fin coloration pattern. Size-wise, staghorn sculpin they don't get much bigger than about a foot and a half with the greater sculpin about 2 feet and a half.
I enjoyed your report and I also fish from a NuCanoe so all sculpin and grades aside awesome to read it and thanks for sharing!

 

[adamcu280]

Hold your horses! It may be time for a grade revision... are you sure that's a Pacific staghorn sculpin Leptocottus armatus? Although sculpins vary quite a bit in coloration and certainly in their common and street names, there are some that stand out such as the staghorn sculpin for its antler-like gill spines (hence the staghorn name). The sculpin in your picture doesn't seem to have said staghorns, there is also the issue of the dorsal fins shape and spine counts, staghorn sculpins tend to have more rounded first dorsal and a smaller count of spines (6 or 7) while the dorsal in yours has its spines protruding and numbering maybe 10? There are some suspicious nose spines, lack of a typical dark spot on the back of the first dorsal fin and it seems some dark bars on all fins (staghorn do not have darker bars on lower fins). There are other distinguishing features (e.g. lack of scales, shape and coloration of tail) harder to tell with just a picture or that varies quite a bit within a species but if were to guess it looks more like a Great sculpin (Myoxocephalus polyacanthocephalus), it matches the number of dorsal spines, shape of first dorsal fin and overall fin coloration pattern. Size-wise, staghorn sculpin they don't get much bigger than about a foot and a half with the greater sculpin about 2 feet and a half.
I enjoyed your report and I also fish from a NuCanoe so all sculpin and grades aside awesome to read it and thanks for sharing!
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View attachment 262041

Hmm, upon further review, I think you're right about this great sculpin identification. Shitballs. There goes that world record.

Good thing I'm not an ichthyologist!

 

[Stonefish]

Sculpin lives matter.....strip faster.
SF