A Westport surfer rides a sweet little wave.
WESTPORT -- In an effort to escape the record 100-degree heat that lashed Puget Sound this week -- and catch some waves from a sweet summer swell -- I headed to Westport Wednesday evening.
The plan was simple -- surf a few waves at Washington state's surfing capital, take a 50-cent shower at Westhaven State Park and then sleep at nearby Twin Harbors State Park.
The air was warm -- about 75 degrees -- when I paddled into my first wave near the South Jetty, and the water seemed oily and fishy. Then I noticed big balls of herring -- and lots of gulls just pounding on bait pinned up against the jetty rocks.
A few coho salmon slammed bait just outside of the breaking waves. This is the third time this summer I've seen coho hammer on bait near the surfing lineup. I also saw an angler fishing off the jetty hook into a coho. Nice!
The waves were fairly glassy, and it the air was hot enough that my wetsuit seemed downright hot -- a rare sensation at Westport, where the water is always in the mid-50-degree range or colder.
I rode a few waves and then headed for the showers. The 70-degree air felt like a meat locker after the 100-plus degrees 60 miles away in Olympia.
I was back on the water early Thursday morning, and it seemed like even more herring and coho were rampaging around. I started to wish that I'd brought my 9-weight fly rod and some of Leland Miyawaki's excellent topwater poppers. I pictured casting the popper into the oily rip near the jetty boulders and chugging up a big coho -- or even a shaker coho.
But, foolishly, I didn't have any tackle with me -- for maybe the first time this year.
The surf was glassy, and the waves -- up to about 5 feet or so -- peeled nicely, so I wasn't too upset. Few things feel better than catching a nice wave and gliding down the glass.
Then again, few things are better than watching a coho wallop a Miyawaki Popper. It was kind of weird to paddle around near so much bait. I always wonder if it's smart to bob around on a surfboard at those times.
It reminded me of a visit to Maui years ago. I signed up for one of those day-long boat/snorkle trips, and the first stop had everyone swimming with the sea turtles. It was very cool -- a turtle swam right up to my nose -- until I remembered a documentary I'd seen about sea turtles a year or so before.
It seems that tiger sharks -- a ravenous eating machine -- love eating turtles. And, there I was, swimming with the bait. I slowly swam over to the boat and climbed back on board.
Anyway, the tackle stays in the Subaru for the rest of the year.
