Bay boats go after stripers, halibut and rockfish

July 10, 2015
Volume 63, Number 28
STRIPED BASS
INVADE THE SURF
WHAT’S NEW IN
GUNS, GEAR IN
2015?
Striped bass are being
caught off the beach
from Monterey north
to Lawson’s Landing
Cal. Guns & Hunting
looks at new guns,
gear, clothing and
outdoor things/11
See stories inside
“ T H E N AT I O N ’ S B I G G E S T W E E K LY F I S H I N G A N D H U N T I N G N E W S PA P E R ”
Bay boats go after
stripers, halibut
and rockfish
BY CAPT. DAVID BACON
WON Staff Writer
EMERYVILLE/BERKELEY/SAN
FRANCISCO — Boats that tried
for bass, halibut and groundfish
out of San Francisco Bay ports
scored exceptionally well, stacking the deck with copious
catches. Bass were active both
inside and outside the Bay and
OREGON LINGCOD grow huge due to the light fishing pressure, and this monster was caught on
June 28 out of the Port or Brookings by Don Stow of Medford, caught on a large herring bait. Joey
LeFebvre, deckhand for Wild Rivers Fishing, right, holds the big fish for Stow.
San Francisco Bay boats score salmon
BY CAPT. DAVID BACON
WON Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO/SAUSALITO/
BERKELEY — Salmon fishing sizzled throughout the week for
San Francisco Bay boats, with action coming from just outside
the Gate. The average size of the
fish has shown steady increase
and the fleet average was about
11⁄/2 fish a boat before the weekend traffic.
Capt. Jacky Douglas on
Wacky Jacky said, “Some big
salmon were caught. All were on
the troll and two of the top producers were Apex and anchovies
in bait hoods.” Weather was
ideal, with flat water, overcast
mornings and clear afternoons
with whales chasing anchovy
baitballs in the distance. Lovely
Martha and Wacky Jacky caught
good fish right in their backyard
from Muir Beach to Duxbury.
INSIDE WON
INDEX
DEPARTMENT LISTINGS
Baja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Form Charts . . . . . . . . .24-25
Freshwater Whoppers . . . . .6
Saltwater Whoppers . . . . . .20
Sound Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Tide Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Trout Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
COLUMNS
Jonathan Roldan/Baja Beat .22
Carrie Wilson/DFG Q&A . . .10
Out of Sausalito, Salty Lady
managed to prove once again
her status as a premier boat by
putting 2 whoppers on the list.
New Rayann and Hog Heaven also
scored exceptionally well and
Blue Runner had the fish of the
week, a 32-pound salmon
caught by Den Wachter.
Scott Sutherland of Berkeley
Charter Boats said, “Salmon was
hot all week! We got 20 to 30 per
boat, per day, which came down
to about 1.5 salmon per person.”
Over the weekend, with every
boat in the world jamming the
salmon
grounds,
counts
dropped just slightly to about a
fish per person. Counts are expected to increase after the
weekend
crowds
dissipate.
Howie Brummel, fishing aboard
New El Dorado III got a 24-pound
salmon. Tristan Cooper caught a
23 pounder on New Easy Rider.
Salmon explode for the
4th of July weekend near
Eureka and Shelter Cove
BY CAPT. DAVID BACON
WON Staff Writer
EUREKA/SHELTER COVE
—
Salmon in limit numbers eagerly
chomped baits out of Eureka and
Shelter Cove while Pacific Halibut season reopened on the 1st
and flatties were caught, while
rockfish and lingcod provided
the most dependable action.
Scrimshaw out of Eureka saw
plenty of salmon action, limiting out by 9:40 a.m. on Thursday, then by 9:00 a.m., on
Friday. That gave them time to
head for the Pinnacles and False
Cape to load up on rockfish and
lingcod. Over the weekend the
salmon were biting well, but not
sticking to the hooks very well,
so it took a little longer to catch
them. Capt. Marc Schmidt said,
“Salmon have been deep on the
downriggers with the bite starting at 165 early, then dropping
down to 265 when they stop biting real good. There are a few
shakers and silvers in the mix, so
we have been going through a
bit of bait to get the keepers in
the boat. Flasher/hoochie and
flasher/bait has been the go-to
set up.”
Capt. Tony Sepulveda on
halibut moved around some, but
short runs were all that was
needed to pile on rockfish and
lingcod.
“The fishing is as wide open
as it can get,” said Capt. James
Smith on California Dawn, who
sent WON photos of his deck
awash with fish including bass,
lingcod, rockfish and cabezon.
EMERYVILLE/20
Sacramento salmon will
open as scheduled, DFW says
BY ANDY MARTIN
WON Staff Writer
SACRAMENTO – Warm water temperatures on the Sacramento
River won’t prevent this year’s salmon season from opening as
scheduled July 16, a spokesman for the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife said.
“As of now, we have no plans to close the Sacramento River to
salmon fishing,” DFW spokesman Clark Blanchard said late last
week. Salmon fishing opens July 16 below Red Bluff, and Aug. 1
between Red Bluff and Anderson.
In June, the California Fish and Game Commission authorized
the DFW to close fishing on lakes and rivers if certain criteria were
met, including water temperatures topping 70 degrees for three
consecutive days.
But closures are a last resort, officials said, and currently no waters are being considered for immediate closures. Last week, several gauges on the lower Sacramento recorded water temperatures
topping 75 degrees.
Shellback said, “The Eureka
salmon bite is still kicking out
numbers with limits the norm. It
hasn’t been a big grade of fish,
but the action was hot and
heavy all week. The edges of the
Eel River Canyon are still the hot
spots, as the kings are keying on
the cool upwelling and abundance of feed in the area. Both
trolling and mooching have
been getting it done for me.”
WON Field Reporter Lonnie
Dollarhide called it the best
salmon bite of the season, thus
far. He agreed that most of the
action has been down off of Eel
River Canyon. Fish were caught
both trolling and mooching,
but they are pretty deep, like
180 to 280 on the downriggers.
These are not big fish and the
average is about 10 pounds, but
they are plentiful.
IT’S BEEN A
helluva halibut
year, and it’s still
going strong, with
plenty of big boys
in the bag. David
Nojima of Hermosa
Beach caught this
36-pound flattie in
San Francisco Bay
on live bait while
fishing aboard the
California Dawn on
a bass/halibut trip,
according to
Tommy Nitahara,
who sent in the
photo.
EUREKA/17
ON THE COVER >>
THE LARGEST SACRAMENTO
River king caught last year, as
far as we heard, was this 57pound monster caught on roe
by Richard Jones while fishing
with guide Robert Weese of
Northern California Guide Service. Season opens July 16 down-
stream of Red Bluff.
RABBIT SEASON opened July 1
and bunnies abound! Chuck Harrison of Western Wildlife Services,
pictured, and WON Staffer Bill
Karr hunted east of Marysville
and found big numbers of cottontail rabbits out early, but it
C A L I F O R N I A’ S O N LY S P O R T S M A N ’ S W E E K LY
was pretty much over by 7 a.m.
DELTA STRIPERS like this 30
pounder (estimated) can still be
found this time of year, and J.P.
Gano of Vallejo used a
Bushwacker swimbait to entice
the big girl to hit. He released it
after the photo.