NORCAL SALT REPORTS

NORCAL SALT REPORTS: DELTA ANGLERS need to know new regulation changes WON Staff WritersPublished: Mar 02, 2010

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NORTHERN CAL WEEKLY SALT REPORTS BY ROBIN WADE/WON Staff Writer ANTIOCH—The new DFG sportfishing regulations went into effect this week, and some of the changes affect how and what some anglers use as bait for striped bass fishing on the Delta. For example, Sacramento splittail may be taken only by angling now with a bag limit of two fish, and the bag limit for lamprey has been reduced to five, with the use of traps no longer allowed. Like many anglers, Alan Parson from Gotcha Bait and Tackle in Antioch has not had a chance to read the changes to the new regulations. When this reporter spoke to him on Sunday and read the changes to the splittail and lamprey regulations, this was his response: “Splitttail are what we use for striper fishing and we catch a lot of stripers with them. This will be bad news for a lot of striper anglers,” Parson said. Parson also questioned how the new lamprey regulation would affect the sales of them at his shop. “We buy ours elsewhere, frozen, but a lot of anglers buy them and stock up on them when they have some money. They take them out of the bag and rebag them with shrimp oils. I wonder how the wardens will be able to tell the difference between the ones bought at bait shops, and ones they have caught,” he said. Regarding the striper fishing this past week, Parson said they are definitely starting to stir, but the key was going to be finding clear water in which to chase them. “Your best bets are going to be the south and eastern sections of the Delta," he said. "Stripers are still spread out, but anglers on the Antioch Pier were finding four or five a day, as opposed to the average one a day found the past few months. Grass shrimp continue to do well and using frozen shad is getting better. Fish are still small but many are at least keepers. The muddy waters are but clearing. Our last rains did little to add to the clarity problem,” he said. FORT BRAGG squid bite goes deep, crabbing returns BY BUD NEVILLE/WON Staff Writer FORT BRAGG—While Captain Randy Thornton on the Telstar only got one trip out for Humboldt squid, he found the devilfish willing, along with some tasty Dungeness crabs. “We only fished Monday,” said Thornton. “We had four ladies from Reno on board; they braved a snowstorm to get here.” The anglers on board dropped first at the “shallow” spot Thornton has been tapping for squid in 600 feet of water. “We were working in conjunction with a commercial boat, and while we had evidence the squid were there, we didn’t get any solid hookups.” A move out to the 1,100-foot slot that also produces for him worked out. “We had five on right away,” said Thornton. That five turned into 22 total squid. The Reno group had some jumbos, with Laura Hyde taking big squid honors with her 42 pounder. Joelene Strozzi caught a 38 pounder, and both Vicki Draper and Jean Parraguirre caught 35 pounders. The move to pick up the 15 crab pots dropped produced a total of 30 crabs on the half-day soak, enough for five per angler. BENICIA STURGEON best for Happy Hooker MARTINEZ—Captain Jim Smith had a light load for Saturday’s sturgeon trip targeting Suisun Bay waters, so he went ahead and tossed out a bait on his own rod. “We had nine anglers,” said Smith. “We found some good action off of Benicia, with a few shakers, and some good pumps missed.” Along with the near misses were two scores, including a 58-inch keeper hooked by Happy Hooker regular Chuck Carlson of Vacaville. The Captain set the hook on the other keeper, a 52 incher. “That’s the first time I’ve got to reel in a sturgeon in awhile!” The fish hit straight eel baits. SAN PABLO Bay flounder, bass and sturgeon bite CROKETT—There’s quite a mix of gamefish showing up in the bags of San Pablo Bay boats, all good to eat. Captain Gordon Hough on the Morning Star said the steady stream of flounder, striped bass and sturgeon continued to grace the decks of the boat with the week’s prime tides. “On Wednesday, we had nine anglers who caught three bass, five flounder, a couple shaker sturgeon and one keeper sturgeon,” said Hough. The keeper went to Brad Shultz of Boulder Creek, the fish measuring 54 inches. On Thursday, eight anglers scored five bass, five shaker sturgeon and four flounder but no keeper sturgeon, and Saturday’s effort produced two flounder, five bass and six short sturgeon for 10 anglers. OYSTER POINT anglers see bass, halibut SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO—South San Francisco Bay is usually the first part of the bay system to see halibut, and this year is no exception with commercial halibut fishermen already trolling the waters off of Candlestick and Brisbane. “We’ve had commercial guys going out for two weeks,” said John Akina at Oyster Point Bait and Tackle. “We had a 28 incher brought in last week, and a 29 incher lost at the boat this week.” Most of the successful halibut anglers catch their fish on anchovies this early in the season. “They’ve also been catching some stripers,” said Akina. “They’re using anchovies and shiner perch for bait.” The bass are coming from the same area along the shoreline as the halibut, he said. Sturgeon fishing hasn’t been hot locally, but anglers stopping in for bait reported a good bite down at the Dumbarton Bridge, farther south. “They’re getting bait here, then are launching down at Redwood City to fish the Dumbarton,” said Akina. SUISUN BAY sturgeon bite all over BENICIA—Some pretty good sturgeon action was building in Suisun Bay through the weekend, with the best tides still ahead at Sunday’s deadline. Curtis Hayes at Benicia Bait said the fish are tricking in from all over, with no particular spot red hot. “Guys are asking, where can I go to catch a sturgeon?” said Hayes. “I tell them just about anywhere. The fish are scattered.” Some have come from Seal Island, with the upper Suisun Bay from Big Cut to the Mothball Fleet all producing fish. The waters in the Carquinez Straight weren’t great due to the faster tides, but the Napa River has been another hot spot. “Bob Altmeyer of Placerville caught and released a 56 incher and a 46 incher,” said Hayes. “Joe Pacheco caught a 56 incher that weighed 40 pounds at the Mothball, and Aaron Rogelstad caught a 64 incher at Big Cut.” SANTA CRUZ crabbers find excellent quality BY BUD NEVILLE/WON Staff Writer SANTA CRUZ—An amazing late season bounty of Dungeness crabs continued to grace the sacks of anglers fishing out of Santa Cruz. Captain Jim Rubin on the Becky Ann had planned two trips, one on Wednesday, and another on Saturday that was nixed by the tsunamis. “We had four anglers and about 15 Humboldt squid on Wednesday,” said Rubin. “Then we pulled the pots for limits of very good grade Dungeness crabs. All were over 2.5 pounds!” The squid came from the edge of the Soquel Hole. On Saturday, surge from the tsunami made the harbor entrance tricky. “There were two commercial crab boats that had to wait outside the harbor.” He said the surge of three feet or so was boosted by a big swell, making passage hazardous.