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NORTH SALT STORIES: Sturgeon season winding down for some Suisun boats...more
BY BUD NEVILLE/WON Staff WriterPublished: Mar 09, 2010
Northern California BUD NEVILLE Salt Stories
MARTINEZ— While sturgeon fishing remains good through the spring and summer in Suisun Bay and the Delta, some anglers make an annual change in focus from the big dinosaurs to other game fish readily available in main San Francisco Bay. Two Martinez-based party boats are already planning their return to the Berkeley Marina to target halibut, striped bass and possibly salmon.
“If there is a salmon season, we’ll be offering trips for them and for halibut from the Berkeley Marina starting April 3,” said Captain Jim Smith on the Happy Hooker. Light angler interest in the sturgeon trips out of Martinez has Smith anxious for his annual migration to main bay action.
Captain James Smith on the California Dawn also plans a return to Berkeley for the salmon opener, should there be one. “We’ve got a couple more weeks of sturgeon fishing, then we’re out of here,” he said. His actual date of arrival is planned for April 1, when he’ll start the season out of Berkeley by offering halibut trips.
Ozol produces keepers for Cal Dawn
BY BUD NEVILLE/WON Staff Writer
MARTINEZ — Finding sturgeon keepers is always the challenge on Suisun Bay trips, and Captain James Smith on the California Dawn reported some good ones caught by his anglers on the weekend.
“On Saturday, we had two keepers, a 48 incher and a 49 incher,” said Smith. One fish hit for Jesse Battle of Sacramento, the 49 incher. The other hit for Tony Cruise of Vallejo. The fish came from Montezuma Slough and the Ozol Pier.
“On Sunday, Rob Williams of El Cerrito caught a 62 incher at the Ozol,” said Smith. The fish ate an eel and grass shrimp combo. “We didn’t have a lot of action, but we definitely had some opportunities.” One keeper sized fish came off, and another angler missed a classic sturgeon pump when he couldn’t get his rod out of the holder. Smith said there have been a few striped bass in the system, but he’s been focusing on the sturgeon.
“There were some around Point Pinole, a good shoreline bite on pile worms,” said Smith. “We’ve been using the eel and roe, not really targeting the stripers.”
Benicia bite best for sturgeon
BY BUD NEVILLE/WON Staff Writer
BENICIA— Sturgeon were the main target of anglers fishing out of Benicia, with some good reports of keeper action mostly from the Suisun side, said Tony Lopez at Benicia Bait.
“There have been some sturgeon caught at the Ozol, and around the Mothball Fleet also,” said Lopez. “John Hutchinson of Benicia brought in a 50 incher that weighed 26 pounds, and David Law caught a 54 incher and a 24-inch striper fishing Montezuma with grass and eel.”
“My friend has been consistently catching 20-pound class stripers at the Firing line, but you have to have the right bait,” said Lopez. Bullheads are scarce now, so self-caught live bait is the option. Another shortage of grass shrimp hit the bait shop on Sunday, the shrimpers reporting low numbers of shrimp, something that typically happens when we get heavy rainfall over a long period. “We got some in Sunday, but they went fast!” said Lopez.
Fort Bragg boat planning first ab and crab combo
FORT BRAGG— April 1 is opening day of abalone season, and Captain Randy Thornton is all over the new combo he created last season, the ab and crab option, when anglers free dive for abalone, then turn around and check crab pots for the ultimate seafood combo.
“We’re running April 1,” said Thornton. If salmon season opens on April 3 as most are predicting, he’ll probably take a break before running another ab and crab venture, choosing instead to look for kings.
“We ran crab only trips over the weekend,” said Thornton. “We had a whale festival here in town, but we did manage to drop the pots on Friday. On Saturday, we had five around for seven guys.” He pulled the pots on Sunday scoring 12 keepers for the crew. He’s got a crab and squid combo planned for the coming Saturday.
In addition to ab and crab combos, Thornton is planning to search for some good Pacific halibut waters after the season opens in May. He got a taste of the big flattie action while moored in Eureka for the short salmon season in the late summer of 2009.
First skunk may signal end of squid trips
BODEGA BAY — Captain Rick Powers on the New Sea Angler rarely has trouble finding Humboldt squid for his customers, and one thing he’s learned is that at some point in the year, the squid either disappear or finish up their life cycle. That’s when the squid counts plummet, and it’s time to look for something else to fish for.
“We had our first skunk squid trip of the year on Friday,” said Powers. “Next Saturday, we have another trip planned; if we get skunked again, that will be our last trip.”
Nearly every trip since he started targeting them in December, Powers found plenty of deep water squid and often enough, Humboldt’s cruising the surface. On most trips, anglers can entice the squid schools up to the surface where catching them because a fast and furious thing. Several trips produced hundreds of squid before this most recent effort blanked.
“We spent the whole day looking,” said Powers. “We had only one maybe hookup.” After the squid, the Bodega based party boat will likely be idle until the June rockfish opener. Powers said that he’s not sure he’ll offer salmon trips, should the season open.
Brookings rockfish begin to bite, lings still slow
BROOKINGS, Ore. — Boaters venturing out of Brookings are beginning to catch black and blue rockfish close to the harbor, but are still having to run several miles to get into lings.
“We found a few schools of nice rockfish today, nothing really big but decent fish,” Capt. Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing in Brookings said March 6. “The only boats that got lings had to travel about 8 miles up the coast. We stayed a little closer to port because of the swell and settled for blacks and a few cabezon.”
Rockfish and lingcod season is open year round on the Oregon Coast, but stormy weather and rough seas have kept anglers at the docks for much of the past five months. Now that March has arrived, conditions have begun to improve.
“There are several reefs in close that will hold lings, but the big swell makes fishing those spots tough,” Martin said. “Up north, the deeper rockpiles have been good. The good structure in 80 to 120 feet of water between Bird Island and House Rock has been the best ling spots so far this year.”
Closer to the harbor, fishing for rockfish has been best off of Chetco Point, Macklyn Cove and Harris Beach.
“There has been a lot of freshwater coming out of the Chetco and Winchuck rivers, so the fishing just outside of the jetties has been poor,” Martin said. “But as soon as you round Chetco Point you should start finding fish.”
Shrimp flies, lead anchovies, and small grubs also are producing fish. “We’ve been doing best with the old standby red and yellow shrimp flies,” Martin said. “I like to add a little Pautzke Liquid Krill to the flies.”
Beach anglers near Brookings also are beginning to catch surfperch. Most use shrimp or mussels with size 4 Eagle Claw snelled hooks.
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Northern California BUD NEVILLE Salt Stories MARTINEZ— While sturgeon fishing remains good through the spring and summer in Suisun Bay and the Delta, some anglers make an annual change in focus from the big dinosaurs to other game fish readily available in main San Francisco Bay. Two Martinez-based party boats are already planning their return to the Berkeley Marina to target halibut, striped bass and possibly salmon.“If there is a salmon season, we’ll be offering trips for them and for halibut from the Berkeley Marina starting April 3,” said Captain Jim Smith on the Happy Hooker. Light angler interest in the sturgeon trips out of Martinez has Smith anxious for his annual migration to main bay action. Captain James Smith on the California Dawn also plans a return to Berkeley for the salmon opener, should there be one. “We’ve got a couple more weeks of sturgeon fishing, then we’re out of here,” he said. His actual date of arrival is planned for April 1, when he’ll start the season out of Berkeley by offering halibut trips. Ozol produces keepers for Cal Dawn BY BUD NEVILLE/WON Staff Writer MARTINEZ — Finding sturgeon keepers is always the challenge on Suisun Bay trips, and Captain James Smith on the California Dawn reported some good ones caught by his anglers on the weekend. “On Saturday, we had two keepers, a 48 incher and a 49 incher,” said Smith. One fish hit for Jesse Battle of Sacramento, the 49 incher. The other hit for Tony Cruise of Vallejo. The fish came from Montezuma Slough and the Ozol Pier. “On Sunday, Rob Williams of El Cerrito caught a 62 incher at the Ozol,” said Smith. The fish ate an eel and grass shrimp combo. “We didn’t have a lot of action, but we definitely had some opportunities.” One keeper sized fish came off, and another angler missed a classic sturgeon pump when he couldn’t get his rod out of the holder. Smith said there have been a few striped bass in the system, but he’s been focusing on the sturgeon. “There were some around Point Pinole, a good shoreline bite on pile worms,” said Smith. “We’ve been using the eel and roe, not really targeting the stripers.” Benicia bite best for sturgeon BY BUD NEVILLE/WON Staff Writer BENICIA— Sturgeon were the main target of anglers fishing out of Benicia, with some good reports of keeper action mostly from the Suisun side, said Tony Lopez at Benicia Bait. “There have been some sturgeon caught at the Ozol, and around the Mothball Fleet also,” said Lopez. “John Hutchinson of Benicia brought in a 50 incher that weighed 26 pounds, and David Law caught a 54 incher and a 24-inch striper fishing Montezuma with grass and eel.” “My friend has been consistently catching 20-pound class stripers at the Firing line, but you have to have the right bait,” said Lopez. Bullheads are scarce now, so self-caught live bait is the option. Another shortage of grass shrimp hit the bait shop on Sunday, the shrimpers reporting low numbers of shrimp, something that typically happens when we get heavy rainfall over a long period. “We got some in Sunday, but they went fast!” said Lopez. Fort Bragg boat planning first ab and crab combo FORT BRAGG— April 1 is opening day of abalone season, and Captain Randy Thornton is all over the new combo he created last season, the ab and crab option, when anglers free dive for abalone, then turn around and check crab pots for the ultimate seafood combo. “We’re running April 1,” said Thornton. If salmon season opens on April 3 as most are predicting, he’ll probably take a break before running another ab and crab venture, choosing instead to look for kings. “We ran crab only trips over the weekend,” said Thornton. “We had a whale festival here in town, but we did manage to drop the pots on Friday. On Saturday, we had five around for seven guys.” He pulled the pots on Sunday scoring 12 keepers for the crew. He’s got a crab and squid combo planned for the coming Saturday. In addition to ab and crab combos, Thornton is planning to search for some good Pacific halibut waters after the season opens in May. He got a taste of the big flattie action while moored in Eureka for the short salmon season in the late summer of 2009. First skunk may signal end of squid trips BODEGA BAY — Captain Rick Powers on the New Sea Angler rarely has trouble finding Humboldt squid for his customers, and one thing he’s learned is that at some point in the year, the squid either disappear or finish up their life cycle. That’s when the squid counts plummet, and it’s time to look for something else to fish for. “We had our first skunk squid trip of the year on Friday,” said Powers. “Next Saturday, we have another trip planned; if we get skunked again, that will be our last trip.” Nearly every trip since he started targeting them in December, Powers found plenty of deep water squid and often enough, Humboldt’s cruising the surface. On most trips, anglers can entice the squid schools up to the surface where catching them because a fast and furious thing. Several trips produced hundreds of squid before this most recent effort blanked. “We spent the whole day looking,” said Powers. “We had only one maybe hookup.” After the squid, the Bodega based party boat will likely be idle until the June rockfish opener. Powers said that he’s not sure he’ll offer salmon trips, should the season open. Brookings rockfish begin to bite, lings still slow BROOKINGS, Ore. — Boaters venturing out of Brookings are beginning to catch black and blue rockfish close to the harbor, but are still having to run several miles to get into lings. “We found a few schools of nice rockfish today, nothing really big but decent fish,” Capt. Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing in Brookings said March 6. “The only boats that got lings had to travel about 8 miles up the coast. We stayed a little closer to port because of the swell and settled for blacks and a few cabezon.” Rockfish and lingcod season is open year round on the Oregon Coast, but stormy weather and rough seas have kept anglers at the docks for much of the past five months. Now that March has arrived, conditions have begun to improve. “There are several reefs in close that will hold lings, but the big swell makes fishing those spots tough,” Martin said. “Up north, the deeper rockpiles have been good. The good structure in 80 to 120 feet of water between Bird Island and House Rock has been the best ling spots so far this year.” Closer to the harbor, fishing for rockfish has been best off of Chetco Point, Macklyn Cove and Harris Beach. “There has been a lot of freshwater coming out of the Chetco and Winchuck rivers, so the fishing just outside of the jetties has been poor,” Martin said. “But as soon as you round Chetco Point you should start finding fish.” Shrimp flies, lead anchovies, and small grubs also are producing fish. “We’ve been doing best with the old standby red and yellow shrimp flies,” Martin said. “I like to add a little Pautzke Liquid Krill to the flies.” Beach anglers near Brookings also are beginning to catch surfperch. Most use shrimp or mussels with size 4 Eagle Claw snelled hooks. |
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