Blogs
Experimenting With A Combo Gitzit/Drop Shot Rig
Last time we took a gander at problem solving that truly helps us average angler types. One of the tips discussed was the new drop shot hook.
Since then, I took my first bass trip of the...
read more ››Avoiding Line Twist On Spinning Reels
Last time we took a gander at the new sturgeon regs, which appear to have a few serious questions. Mainly, the one day angler and under age angler. Do the kids need the card and do one-day...
read more ››Feb 7, 2013 Reaction To New Sturgeon Fishing Regulations
Last time we took a gander at steelheading as well as the new sturgeon regs. I have since spoken with a few skippers and mostly the responses are semi-positive. Barbless hooks…fish are still...
read more ››Jan 1, 2013 Fish With Big Hooks For Stripers
Last time we skirted the steelhead issue, and now, in spite of one of the worst storms ever experienced, the fishin’ is pretty good. The main river above the Benicia Bridge had some wide open...
read more ››Nov. 29, 2012 Target Feather River For Early Season Steelhead
Last time we took our first look at the upcoming steelhead season, and now it’s here. Of course, the coastal rivers are completely rain dependent, but we are extremely fortunate to have the...
read more ››Nov. 1, 2012 Tossing Out Hardware For Winter Steelies
Last time we did a little angling for stripers, however the bite was either red hot or blue cold. As the guy said in the movie, “when you’re hot, your hot and when you’re not, you’re not.”...
read more ››Getting Baited Up For Fall Striper Fishing
The stripers are here, albeit a tad scattered. Fall is “THE” time to fish for stripers in the upper bay and delta area. Montezuma Slough is a weak choice so far this year, as the fish appear...
read more ››Sept. 6, 2012 Salmon And The Old Cast Iron Skillet
Does anyone out there still use the old cast iron skillet? We had one and both of my grandparents used them for everything from fried chicken, (of course), to after church breakfast of fried...
read more ››From Wide-Open Kokanee To Fall Run Kings
Last time we were into a wide-open kokanee bite at Berryessa. It’s still going on, but not quite wide open anymore. How can any river angler not now be cranked up for the upcoming Sacramento...
read more ››Shad Run Is Best In Five Years
Last time we took a bunch of pictures, not pitchers, of our trophy fish, so I can’t wait to see the salmon pics in the near future. Just one reminder: wash off the dripping blood prior to...
read more ››Fishing and conservation groups, Winnemem Wintu sue over Delta Plan
The North Coast Rivers Alliance, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Associations and Winnemem Wintu (McCloud River) Tribe on Friday, June 14...
read more ››Fishing, environmental, farming groups will sue to halt Delta Plan
California Legislators kill fracking moratorium under oil industry pressure
The power of the oil industry in California was demonstrated on Thursday, May 30 when the State Assembly voted 35-24 to kill a bill originally designed to halt fracking throughout the...
read more ››The five inconvenient truths about the MLPA Initiative
In the latest episode in the long saga of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) issued a press release on...
read more ››Delta Protection Commission Opposes Peripheral Tunnels!
The Delta Protection Commission voted 9-2 on May 24 to oppose the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels as currently drafted. This is a huge victory for Delta...read more ››
Why should Californians pay for $50 billion tunnel boondoggle?
As opposition to Governor Jerry Brown's plan to build two massive tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta increases every day, Brown administration officials continue to mount a...
read more ››Fishing Groups Oppose Final Delta Plan
Representatives of fishing groups united with family farmers, environmentalists and elected officials on May 16 to oppose the Final Delta Plan adopted by the Delta Stewardship Council because...
read more ››Delta Stewardship Council Adopts Plan Amidst Massive Opposition
In spite of overwhelming opposition from environmentalists, fishermen, family farmers, elected officials and the majority of Californians, the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) on Thursday, May...
read more ››Three fracking moratorium bills pass key Assembly Committee
Despite intense political pressure by the oil industry, the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on April 29 approved three bills proposing to halt fracking (hydraulic fracturing), a...
read more ››Costa introduces legislation to strip ESA protections for Delta fish
Congressman Jim Costa has introduced legislation to exempt the Central Valley and State Water projects from Delta pumping restrictions required under the Endangered Species Act to protect...
read more ››Sierra Club California Condemns Governor’s Delta Policy
The campaign by Delta advocates to stop the construction of twin peripheral tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta received a big boost today when Sierra Club California called...
read more ››Coastside Fishing Club Will Release 420,000 Salmon From Pen Project
The Coastside Fishing Club will raise 420,000 Chinook salmon smolts from the Department of Fish and Wildlife's Feather River Fish Hatchery in its pen acclimation project for 10 to 12 days in...
read more ››Congressional Democrats Call for Brown Administration Official’s Resignation
On April 25, five Congressional Democrats called for a top Brown Administration official’s immediate resignation after Natural Resources Deputy Director Jerry Meral made a controversial...
read more ››Brown administration official claims ‘Delta can’t be saved’
Recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, Indian tribal leaders, family farmers, environmentalists, Delta residents and many elected officials strongly oppose the Bay Delta Conservation Plan...
read more ››Commission adopts recreational ocean and river salmon seasons
The California Fish and Game Commission (FGC) adopted ocean and inland salmon season regulations for 2013 at its April 17 meeting in Santa Rosa as anglers, tribal members, family farmers and...
read more ››Humboldt County, Hoopa Valley Tribe Warn Tunnels Could Take Trinity Water
In the latest battle in the California water wars, Humboldt County and the Hoopa Valley Indian Tribe in northern California today warned that the Governor’s Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP)...
read more ››Record of Decision for Nimbus Hatchery Fish Passage Project Released
Opponents of fracking in California win big court victory
In a precedent-setting victory for fracking opponents, a federal judge ruled that the Obama administration broke the law when it issued oil leases in Monterey County without considering the...
read more ››‘Death of the Delta’ coffin will go on tour
Bay Delta Conservation Plan: Brown’s Deadly Corporate Pipeline
The Brown administration has constantly touted the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels as a...
Peripheral tunnel opponents will hold “Death of Delta” funeral
Coffin will be delivered to Jerry Meral, tunnel point man
I have a long and personal relationship with the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the...
Latest Bay Delta Conservation Plan Proposal Is Still “Fatally Flawed”
The Brown administration on March 14 released the first four of 12 chapters of the controversial Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels, drawing strong criticism...
read more ››April Fool’s Day News: Blackwater to enforce California’s marine protected areas
Department of Fish and Wildlife News Advisory: For Immediate Release, April Fool's Day (April 1), 2013
Media Contact: Joe Destructo, CDFW Communications, 916-NOT-THER
Blackwater to enforce...
Resources Secretary uses snow survey to promote corporate water grab
Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird cynically used the release of the latest Sierra Nevada snow survey on March 28 to campaign for the construction of the peripheral tunnels through the...
read more ››Peripheral tunnel water will go to agribusiness and oil companies
Ocean Recreational Salmon Season Will Open April 6
Salmon Season Alternatives Adopted For Review
Three alternatives for 2013 ocean recreational and commercial salmon fisheries were adopted for public review at the March Pacific Fishery...
read more ››Delta Pumping Restrictions: It’s About Salmon
The Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA), responding to a Brown administration announcement that water supplies from South Delta pumping facilities were cut significantly to protect Delta...
read more ››Bay Delta Conservation Plan will fail to restore the estuary
Water Board must restore San Joaquin River flows!
Tuesday, March 20 was a busy day for Restore the Delta (RTD), a coalition opposed to the Brown administration's rush to construct massive...
read more ››Bay Delta Conservation Plan draft documents to be released
Beginning Thursday, March 14, the California Natural Resources Agency plans to release a preliminary draft of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels.
Peripheral tunnel plan will hurt Trinity River also
Bond funds shouldn’t mitigate peripheral tunnels damage
Restore the Delta (RTD), a coalition opposed to the Brown administration’s plan to build the massive peripheral tunnels, on February 28 announced that it opposes using state bond funds to...
read more ››Winnemem Wintu Chief says Frankenfish must be stopped
Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, said the Tribe strongly opposes the tentative approval of genetically engineered salmon by the Food and Drug Administration...
read more ››Restore the Delta opposes both twin and single tunnel proposals
Restore the Delta (RTD) opposes both Governor Jerry Brown’s plan to build two peripheral tunnels and a separate proposal to build a single peripheral tunnel backed by several environmental...
read more ››Lawsuit filed against fracking as oil lobbyist says it’s ‘safe’
As a lawsuit was filed to stop unregulated fracking in California, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and former Chair of the Marine Life...
read more ››C-WIN slams Brown’s call to build the twin tunnels
The California Water Impact Network (C-WIN), an organization working to promote the equitable and environmentally sensitive use of...
Governor Brown uses address to promote peripheral tunnels
As expected, Governor Jerry Brown promoted his plan to build the environmentally destructive peripheral tunnels on the California Delta during his State of the State Address at the State...
read more ››Jan 1, 2012 Senator Wolk Introduces Bond To address Delta Crisis
State Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) on December 11 introduced legislation to put a new water bond before voters to address the crisis in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and other critical...
read more ››Jan 1, 2013 Metropolitan Water District Votes To Support Shasta Dam Raise
The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California voted on December 11 to include raising of Shasta Dam as one of its "legislative priorities," a move opposed by the Winnemen Wintu...
read more ››Will California Department of Fish and Wildlife live up to its name?
Dec. 20, 2012 Environmental Water Caucus Slams Bay Delta Conservation Plan
Nick Di Croce, one of the facilitators for the Environmental Water Caucus, blasted the controversial Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels during a public meeting...
read more ››Nov. 29, 2012 Coastal Commission Rejects PG&E Seismic Testing Plan
The California Coastal Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday, November 14 to reject Pacific Gas and Electric Company's widely-contested plan to conduct seismic testing off the Diablo...
read more ››Nov. 20, 2012 Hoopa Valley Tribe Accuses Feds Of Endangering Klamath Coho Salmon
Hoopa Valley Tribe officials are accusing the federal government of harming migrating coho salmon on the Klamath River by reducing flows below Iron Gate dam as low as 1,000 cfs.
In a...
read more ››Nov. 1, 2012 Westlands is not a charity - it expects a return on investment
Advocates for the restoration of California’s struggling salmon and other fish populations note that Westland’s political action committee is not a charity. It invests in those who support its...
read more ››Nov. 1, 2012 Westlands Dumps Thousands Into Defeating Pro-Delta Congressional Candidates
A review of Federal Election Commission records has exposed an effort by the politically powerful Westlands Water District to replace the two pro-Delta Representatives, John Garamendi and...
read more ››Over Troubled Waters Selected For Artivist International Film Festival
Meanwhile, Over Troubled Waters has been selected to be part of the 9th Annual Artivist International Film Festival, to be held November 1-4 in Hollywood.
The festival will award $5,000 to...
read more ››Westlands Masquerades As “Tea Party” In Astroturf Attack On Delta Film
The Westlands Water District, regarded as the poster child of government-subsidized corporate agribusiness in California, is apparently posing as the anti-tax, anti-big government “Central...
read more ››Fish And Game Commissioners Blast PGE Seismic Testing Plan
One thing was very clear from the Fish and Game Commission meeting held in Sacramento on Monday, September 24 - the vast majority of people, including Commission members, environmentalists,...
read more ››Experts Rebut Governor Brown: Levees Fix IS “Feasible”
Experts on September 14 rebutted Governor Jerry Brown’s recent statement to the Silicon Valley Mercury News that restoring Delta levees, as an alternative to constructing Peripheral Tunnels,...
read more ››Irrigator Petition To Delist Klamath Coho Salmon Rejected
The federal government has decisively rejected the latest bid by the Siskiyou County Water Users Association (SCWUA) to remove Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon from the...
read more ››Irrigator petition to delist Klamath coho salmon rejected
The federal government has decisively rejected the latest bid by the Siskiyou County Water Users Association (SCWUA) to remove Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon from the...
read more ››Sept. 6, 2012 Peripheral Tunnel Plan Details Released at Public Meeting
The California Natural Resources Agency on August 29 held the first public meeting of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan in Sacramento since the Governor announced his controversial plan to build...
read more ››Peripheral tunnel plan details released at public meeting
The California Natural Resources Agency on August 29 held the first public meeting of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan in Sacramento since the Governor announced his controversial plan to build...
read more ››Delta Advocacy Group Honors Senator Lois Wolk
U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), the first recipient of the "Delta Advocate" reward from Restore the Delta, presented State Senator Lois Wolk with this year's award just before a...
read more ››Feds To Release Additional Trinity River Water Through September
Under political pressure from the Hoopa Valley Tribe and Humboldt County, the federal government announced on August 10 it will release additional water from Trinity Lake to supplement flows...
read more ››August 13, 2012 Anglers, Tribal Leaders And Enviros Slam Peripheral Tunnel Plan
Recreational anglers and commercial fishermen joined a crowd of over 300 people at the State Capitol in Sacramento on July 25 to protest a state-federal plan to build twin peripheral tunnels...
read more ››Feds Plan To Release Trinity Water To Prevent Klamath Fish Kill
In September 2002, I received a call from fishing guide Dan Carter that a massive fish kill was taking place on the lower Klamath River.
He soon turned the phone over to Walt Lara, Yurok...
read more ››Congressional Leaders Urge Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Delta Tunnel
On the same day that the recreational salmon season began on the Sacramento, Feather, American and Mokelumne rivers, Congressional Leaders released a letter sent to California and federal...
read more ››A Bead In Time
It is not much of a secret that striped bass are basically a nocturnal feeder. That we more often than not catch them during the daylight hours does not negate the fact that they prefer dining...
read more ››Grubbing For Surfperch
Grubbing for surfperch has become very popular in the last few years along the California coast from Crescent City all of the way to San Diego.Surf perch are available year round, with the...
read more ››IQF Your Bait
AS we were discussing the acquisition of jacksmelt for the future of your lingcod fishing, let's now explore the world of preserving that precious bait for future use.
I am a big believer in...
read more ››Catching Lingcod Bait
Back in the 1970's, when I was first introduced to rock fishing from party boats, drifting bait for lingcod was the most popular way to fish for these toothy critters.
Sure, there were those...
read more ››Feb 11, 2013 So When Are You Sturgeon Fishing?
It may seem like a silly question to ask, but ... when are you sturgeon fishing?
The answer to the question is, you are sturgeon fishing when you are trying to catch a sturgeon, duuuuh! But...
read more ››Feb 7, 2013 Resolve To Fish More In 2013
Fishing in 2012 brought along a lot of different challenges, to say the least. One of the staple fishing opportunities of the bay area, striped bass, was for the most part a total bust. Never...
read more ››Jan 1, 2012 New Sturgeon Rigs For 2013
The last few years have been very good years for sturgeon fishermen. Even though the major factor that perks up the sturgeon bite in winter, a big herring spawn, hasn't been a contributor to...
read more ››Dec. 20, 2012 Crab Snatchers Going Retro!
The new crab season has been rather unusual. For the first time in a long time, the crab season opened on time because crabbers and buyers agreed on a price before the new season.
This was a...
read more ››Nov. 29, 2012 2012 Ocean Wrap Up
2012 will go down as one of the better salmon fishing years we have experienced in many, many years. In terms of numbers, it was an above average year, but the quality for most of the year was...
read more ››Nov. 1, 2012 Avoiding The Unholy Tangled Mess
Just the other Sunday after church, my ol' buddy Bob said for me to wait for him because he had something to show me. I waited after the second service and Bob walked towards me with a folded...
read more ››That Subtle Flash
It seems to be a cultural trait among Americans that they feel if a little is good, a lot is better. This, of course, has lead to things like rampant consumerism. It is no longer a simple...
read more ››Sept. 6, 2012 Big Tuna Feeding Small
ALBACORE! The very sound of "albacore" is electrifying. Mention the fact that they are available locally and you may as well start a wildebeest stampede on the Serengeti!
This has been a...
read more ››Go Big Or Go Home!
Fish are by and large, opportunistic feeders. Swimming about in their watery world, food is not always available nor abundant. If such fish are also schooling fish, then there is also...
read more ››Rockfishing Begins In Bay Area
Rockfishing begins! What a wonderful two words to roll off the tongue! You don't know what you have until you miss it, or is taken away from you.
It wasn't that long ago when rock fishing was...
read more ››Deja Hook
On Friday's trip to Lake Sonoma, I caught and kept a 14-inch smallmouth, while we both released a lot of smaller fish. The key to catching bass, as it so often is, was to cast a floating lure...
read more ››Feb 11, 2013 The Borrowed Boat
In August David and I accepted a neighbor’s invitation to fish salmon out of Bodega Bay. Yes!
At 4:45 Wayne picked us up and we headed to the Sonoma Coast, specifically to Mason’s Marina,...
read more ››Jan 29, 2013 Win Some, Lose Some
While some fish have your name on them right from the start, others seem fated to streak across your fishing trip like a shining meteor. Their flash in the pan turns out to be merely the...
read more ››Dec. 20, 2012 A Big Fish Memory
Some fish were never meant to be yours. Like young love, some fish explode into your life, igniting the day with boundless excitement that you hope will never end. You cross your fingers and...
read more ››Nov. 20, 2012 Deep Dreaming
You start with a dream. Blue skies, clouds maybe, a release of tension. Blue water, a sunny breeze, and a surge of adrenaline. A glimpse of something you’ve never before seen, or commonplace...
read more ››Two Sides of Convict Lake
My imagination painted Convict Lake as a very dark place. The violent deaths of escaped prisoners had given the lake its name. And a mysterious breed of hard-core anglers known as Brown...
read more ››SEPT. 28, 2012 THE ALBACORE TRIP OF A LIFETIME
It was August, tuna time in Moss Landing. The albacore have been as close as 10 miles from Santa Cruz so far this season. I have not fished for albacore very often and when Carol Jones, the...
read more ››Sept. 6, 2012 Striper Hunger a Two-Way Street
If we hadn’t got there when we did, those fish would have died of hunger. David always checks stomach contents when he fillets our catch, and the stripers we caught on our last Napa River trip...
read more ››Shirt Tales: The Beginning Of A Tradition
When he sent me the T-shirt 20 years ago, Carroll had no idea what he started. Neither did I. J-A-M-A-I-C-A in hot shades of pink, lime green, and orange was spelled out across a white...
read more ››A Special Day for David
Because it was a holiday, we left early enough to be at the public launch ramp by 8:30. Lake Sonoma, in our experience, doesn’t wake up until the sun has been on the water for an hour or two....
read more ››Feb 7, 2013 Still Reeling
I’m still on cloud nine over that sturgeon I caught last month. I think of that story by Ernest Hemingway, “The Old Man & the Sea.” It’s a story as old as time. And, yet, when it happens, it’s...
read more ››Jan 1, 2013 A Bigger Story Than Expected
I didn’t want to write about Eric again; so, I told Dan, “Eric is taking me striper fishing on Saturday; can I get my article in on Monday?”
Dan said, “Sure; go fishing; go get your story.”
...
read more ››Nov. 29, 2012 Yummy Election Night Halibut
As duck season neared, it was obvious that Deke’s spine wasn’t getting better; so, Eric had to come to terms with the fact that he wouldn’t be duck hunting every weekend as usual this year.
...
read more ››Nov. 1, 2012 Autumn With a Bang!
Wow! A couple of days ago, I was wearing shorts and a tank top; all of a sudden, I’m wearing warm gloves & winter clothes. Shoot! I hope it’s not too late to plant the rest of my garlic.
Eric...
read more ››Late Summer’s Bounty
Eric arrived home the other day with a sack of the most beautiful pomegranates I’ve every laid my eyes upon. I know they are labor intensive (or, seem that way) and they are messy.
Yes. This...
read more ››Hello Halibut!
While I’ve been unable to join Eric on his excursions these past couple months, Eric has been having a blast fishing out of Santa Cruz and Monterey. Along with the halibut, salmon, rockfish,...
read more ››Marvelous Clams & Sauce in Marvelous May
This is a great time of year! Eric has been coming home with tasty shellfish treats. We’re having great weather and fishing at the same time, kids are still in school (less jet skis and boom...
read more ››The Bite Is On
Eric was chomping at the bit to go fishing today instead of going to work. Tony had gotten two 20 lb. salmon and was going out today again to try his luck.
We’ve been waiting for the next...
read more ››Fish Sniffer Information
