Cal Kellogg School Of Fishing/Fish Sniffer Event Produces Rockfish, Lingcod, Halibut And Thrills Aplenty!   By: Cal Kellogg November 16, 2008 More Articles by Cal

There are some anglers that feel the secrets to catching fish should be just that…SECRETS. They believe that effective techniques and productive fishing spots are for them to know and for beginners to discover through trial and error.

I belong to a different group of anglers. We view all anglers as being part of a broad fishing fraternity, united by our love of the sport and the excitement of the hook up. We believe the secrets of consistent fishing success are to be shared and passed from more experienced anglers to less experienced enthusiasts, so everyone can enjoy the sweet taste of success. This is the philosophy behind the Cal Kellogg School of Fishing!

I started The Cal Kellogg School of Fishing earlier this year. My goal is to help anglers of all skill levels catch more and larger fishing whether the challenge is catching trout while fishing a reservoir, hooking stripers while plying the delta or picking a fight with one of the big lingcod that lurk off the California Coast.

Some of the school’s events are nothing more than in-depth seminars, in which I get together with a group of anglers to discuss a specific technique, location or species of fish. Yet the school’s most exciting and valuable events involve actually getting out on the water with individuals, small groups and large groups for hands on fishing instruction, since the most effective way to learn about a new species of gamefish or technique is to learn while you are actually catching fish!

The Cal Kellogg School of Fishing, working in conjunction with Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing, the Fish Sniffer Magazine and P-Line got off to a great start back on October 15 and 16 when I hosted a pair of instructional rockfish, lingcod and halibut trips aboard the California Dawn.

I arrived at the Berkeley Marina a little before 5 o’clock on the morning of October 15 and found Tawny Houston, the California Dawn’s gourmet cook, working in the boat’s galley. Some anglers were already on the boat and others were arriving as I carried down the gear and prizes for the trips including dozens of jigs, shrimp fly rigs, spools of line and hats from P-Line as well as rod and reel combinations courtesy of Berkley and Abu Garcia, saltwater rods, hats and hook packs courtesy of the Fish Sniffer, hats from Okuma, fish scent from Pautzke and more.

James arrived around 6 o’clock and after confirming all of our anglers for the day were aboard we headed over to the bait dock and loaded up with live anchovies and sardines, before set a course across the bay.

As we motored toward the Golden Gate I went into the cabin, broke out my bottom fishing gear and gave an in depth seminar about catching big rockfish and lingcod while using both P-Line’s super effective Laser Minnow Jigs and their classic diamond bars as well as how to rig and fish large or small live baits and shrimp flies.

By the time I wrapped up the seminar, we’d exited the bay and entered the ocean. I stowed my gear and headed up to the wheelhouse, curious whether we’d be fishing along the north coast or out at the Farallon Islands.

“According to the forecast the wind is suppose to come up later this afternoon, but the weather is pretty decent out at the islands now,” said James. Knowing that we could pick up quick limits of quality rockfish and good numbers of lingcod we decided to run to the islands after making a brief stop to catch some sanddabs to use for lingcod bait.

Almost all the way to the islands the wind remained light and ocean was relatively calm. However when we closed within about five miles of the fishing grounds, the wind abruptly picked up and so did the waves.

The conditions were very fishable at the north islands, but the drift was too fast for us to employ light tackle and our jigs. Instead we broke out our heavy gear and focused on dropping live anchovies, sanddabs and shrimps flies to the bottom while using 12 to 16 ounce weights.

The fish were on the feed and the anglers started hooking up immediately. I fished a bit, but mostly I answered questions, assisted anglers with technique and snapped photos. It didn’t take long to boat limits of quality rockfish and some handsome lingcod. Dean Deselle nailed a big ling on a shrimp fly while fishing next to me. Jeff Schwerdtfeger employed a well-presented sanddab to tempt the largest ling of the trip.

With the wind strengthening we weren’t able to target lings specifically and decided to head back into the bay in search of halibut.

After the long ride back from the islands we only had time to make a few halibut drifts, but that didn’t stop us from picking up several tasty flatties. Our final score was 22 limits of rockfish, 13 lingcod to 16 pounds and 8 halibut to 11 pounds.

Jeff Schwerdtfeger ended up taking home the first and third place prizes including an Abu Garcia Inshore Revo. Dean Deselle nailed down second with his big ling and Kevin price earned the fourth place prize. Since we weren’t able to utilize the P-Line jigs I passed them out at the end of the day along with P-Line hats and other gifts.

The second day got started much like the first day, except instead of Tawny being at the grill her husband Bob took over the cooking duties. Bob kept us well fed with burritos, burgers, hot links and more. I once again presented my comprehensive bottom fishing seminar as we crossed the bay and then headed up to the wheelhouse to firm up the plan for the day.

“The forecast today is pretty much the same as it was yesterday. We can head out to the islands and get limits while using heavy gear or we can hit the north coast and do some rock hopping while using lighter gear,” related James.

Jigging is becoming a lost art when it comes to bottom fishing and I really wanted our angler to see how effect jigging with P-Line jigs can be. So James steered us along the Marin County coast.

As we made our first stop Darren our deckhand passed out a few dozen jigs. A young boy named Conner Reeson was fishing near the bow and I asked his dad Cal if I could teach his son to jig and he gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up.

I rigged Connor’s rod with a P-Line diamond bar and attached a single shrimp fly above it. After free spooling the jig to the bottom I showed Connor how to work it just over the rocks and before long he’d reeled up a trio of fat rockfish. Conner seemed to have a good handle on what he was doing so I wandered to the back of the boat.

I hadn’t been gone for 10 minutes when I heard my name being shouted up on the bow when I arrived I found an elated father and son and a very large lingcod with Conner’s diamond bar hanging from its jaws laying on the deck.

“Conner caught it all by himself,” exclaimed Cal. “Heck at first I thought he was snagged.” I don’t know who was more excited Conner, his dad or me!

Space is short so I’ve got to wrap this up. To say that our day on the north coast was an incredible success is an understatement. We ended up with full limits of rockfish running 2 to 5 pounds, 25 lings to nearly 20 pounds, 2 cabezon and a nice halibut, illustrating the deadly effectiveness of P-Line’s jigs.

Not to be outdone by my students, I busted the largest ling of the trip while working a P-Line Laser Minnow. Connor took the big fish jackpot and the first place prize including an Abu Garcia rod and reel combo for his 15 pound ling. Jimmy Peitz earned the second place prize. George Nelson Jr. took home the third place prize, while West Phall was awarded the fourth place prize.

I would like to thank all the Sniffer readers that participated in both of these Cal Kellogg School of Fishing Events. I also thank everyone that sponsored and helped with the event including the Fish Sniffer Magazine, Captain James Smith, P-Line, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Okuma and Pautzke.

Watch the pages of the Fish Sniffer for up coming Cal Kellogg School of Fishing events. We’ve got some exciting things planned for 2009!