Fort Bragg Anglers Celebrate Rockfish Opener On July Fourth Weekend   By: Dan Bacher July 26, 2006 More Articles by Dan

Fort Bragg, the major recreational and commercial fishing port in Mendocino County and one of the most fishermen-friendly towns in the state, is well known for its “World’s Largest Salmon Barbecue” held every July Fourth weekend as well as its excellent salmon and rockfishing. I got a chance to enjoy both the barbecue and an afternoon rockfish adventure aboard the Telstar, skippered by Randy Thornton, this July 1.

After covering the second half of the Bob Simms Outdoor Show on KFBK Radio with Mark Wilson (Bob was in a hurry to reach the golf course for his scheduled tee time), I got in my truck and headed to Fort Bragg. After making the long drive up Interstate 5 and over the coast range on Highway 20, I arrived at the South Harbor Parking lot where the barbecue was taking place.

Jim Martin of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), Lance McGrath of the North Coast Fishermen’s Association (NCFA), Congressman Mike Thompson and other volunteers were all busy cooking salmon, delivering plates of food and otherwise making sure that the event went according to plan.

Started by commercial fishermen to support North Coast salmon restoration efforts over 30 years ago, this year the Recreational Fishing Alliance, Salmon Restoration Association and the North Coast Fishermen’s Association sponsored the first-ever Noyo Harbor Salmon Derby to obtain donated salmon for the barbecue. They obtained 300 salmon for the event – which turned out to be just right.

McGrath, a former Sacramentan who used to work at Broadway Bait Rod and Gun and Elkhorn Bait and Tackle, looked relaxed and relieved. “The hardest part is over for me,” said McGrath. “I spent the last two days filleting salmon for the barbecue:

By the end of the day, the volunteers had served over 2800 meals. Combined with the proceeds of t-shirt and other sales, the three groups raised over $60,000 to fund the Salmon Restoration Association’s salmon hatchery on Hollow Tree Creek, a tributary of the Eel River.

After eating a great meal of barbecue salmon, corn on the cob, garlic bread and salad, I was ready for the first rockfish trip of the season aboard the Telstar, an afternoon adventure that left the dock at 1:00 p.m. With me on the boat were 21 other anglers and three deckhands, including Valerie Seal, Nick Larson and Randy’s son, 12-year-old Sean.

“How’s the weather?” I asked Thornton just before we left the harbor. “It was flat calm for the past two days, but it’s sloppy out there right now.”

As we left the harbor, it was apparent there wasn’t much of a groundswell, but the wind had put a chop on the water. Thornton decided to head south towards the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse area. Within about 30 minutes we were at the spot. In the meantime, the deckhands rigged up every body’s rod with hand painted torpedo jigs with shrimp fly teasers.

Thornton uses surprisingly light spinning gear for rockfishing with 15 pound main line and a 30 to 40 pound test “shock leader” to take the abuse of fishing the rocks. I had brought a bunch of bars for the trip, but decided to use his homemade jigs first.

“Drop your lures down,” said Thornton. “There’s a number of rockfish showing on the graph.”

I opted to use my custom 8-1/2 Shikari steelhead rod with a Shimano Stradic reel filled with 8 lb. test P-Line. As soon as I hit the bottom, I hooked up the first fish of the day. “I think I got a lingcod – the fish is pulling drag,” I stated.

However, when it came to the surface, it wasn’t a lingcod, but was a hefty vermilion rockfish. Deckhand Nick Larson gaffed the fish and my first rockfish of the season was in the boat. For the next hour, I found superb action casting the bar upwind and letting it drift along the bottom. There was a very strong drift, so it was hard to keep the lure on the bottom.

I followed up the vermillion with a China rockfish, a yellowtail, a big black rockfish and several blues. It seemed like every time I put my lure down I would hook another species of fish. That’s what makes bottomfishing so exciting – you never have a clue what species of fish you’re going to catch. The fact that I was using light spinning gear was a definite bonus.

By about 4:00 p.m. I had caught my limit of rockfish, as well as release a bunch of fish. Fishing on the bow with me was Nick Villa, DFG biologist, who was vacationing in Fort Bragg over the July Fourth weekend. On one drop, he pulled up a large vermilion rockfish and a cabezon.

Other successful anglers aboard the boat included Wade Yates and Bobby Yates, who each caught big reds and numerous other rockfish. When I saw Richard McCune of Roseville pull a 10 pound lingcod into the boat, I decided to switch over my gear to target lingcod and cabezon. I pulled out my Seeker rod with a Tica reel filled with 30 lb. test line and began casting a silver/blue Megabait.

I landed a big cabezon, as well as hooking a keeper lingcod. However, the lingcod bite wasn’t really on this day, and I kept catching big yellows and olives with the larger set up.

The count for the day was 200 rockfish and six lingcod for the anglers. “We would have caught full limits, but some the kids aboard the boat were seasick and stopped fishing,” noted Thornton.

Kevin Colwell of Sacramento caught the jackpot fish for the day, a 13 lb. lingcod, on his first ever bottomfishing adventure. Richard Simas of Reno also successfully battled a 10 lb. lingcod.

To top the day off in grand style, when I got off the boat there were dozens of people, clients, friends and family of Randy Thornton preparing their annual Fourth of July barbecue. “You’re invited to stick around and eat,” said Thornton. “After we eat and it begins to get dark, we’re going to walk over to the beach and watch the fireworks.”

Paul Myer, Fish Sniffer business consultant, and his wife Lynn were also there to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend. Paul had gone on the morning trip with Jason Rossetto, captain of the Lady Irma, returning with a limit of rockfish and a quality lingcod.

I was hungry after several “hard” hours of rockfishing, so I decided to stick around. There was barbecued salmon, abalone, steak, hamburgers, chicken and shrimp, along with an array of tasty salads, bread and desserts. Two Fourth of July barbecues and a great afternoon of rockfish fishing – where else in California can you expect to do that all in one day?

The salmon fishing was also good during my visit. The Telstar reported over one fish per rod most days, with an occasional slower trip mixed in. And one angler brought in an albacore on the “barbecue day.”

For more information on rockcod or salmon trips with Captain Randy Thornton, contact Telstar Charters at (707) 964-8770.

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