The salmon fishing had been red hot for several months since the opener below Pigeon Point on April 14 when I was set to fish with Chris Hall, president of the Coastside Fishing Club based in Half Moon Bay, during Coastside's annual salmon derby out of the harbor on June 26.

On the boat were Mike Giraudo, secretary of the Coastside Fishing Club, Jennifer Shalear, John Faber, Chris Hall, Jr. and Pete Davidson, who had all slept on Hall's boat, Fishing Luhrs, overnight.

Hall soon fired up the engine and we were on our way out of the harbor. The radio reports of the weather that morning were not real encouraging. "It's like a washing machine out here," said Yogi Adams, captain of the Gravy.

"Snotty, real snotty," was the comment from another skipper on the radio. As we went out of the harbor, I commented to Hall, "It looks pretty nice here." But as we got further out, the boat encountered increasingly choppy weather as we headed outside of the Deep Reef, where Bob Franko, president of the club, had caught limits the day before.

We bounced along southwest of the harbor for about an hour until we reached the fishing grounds. John Faber and Pete Davidson set up the rods and reels on the downriggers at 30 to 40 feet deep and within about 10 minutes we were hooked up. Davidson was the first one to hook up, landing a scrappy 4 pound salmon. John was the next to hook-up, landing another fish about 24 inches long.

I was the next one to hook-up on a Franko Bullet Rotator, manufactured by Shelton Products. Unfortunately, the fish came off before anybody was able to get a net under the fish. "That's the fifth salmon I've lost in two days," I told Hall. "I lost several salmon on my trip out of Fort Bragg on Wednesday and this is getting very frustrating."

Fortunately, the next two fish I hooked I quickly landed - not monsters by any means, but tasty fish in the 22 to 24 inch range. Jennifer Shalear also nailed a salmon, followed by Chris Hall, Jr., who caught the biggest fish of the day, a 9 pounder. Meanwhile, Pete Davidson finished off his limit of two chinooks.

However, two of the crew were feeling the impact of the choppy seas and Hall wisely decided that we should go back to the harbor. We could have taken our limits, but everybody had caught a fish. Besides, Hall needed to get back to do the weigh in.

When we arrived back at the harbor, we found that many of the anglers had opted out of the derby because of the rough weather. "We had over 300 anglers registered, but 180 actually showed up," said Hall. "In our derby, we don't want somebody to go out just because they are afraid they will lose their entry fee. We want the angler to make the call - if it's not safe or comfortable to go, we don't want them to feel compelled to go out."

Everybody I talked to reported catching fish, but the size of the salmon was mixed. Bob Franko's Fishin Machine reported early limits, but no big fish. Most of the fish taken that day were in the 4 to 8 pound range, but some big kings were caught as well.

Big fish honors went to Whip Degraw of the Reel Deal, whose salmon weighed 23. 65 lbs. Brendon Booth on the Blackfin placed second with 23.20 lbs. While Ted Chun of the Wasabi and Steve Bennet of Rampage tied with 22.50 lbs. each.

The Franko Bullet Rotator was the hottest lure, followed by the Rotary Salmon Killer, Apexes and Hoochies. The fish came from a variety of locations around Half Moon Bay.

Why does Hall like fishing out of Half Moon Bay so much? "This is where the fish are," said Hall. "The salmon fishing has been pretty stellar this year. A lot of old timers say it's one of the best years they've ever seen."

A tip that Hall has for anglers in search of salmon is to look for good water color. "There is no one particular hot shot, other than the fish hold around the Deep Reef in the early season," said Hall. "On our trip, we caught the fish along the 40 to 50 fathom line. The key is brown water - the more chocolate brown it is, the better. The brown color is an indicator that the water has a high plankton concentration, which draws in the bait and the fish."

He considers an ideal trolling speed to be 2.4 to 2.5 knots, but windy ocean conditions can force you to fish up to 3 knots.

On the day we fished, Hall concentrated on working the line from brown to green water. He noted that the Coastside Fishing Club Website has tutorials for anglers interested in salmon and albacore and other types of fishing.

Hall has been involved with Coastside since it started over 3 years ago. The club now has around 6,000 members. "Our goal is to help the average fishermen and to be a voice in the political arena," he noted. "One of our biggest accomplishments was getting Darrell Ticehurst, a club member, appointed to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council."

Half Moon Bay is also a popular spot for anglers in search of albacore tuna. At press time, the albacore season was just getting started, with anglers venturing to offshore seamounts like the Guide Seamount, the Gumdrop, Pioneer Sea Mount and the 601 Spot.

Starting August 1, anglers will also be able to fish for a multi-colored variety of rockfish, lingcod and cabezon. The San Mateo coast is famous for the outstanding shallow fishing that it provides to anglers fishing bars and jigs off spots such as Deep Reef, Montara, San Gregorio, Pescadero, Pigeon Point, Franklin Point and Aņo Nuevo Island.

A large fleet of party and "six pack" boats departs from Pillar Point Harbor for rockfish, salmon and albacore trips. For more information, call the Queen of Hearts (650) 581-BOAT; Huck Finn Sportfishing, (650) 726-7133; and the Hulicat, (650) 726-2926. For more information about Coastside Fishing Club, get on their website at www.coastsidefishingclub.com.