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The live bait season started in San Francisco Bay in the first week of
April, right after the March 29th salmon opener in the ocean below Pigeon
Point. Though salmon fishing has been hit and miss since the season opened,
live bait fishing and trolling for halibut and striped bass in the San
Francisco Bay has been surprisingly consistent, yielding up to two fish per
rod.
The top area for halibut is from Oyster Point to the Berkeley Flats. Captain
John Paxson of Dreamcatcher Sportfishing is finding some of the best early
season success for halibut, though he is not drifting live bait.
"Trolling is the way to go," he stated. "We are able to cover more ground
than drifting can and we stay on the bottom longer so the fish can take our
baits. We're trolling frozen anchovies behind dodgers."
When I first spoke with John over the phone the morning of April 6, Paxson
had four halibut and one striped bass in the box for six passengers before
noon. Just a few hours later, Paxson called back to report his clients had
put eight more halibut in the box and were headed home.
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"I caught some fish off the Berkeley Flats, but later in the day I moved over to Southampton Shoals and that's when we started really getting into the fish," explained Paxson. "The average halibut weighed 8 to 10 pounds, with the big fish of the day weighing 12 pounds. The one bass caught went 8 pounds." Similar success has been experienced by Captain John Badger of Barbarian Sportfishing as evidenced by a recent trolling trip off the Berkeley Flats and Oyster Point. "I was on a scouting trip with my partner from Norm's Bait & Tackle and looking around to see where the schools of bass and halibut might be," said Badger. "During our time out, we landed one bass and one halibut weighing 8 and 11 pounds." On the following day, Badger's three clients fished the south and north bays to put six halibut in the box weighing 7 to 12 pounds. "We didn't find the bass that day because we were looking for halibut," added Badger. Recent reports from Emeryville boaters are showing much improvement over the first week of live bait season. The fishing fleet caught most of their fish in the San Francisco Bay off at the Berkeley Flats, according to Craig Stone at Emeryville Sportfishing. The New Huck Finn topped the halibut scores on Saturday, April 5 with 18 halibut to 20 pounds and two striped bass for 23 anglers. The 12 people aboard the Rapid Transit boated 3 stripers and 5 halibut to 12 pounds. The Dandy ended their shark trip in the south bay with 17 leopard sharks for six anglers. On the following day's trip, seven anglers fished aboard the New Huck Finn and boated five halibut and seven striped bass. The Rapid Transit brought back 5 halibut and 8 striped bass for 12 anglers, while the Dandy checked in with 9 leopard shark for 3 anglers fishing the south bay. A recent live bait drift aboard the Golden Eye out of Berkeley Marina Sports Center produced eight halibut and a five pound striped bass. The 13 passengers aboard enticed the fish while drifting the Berkeley Flats. Though salmon scores in Monterey Bay have been inconsistent since opening day, the bite appeared to be improving at the Soquel Hole at press time. Dan Williams of Capitola Boat and Bait and Roger Gonzalez of Santa Cruz landed four salmon weighing 9 to 21 pounds on Monday, April 7. The duo trolled an assortment of lures, including big trout spoons, anchovies, purple haze hoochies and cable baits. "We fished in 277 feet of water and caught the fish between 50 and 80 feet deep," said Williams. For more information on booking a live bait pot luck or trolling trip in San Francisco Bay or an ocean salmon trip, review the sportfishing section in this edition of The Fish Sniffer, or click here. |
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