By: The Fish Sniffer Staff June 30, 2005 Last Issue
Opening day of the rock fishing for California's most northern zone was May 8 this year. The weather was nice, so was the ocean off cape Mendocino. We caught some nice fish that Sunday playing hookie from church. My boy's friend pictured on the left is Deven Nelsen, my oldest son Travis Michel middle, right is my youngest boy Trevor. The ling cod in the middle weighed in @ 30 lbs. Thomas Michel

MORRO BAY/AVILA BEACH
Anglers fishing off California's Central Coast are landing limits of rockfish, lingcod to 17 pounds and good numbers of quality king salmon.

June Davis at Virg's Landing reported outstanding bottom fish action for charter boats departing Morro Bay. "This week 600 daily rockcod passengers caught 129 lingcod, 2,746 red rockcod, 16 bocaccio, 2,615 assorted rockfish, 46 copper rockfish and 5 ocean whitefish. Our boats fished for salmon for 4 days this week. In all, 48 passengers picked up 45 salmon," disclosed Davis.

Big fish honors over the past week for anglers departing from Morro Bay go to Curtis Butler of Porterville with a 17 pound lingcod, Rose Ambrose of Los Angeles with a 15 pound halibut, Owen Hackleman of Atascadero with a 13 pound salmon, Dave Sayles of 100 Oaks with a 11 pound lingcod, and Ron Collins of Bakersfield with a 10 pound red rockfish.

The staff at Patriot Sportfishing reported that rockfish trips continue to produce limit catches for anglers. The new regulation that allows Central Coast charter boats to fish down to 240 feet is resulting in great quality fish.

On June 25, the Patriot departed with 42 anglers and returned with 2 lings and limits of quality rockfish. On the same day, the Pacific Horizon took out 24 anglers and returned with full limits of rockfish, 3 rockfish, and 2 bocaccio.

MONTEREY
Moochers and trollers experienced excellent salmon action in Monterey Bay over the past several weeks. Most days are producing limits, with a few tougher trips mixed in.

"We fished off of Pt. Pinos on my last trip," said Norm Chapin of Hook 'em Up Sportfishing. "We were done with limits by 9:00 a.m. and fishing was very good. It didn't matter what we put down, they wanted it."

The two anglers nailed hefty salmon weighing 25, 23, 22 and 20 pounds. Chapin also caught a limit of chinooks weighing 18 and 14 pounds himself.

"Fishing has been very good," reported Chrissie Chonacki of Randy's Fishing Trips. "The anglers caught limits between 8 am and 1 pm on June 25 and 26. The Chubasco had 17 limits on Sunday, while the Sur Randy returned with 17 limits."

Many of the fish are in the 20 to 25 pound class, with a few going 28 to 30 pounds, noted Chonacki. Anglers are mooching anchovies and herring in a variety of spots in Monterey Bay.

"King salmon fishing has been great," confirmed Todd Arcoleo of Chris' Fishing, Inc. "All of the boats were done by noon with limits of fish on the weekend. Fish to 35 pounds are being taken off the Hog Farm and Cypress Point."

SANTA CRUZ
The private boats and charter boats took limits and near-limits of large chinook salmon most days for two weeks straight, but the fishing slowed down on Monday, June 27.

"The Wild Wave averaged 50 fish per day over the past two weeks, but the action slowed down today and the boat returned with 8 salmon," said Bill Rawson at Shamrock Charters. "The private boats today caught some limits, but they had to work harder for them. The fish have been hitting from Cypress Point to Mulligan Hill."

The 6 anglers fishing with Joe Stoops of Chartle Charters boated 12 lunker salmon ranging from 15 to to 23.5 pounds by 10 am off Pt. Pinos on July 26 while enjoying great weather. On the previous day, the 6 anglers also boated 12 salmon from 14 to 22 pounds.

"Limits of salmon are being taken from the Soquel Hole all the way to Cypress Point," he added. "Starting July 1st we will be running afternoon trips after our morning trips for rockfish, halibut or salmon."

The 39 passengers aboard the Velocity on June 26 were mooching off Point Pinos when they nailed 60 king salmon. The fish ranged from 13 to 25 pounds, with an 18-pound average, according to Ken Stagnaro of Stagnaro's Fishing Trips.

"They were caught shallow, 20 to 60 feet down," said Stagnaro. "It was a little slower than the day before, but still some great fishing."

The 37 anglers aboard the Velocity on June 25 landed 74 salmon, full limits. The fish ranged from 15 to 28 pounds, with a 20-pound average.

"Striped bass fishing is pretty good off Manresa Beach and the Capitola Wharf," said Glen Fukumoto of Fisherman's Warehouse in Cupertino. "Anglers fishing off the beach are using Pencil Poppers and other lures, while pier fishermen are catching live bait - anchovies, sardines and shiner perch - and drifting them for the bass."

HALF MOON BAY
After a rocky start to the salmon season, a concentration of large chinooks has moved off the San Mateo coast and anglers are having a field day landing early limits of big kings.

"The salmon fishing is absolutely unbelievable right now," related Captain Tom Mattusch of the Huli Cat. "We are hanging 4 and 5 fish at a time out there. The salmon are hitting just about any bait or lure you care to use, it just doesn't seem to matter. The fish are averaging 13 pounds, and we had a 27 pounder yesterday. Overall we took 38 salmon for 19 anglers."

According to Mattusch, there are big numbers of salmon to the south of Half Moon Bay so he expects the hot action to hold up as fish continue to move northward.

Peggy Beckett at the Huck Finn Sportfishing Center also reported outstanding action for quality kings. "Yesterday we had 6 boats operating and they returned with 77 limits of salmon while trolling a variety of lures and bait," related Beckett.

Scores for June 25 for the Pillar Point Fleet were as follows: The Gravy had 9 limits by 8:10 a.m., the Que Sera Sera had 7 limits to 25 pounds, the Ankeny Street had 10 limits with fish into the 20's, the New Mary S had 6 limits, the New Captain Pete had 20 limits, and the Tiger Fish had 27 limits.

EMERYVILLE
After a sputtering start, the salmon fishing beyond the Golden Gate has finally broken wide open and east bay anglers couldn't be happier.

"Our fleet found the fish on Thursday and on Friday things busted wide open," disclosed Frank Salazar at the Emeryville Sportfishing Center. "The salmon are concentrated in an area about 30 miles south of Seal Rock along the San Mateo coastline. The fish are of phenomenal quality averaging in the teens with lots of fish in the 20's showing."

Scores for Saturday June 25 were as follows: the Sea Gull II had 36 salmon to 27 pounds for 18 anglers, the New Huck Finn had 50 salmon to 22 pounds for 25 anglers, the New Seeker had 56 salmon to 27 pounds for 28 anglers, the Superfish had 46 salmon to 22 pounds for 23 anglers, and the New Salmon Queen had 36 salmon to 29 pounds for 18 anglers.

Charter boats fishing with live bait within the bay have been doing quite well targeting stripers, but have been struggling to catch halibut, due to the recent strong tides.

June 25's potluck scores were as follows: the Captain Hook had 10 halibut to 27 pounds and 5 stripers to 10 pounds for 23 anglers, the Dandy had 10 stripers to 10 pounds and a 20 pound leopard shark for 5 anglers, and the Primetime had 3 halibut to 18 pounds and 21 stripers to 12 pounds for 13 anglers.

BERKELEY
Anglers fishing out of the Berkeley Marina have a difficult choice to make. They have to choose between the wide-open salmon bite south of the Golden Gate or the excellent striper action available both inside and outside the bay that live bait potluck trips are experiencing.

"On Monday and Tuesday, our salmon boats were able to take light load limits while fishing the north side," reported Chris Nelson of the Berkeley Sportfishing Center. "Toward the end of the week, solid salmon action developed to the south near Pigeon Point. Now that bite is wide open with limits and early limits of quality fishing being the rule for boats trolling and mooching."

On Sunday June 26, the Eldorado I and the New Easy Rider both targeted salmon. Combined they took out 41 anglers and returned with full limits of kings to 30 pounds. On the day before, The Eldorado I had 24 limits, the New Easy Rider had 23 limits, the Eldorado III had 58 salmon for 29 anglers, the New Golden Eye had 24 limits, the Golden Eye 2000 had 26 limits, and the Flying Fish had 23 limits. On June 25, both the Golden Eye 2000 and the Flying Fish returned with top fish of 32 pounds.

On the live bait front, the California Dawn, skippered by James Smith, returned to the marina on June 25 with 31 stripers to 15 pounds for 25 anglers while fishing inside the bay.

"We've been landing big numbers of stripers while fishing the flats and in the Belvadere area. The halibut action has been slow because of the big tides we're having. So far today we have 50 stripers to 20 pounds and a single halibut in the box and we're still fishing," he explained.

On June 25, the Happy Hooker, skippered by Jim Smith, nailed 25 limits of striper to 28 pounds while fishing beaches in the Pacifica area. The Happy Hooker had 27 bass for 22 anglers the previous day. "The stripers that we are taking off the beach are big, high quality bass," exclaimed Smith.

POINT SAN PABLO
Like other bay area ports, anglers fishing out of Point San Pablo are enjoy outstanding success while targeting striped bass with live bait.

"The striper fishing is really hot right now," reported Captain Frank Miller of the Fury. "I have been focusing on the area between Southampton and the Berkeley Pier in 13 to 32 feet of water. Our bigger bass have been coming out of the deeper areas. On June 25, I took out 12 anglers and they ended up with 14 stripers and 3 halibut to 16 pounds. On June 24, I had 17 anglers aboard and they landed limits of stripers to 13 pounds and a single halibut that went 19 pounds."

Miller will be offering live bait potluck trips within the bay until early November. While these trips are offering outstanding action as of press time things should be even more exciting by the time this issue hits news stand, since angler will be able to target rockfish and lingcod by that time. There are good numbers of bottomfish concentrated on rocky structure throughout the middle bay, just waiting for an anchovy to drift their way.

Miller has not been out for sharks recently due to low angler interest.

RICHMOND
Anglers fishing out of the Richmond Marina are experiencing top-notch action on stripers up to 15 pounds while drifting with live shiners and anchovies.

"We had very good action today with 6 limits of stripers up to 15 pounds," reported Captain Barry Canevaro of the Fish Hookers Sportfishing. "In general, the fishing has been good to very good in the Southampton area depending on the day. The stripers are averaging 8 to 9 pounds. I've been seeing a few halibut mixed in with the stripers, but the fast tides over the last week have really slowed the halibut action down."

Canevaro will continue offering live bait potluck trips into the fall. Once a concentration of salmon moves onto the Marin coastline, the Fish Hookers will begin offering salmon trolling trips.

Captain John Badger of Barbarian Sportfishing also reported fast action on striped bass. "My clients took easy limits of stripers yesterday while fishing live anchovies from Southampton to the Berkeley Pier," related Badger.

Badger specializes in trolling for halibut. His next halibut trolling adventure will take place next week when the big tides subside.

BODEGA BAY
After a period of unrelenting wind, the weather offshore of Bodega Bay has finally calmed and anglers are once again enjoy good to excellent salmon fishing.

"Overall, I'd rate the fishing as okay," disclosed Captain Rick Powers of the New Sea Angler. "On Monday and Tuesday the fishing was great. Then we got a shot of wind for a day, and since then things have been a bit spotty. The conditions are great and we've got a lot of brown water."

"I'm confident we will have great fishing very soon," he continued. "The salmon we have been catching are averaging 14 to 16 pounds and range up into the twenties."

Just as Powers finished giving his report his customers had a triple hookup going.

The New Sea Angler is now offering rockcod, lingcod, and salmon combination trips, now that the rockfish season is open.

Edwin Liebig at Will's Bait and Tackle reported solid salmon action 11 miles outside Bodega Harbor. "There are a lot of silvers showing up right now," he tipped. "The top producer has been a watermelon Apex Lures trolled over 360 feet of water. We have not had any huge fish, but there are some 30's showing in the catches."

The Calico, skippered by Mike Harbath has been enjoying great success on fish averaging 14 to 20 pounds, with bigger fish ranging up to 30. On Harbath's last trip, the Calico was back in port by 12:30 with limits taken while trolling 20 to 45 feet deep.

FORT BRAGG
A solid salmon bite has developed offshore of Fort Bragg over the past month and some trophy kings are beginning to show in the catches.

"On the average we are scoring a fish per rod, but some days we do even better," related Captain Jason Rossetto of the Lady Irma II. "I have been trolling right outside Noyo Harbor over 300 feet of water. The salmon are spread throughout the water column. My clients have taken them as shallow as 15 pulls and as deep as 100 pulls."

According to Rossetto, purple haze hoochies are producing the top results at this time. Anglers are also utilizing rigged anchovies and Apex Lures. "The salmon we are catching average about 15 pounds each. Our top fish so far weighed in at 35 pounds," disclosed Rossetto.

Rockfish season offshore of Fort Bragg opened on Friday, July 1. Anglers booking trips out of Noyo Harbor can expect excellent fishing for quality rockfish and big lingcod. Captain Rossetto forecasts an outstanding season with limit action.