By: The Fish Sniffer Staff July 14, 2005 Last Issue

This is my father's 33lb salmon caught over the 4th of July weekend up off the coast of Fort Bragg, CA. It was my first time deep sea fishing and I limited with 2 16lb salmon. Our party consisted of 6 people and everyone except 1 caught at least 1 salmon that day. As for the weather, well the beginning of the day consisted of out-takes from the movie, 'The Perfect Storm'. As soon as the Captain announced we were going in 5 minutes, the sun came out and the ocean calmed. What a way to spend the 4th!

MORRO BAY/AVILA BEACH
While the salmon action has once again tapered off in the Morro Bay area, the rockfish and lingcod action remains excellent and albacore may be on tap soon.

According to June Davis of Virg's Landing, 539 passengers departed Virg's on rockfish trips this past week. These anglers bagged 85 lingcod, 2,175 red rockcod, 3,853 assorted rockfish, 31 bocaccio, and 1 sheephead.

Top fish honors at Virg's Landing this week go to Jim Laswell with 18 and 20 pound lingcod, Charles Shemm with a 20 pound ling, Steven Irysh with a 12 pound lingcod, Nathan Lee with a 12 pound ling, Debbie Howard with a 10 pound sheephead, Carlos Sanches with a 10 pound red rockcod, and Bob Cradet with a 10 pound halibut.

Next week Captain John Rowley is planning to take the Admiral out in search of albacore. The trip will leave at 11 p.m. and will return the following evening at 8 p.m.

The folks at Patriot Sportfishing at Avila Beach report outstanding rockfish action. On Saturday, July 9, the Patriot returned to port with 4 lingcod and full limits of rockfish. The Pacific Horizon departed with 48 anglers and scored limits of rockfish and 4 lingcod to 8 pounds.

MONTEREY
Rockfish action off the Monterey County coast has been outstanding since the rockfish season began on July 1, while the salmon fishing has been fair to good.

"Anglers are nailing limits of shallow water rockfish everyday, along with some lingcod," reported Todd Arcoleo at Chris' Fishing, Inc. "The rockfish are a mixture of yellowtail, olives, blues and reds."

A trip by the Caroline to Carmel on Sunday July 10 yielded 22 limits of rockfish. Anglers are using Super Flies and an array of bars to entice the rockfish and lingcod.

On the same day, the 12 anglers on the Checkmate bagged 21 chinook salmon and the Star of Monterey had 23 salmon for 30 guys.

"The fish are mixed in size," noted Arcoleo. "The salmon are less numerous off Point Pinos, but they average 20 pounds. The fish are more abundant off Marina Beach and the Soldier's Club, but they're smaller, averaging 8 to 9 pounds."

Chrissie Chonacki of Randy's Fishing Trips reported excellent rockfish action also. The Chubasco had 44 limits of rockfish and a few lingcod on July 10, while the Sur Randy returned with 17 salmon for 17 anglers the same day.

"We had one charter book our two boats on Saturday," added Chonacki. "The Chubasco came back with limits of rockfish, while the Sur Randy had 16 salmon."

"This has been one of the best years for salmon in at least two decades," said Norm Chapin of Hook 'em Up Charters. "Hook'em Up I and II are pleased to report limits for their anglers everyday. We are departing from Moss Landing daily, traveling short distances, (2-8 miles) and hooking up with large salmon almost immediately."

Dennis "Dino" Ballin of Stockton landed the week's largest fish, a 32.12 pound buck measuring 39 inches in length and 27 inches in girth, while trolling off Soquel Point. "The big boy was fooled by a green hoochie with an eleven inch green "Hot Spot" flasher trolled 210 feet down," revealed Chapin.

As of 6 a.m. July 11, another large school of salmon had arrived in Monterey Bay. The fish are being caught from Pt. Pinos to Mulligan Hill, as well in the Soquel Point area near Santa Cruz.

SANTA CRUZ
The rockfish and lingcod action along the Santa Cruz County coast has been excellent since the season opened on July 1, while salmon fishing continues to be good. Fishing both in the afternoon and morning is productive.

The 4 anglers fishing with Joe Stoops of Chartle Charters boated 2 lingcod to 16 pounds and 40 black and gopher rockfish to 2 pounds on July 10. They enjoyed calm conditions while fishing the Lighthouse area in 40' of water.

The morning trip the same day by 3 anglers yielded 3 salmon to 13 pounds, a 20 pound thresher shark and a 10 pound lingcod. They fished the Mile Buoy area in 80' of water.

On the afternoon of July 9, the 5 anglers fishing with Stoops boated 50 quality black, gopher and vermilion rockfish to 3 pounds while fishing live bait off the Lighthouse in 40' of water.

"The Wild Wave has been switching from rockfish one day to salmon the next," said Bill Rawson at Shamrock Charters. "The salmon scores have been tapering off, but the rockcod trips are producing limits of nice sized rockfish. There are a lot of big red and bolina rockfish in the mix."

Albacore are expected to show in good numbers soon. Frank Iadiano, captain of the Sea Angel, ended up with 8 albacore on a trip outside the Dogbone a couple of weeks ago, but most anglers have been concentrating on the excellent rockfish and lingcod action, added Roland Robertson of Shamrock Charters.

Ten anglers from Fisherman's Warehouse in Cupertino landed limits of lingcod while fishing bars off the Santa Cruz Coast aboard the Wild Wave on Monday, July 11. The anglers used bars and live bait to entice the lingcod in shallow water.

The Velocity, skippered by Kenny Stagnaro, has also been targeting both salmon and rockfish. The Velocity returned with 16 salmon, ranging from 8 to 18 pounds, for 22 passengers the latest trip. The anglers mooched with anchovies around Moss Landing.

The 31 passengers fishing aboard the Velocity on July 9 caught 310 rockcod, 18 lingcod and two cabezon. The lingcod weighed up to 20 pounds. The anglers fished Super Flies, jigs and bars around New Years Island.

HALF MOON BAY
The hottest salmon action in the entire state is taking place offshore of Half Moon Bay and the action is predicted to improve over the next few weeks as more and more fish move north.

"The water is flat, there is a lot of bait, and the salmon fishing is outstanding," that was the word from skipper Tom Mattusch from the wheelhouse of the Hulicat. "Not only is the bite good but the fish are really big. In fact, I hear some guys saying the fish are too big and are breaking off too much tackle. Yesterday we had limits of fishing into the high 20's and our smallest fish weighed 12 pounds. At this point when we see an 8 pounder the fish looks like a shaker."

Mattusch is fishing 16 miles west of Pillar Point Harbor about 12 miles south of the Faralon Islands.

Phyllis Adams of Huck Finn Sportfishing also reported great action.

"Trolling with anchovies is resulting in good numbers of big salmon at this time," reported Adams.

The most recent scores for charter boats operating out of Huck Finn Sportfishing were as follows: The Gravy had 18 salmon to 27 pounds for 10 anglers, the New Captain Pete had 17 limits to 20 pounds, the Ankeny Street had 19 salmon to 24 pounds for 16 anglers, the Que Sera Sera had 7 limits of salmon to 21 pounds, the New Mary S had 5 limits of salmon, and the Tiger Fish had 28 limits of rockfish and 20 lingcod to 18 pounds.

EMERYVILLE
It doesn't matter whether you want to target salmon, bottom fish, or stripers, you can expect good action and quality fish both inside and outside the bay.

"Our charter boats have been experiencing very good action recently," disclosed John Perrodin of the Emeryville Sportfishing Center. "Our salmon fleet has been catching limits and near limits while trolling south of the Faralon Islands. Our biggest fish in the last few days weighed 26 pounds and we have seen several fish in the middle 20's."

Outstanding rockfish and lingcod action awaits anglers drifting live anchovies near the Faralon Islands. Limits of rockfish are a given at this time and the lingcod action has been really strong with good numbers of anglers landing limits. On Saturday July 9, six boats from Emeryville went bottom fishing and they returned with a combined total of 93 lingcod to 21 pounds.

The live bait bite inside the bay for stripers and the occasional halibut has remained steady for the past several weeks with limits and near limits of stripers into the high teens being the rule.

In the coming weeks, look for the salmon concentrate near the islands to begin moving in along the Marin Shoreline. There have already been some big salmon caught at Duxbury and there are good amounts of bait in evidence there, but the salmon action near the gate has been inconsistent so far.

Once the fish begin stacking up in places such as Duxbury, outstanding mooching action should get better.

BERKELEY
Anglers departing from the Berkeley Marina are enjoying excellent success while trolling for salmon and drifting anchovies on potluck adventures.

"The salmon bite has been very consistent for the past several days south east of the Faralon Islands," related Chris Nelson of the Berkeley Sportfishing Center. "Overall, our charter boats have been averaging between a fish per rod to limits of salmon, while trolling. We have seen some really heavy fishing in the catches recently."

On Saturday July 9, the Eldorado III took 53 salmons to 26 pounds for 36 anglers, the New Easy Rider brought back 21 limits to 25 pounds, the Eldorado I took 30 salmon to 24 pounds for 19 anglers, the New Golden Eye took 27 kings to 25 pounds for 27 anglers, the Golden Eye 2000 had 37 salmon to 27 pounds for 23 anglers, and the Flying Fish returned with 29 salmon to 25 pounds for 22 anglers.

Live bait fishing has been equally as good as the salmon fishing. "We put 40 limits of stripers on the boat by 10:30 am on July 10," reported Captain Jim Smith of the Happy Hooker. "Now we're fishing for rockfish and halibut along the coast. We just got started, but we already have 3 or 4 halibut and quite a few rockfish. My 25 clients landed 26 stripers, limits of rockfish and 35 lingcod yesterday."

On Saturday, July 9 the California Dawn, skippered by Jim Smith's son, James, ended the day with 9 halibut to 25 pounds 1 salmon at 9 pounds, 230 rockfish, 60 lingcod to 25 pounds and 9 stripers to 12 pounds for 30 anglers, while fishing outside the gate. On July 10, thirty anglers landed 58 stripers to 15 pounds, 1 lingcod, 1 halibut, 3 leopard sharks and were still fishing when this report was compiled

On Saturday July 9 the Silver Fox took out 15 anglers and returned with 9 halibut to 17 pounds, 2 rockfish, and 24 stripers to 17 pounds while fishing inside the bay.

SAN RAFAEL
Wind has kept most boaters from fishing for sturgeon in the "Sturgeon Triangle" of San Pablo Bay.

However, shore anglers are nailing striped bass and sturgeon while soaking ghost and grass shrimp in the China Camp area. "An average of 3 to 5 sturgeon are being taken each evening by bank anglers," revealed Keith Fraser at Loch Lomond Live Bait and Tackle.

Boaters continue to nail stripers while drifting shiner perch and anchovies. The Touch of Grey, skippered by Jim Cox, returned with six limits of stripers to 13 pounds during a live bait adventure on Sunday, July 10. They fooled the fish at Mel's Reef near Alcatraz Island.

Halibut fishing has been fair at best. Anglers are fooling the flatties with live bait at Angel Island, Paradise Cay and Southampton Shoals, according to Fraser. One angler also nailed a 15 pound halibut on a wormtail jig at the Marin islands.

The king salmon bite hasn't started at California City yet. "I heard of one 23 pound salmon taken there recently, but hardly anybody has been trolling for salmon in the bay yet," he added.

The 20 anglers fishing aboard the Morning Star on, Sunday, July 10 bagged 21 stripers and 1 halibut while fishing at Mel's Reef, reported Captain Gordie Hough. The 20 passengers aboard the boat on Friday took 23 bass and three halibut at Southampton Shoals, while 18 anglers nailed 22 bass at Mel's Reef on Wednesday.

Big fish honors go to Dawn Byrum, who bagged a 29.5 lb. halibut at Southampton Shoal aboard the Morning Star on July 8.

RICHMOND MARINA
At this point saltwater enthusiasts fishing out of the Richmond Marina are concentrating on the hot striped bass action available in the main bay until the salmon action busts loose along the Marin County coast.

"I have been running potluck trips along with the occasional salmon trip as well," related Captain Barry Canevaro of The Fish Hookers Sportfishing. "On the potluck trips my clients have been taking limit and near limits of striped bass, while drifting with live shiners. Our biggest striped bass over the past week weighed right at 18 pounds. Unfortunately, we have not had much halibut action recently."

Canevaro has been targeting the Southampton area and California City for stripers.

"I took out a salmon charter along the Marin coast this week and we ended up with 1.5 fish per rod. We encountered a lot of shaker action on the trip. I expect to see some large fish begin concentrating outside the gate in the next week or two and them we will spend more time focusing on them," confided Canevaro.

Canevaro will be skippering the Fish 'N' Fool IV out of the Richmond Marina until November when he will move back to the Pittsburg Marina in preparation for delta striper and sturgeon fishing.

BODEGA BAY
Bodega Bay has long been recognized as one of northern California's premier bottom fishing destination and now that season is underway Bodega is certainly living up to that reputation. Charter boats operating out of Bodega Harbor are providing clients with top notch fishing north of Bodega Head.

"The rockfishing is absolutely fantastic," was the word from Captain Rick Powers of the New Sea Angler. "I've been running combination rockfish, lingcod, and salmon trips with great success. On Friday, we had 20 limits of lingcod 20 rockfish limits and 7 salmon to 23 pounds. On Saturday, I took out 48 anglers and they landed 80 lings to 20 pounds, limits of rockfish, and 1 salmon that went 8 pounds. On another trip, I took out 43 anglers and ended the day with full limits of both lingcod and rockfish, while fishing near Timber Cove."

Power's most recent trip took place on July 10 and he reported outstanding action. "We have limits of lingcod for all 25 anglers aboard," he stated.

"The fish are of tremendous quality, averaging about 15 pounds each. Ray Valles topped everyone when he landed a monster 41.5 pound monster on a jig bar."

Judy Kendall at Will's Bait and Tackle reported improving salmon action for anglers trolling over 160 to 270 feet of water. "The salmon action was slow, but over the past couple days things have gotten a lot better. At this point I would describe the bite as very good," disclosed Kendall.

Trolling continues to be the method of choice for catching salmon. The top offerings include herring rigged in Rotary Salmon Killers and Apex Lures in purple/black or silver/blue. Look for the fish to be holding around 35 feet deep.

Mike Harbath of the Calico reported improving salmon action and outstanding rockfishing. On the Calico's last salmon adventure, 12 anglers ended up with 9 salmon to 25 pounds while fishing 3 to 5 mile offshore of Bodega Head.

Harbath predicts that the salmon will move tight to shore in the coming weeks and then the mooching action for big fish should kick.

FORT BRAGG
With rockfish and lingcod season now open, Fort Bragg anglers have a happy dilemma. They must choose between the excellent bottom fish action taking place along the Mendocino coast or the solid salmon action centered offshore of Pudding Creek.

"We are averaging limits and near limits of salmon right now," reports Captain Jason Rossetto of the Lady Irma II. "We are getting high quality kings that weigh up to 27 pounds while fishing over 300 feet of water out in front of Pudding Creek. The salmon are biting well and you don't have to do anything fancy to get hit. We are pulling cut anchovies and doing really well."

"The rockfish and lingcod action has been extremely good. My anglers have been landing easy limits of rockfish along with some heavy lingcod. Our biggest ling so far weighed 30 pounds," added Rossetto.

Paul Kneeland, the Fish Sniffer's Advertising Director, and his buddy fished out on Noyo Harbor on July 8 and 9 and experienced fair salmon action.

Ultimately they landed 3 quality kings from 13 to 17 pounds in addition to some lingcod and other bottom fish.

"The ocean was flat calm and we had some fog on the first day. The hot offering was a pearl white rainbow Apex trolled from 40 to 60 feet deep over 300 to 350 feet of water," tipped Kneeland.

During the next two week the water offshore of Fort Bragg will be subject to two 5 day salmon fishing closures that will run from Monday through Friday respectively. After that there will be no more closures until the season ends in the fall.