NORCAL Saltwater Reports

Saltwater Report August 27, 2010

Morro Bay/Avila Beach
If you live near the Central Coast and would like to put a stockpile of tasty fish fillets in your freezer, run, don’t walk to Morro Bay or Avila Beach.
Anglers departing from these ports are enjoying very good bottomfish action. Full day trips are yielding full limits and half day trips are coming close to limits most of the time. While rockfish are providing most of the action, a few lingcod and the occasional halibut are showing too.
On August 22 the folks at Virg’s Landing only sent out one boat. The Admiral took out 44 enthusiastic anglers for a half day fishing adventure and they just missed landing limits. In all they landed a lingcod, 15 vermilion rockfish, 15 copper rockfish and 333 assorted rockfish.
Live bait is not available at Morro Bay at this time, but it is expect to be available soon.
Both the Patriot and the Pacific Horizon departed from Avila Beach on August 22. The Pacific Horizon had 41 anglers aboard for a full day trip that produced full limits or rockfish and 7 lingcod.
The Patriot had 31 anglers aboard for a half day trip. They ended up with half limits of rockfish.

Monterey/Santa Cruz
White seabass have moved into Monterey Bay to feed upon the abundant market squid. Fishing for these monster croakers is never easy, but anglers fishing aboard both charter and private boats have landed some beautiful seabass lately.
A trip by the Caroline on Friday, August 20 yielded 7 white seabass to 50 pounds for 9 anglers fishing live squid for bait in the bay. “The passengers also lost five other fish,” said Chris Arcoleo of Chris’ Fishing Trips, Inc.
A trip by the Checkmate on Monday, August 23 yielded 3 seabass for 9 passengers. The fish weighed 60, 55 and 40 pounds.
“Over the weekend, our rockcod trips produced half to three-quarter limits,” said Arcoleo. “Anglers caught a mixture of yellowtail, olive, blue and vermilion rockfish while using shrimp flies tipped with squid strips.”
“The rockfishing is OK, but you have to work for the fish,” said Chrrissie Chonacki of Randy’s Fishing Trips. “The 17 anglers who went aboard the Sur Randy on August 23 landed limits of rockfish while fishing the local reefs.”
On August 21, the 26 people fishing at Point Sur aboard the Chubasco landed limits of assorted rockfish, according to Chonacki.
“We have been rockfishing down at Point Sur with great results,” reported Carol Jones of Kahuna Sportfishing in Moss Landing. “The bottom fish are biting, but the school fish have been off the bite. Anglers sacks have been quite nice.”
Salmon trollers willing to put in their time near the east edge of the Soquel Hole are still catching a few chinooks, according to Todd Fraser of Bayside Marine in Santa Cruz. A few anglers who worked down near 36'49/121'53 caught some salmon down at 250 feet.
“The halibut are still being taken near the Mile Buoy and there have been some good scores from up the coast,” stated Fraser. “One boat over the weekend went looking for albacore and ended up with one triple hook-up about 50 miles out. They fished the area outside the weather buoy around 36'44/122'50.”

Half Moon Bay
Coastal rockfishing remains very good with Peggy Beckett at Huck Finn Sporting Fishing reporting that the New Gravy was out on Saturday, August 21 with 20 members of the grill crew from Coastside Fishing Club.
They loaded up with ½ limits of “bomber” black rockfish, 3 cabezon, 2 lings to 8 pounds, and a solitary 8-pound halibut south at Pescadero.
Captain Dennis Baxter on the New Captain Pete started his day off of the Ritz; but finding too many small fish, they moved south to Pescadero for half limits for 24 fishermen and a lingcod. Captain Bob Mazzetti on the Connie O has been sticking around in front of the harbor, and they put in six limits on Saturday with the Ankeny Street coming back with 16 limits of rockfish working from Buoy 1 South to the Ritz Carlton.
The rockfish bite was more work on Sunday, August 22, but the New Gravy scratched out 11 limits of rockfish, 4 lings to 15-pounds, and a 10-pound halibut at the Ritz. The Ankeny Street also found l5 limits of rockfish including 3 cabezon, 2 lings to 10 pounds, and 2 halibut to 10 pounds.
“We experienced really good fishing for rockfish on Friday and Saturday, with a bit tougher fishing on Sunday and today due to an extremely strong current,” reported Sherri Ingles of the Queen of Hearts. “These were still all good days where everyone enjoyed themselves and several took home their limit of quality rockfish after fishing along the San Mateo County Coast.”
There was a flurry of white seabass action over the weekend of August 14 in response to a huge showing of market-grade squid just south of the harbor. After a weekend in which the launch ramp was packed with at least 100 boats seeking “the ghost,” things returned to the normal pattern of coastal rockfish on the weekend of August 21st.
Sheryl Jimno of the Rusty Hook in Pacifica said crabbers are working the pier for either rock or red crab since the Dungeness season is long over, and it won’t open until November. Striper fishing continues to be hit or miss with the percentage of hits far below the misses.

San Francisco/San Rafael
Although halibut fishing is slow in San Francisco Bay, anglers drifting live bait on the north bar of the Golden Gate are nailing some hefty halibut.
Just ask Mark Andronico and his son, Niko, who bagged 6 keeper halibut to 20 pounds on Friday, August 20. They were drifting live shiner perch at the north bar, according to Keith Fraser of Loch Lomond Live Bait and Tackle.
The three anglers fishing with Jim Cox of Touch of Grey Sportfishing also had a great day of fishing on Saturday, August 21 when they nailed six sevengill sharks to 70 pounds. They also bagged a striper and a leopard shark while fishing in San Francisco Bay.
A few persistent live bait drifters are bagging some halibut in the bay at Red Rock and Paradise Cay, added Kevin Wolfe, also from Loch Lomond Live Bait and Tackle.
Erik Anfinson, captain of the Bass Tub, was on a scouting trip for albacore tuna off the Bay Area coast at press time. Halibut fishing was slow on the latest live bait trip on the boat, with 2 halibut caught at the north bar on August 22.


Berkeley/Emeryville
Rockfish were yielding easy limits up until a few days ago when the bite slowed down, but it is expected to bounce back soon. Salmon fishing has been a slow grind with anglers landing less than half a fish per rod most of the time. On the positive side some of the salmon being caught are quality fish that range from 15 to 40 pounds.
According to Craig Stone at the Emeryville Sportfishing Center, on Saturday August 21 four Emeryville boats headed to the Farallons for rockfish and returned with 950 rockfish and 35 lingcod.
The next day 4 boats headed out to the Farallons and they ended up just short of limits with 910 rockfish, 14 lingcod and a 44 pound Pacific halibut.
The Seeker tried for salmon along the Marin Coast on Saturday and boated 5 kings to 18 pounds for their 19 anglers.
Operating out of the Berkeley Marina, the Happy Hooker, with relief skipper Bob Wright at the wheel headed out to the islands on Saturday in search of rockfish and ended up boated near limits for their 19 anglers aboard.
Captains Joe and Joey Gallia of the New Easy Rider have been splitting their time between targeting halibut and stripers with live bait both inside and outside the bay and trolling for salmon at various locations beyond the Golden Gate. When the Gallias have been able to locate the salmon they’ve put up very respectable scores.

Oyster Point
Light angling pressure continues to be the norm around the Peninsula, but anglers taking time to fish nearby waters are scoring on sharks, rays, and perch.
“It’s been pretty slow around here lately, but anglers are still getting sharks and rays off the pier,” said John Akina of Oyster Point Bait and Tackle. “They’re using anchovies, sardines and squid for them.”
Unfortunately, Akina had no reports of halibut or stripers in the last week, but he did comment on the increasing amount of anglers going for perch off the Oyster Point Pier.
“They’re getting a mixture of pile and black perch using pile worms. I haven’t heard of anyone using it yet, but shrimp usually works also,” he stated.
The Lovely Linda Too left Oyster Point Marina on April 19 for a day’s angling along the Marin coast with Tom Minichino, Charlie Crowder, Robert Knowlton and Jesse Hanks. After motoring through the salmon fleet working from Rocky Point to the Duxbury buoy, Captain Jack Chapman set up a drift along a rocky ridge a couple miles above the can.
“Each drift produced both halibut and rockfish,” said Chapman. “Several undersized lings and halibut were caught and released during the drifts. As the afternoon fog settled in, we headed back to the bay and made one final stop for a 52” leopard shark. The final count was 5 halibut, 16 rock fish and 1 leopard shark.”


Benicia/Suisun Bay
(Benicia) Shore anglers are doing pretty well while fishing Suisun Bay, but the same can’t be said for boaters. High winds have made for difficult fishing. The wind combined with the lure of salmon fishing outside the Golden Gate is keeping most anglers away from Suisun Bay.
“The striper fishing keeps getting better and better for bank anglers fishing in Benicia,” reported Pam Hayes at Benicia Bait and Tackle. “We haven’t seen any really big fish yet, but plenty of 22 to 26 inchers are being caught. The largest bass to come in recently measured about 30 inches.”
“The best baits for hooking stripers are either blood worms or pile worms, but I’ve been selling a lot of live bullheads too, so some guys must be hooking up with them,” added Hayes.
“There are good numbers of sturgeon around, we’ve been seeing them jump regularly off 9th Street, but very few guys have been fishing for them. It’s been very windy and that makes it tough to sturgeon fish. We had one group go out last Saturday night and they reported catching and releasing one keeper,” disclosed Hayes.
Striper fishing has been pretty good in the Napa River for fish running 24 to 26 inches. Anchovies and pile worms are the top rated baits. There have been no recent reports of sturgeon being caught, but as is the case in Suisun Bay, few guys have been trying for them.

Bodega Bay
The Sonoma County coast remains the best location in California for the opportunity to fight an ocean salmon. Although the bite has slowed down for most, trollers and moochers continue to work a wider patch of water from north of Bodega Head down to Ten Mile Beach for a chance at limits of truly large fish.
On Sunday, August 22 Captain Vince Orsini on the Miss Anita reported 4 salmon ranging from 8 to 18 pounds working from the top of Ten Mile to the southern edge trolling in 50 to 70 feet or water.
Orsini said, “We didn't meter much bait, but where we found small pockets is where we found our few salmon.”
Private boaters reported scores from zero to 3 fish to 30 pounds, but most of the skiffs have been getting impatient during the scratch bite and are running around from location to location.
Rockfishing continues to be a limit proposition either north or south of the harbor, with Captain Rick Powers on the New Sea Angler reporting 12 limits of rockfish working the reefs off the Towers on Sunday, August 22nd.
On Saturday, August 21, the New Sea Angler posted 38 limits of rockfish and one ling fishing at Pt Reyes. Powers said, “The rockfish bite was slow and steady, but they were definitely off the bite, so they worked all day for them.”
The first showing of tuna off this section of the coast occurred the week of August 16 with one private boater traveling out of Tomales Bay north to the warm water break off of Point Arena at 38.38x124.31 for 23 albacore on a two-day, three-night adventure..

San Diego
(San Diego) Yellowtail and yellowfin highlight recent long range catches. Short range trips are producing mixed bag catches including sand bass and rockfish.
“Today we departed on our annual Merritt 6 day trip. We got a full load of bait and cleared the point around noon. We're heading south toward the Islands. The weather is glass calm,” reported Justin Fleck from the helm of the Excel on August 16.
“We arrived to the Islands just after lunch and were welcomed by a good school of biting yellowtail. Most of the fish were 15 to 20 pounds with a few bigger models mixed in. Everybody had a chance to yank and crank. We were able to put together a nice afternoon,” disclosed Fleck on August 17.
“We had another excellent day of fishing here on the" Big X". There was very good sign of good grade yellowtail all the way down the beach. We spent the day going from high spot to high spot from San Roque to Hipolito. To go along with the yellows, there were a few exotics to be had too. We picked up a half dozen grouper, two bluefin tunas, and some dorado. Since we are all finished up on yellowtail, we’ve decided to make the run down to Alijos to try for a trophy tuna or wahoo,” Fleck exclaimed on August 19.
“Our run out to the Rocks paid off for us with outstanding fishing on tuna, dorado, yellowtail, and wahoo! The tuna started biting just after daylight and stuck with the boat all day. Most of the fish were in the 40-70 pound class for the morning with a couple of bigger ones mixed in. Mid day, a rogue school of dorado found us and made everyone participate in the "Mahi Shuffle.”
After a while, the fish backed off and it was back to tuna. “Just before dark, I don't know where they came from, a spot of mixed fish from 20 to 60 pounds hit us and hit us hard! They were biting as fast as you could get a bait in the water for the last hour of our day. What a great way to end it. We left Alijos and are now heading up the line in good weather,” disclosed Fleck on August 20.
The Royal Polaris recently completed the Fujimoto Memorial 7 day trip and what a trip it was. The action started out with anglers boating yellowfin tuna averaging 50 to 70 with a few 100 plus pound monsters mixed in.
On day four of the trip the focus changed from tuna to yellowtail. The yellowtail ranged from 15 to 22 pounds, but some fish as large as 50 pounds showed too. In addition to the yellowtail, wahoo, dorado and a handful of other species also hit the decks.
The crew of the Red Rooster III has been keeping busy recently. From August 14 to 19 they were on the water for a 5 day charter headed by State Farm Insurance agent Bob Peterson. Andy Cates was the skipper on this trip.
Anglers enjoyed exceptional action limiting out on yellowtail and added 3 yellowfin tuna and 3 dorado. The first place jackpot went to Kevin Smith for his 40 pound yellowtail. Jerry Lahr took second place with his 39.5 pound yellowtail and Dan O’Leary held down the third spot with a yellowtail weighing 38.6 pounds.
As soon as the Red Rooster III got back to San Diego they headed out again with Captain Joe D’Acquisto at the helm for a 3 day adventure. The trip yielded 125 yellowtail and 70 rockfish. The largest yellowtail was caught by Eileen Chechini. It weighed 25.9 pounds.
Closer to shore, anglers departing from San Diego ports on half and full day trips are hooking a variety of gamefish.
For example on August 22, 27 anglers headed out on the Malihini and they boated a grand total of 30 sand bass, 60 sculpins and 28 rockfish. The Fisherman III took out 23 anglers the same day. They caught 2 yellowtail, 37 sculpin and 26 rockfish.

Baja California
(Loreto) Now is the time to visit the Baja Peninsula. Fish are biting at all the major destinations and variety is the name of the game. Marlin, tuna, yellowtail, dorado, wahoo and roosterfish are routinely being caught.
“Here we are in mid August and the yellowtail are at the top of this list,” reported Pam Boyles of The Baja Big Fish Company. “Conditions at 200 to 250 feet below the surface are obviously favorable for yellowtail to be feeding. With the exception of August 6 and 7, the yellowtail bite has been consistent and reliable.”
“Yellowtail are being caught off the north side of Isla Carmen as they have been for the past three weeks. Boats are fishing over the cincquenta and the la vaca sea mounts located several miles north of Punta Lobos. We're also going north to fish over San Bruno and Puerta Almejas.
Anglers fishing from East Cape destinations are enjoying good results. “Fishing has been very good for yellowfin tuna, they are running from 15 to 137 pounds. Everybody is catching their limits. The tuna are around Pescadero, La Ribera and further out also. Dorado fishing has been so-so for small fish. There have been blue marlin caught and released this past week,” reported Marisol at Martin Verdugo’s Beach Resort.
At the Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort things are going equally as well. Over the past week anglers departing from the resort have boated blue marlin, black marline and striped marlin. In addition to the billfish, big numbers of tuna and dorado have been on tap along with the occasional wahoo, snapper, roosterfish and amberjack.
“Our normal warm water species are around such as dorado, billfish, wahoo, roosters and tuna, but we’ve also had some outstanding and surprising catches of amberjack, pargo, cabrilla and even yellowtail,” reported Jonathan Roldan of Tailhunter International in La Paz.
“Tuna continue to take center stage for most of our Las Arenas anglers who are seeing some of the best tuna fishing we’ve had all year and maybe in a long time. Smaller football-class tuna from 10 to 25 pounds are close to shore near the lighthouse and south towards Muertos Bay in waters that are incredibly shallow,” said Roldan.
“For our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, dorado have been 90 percent of the catch. The fish are holding in various places but the bite has normally been later in the morning or early afternoon so fishermen need to be a bit patient. If you can find a big patch of floating weeds all the better. Something to keep an eye on is that in the channel later in the week, 20 pound-class yellowfin tuna showed up which was a nice topper for a day of dorado fishing,” continued Roldan.
“The marlin are still out there as one of our friends released a black marlin estimated at 500 plus pounds earlier in the week while working the temperature break to the south,” disclosed Captain George Landrum of Fly Hooker Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas. “Striped marlin have made a re-appearance at the Golden Gate and surrounding areas as most boats have been coming in with at least two releases per day, and some of them more than a half-dozen per day.”
“Live bait tossed at the tailers has been the key. If the bait balls form on the bank like they have before things could really take off. Elsewhere the fish have been scattered. Black marlin in small sizes have been found near shore between Cabo and the Los Frailles area, averaging 150 to 200 pounds, blue marlin in the same size range have been found on a regular basis, with a few in the 300 pound class just a few miles farther out and have been concentrated to the north of the temperature break,” added Landrum.