Fish Sniffer Magazine Volume 41 Issue 12 | Page 11

The recreational ocean salmon fishing season dates in 2022 offer about the same number of open days as last year . Sport fisheries opened south of Point Arena on April 2 and the remainder of the coast will open May 1 . Although anglers can enjoy an earlier start to the season than last year , there will be intermittent breaks in fishing opportunity in management areas north of Pigeon Point .

In April , Pacific Fishery Management Council ( PFMC ) met in Seattle , Washington to finalize and adopt recommended ocean salmon seasons occurring between mid-May and October . These seasons are the outcome of a months-long public process and reflect efforts to maximize recreational angling opportunity while also achieving the stock conservation objectives prescribed by the PFMC and the National Marine Fisheries Service ( NMFS ) for 2022 .

Efforts to increase adult returns of California Coastal Chinook , Sacramento River Fall Chinook , and Klamath River Fall Chinook this fall and winter resulted in ocean salmon seasons that allow for more fishing opportunity in southern management areas and slightly less time on the water in northern management areas .

The 2022 recreational ocean salmon season dates for the California coast are as follows :

• In the Klamath Management Zone , which is the area between the Oregon / California state line and 40 ° 10 ’ 00 ” N . latitude ( near Cape Mendocino ), the season will be open May 1-31 and Aug . 1-Sept . 5 .

• The Fort Bragg Management Area , which extends from 40 ° 10 ’ 00 ” N . latitude to Point Arena ( 38 ° 57 ’ 30 ” N . latitude ), will be open May 1-July 4 and July 22-Sept . 5 .

• In the San Francisco Management Area , which extends from Point Arena to Pigeon Point ( 37 ° 11 ’ 00 ” N . latitude ), the season is open April 2-May 31 and June 23-Oct . 31 .

• In the Monterey Management Area , which extends from Pigeon Point to the U . S ./ Mexico border , the season is open April 2-Oct . 2 .

The minimum size limit in all management areas north of Point Arena is 20 inches total length . In the San Francisco and Monterey management areas , the minimum size limit is 24 inches total length through May 15 and will drop to 20 inches total length thereafter . The daily bag limit is two Chinook salmon per day . No more than two daily bag limits may be possessed when on land . On a vessel in ocean waters , no person shall possess or bring ashore more than one daily bag limit . Retention of coho , or silver salmon , is prohibited in all ocean fisheries off California .

Anglers are advised to check for updated information when planning a salmon fishing trip . Season dates , bag / possession limit information and gear restrictions can be found on CDFW ’ s Ocean Salmon webpage or by calling the CDFW Ocean Salmon Regulations Hotline at ( 707 ) 576-3429 . Public notification of any in-season change to conform state regulations to federal regulations is made through the NMFS ocean salmon hotline at ( 800 ) 662-9825 .

US

Coast Guard Point Reyes Light Station

Point Reyes

Estero de Limantour

Drakes Bay

Limantour Spit

Limantour Beach

Santa Maria Beach Coast Camp

Sculptured Beach

Point Resistance

Limantour Rd

Kelham Beach Arch Rock

Wildcat Camp

Alamere Falls Double Point

Abalone Point

Sky Camp

Glen Camp

Palomarin Trailhead Pt . Reyes Bird Observatory

US Coast Guard

Fishing Notes

• Rockfish action is excellent on this coast throughout the season . Blue , Black Bonitas , Brown Point , Vermilion , Gopher , China , Widow , Olive and Olive Rockfish are the main varieties caught , while cabezon and greenling also spice up the catches . Anchovies on three-way live bait set-ups are effective , as are Super Flies and other shrimp flies either fished alone or tipped with strips of squid or anchovies . Many anglers like to toss out bars ranging from 1 to 8 ounces . Among the better bars and jigs are Gibbs Minnows , Mega Baits , River2Sea lures and Horizon Pirk Minnows in a variety of colors . Berkley Gulp swimbaits , Fish Traps and plastic grubs in a range of sizes produce lots of rockfish every year . Point Reyes , Double Point , Duxbury Reef , and Point Bonita are among the many productive areas to pursue rockfish .

• Lingcod roam the reefs of this coast . The top live baits are anchovies , mackerel , sardines , kingfish , sanddabs and squid , while many lingcod will " hitch hike " on hooked rockfish as they are being reeled up from the depths . The same bars and jigs used for rockfish will work for lingcod , though you may want to use these lures in larger sizes than you do for rockfish . Berkley Gulp 10 inch squid and other large swimbaits and the P-Line Ling Cod rigs are also good lures to have in your lingcod arsenal .

• King Salmon fishing is traditionally best off this coast in June , July and August when the fish are fattening up with anchovies , krill and other forage as they get ready to run up the Central Valley rivers to spawn . However , the fish appear to be late this year . Trollers use anchovies , herring and a variety of lures , including Pro-Troll E-Chip lures , Apex lures and Krocodiles . Rotary Salmon Killers , Franko Bullet Rotators and hoochies are used in conjunction with bait to entice big salmon . Mooching can be great when the fish are schooled over concentrations of bait . Popular salmon spots include Muir Beach , Stinson Beach , Duxbury Reef , Double Point and Point Reyes .

• Halibut can be good in both sandy and rocky areas in this area . The Marin Coast is known for producing big halibut in the 20 to 30 pound range every season at a number of locations , including Stinson Beach , Bolinas and Drakes Bay . Drifting live bait is the top method . Striped bass are often caught by anglers fishing live bait for halibut or trolling for salmon . Regardless of the species you fish for , make sure that you review the current Ocean Sport Fishing regulation booklets and suppements .

Duxbury Reef Preserve

Tomales Bay

Bear Valley

Bear Valley Rd .

Duxbury Pt .. Bolinas Bay

To Bodega Bay

Point Reyes Station

Inverness Park

Bolinas

Tocaloma

Jewell Jewell

Stinson Beach

Rocky Point

Sir Francis Drake Blvd

Gull Rock

Muir Beach Overlook

Nicasio Nicosio Reservoir

Lagunitas

San Geronimo

Kent Lake

Mount

Tennessee Cove Tennessee Pt ..

Nicosio Nicasio

Hwy .

Tamalpais Muir Woods National Mon .

State

Muir Woods Rd

Muir Beach Golden

Pirates Cove Gate

Rodeo Cove

Forest Knolls

Pt . Bonita Lighthouse Pt . Bonita

Woodacre

Fairfax-Bolinas Rd .

Petaluma Pt . Reyes Rd .

Nicasio Valley Rd .

Bon Tempe Lake

Panoramic

Park

Alpine Lake

Lagunitas Lake

National

Homestead Valley Tamalpias Valley

Marin City

Recreation Area

Fairfax

Point Diablo ^Kerby

Cove

Sleepy Hollow

Larkspur

Corte

Madera Mill Valley

Stafford Lake

Lucas Valley Rd .

Lucas Valley

San Anselmo

Ross Kentfield

Richardson Bay

Sausalito

Fort Baker

Lime Pt . Cavallo Pt .

To San Francisco

Cat Kaiser , GSSA events director , caught this hard-fighting salmon while trolling aboard the Reel Magic out of Bodega Bay on July 5 .

Photo courtesy of Reel Magic Sport Fishing Charters

Association . “ Nonetheless , we don ’ t know what fish we ’ ve been catching in addition to Sacramento Basin stocks . There might there be Klamsth fish mixed in the a bunch of Columbia fish , so this may or may not translate into good Sacramento River fishing this year .” McManus thinks the improved overall fishing this year is a combination of a better juvenile salmon ( smolt ) release strategy and good ocean forage and water conditions . Juvenile Chinook salmon from

Lorrie Otte , Cat Kaiser , Golden State Salmon Association ( GSSA ) events director , Naz Jalil and Lyn Marie Moyer show off their salmon limits caught aboard the Salty Lady at Point Reyes on July 8 .

Photo courtesy of Jared Davis , Salty Lady

Central Valley fish hatcheries received another ride to the saltwater this year in an effort to prevent the fish from perishing in low , warm water conditions during yet another drought year . The CDFW transported 19.7 million hatchery-raised fall-run and 960,000 spring-run juvenile Chinook salmon ( smolts ) to San Pablo Bay , San Francisco Bay and seaside net pens this spring and summer .

One of the last releases took place at Brickyard Cove in Richmond on Sunday , June 19 . The GSSA and the

City of Richmond assisted the CDFW with the release of 200,000 smolts at this site . The Richmond Police Activities League also brought a group of local kids to come down , jump on the Salty Lady , and watch the release from the water . “ The trucking of these salmon smolts helps ensure both sport and commercial anglers of salmon in the future ,” said McManus .. “ CDFW staff has gone above and beyond in their willingness to move the release sites further west , which means we ’ ll see much better survival for those fish released closer to the ocean .” Regarding ocean conditions , McManus said , “ There ’ s a tremendous amount of forage fish in the ocean now . We ’ s seen larger anchovies coming out of the salmon we caught .. There are also reports of juvenile rockfish that have been caught . There should have been good krill production and probably was , with good upswelling and cold water conditions this year . The fish caught out of Bodega appeared to have darker orange flesh , indicating that they ’ ve been feeding on krill recently .” McManus noted that two big schools have been showing on the ocean this season - one was below Pigeon Point , moved north to the Farallon Islands and then to Point Reyes and above . The second group off Bodega Bay was a little smaller grade of fish with more orange flesh , suggesting that they were feeding on krill relatively recently . Meanwhile , Tribes , anglers , environmentalists are now engaged in efforts to get the salmon above Shasta and other Central Valley dam so they can spawn where they spawned since time immemorial . “ Life for salmon in Central Valley below the dams appears to be getting tougher because adult spawning salmon are running into water temperatures that kill the eggs that they lay . California would be well advised to study experiences in Washington and Oregon in getting the salmon above the dams . I suspect there are valuable lessons to be learned from these states ,” McManus concluded .