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Marin Coast Map Feature
MADE IN U . S . A
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40 Years Serving Sportsmen
Vol . 41 - ISS . 12
Our 40th Year
Since 1982
“ The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen !” INSIDE
Area Reports
A Fine Line Between Lucky and Good : Halibut and Lingcod Inhale Swimbaits on the California Dawn II
T here ’ s no doubt that the saltwater fishing in Northern California can be simply described as off the hook with salmon and halibut headlining the catches . But as luck would have it , I ’ ve been sitting on the sidelines watching as folks post their amazing catches on Facebook and Instagram . Don ’ t get me wrong - I love reposting all the great catches and smiling faces on our social media channels but sometimes , an angler just needs to go fishing and get in on the action . The week of July 4th brought about not one , but TWO opportunities to get out to enjoy some saltwater therapy . Luck was on my side ! On Monday the 4th , my good friend Michael “ Bubs ” Fong joined me for a half day salmon fishing trip . Although we ended up with the you should have been here yesterday curse , – it was good to hang out with Bubs and reminisce of old times we shared while working together at Fisherman ’ s Warehouse in Sacramento .
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ast time this year I took a trip to the Channel Islands to target white sea bass . What an amazing that trip was ! Since that trip was such as success I thought I would schedule another one around the same time of year as last year . We were all set to go but the winds picked up and the trip was cancelled . I was with Amy Wellenkamp and we were both itching to make some casts and hook into some fish so we decided to call an audible . We were going to do something that was new for both of us , surf fish for halibut . Surf fishing is an amazing experience even if you don ’ t catch fish in my opinion . For me , standing in the water , walking the beach , watching the waves break , the sunset or sunrise , the marine life , and making casts with the possibility of hooking into whatever species is roaming the coastline is surreal . Hooking into a fish and landing it is the icing on the cake . Halibut fishing on the surf has been on Amy ’ s and I “ to-do ” list and have educated ourselves on where , how , and what equipment we needed . We have most of the equipment because we have done some surf fishing over the last couple of years but that was for striped bass and surf perch . The major adjustment we needed to make was
JP Gano and Nick Lam hold up some of the quality lingcod that anglers caught on a recent trip while fishing aboard California Dawn II ..
Photo Courtesy of Roland Aspiras
Aside from the salmon , we also had a handful of tasty jack mackerel and a mess of rockfish and lingcod to take home to make meals for our families . Come midweek , it was time to focus on Friday ’ s upcoming trip aboard the California Dawn II which happened to be sponsored by Phenix Rods and
Phenomenal Day of Targeting Halibut From The Surf
GONE FISHING by Ernie Marlan
WHAT ’ S HOT by Roland Aspiras
Optimum Baits . Luckily , my good friend JP Gano gave me the heads up a week prior , otherwise I would have missed out . Many old schoolers may remember JP from his days of being a full-time deckhand for the Smith family . While he mainly worked on the Happy Hooker , he spent time on the other boats run by the family as well . The Phenix Rods sponsored trips occur several times a year ; the last one that I was able to make was before the pandemic started . As a Phenix Rods sponsored angler , I was ecstatic to finally fish with friends and folks from the fishing industry that I had not seen in some time . The California Dawn II is a beautiful catamaran ; many folks remember the boat as it was formerly known as the New El Dorado III . James Smith purchased the boat and
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Amy Wellenkamp was surf fishing near Santa Barbara when she hooked and landed this keeper halibut while using a Calissa Jerkbait .
Photo Courtesy of Edward Tomiloso
our fishing location and lure selection . The necessary equipment required to surf fish include , waders , a 9ft – 10ft surf rod with a 6-12 pound line rating , Van Stall VR50 loaded with 50 pound FINS Windtamer and a fluorocarbon leader . The lure selection consists of Calissa or Lucky Craft jerkbait , 3-5 inch swimbaits , and flukes .
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July 22 , 2022
FRESHWATER REPORTS Lake Almanor - Lake Amador ................................. 6 Berryessa Lake - Bullards Bar / Englebright Lakes ...... 7 Collins Lake - Davis Lake ....................................... 8 Don Pedro Lake - Folsom Lake .............................. 9
klamath / Trinity Rivers ........................................... 12 Lake Sonoma / Russian River - New Melones Lake . 13 Pardee / Camanche Lakes .................................... 15 Rio Vista Area / Delta - Stampede Reservoir ........ 16
SALTWATER REPORTS Bodega Bay - Half Moon Bay ...................................... 19 Monterey Bay - Fisherman ’ s Wharf / Sausality / Berkeley .... 20
FEATURES
Where ... When ... How ...
GO FOR IT : Staff ........................................................ 4 MAP FEATURE : Dan Bacher ................................ 12-13 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION : Dan Bacher ....... 19
STAFF TACKLE
What We ’ re Using
Ernie Marlan - targeted halibut while surf fishing the surf near Santa Barbara . He used on a 10ft Phenix Trifecta 6-12lb teamed up with a Van Stall VR50 reel spooled up with 20lb FINS Windtamer Braid . The lure of choice was a Calissa Jerkbait in sardine color . He caught and released 4 halibut and 1 seabass over a two day period .
Paul Kneeland - fished Stampede reservoir with Gary Caruso of Auburn in The Fish Sniffer Rogue Jet Coastal 21 . They caught limits of kokanee to 15 1 / 2 inches using an 8 ’ ultralight Phenix Reaper composite kokanee rod with a Team Daiwa Z ultra-light level wind reel loaded with 6 pound test P Line fluorocarbon line . They trolled pink / orange Paulina Peak dodgers with pink micro hoochies and chartreuse Vance ’ s dodgers with orange Bottom Line Tackle spinners with shoepeg corn 40 to 50 feet deep off the Cannon Downriggers at 1.3 mph .
Dan Bacher - fished for largemouth bass at Rucker Lake . He used a Berkley Ugly Stick GX2 6 ’ 6 ” medium action spinning rod , teamed up with a Shakespeare GX235 spinning reel filled with 8 lb . test P-Line CX Premium Fluorocarbon Coated Line . He fished with wacky-rigged 5 inch Yamamoto Senkos in watermellon and green pumpkin / black flake on Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap Hooks in # 1 and 1 / 0 .