VOL . 42 • ISS . 14 |
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SALTWATER |
October 6 , 2023 |
19 |
This lucky angler did battle with this nice seven gill shark while fishing the SF Bay with California Dawn Sportfishing .
Photo Courtesy of California Dawn Sportfishing
Virginia Salvador and Lisa Lockwood prove that the halibut bite is still hot on the SF Bay . Quality fish are being caught and anglers are still posting up limits !
Photo Courtesy of Virginia Salvador
BODEGA BAY
Lingcod and Rockfish Limits Reward Deep Water Anglers
BODEGA BAY – Wind and big swells have prevented anglers from catching deep water rockfish and lingcod off the Sonoma Coast many days lately , but fishing is superb , with limits of both rockfish and lingcod the role , when the boats get out . Anglers are restricted to fishing for shelf rockfish species in water over than 50 fathoms until the end of the groundfish season on December 31 . The New Sea Angler out of the Bodega Bay Sportfishing Center checked in with 210 rockfish and 42 lingcod up to 24 pounds for 21 anglers on its latest trip out of Bodega Bay on September 23 . A trip on September 21 produced 150 rockfish and 30 lingcod up to 26 pounds for 15 anglers , while a trip on September 16 yielded 320 rockfish and 64 lingcod up to 26 pounds for 32 anglers . With the return of calm weather in the forecast , Captain Powers is expected to return to the offshore deep water . Before the wind prevented the boat getting out , anglers were catching limits of “ extremely large ” vermilion , bocaccio , yellowtail , widow and other rockfish at 320 to 330 feet deep , along with limits of hefty lingcod , while fishing different spots each day , said Powers . The lingcod average 14 to 16 pounds , with lots of fish in the high teens and lower twenties . Anglers are using jigs for the rockfish and chrome bars and swimbaits for the lingcod .
- Dan Bacher
FISHERMAN ’ S WHARF / BERKELEY
Live Bait Drifters Lay Into Bay Striped Bass and Halibut
SAN FRANCISCO – If you like to catch striped bass and halibut , now is a great time to drift live bait on San Francisco Bay . The Lovely Martha out of Fisherman ’ s Wharf in San Francisco got into an excellent striped bass bite on Saturday , September 30 . “ We finished up with 20 limits ( 40 ) of striped bass and 9 halibut ,” said Captain Mike Rescino . The previous half-day trip aboard the boat on September 24 returned to the wharf with 8 limits ( 160 of stripers and 4 halibut .
Captain Zack Medinas of Gatecrasher Fishing Adventures reported top-notch halibut fishing during his latest live bait trip on San Francisco Bay . ” Two ladies crushed their limits of quality halibut ,” said Medinas . “ There are lots of
excellent family dinners in their future .” James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing has also been focusing on bass and halibut fishing in the bay . “ We had both boats out today ,” reported Smith on September 30 . “ The weather was crummy so we opted to stay in the bay and concentrate on bass and halibut . Striped bass were wide open and the halibut bit was decent .” The final count was 18 limits of striped bass ( 36 ) and 20 halibut for the California Dawn 2 and 20 limits of stripers , 7 halibut and 1 leopard shark for the California Dawn 1 . On September 28 , the California Dawn finished up with over 3 fish per rod for their light load in the bay . The final count was 9 limits of bass ( 18 ) and 11 halibut for the California Dawn 2 . On September 28 , the California Dawn made a successful shark trip on the central bay . “ We had gorgeous weather on the bay ,” said Smith . “ We started off the day with a few halibut drifts for a handful of halibut . We then switched over to sharks and loaded up .” Their final county for the day was 9 sevengill to 250 pounds , 3 leopard sharks and 4 halibut . The latest Rittenburg Bank trip on September 24 produced great rockfish and lingcod action . The California Dawn 2 returned with 24 limits of rockfish ( 240 ) and 24 limits of lingcod ( 48 ) to 20 pounds . The California Dawn 1 came back with 20 limits of rockfish ( 200 ) and 36 lingcod to 18 pounds . On September 1 , the 50-fathom Rockfish Conservation Area ( RCA ) boundary line for the Mendocino Groundfish Management Area ( GMA ) ( Cape Mendocino to Point Arena ), San Francisco GMA ( Point Arena to Pigeon Point ) and Central GMA ( Pigeon Point to Point Conception ), took effect . In these GMAs , Recreational boat-based groundfish fishing will be ‘ offshore only ’ and allowed only seaward ( away from land ) of the 50-fathom boundary line , defined by straight lines connecting waypoints ( 50 CFR Part 660 , Subpart G ). Shelf rockfish , slope rockfish and lingcod may be taken seaward of the 50-fathom boundary line , while it will be unlawful to take or possess nearshore rockfish as defined in Title 14 , Section 1.91 ( a )( 1 ), cabezon or greenlings at any depth
- Dan Bacher
HALF MOON BAY
Boaters Battle Big , Bold Deepwater Rockfish
EL GRANADA – When the boats are able to get out , fishing for deep water rockfish has been very good off Half Moon Bay . Limits of quality rockfish are the rule on bottomfish adventures . The Queen of Hearts returned to the harbor with 190 rockfish for 19 anglers on its most recent trip out of the Princeton Harbor , according to the Half Moon Bay Sportfishing Center . On a previous trip , 14 anglers aboard the boat on the previous trip landed 140 rockfish up to 7 pounds and 1 rock sole . Another offshore adventure aboard the Queen of Hearts produced 160 rockfish and 4 lingcod for 16 anglers . The New Captain Pete has been doing trips with California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program ( CCFRP ), in addition to booking rockfish trips . “ In a day filled with great white shark sightings and glass-like conditions , the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories crew and volunteer anglers began their second week of sampling at Año Nuevo ,” CCFRP reported . “ Aboard the F / V New Captain Pete , led by the dynamic duo of Captain Mike and Deckhand Mikey , our volunteer anglers sampled the grid cells within the Año Nuevo MPA . “ In total , 482 fishes were caught and released , coming from 14 different species , which included a few memorable and unique catches such as
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