Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3803 Jan 17- Feb 1 2019 | Page 26
24
Jan 17 - Feb 1, 2019
VOL.38 • ISS. 3
Unlocking The Secrets Of The Sonoma
Coast With The Fish On Charters Team!
R
ecently I have written and
oceans waters outside of Bodega Bay
shared a lot about my renewed
for salmon, rockfish and crab.
Although I have yet to share a day
passion for the local salt water fishing
on
the water with Captain Les, I have
scene. There are numerous oppor-
fished
with Captain Jeff aboard the
tunities, halibut, salmon and striped
Samantha Irene on several
bass to name just a few.
occasions during the last year.
But if you combine
When fishing with Fish On
my affinity for light
Charters,
their mission is to
tackle fishing with big
provide
a
personalized angling
hard pulling saltwater
experience
for the individual,
predators, the natural
small
group
or family. All
intersection equates to
tackle
and
bait
are provided.
shallow water rockfish
Fish
are
cleaned
or filleted and
fishing.
crabs
are
cooked.
They are
After asking around
licensed,
bonded,
insured and
and doing some online
CPR
and
first
aid
certified.
This
research, I came to the
is
truly
a
turn
key
adventure
conclusion that the
and their customer service is
Sonoma Coast offered
by
top grade.
the kind of angling
Because Fish On Charters
opportunities I was
Mark Fong
caters
to anglers wanting a
looking for. Having
small
party
experience,
each angler
limited experience or knowledge of
receives
plenty
of
attention
and one on
the area, a few friends suggested I
one
instruction.
You
can
do
as much
contact Fish On Charters.
as you want or as little as you want.
Finally, each trip can be customized
Fish On Charters
according
to the client’s wishes. Even
Fish On Charters is owned and
though
I
did
not charter the entire
operated by Captain Les Fernandes.
boat,
Captain
Jeff and I discussed my
He is a lifelong outdoorsman who has
expectations
prior
to booking and he
spent years on the North Coast fishing
made
sure
to
put
me
together with a
and hunting. He offers anglers both
group
of
like-minded
anglers seeking
salt and freshwater charter boat fishing
the
same
type
of
fishing
experience.
trips aboard his two comfortable six
Over
the
course
of
the
season,
I had so
pack boats, the Samantha Irene and
many
great
expe-
the Devil Fish.
riences. So, let me
The Samantha Irene is docked
touch on just a few
in Bodega Harbor and skippered
highlights.
by veteran captain Jeff Caramella.
Caramella is an expert in salmon,
Let’s Go Fishing
rockcod and lingcod fishing as well as
As I alluded to
crabbing for Dungeness crab.
before,
my goal
Captain Fernandes runs the Devil
was
to
target
Fish. He specializes in catching trout
and kokanee throughout the top inland rockfish with light
tackle and it just
Northern California fisheries. During
so happens this
the peak of the saltwater season,
style of fishing is
Fernandes can be found plying the
dead center in
Captain Jeff’s
wheelhouse.
Most of our
fishing took
place up the
coast from
Bodega Bay in
less than 70 feet
of water.
Captain Jeff
likes to start
out focusing
on the rockfish.
Once limits
are secured he
switches gears
to lingcod.
There are
many ways to
catch rockfish
including
shrimp flies,
jigging irons
and swimbaits
and Captain
Jeff has them
all available.
While many
The Sonoma Coast isn’t just about lingcod and
of
the anglers
rockfish, salmon action can be outstanding off
Bodega too. Ian Rigler headed out with the Fish
on board elect
On Charters team this season and smacked this to use, shrimp
FISH SNIFFER
COUNTRY
dandy king salmon.
Photo courtesy of MARK FONG, Fish Sniffer Staff.
flies I like to
throw small
swimbaits.
Almost like
clockwork,
each time the
boat would
drift over a
big school,
the rockfish
would come
over the rail
Mark Fong successfully tangled with this Bodega Bay lingcod while
at a rapid
working a swimbait on light tackle.
pace. Double
Photo courtesy of MARK FONG, Fish Sniffer Staff.
hookups
were
common place for the anglers using
Fluorocarbon leader from 6lb to10lb.
squid tipped shrimp flies.
On the business end I tied on a ¼ oz
There is no disputing the effective-
to 3/8 oz jig head with a 3” to 3.5” AA
ness of shrimp flies. They not only
Swimbait.
catch lots of fish but they are also very
When the schools of rockfish would
efficient as well. Simply drop, feel the get active and move up in the water
bite, set the hook, and reel the fish to
column I would make a cast and count
the boat. When the bite is on, it can be the swimbait down to them as Captain
frenetic. I must admit that it took a lot Jeff called out the active depth range.
of self-restraint for me not to pick up a This was just like fishing schools of
shrimp fly rod.
suspended freshwater bass and every
Instead I opted for my favorite fresh- bit the fun if not more. I routinely
water black bass dropshot outfit. This
caught hard pulling olive and black
is the exact set up I use in freshwater
rockfish in the 3-4 lb class and some
for targeting black bass, a 7’ medium
even bigger. If you’ve never caught
light action spinning rod, 2500 series
rockfish on light line, you don’t know
reel spooled with 15lb chartreuse
what you are missing.
40G FINS Braid. The only change I
If rockfish are the opening act, then
made was to up size my Gamma Edge
CONTINUED ON PG 27