Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3803 Jan 17- Feb 1 2019 | Page 27

SALTWATER VOL.38 • ISS. 3 Jan 17 - Feb 1, 2019 25 SALTWATER REPORTS BERKELEY running combo fishing and crabbing trips with a good level of success when the weather cooperated,” reported Captain Chris Smith of Happy Hooker Sportfishing. “As is typically the case, BERKELEY- Rockfish and lingcod crabbing got spotty over the past few seasons are closed. Salmon are off limits weeks, but we were still able to round up too, stripers and halibut are largely absent limits daily.” from San Francisco Bay at this time of the These days Captains Chris and year and live bait isn’t available. Add all Jonathan Smith are in the process of of this together and it doesn’t take long relocating to the Martinez Marina where to realize that the dead of winter is the they will hunt sturgeon for the remainder slowest season for East Bay charter boat of the winter and into early spring. anglers. “Our winter sturgeon trips are always “We had a lot of fun for the last couple a lot fun and we are expecting another weeks of the rockfish season. We were outstanding spring halibut season in 2019. We will be watching things closely and as soon as that halibut bite become viable, we’ll return to Berkeley and start working the flats,” said Chris Smith. There have been a handful of sturgeon caught in the South Bay, but there is really nothing solid to report. For a shot at a bite and possibly a fish soak mud shrimp, ghost shrimp, pile worms and herring Thien Dang of the Kayak City Fishing Team hit the ocean off the fillets along the Sonoma Coast this fall and nailed a limited of big bad Dungeness crab edges of major Charter Boats Go Quiet In Wake Of Seasonal Rockfish & Lingcod Closure while working gear from his Hobie Outback Kayak. Photo courtesy of the KAYAK CITY FISHING TEAM. GRADY-WHITE See the new 2019 Models now at BOAT SHOW PRICES! Golden Gate crab action held up right through the end of December when the rockfish season came to an end. These crabs came aboard the HAPPY HOOKER on December 22. Photo courtesy of HAPPY HOOKER SPORTFISHING, Berkeley. channels. Perch haven’t arrived yet, but shiner perch should begin showing along the East Bay shoreline at some point during the month of February. Pile worms, prawns and grass shrimp are the top baits. BODEGA BAY Crab-Only Trips A Big Hit BODEGA BAY – The rockfish season ended with a bang with limits of rockfish and Dungeness crab taken on all trips for Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sport Fishing, and the high price of Dungeness crab in northern California stores has brought anglers to the harbor in search of crab-only trips. Powers said, “We ended the season batting 1000% for rockfish and crabs, and with the commercial price of crab reaching $9.00/pound, we are receiving Step Up to Minn Kota Ultrex for Ultimate Performance! S 216 FISHERMAN 232 GULFSTREAM 208 ADVENTURE more interest in the crab-only trips. With the commercial opener in the northern California this week, the overall price of crab should drop, but retail outlets have been charging over $15/pound.” “I took out a combined 40 anglers on three crab-only trips this week after the rockfish season ended, and they came back with full limits of jumbo crab. The gray whales are also migrating south now, and we saw whales on each of the three trips. If I have a group large enough that wanted sanddabs, I will go out for sanddabs and catching the ‘dabs is no problem, as we can load up every hook.” Powers is not optimistic about the appearance of Humboldt squid this winter, as the conditions for their reemergence do not seem to be present. He will continue to run the crab-only trips along with nature trips until the salmon and rockfish seasons are anticipated to open in April. The six-pack, Take Five out of North CONTINUED ON PG 26 228 HARDTOP Call Now for details and availability! (408)371-6681 www.cvmarine.com 3802 tep on the Ultrex™ foot pedal and feel what Power Steering does to a trolling motor. Then tap the Spot-Lock button to stay on a fishing spot automatically. Only Ultrex combines the most responsive, intuitive steering ever with GPS-powered automatic boat control. The only thing we didn’t do to it, is compromise. 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Available on i-Pilot GPS system that is pre-installed, Spot-Lock gives you the power to stay right on top of any productive fishing spot, without touching your trolling motor. With the included heading sensor, you can use Jog to move your Spot-Lock location five feet in any direction. Activate Spot-Lock from the i-Pilot remote or Humminbird fish finder. Lift-Assist: Ultrex’s patented Lift-Assist Design cuts the weight of stow and deploy in half. Features a stainless steel, nitrogen gas-charged spring. AutoPilot™: Automatically navigate your boat in any direction you choose. Just point the head of your trolling motor in the direction you want to travel, activate AutoPilot™, and your trolling motor will keep you on that heading automatically, even correcting for wind, waves and current. Universal Sonar 2: Keeps your trans- ducer and wiring completely concealed and protected, running everything through the trolling motor’s shaft, with shielded connectors. 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