Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3804 Feb 1-15 2019 | Page 27
Feb 1-15, 2019
SALTWATER
VOL.38 • ISS. 4
25
SALTWATER REPORTS
BERKELEY
Winter Doldrums Descend On
East Bay Saltwater Scene
BERKELEY - January and February are
the slowest months of the year when it
comes to fishing out of East Bay saltwater
ports. Most charter boats are off line for
maintenance and crews are enjoying well
deserved time off after a long summer and
fall of daily fishing trips.
While rockfish season in closed,
crabbing is still open. Angler interest is low
and after several weeks of commercial
fishing anglers that do go out in search
of crabs are having to invest a fair level
of time and effort in rounding up a limit of
quality crabs.
In the far southern reaches of the
South Bay sturgeon have been showing.
Overall the action ranges from slow to
fair depending on the day. Ghost and
mud shrimp have been the best baits, but
herring fillets have been effective too.
If you head down to the southern end
of the South Bay, navigate with care. The
water is extremely shallow in many areas
and it’s easy to get stuck.
BODEGA BAY
barred and calico surf
perch have been taken
off of the jetty side with
Berkley Sand worms
in camo or dark brown,
but the surf has been
high, bringing in strands
of kelp and eel grass.
A few Dungeness crab
and rock crab are taken
on pots, but there still
are individuals illegally
pulling up other’s pots.
= Dave Hurley
Crab-Only Trips Score When
Weather Cooperates
BODEGA BAY – The weather has had the
upper hand along the Sonoma coastline,
but when the conditions are right, limits of
Dungeness crab are the rule out of
Bodega Bay.
Captain Rick Powers of Bodega
Bay Sport Fishing is the only
large party boat running crab-only
combination trips, and he wasn’t
out in the past week due to rough
ocean conditions. Limits of crab
continue to be the rule for both
Powers and on the six-pack, Take
Five, from North Bay Charters, and
the crabbing should hold up for
some time in the future. Powers
was out on
Saturday with
11 anglers for
limits of crab
within two
hours.
The gray
whales are
also migrating
south now,
and in addition
to crab-only
trips, whale
watching is
another option
out of the
harbor until
the rockfish
and salmon
seasons open
in April.
Out of Doran
Regional Park,
Willie Vogler
of Lawson’s
Landing at
Dillon Beach
reported
HALF MOON
BAY
Sanddab, Sole
and Dungeness
Crabs the Main
Option
EL GRANADA - The
first break in the weather
for a couple of weeks
happened over the
Martin Luther King Jr.
Doug kicked off the New Year right when he tagged this dandy
holiday weekend, and
Suisun Bay sturgeon on January 2.
Photo courtesy of HOOK’ED UP
SPORTFISHING, Pittsburg.
Captain Tom Mattusch of the Huli Cat took
advantage of the weather to head out with
8 anglers on Saturday, January 19th.
The Huli Cat remains the only large
party boat running sand dab/crab
combination trips out of Half Moon Bay,
and he said, “We picked up 458 sand
dabs for 8 anglers, and I also managed
a rod for a short period to help out with
the overall count. We started out at 270
feet for the sand dabs and then moved
out to 300 to 307 feet for the petrale sole.
It is such a gradual slope out there that
it takes a mile or two to drop 30 feet in
depth.”
“Once we got out into deeper water, we
started picking up petrale sole, and we
ended up with a handful of sole. Crabbing
was no problem, and we averaged around
8 to 11 legal crab per pots. There were
CONTINUED ON PG 27
Q ueen
Randy nailed this big big bad yellowfin tuna during a
long range trip in Mexican waters on December 16.
Photo courtesy of EXCEL LONG RANGE
SPORTFISHING, San Diego.
2912
831-633-2564
831-633-2564
Anglers fishing the upper reaches of Suisun Bay with Captain
Hayden Mullins have been rounding up a parade of keeper sturgeon.
This fish went into the box on January 12.
Photo courtesy of DRAGON SPORTFISHING, Pittsburg.
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the 50’ fishing
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boat
in
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Landing
-
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Bay
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