VOL. 36 • ISS. 12

Marjorie and Brian Henningfeld teamed up to bring this big bad halibut over the Happy Hooker’ s rail while live bait fishing inside San Francisco Bay.

Photo by MARK FONG, Fish Sniffer Staff.

After nearly 50 years, Captain Jim Smith has decided to retire, leaving the Happy Hooker in the more than capable hands of his son Chris and grandson Jonathon. Chris who has been a licensed captain for more than 25 years will share duties running the Happy Hooker with his son Jonathon. I have been on boats run by both Chris and Jonathon and can attest to their skill and professionalism.

“ Our goal is to continue and to build upon the legacy of the the Happy Hooker as one of the more aggressive and friendly boats out of the East Bay,” said Captain Chris.“ We want to be one of the elite charters in the Bay Area. It’ s what we enjoy doing, when you spend three quarters to half of your life out on the ocean and in the bay, we want it to be the best.”

With my fishing buddy Ian Rigler along for the fun, we arrived extra early at the Berkeley Marina. I had heard from several sources that the striped bass were on a hot bite. In recent days, schools of hungry bass had been seen chasing bait to the surface. When we got to the boat, I found a spot at the bow so that I would be in the ideal position to throw swimbaits.

At check in, Captain Jonathon informed me that while it was possible to encounter a school of surface feeding bass, based on the day’ s conditions it was not likely. Instead he told me that we would be drifting live

anchovies for halibut and advised me to rig up a standard live bait rig.

I quickly stowed by swimbait rod and focused on my live bait outfit. My preferred set up is a Cousins Tackle F270-7 rod paired with an Avet SX 5.3 MC G2 reel filled with 45lb FINS 40G braided line.

It was a picture perfect morning as Captain Chris piloted the Happy Hooker towards the San Francisco skyline. After a quick stop at Fisherman’ s Wharf for fuel and bait, we were on our way to the South Bay.

As we neared Alameda, the captain slowed the boat and positioned us for our first drift of the day. Within minutes, the first shouts of“ Fish On” rang out as a mixture of shakers and keeper halibut started coming over the rail. To my left, Ian hooked into his first fish of the morning, after a spirited fight, he had his first keeper halibut boat side where Captain Jonathon netted it.

The action continued up and down the rail and by the time the tide went slack Ian had added another keeper halibut to his bag. As for me, my two largest shakers fell just short of legal size and were quickly released back into the bay.

“ Right now in the bay it does not matter where you go”, said Captain Chris,“ The bottom is just filled with shaker halibut. If I am fishing on flats in front of Emeryville or the Berkeley Marina or in the North Bay around Point Pinole or the South Bay all the way to the San Mateo Bridge, there are literally millions of shaker halibut. But the funny thing we have found is that the larger fish only bite on the tides.

Generally speaking, the first hour or hour and half of the tide, that is when the best bite is.”

Once the tide started out, the action picked up. Unlike in the morning, the shaker halibut were on the bite and the keeper sized fish became scarce. In the midst of the action, Ian landed another keeper halibut to complete his limit for the day. But for me the story remained the same, a bunch of scratched baits, and more shakers.

But my luck was about to change, as a school of stripers began to bite and anglers all over the boat got in on

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May 26- June 9, 2017

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Ian Rigler gets some help from Capt. Jonathan Smith showing off the limit of S. F. Bay halibut he caught while drifting live bait aboard the Happy Hooker.

Photo by MARK FONG, Fish Sniffer Staff. the action. Just as with the halibut, the stripers were a mixture of shakers and keepers. By the time the bite slowed with the tide, I was happy to have put two small keepers in the box. Before I knew it a fun day of fishing had come to an end and all that was left was to enjoy the ride back to Berkeley.

The total keeper fish count for the day was 10 halibut to 18 lbs and 6 stripers for 14 anglers. In addition, the boat released numerous shaker halibut and bass.

Captain Chris predicts that the halibut fishing will continue to get better as more bigger fish start to show up. He is also is very optimistic about the stripers as well.

“ I am expecting a good striper run on the rocks like we had last year and the year before,” he said.“ Everybody I have been talking to up in the Sacramento and Feather Rivers are really catching them up there. When those fish start coming down from the Delta, I think the month of June is going to be spectacular fishing on the rocks. We are already seeing a lot of bass. They’ ve been popping up here and there around the South Bay, at TI( Treasure Island) and at the end of the pier.”

If you are looking for a fun day on the water, don’ t miss out on the great fishing action. To book a trip on the Happy Hooker, please call( 510) 322- 0493.