Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3619 September 1-15, 2017 | Page 20

18 Sept. 1-15, 2017 MAP FEATURE VOL.36 • ISS. 19 The Farallon Islands feature some of the best lingcod and rockfish action available off the West Coast. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. CSBA Members Rockfish & Lingcod Limits At Farallon Islands O ne of the great things about living in the San Francisco Bay and Del- ta Region is the many saltwater options you have. You can go fishing for salmon outside the Golden Gate, fish live bait for halibut and striped bass inside the bay, target rockfish w and lingcod, or go for big rockfish and lingcod at the Farallon Islands. The 24 members of the California Striped Bass Association (CSBA), West Delta Chapter, and their friends made a very successful charter to the Farallon Is- lands aboard Berkeley’s California Dawn, skippered by Captain James Smith, on August 8. Normally the boat has fished the Marin Coast and the bay on these charters, but Smith said the rockfish and lingcod bite was “epic” at the islands for the several previous days, so that’s where he opted to go. On the previous three CSBA charters in 2016, 2015 and 2014, we caught limits of rockfish and 1 to 2 lingcod per rod while fishing aboard the California Dawn from Point Bonita to above Double Point. The lingcod bite on each trip was completely different, with live macker- el producing the top action the first trip, dead mack- erel yielding the best fishing the second trip, and live king- fish and anchovies delivering the hottest action the third trip. The highlight of the trip in 2015 was a wide-open striped bass bite we expe- rienced in San Francisco Bay off the Rockpile. Many anglers released their fish back into the bay. This year, fishing at the legendary is- land chain 30 miles west of San Francisco, has been superb when seas allow charter boats to get there. After the 2-1/2 hour ride on little bouncy but otherwise calm seas, we arrived at the Farallon Islands. The water near the islands was calmer than it was closer to the Golden Gate. “I recommend that you target the rockfish first with shrimp flies. Then after you are getting close to your limit, that’s the time to put the trap rig on,” said Smith. Most of the anglers, including myself, followed Smith’s advice. I soon began hooking up one rockfish after other, along with other anglers. This was the first trip to the Island in many years that I was able to take advantage of fishing the 180 to 240 feet depths after the Rockcod Conservation Zone, an effort by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to rebuild rockfish popula- tions, went into place over 15 years ago. The rockfish ac- tion was great throughout the trip, but the top lingcod fishing was in the last two hours of the day when anglers put one fish after another into the Dave Newton caught this huge vermillion rockfish aboard the California Dawn on August . Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. Cal Kellogg, Fish Sniffer Editor, and Mike, the California Dawn deckhand, show off some big lingcod taken at the Farallon Islands. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. boat. Everybody went home from the trip with their10 fish rockfish limits and two fish lingcod limits. Noel O’Brien, Presi- dent of the CSBA, Isleton Chapter, won the jackpot by boating an 18 lb. lingcod. Dave Newton landed the biggest red rockfish, a vermilion over 10 pounds. Anglers landed a colorful array of bottomfish, including olive, copper, ver- milion, bocaccio, starry, canary and flag rockfish. The anglers targeted the rockfish with shrimp flies, jigs, swimbaits, and other lures. The fishermen caught lingcod on frozen mackerel and sardines and live bait fished on trap rigs. However, fishing was best on jigs and bars thrown from the bow. Cal Kellogg, Fish Sniffer editor, ex- perienced top-notch lingcod action while throwing 12 oz. Ahi jigs. “The key to success with the bars is to cast it out there and then hop and swim the jig on the bottom,” advised Kellogg. “It’s really a finesse technique, since it necessary to keep your thumb and forefin- ger on the line on the line at fall times to feel exactly what’s going on.” “It was great to share a day of fishing fun with our members and friends,” com- mented Roger Mammon, chapter presi- dent and secretary of Restore the Delta. “Everybody went home with plenty of fish for their families.” The purpose of the CSBA, founded by Jay Sorensen of Stockton in 1974, is “the preservation, protection and enhancement of striped bass.” “We are the only organizing focusing on restoring the fish of the Delta,” Mam- mon pointed out. “The problem with the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta now