24 Nov. 10- 24, 2017

VOL. 36 • ISS. 24

BERKELEY

Crab Season To Kick Off On November 4!

BERKELEY- The fishing is great both inside and outside the Golden Gate, but in reality, fishing has been in a holding pattern as anglers await the November 4 crab opener, when rockfish, lingcod and crab combo trips will kick into high gear.

For example, Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing has been running with light loads. Inside the bay his anglers have been bagging stripers, halibut, a few lings and rockfish and even the occasional white sea bass.

Outside S. F. Bay Smith has been running to the Farallon Islands and scoring limits and near limits of lingcod along with limits of big quality rockfish.

Things have been much the same on the Happy Hooker. When Captains Chris and Jonathan Smith have run to the islands, the lingcod and rockfish results have been nothing short of epic, but most days they have remained in port due to a lack of anglers. Despite the fact that the fishing is excellent, most anglers are waiting for crab fishing to get started before they hit the water again.

Captain Quang of the Goldeneye 2000 has been enjoying great success at the lingcod grounds beyond the Golden Gate, but like the Smith’ s he has either been in port or running with light loads as most of his clients hold off on their fishing plans pending the crab opener on November 4.

lure on a trip to the Coronados out of Imperial Beach. Pure luck! I was casting for bonito when a school of yellows moved through, scarfing everything in the water and snubbing anything that splashed down afterward. My lure

Fifty years later, I know a whole lot more about fishing for yellowtail, but I’ m not sure anything I know now could have got me a bite that day when I purely lucked out.

Still, I’ ll cherish the lessons I’ ve learned and I’ ll keep learning until I

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Salmon, Halibut, Bass Potluck

BODEGA BAY

Crab / Rockfish Combos Begin

BODEGA BAY- The ocean salmon season ended on October 31st, and rockfishing will remain the top option for the remainder of the season until the closure on December 31st. The Dungeness crab opener on November 4th will breathe life into the region that has been severely affected by the devastating fires within the past month.

Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sport Fishing is ready for the crab opener, and the domoic acid tests have returned clean. Powers will be running rockfish / crab combination trips on his large 65-foot New Sea Angler for $ 130 / angler while for those wanting a more private experience, Captain Eric Holthouse of North Bay Charters will operate the combination trips on his six pack, the Take Five. The opening weekends of the Dungeness crab season are either full or getting close to full while there is plenty of room during the weekdays.

Despite the depth restriction returning to 30 fathoms in mid- October, rockfishing remains excellent, and the ling cod should

hang up the rods for good. Because I believe that skill will take you further than luck ever could toward catching a lot of fish – and the law of averages indicates that the more fish you catch, the likelier you are to catch a big one.

We had a lot to learn that first day on the Napa River, fishing a private tournament in a borrowed boat. For that reason, I began keeping a fishing log, and I kept modifying the form as I kept learning. I began by recording time of catch, place, and lure used. Soon I added where the tide was at time of catch. How many days before or after a full moon or new moon? Then I believed I should record the water temperature. The stuff we thought we knew got seriously revised. Eventually it occurred to me to note not only the place where we hooked up but the direction we were heading, if we were trolling.

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

LY TOM’ S BOAT MAIN

Suzy landed this dime bright king salmon while trolling outside the Golden Gate aboard the New Easy Rider this fall.

Photo courtesy of NEW EASY RIDER SPORTFISHING, Berkeley.

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Yes, it was a lot of trouble, taking notes while the fish were biting, but in the heat of action, your memory will let you down. More time was consumed transcribing my notes back at the computer, but I built on knowledge.

One thing I learned about fishing for yellows I learned by accident. Luck if you will. At the time we all believed that whipping a Salas lure across the surface at breakneck speed was the surest way to trigger a strike. Only thing better was to skip a Vivif“ Toad” over the water, and see a yellow roll over on it while sucking it down.

Being a girl, I often could not reach the schools of fish yonder. So one day I just let my lure sink until it touched bottom. Couple of lazy cranks up and whoa! Hookup!

Fish ALASKA

Maybe it was a fluke, but I let my next cast sink again and hooked up again the same way. The“ pros” around who didn’ t know me chalked up to luck the fact that soon I led the pack in the yellow count. But I knew it as a lesson to last me the rest of my yellowtail-fishing life

I’ m not counting it out, therefore. Luck plays an important role in fishing. I’ m just saying, the more you learn, the“ luckier” you will be. My fingers crossed, I’ ll be looking for you on the banks.

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