Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3705 Feb 16- Mar 2, 2018 | Page 30

28 Feb 16 - Mar 2, 2018 SALTWATER VOL.37 • ISS. 05 SALTWATER REPORTS BERKELEY Fishing Scene Quiet Save For Occasional Sturgeon BERKELEY- With rockfish, lingcod and salmon off limits at this time, charter boats are dormant in East Bay ports as they await the kick off of spring halibut fishing. Private boaters have been able to tempt a few sturgeon down at the extreme southern end of the South Bay, but hooking up on any given day is far from a slam dunk. There was a herring spawn off Oyster Point a couple weeks ago and that did sparks some sturgeon action, but when the herring disappeared so did the sturgeon. Anglers fishing from the Dumbarton Bridge to the south end of the bay have been hooking a few fish, mainly on grass and ghost shrimp. A few perch have been picked up by bank anglers working between Berkeley and San Leandro, but the action hasn’t become consistent yet. Shrimp baits are the best option for anglers interested in perch. The arrival of spawning perch during the second half of February generally signals that spring striper fishing is about to get going. Reports of stripers being caught have been few and far between so far. BODEGA BAY Shoreline Anglers Pick Up Perch, Crabs BODEGA BAY -  During the winter months before the rockfish and salmon seasons are anticipated to open in April, most of the fishing action out of the Sonoma coast out of Bodega Bay will occur from the shorelines. Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sport Fishing said, “We are concentrating on boat maintenance right now, and we have pulled our crab gear. I still want to try for Humboldt squid as the conditions look right once again. I know of one commercial sablefish boat that picked up a 50-pound Humboldt out of Fort Bragg, and I think there are some Humboldt squid out there. The black cod anglers are reporting fish pulled off of their hooks with beak marks, and we just need the weather conditions and enough interest to make a run.” Out of Lawson’s Landing in Dillon Beach, Willie Vogler said, “I guess halibut like calm, 75 degree weather, as Kelly Goligowski landed a 14-pound halibut on live bait while drifting the channel near Hog Island. Unfortunately, the crab don’t seem to care about the weather, and Dungeness crabbing remains slow in the bay but it better out in the Outer Bay.” “The high catches have been around 8 crab, and the red rock crabs are making up the vast majority of the This angler got a surprise while soaking bait for sturgeon in Suisun Bay on January 27 when this husky flounder came crab dinners. The knocking. surfperch slowed Photo courtesy of HAPPY HOOKER SPORTFISHING, Martinez. down with the big swell, but it should be picking up again his first attempting at finding petrale sole in this week with the moderate swell forecast. deep water. There are lots of herring swimming in He said, “We went out on our first trip last and out of the bay, but I have yet to see Monday, and we picked up some petrale someone hook into something interesting,” sole along with plenty of sand dabs fishing he said. in an average of 420 feet of water south of Lawson’s is taking camping reservations the harbor from Pescadero to Davenport. up to 16 weeks in advance. Jim Gilleti of Half Moon Bay landed the - Dave Hurley first petrale in 460 feet of water on an Ahi Promar Sand Dab rig in 460 feet of water off of Ano Nuevo while Darrell Ticehurst of Atherton landed three petrale sole and plenty of sand dabs.” HALF MOON BAY The Huli Cat continues to operate sand Sanddabs & Petrale Sole Offer dab/crab combination trips until the rockfish Top Fare Until Salmon Season opener, and he will run the deepwater trips for petrale sole when the weather Begins conditions allow. EL GRANADA - The long stretch between The Queen of Hearts and the Riptide out the end of the 2017 rockfish season and of the Half Moon Bay Sportfishing Center the opening of the 2018 ocean salmon and will be running whale watching and nature rockfish season has passed its first month, and Captain Tom Mattusch of the Huli Cat CONTINUED ON PG 28 has added a new wrinkle to this stretch with Q ueen 2912 831-633-2564 831-633-2564 Get to the fishing grounds Get fast on to our charter grounds boat in Moss fast Landing-Monterey the 50’ fishing on our 50’ Bay charter boat in Moss Landing - Monterey Bay WWW.KAHUNASPORTFISHING.COM www.kahunasportfishing.com 4.23.10 ~ Monterey Old Fisherman’s Wharf Departures ~ • Rock Fish • Crab • Salmon • Tuna • Halibut • Sand Dabs • Squid • Mackerel (831) 372-7440 www.jmsportfishing.com Half Moon Bay Sportfishing and Tackle Light Tackle Rockfishing 650-728-3377 Now Booking ROCK COD & CRAB COMBOS Aboard The 53’ Sur Randy And 61’ Chubasco H earts SALMON • - ROCKFISH ROCKFISH • - ALBACORE ALBACORE SALMON Big sturgeon have been on the bite for folks fishing Suisun and San Pablo Bays with the Captain Hook Sportfishing team. 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