Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3709 April 13-27, 2018 | Page 37
SALTWATER
VOL.37 • ISS. 09
T
April 13 - 27, 2018
37
Rockfish Season Below
Pigeon Point Opens with
Superb Fishing
areas closer to the harbor starting then.
he rockfish season below
She also said she is waiting for the
Pigeon Point on the San Mateo
Pacific
Fishery Management Council’s
County coast opened on April 1 with
official approval of the increase of the
top-notch fishing for Half Moon Bay,
canary rockfish bag limit to two fish
Santa Cruz and Monterey boats.
(now just one), since this formerly
“We experienced really good fishing
“overfished” population has
in the waters below Pigeon
been rebuilt.
Point,” reported Sherri
The 2019-2020 rockfish
Ingles of the Half Moon Bay
regulations will also be
Sportfishing Center. “The
approved at the April
Queen of Hearts returned
PFMC meeting in Portland,
with full limits of rockfish
Oregon.
and 2 lingcod for 33 anglers.
Boats out of Santa Cruz
The Riptide came back with
experienced solid rockfish
17 limits and 1 lingcod.”
action in the deep water
“Anglers hooked lots of
near Wilder Beach and
4 to 5-pound yellowtail
Davenport.
rockfish,” said Ingles. “The
“The inshore bite was
fish were biting around
good for keeper lingcod
80 feet deep in 150 feet of
and vermillion near Natural
by
water. Many fishermen were
said Todd Fraser
pulling them in two at a time.
Dan Bacher Bridges,”
at Bayside Marine in Santa
Anglers used mostly shrimp
Cruz. “There were a few
flies, tipped with squid, for
halibut caught by anglers trolling and
the fish.”
drifting squid near the Mile Buoy.
“The water in this area also looked
The smaller halibut and striped bass
decent for the salmon opener,” she
are being caught near Capitola and
noted.
Manresa. The wind stayed down all
She also noted that the Que Sera
morning and some anglers were in early
Sera, a six-pack charter boat, and the
with limits of rockfish.”
New Captain Pete, will also be booking
The Monterey charter boats weren’t
rockfish and salmon trips out of the
able to get down south to Point Sur
shop this season.
because of wind on the morning of
Ingles said that the regulations this
the opener, but they were able to find
year are back to the 2017 regulations,
rockfish and lingcod success in the local
with anglers able to fish down to 300
reefs.
feet (50 fathoms) below Pigeon Point
Out of Chris’ Fishing Trips, the Star
and 240 feet (40 fathoms) above Pigeon
of Monterey returned with 25 lingcod
Point. “These depths are along the
and limits of rockfish for 26 anglers
contour lines,” she noted.
on April 1. The Checkmate checked
The groundfish season above Pigeon
in with limits of lingcod and ¾ limits
Point opens on June 15 – and the boats
of rockfish for 26 anglers, while the
out of the center will be fishing the
Caroline came
back with
18 lingcod
and limits of
rockfish for 20
passengers.
“The wind
was up in the
morning,” said
Troy Stokes of
Chris Fishing
Trips. “We
tried fishing
at the Carmel
Highlands first,
but the water
was cold there
and there wasn’t
much action, so
we fished the
local reefs.”
“Anglers
caught a
mixture of
yellowtail,
blue, vermilion,
copper, bocaccio
and canary
rockfish while
fishing off Point
Joe and Cypress
Point. They did
best tossing out
hardware and
jigging shrimp
This fisherman bagged this beautiful lingcod during a trip on the Chubasco flies, with no
bait on them.
out of J&M Sportfishing in Monterey.
WHAT’S HOT
SALTWATER
Photo courtesy of J&M SPORTFISHING, Monterey.
There isn’t any squid
in local waters now,”
Stokes explained.
Katlyn Taylor at
J&M Sport Fishing,
also in Monterey,
reported great fishing
on the rockfish
opener. The 22 anglers
aboard the Sur Randy
landed limits of good
quality rockfish and
7 lingcod, while the
38 anglers on the
Chubasco nailed
limits of rockfish and
27 lingcod.
“One of the anglers
shook off a salmon,
a good sign for the
salmon opener,”
Taylor said.
The Kahuna
sportfishing boat out
of Moss Landing
remains in the
boatyard.
This angler shows off a hefty cabezon caught on a flat calm day
“We will not be
down the Monterey County Coast aboard the Kahuna sportfishing
back in water for the
boat in December 2017.
rockfish opener April
Photo by CAROL JONES, KAHUNA SPORTFISHING, Moss Landing.
1,” said Carol Jones of
Kahuna Sportfishing
prior to the opener.
Chinook minimum size limit will be
“The work on the boat is getting close to 24 inches total length; and the same
being done, but we don’t have a date yet. gear restrictions will apply as in 2017.
We will keep you informed.”
However, this fishery may be modified
California’s recreational salmon
at the March Council meeting,
fishery will open in ocean waters on
according to the PFMC.
Saturday, April 7 from Pigeon Point
The recreational salmon fishery will
(37° 11’ 00” N. latitude) south to the
remain closed in all other areas off
U.S./Mexico border, according to
California during the month of April.
the California
Department of
Fish and Wildlife
(CDFW).
The season
in that region,
ClearVu, SideVu and CHIRP Sonar.
including both the
Garmin’s
echoMAP 94sv combination
Monterey North
GPS/Fishfinder offers a 9” keypad
and Monterey
controlled color display with Preloaded
South management Bluechart G2 Charts for the Coastal US.
area, will be
Internal 5Hz GPS Antenna, NMEA2000
Connectivity and Panoptix Compatibility.
open to fishing
for all salmon
except coho, with
a limit of two
2855 Soquel Ave.
fish per day. The
Call For Details!
MARITIME ELECTRONICS
Santa Cruz, CA
(800)582-1333
3623