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VOL . 37 • ISS . 10 |
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SALTWATER |
April 27 - May 11 , 2018 |
31 |
HALF MOON BAY cont . Smorgasbord ’ for all passengers who were able to deal with the swell .
“ The current made for difficult conditions for lin cod , but we have had as many as
The S . F . Bay halibut bite has been red hot for anglers fishing aboard the Bass Tub . This fish was caught on April 10 .
Photo courtesy of BASS TUB SPORTFISHING , San Francisco .
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44 lings below Pigeon Point after the April 1st opener . There were also a few salmon released while rockfishing at the Deep Reef , and the conditions look very good below Pigeon Point with lots of krill ,” said Ingles .
“ One caution for private boaters is to understand the 40 Fathom Curve is deeper than 240 feet in several locations so if you are fishing the curve on your GPS on the west side , it is important to stay within the 240 limit . The number of yelloweye rockfish from deep water last year resulted in the change in regulations mid-season to 180 feet . Two canary rockfish have been included in this year ’ s limit , and this has come from the advocacy of representatives of our fishery ,” Ingles emphasized .
For salmon , Captain Dennis Baxter of the New Captain Pete reported , “ We were able to put in the first salmon of the season on the April 7th opener with Bob Ferguson of Redwood City put in the only two fish out of the three party boats below Pigeon Point . We were bird watching on April 14th , and we observed tons of krill on the 50 fathom line , but the water was green .
“ Two charter boats were skunked for salmon on Saturday , and our clients
on Sunday wanted to give it a try , but after no action by 10:00 a . m ., we ran back north to the Deep Reef to salvage
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Mail to : ________________________________________________________ Address : _______________________________________________________ City , State , Zip :___________________________________________________ Amount Enclosed : ___________________ Pmt by Check / MO VISA MC Card No . _____________________ Expires __________ Discover AMEX Phone No ._________________________ Signature _____________________ the day with limits of rockfish . I heard of two 15-pound salmon that were released by other party boats at the Deep Reef ,,” Baxter said .
From the beaches , school-sized striped bass are showing up from Ocean Beach south to Monterey with a variety of lures and bait working .
- Dave Hurley
MONTEREY BAY
Lingcod , Rockfish Sacked In Local Reefs
MONTEREY – Salmon fishing has been spotty for the charter boats , but anglers are catching ¾ to full limits of rockfish and good numbers of lingcod on trips to the Monterey County Coast .
“ Salmon fishing has been hit and miss , but at least we have come back with at least one to two fish per day on our last three trips ,” said Katlyn Taylor of J & M Sportfishing . “ Over the past week , the bottomfish anglers caught ¾ to full limits of rockfish and varying scores of lingcod . We have fished the local reefs lately because it has been windy down the coast .”
The 30 anglers fishing aboard the Chubasco on April 15 bagged 13 lingcod and 280 rockfish ., while the 13 anglers aboard the Sur Randy landed 1 king salmon on a mooching adventure .
The 12 anglers aboard the Sur Randy on April 14 landed 2 lingcod and 120 rockfish , while the 30 anglers
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Chatterbaits Hit The Salt
“
One should never get stuck doing just one thing .” This little piece of advice was given to me years and years ago , way before the age of the internet . A “ Chinese uncle ” of mine gave me that advice is a way of saying there are too many exciting things in the world to experience to stay in the same old rut , no matter how nice that rut may be .
This morsel of knowledge especially applies to fishing , where there are countless numbers of fishes to try after and innumerable techniques developed to catch them . It can end up being a never-ending pursuit !
One of the biggest mind traps you can fall into is that there are fresh water techniques and there are salt water techniques , and never the twain shall meet . Not true ! Except for the few vegetarian species of fish , most fish are predators and predators got to eat , so while some of the particulars of the tackle involved may be different , the techniques should know no fresh water / salt water boundaries .
This was made evident by an old-time buddy who recently passed away . John ( not his name ) swore me to secrecy until his dying day , and now that he is gone to that fishing hole in the sky , I ’ ll pass it on to you .
John would drive me crazy with pictures of himself with nice stripers and halibut caught in San Francisco bay . He never included rods , reels , or other tackle in the pictures to give any clue as to what he was doing , so it remained a mystery until his final days , then he let me on to what he did .
SALTY TIPS by Steve “ Hippo ” Lau
As I visited him during his final days ( and possibly because I was bribing him with a couple of racks of my home smoked and glazed St . Louis ribs ) he asked if I wanted to know his secret . Of course , I said yes . “ Chatter baits ,” he said with a smile . “ Chatterbaits .
Chatterbaits are the best stinking shallow water lure for stripers and halibut !”
Here I was , a preacher for not limiting your thinking to separating fresh water and saltwater techniques , being faced with the truth that I was precisely doing that very thing . I knew that chatterbaits , developed especially for largemouth bass and other fresh water critters , caught all sorts of stripers in the delta . yet never once did I ever think about using them in salt water .
Chatterbaits , especially those produced by Z-Man baits , are basically lead head jigs with a “ wiggle plate ” in the front . The wiggle plate gives the lure a head shaking action similar to that of a Scounger jig but is less weight sensitive . Jigs have been used for decades with great results in the shallows ; now add the shaking , vibrating action of the wiggle plate and you can just imagine what a super lure you have .
NEXT TIME : Tackle and techniques for using chatterbaits in the salt .