Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3907 Mar 13-27 | Page 26

24 March 13-27, 2020 VOL.39 • ISS. 7 SALTWATER REPORTS BERKELEY Trollers Find Halibut! BERKELEY - “I took my Boston Whaler out yesterday and landed 4 keeper halibut between 23 and 25 inches as well as a couple short fish,” reported Fish Sniffer reader Alton Peterson. “My brother and I had the day off so we launched in San Leandro and worked the area off Alameda. We tried trolling with both rigged anchovies and herring teamed with Sling Blade Dodgers and traditional trout style lake troll flashers. We got one fish on the Sling Blade and herring combo, but all the rest came on a set of chrome Luhr Jensen flashers teamed with small frozen anchovies. The fish seem to like the smaller baits. It looks like we are in for another great halibut season. I expected to have some action, but it was way better than I thought it was going to be,” exclaimed Peterson. Sturgeon continues to be very hit and miss in the south bay. Anglers that know how to fish the extreme southern end of the system are scoring some fish on shrimp baits. Fishing the channel edges in the balance of the south bay can pay off, but without a big number of fish in the south bay, you’ll do a lot of waiting between hookups. Shiner perch continue to show for shore anglers soaking pile worms and shrimp baits in the south and central parts of the bay. There are a few stripers in the system so it’s not too early to start playing around with swimbaits. For a shot at some combo action try soaking ghost shrimp on a sliding sinker rig with a No. 4 bait holder style hook. This rig/bait will hook both perch and stripers. BODEGA BAY Anglers Gear Up for Rockfish and Salmon Openers his young man took a trip aboard Half Moon Bay’s Huli Cat on February 16 and reeled up 4 quality sanddabs on a single drop to the bottom. Photo courtesy of HULI CAT SPORTFISHING, Half Moon Bay. GRADY-WHITE BODEGA BAY - There is great optimism along the Sonoma coast as the information disseminated at the February 27th Ocean Salmon Information BOAT SHOW SPECIALS on All Grady White Boats This angler was super excited after landing a keeper sturgeon while fishing aboard the Happy Hooker on February 8. Photo courtesy of HAPPY HOOKER SPORTFISHING, Berkeley. guys are pulling their pots out, and you can score limits with a longer soak. We are taking reservations for the April 1st rockfish opener as well as the anticipated April 4th salmon opener. The boats out of Half Moon Bay including the New Captain Pete are taking reservations for the ocean salmon and rockfish seasons, and traditionally, the early salmon season starts south of the harbor off of the Deep Reef. Boats from San Francisco Bay come as far south as CONTINUED ON PG 26 HALF MOON BAY 232 GULFSTREAM 208 ADVENTURE Meeting had all of the indications for a solid salmon season in local waters. The anticipation is that the season will open on April 4th for a limited period of time before being closed temporarily and reopening sometime in May for the remainder of the season. Paired with the rockfish opener on April 1st, Bodega Bay will once again be on the radar for private and party boaters. Mike Aughney of USA Fishing, the Reel Magic six-pack, and the Golden State Salmon Association was present at the Ocean Salmon meeting, and he added, “There are good ocean conditions out of Bodega Bay with a ton of feed and sign out in 30 to 40 fathoms of water. April 4th will be the opener, but the season will be constrained for a few weeks after the opener similar to last year. We have good numbers of salmon in the local waters, and the prediction is 473,000 salmon as opposed to 505,000 last year, but I believe there are possibly more than 600,000 adult salmon in the ocean.” “We are still picking up limits on our crab trips, but it takes a much longer soak to get enough crab in the pots. Most of the six-packs have moved out of the area, but we are still running trips until the rockfish and salmon opener. We are already taking reservations for the openers, and if the salmon season closes for a few weeks, we will focus on rockfish,” said Augney. Second Captain Merlin Kolb of the Reel Magic was able to round up six limits of Dungeness crab on Friday, February 29th, and he will add sand dabs and petrale sole to the mix on occasion until the rockfish opener. Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sport Fishing has been taking the occasional crab-only trip this winter, but he will be working on boat maintenance in March in preparation for the upcoming rockfish and ocean salmon seasons. He is taking reservations for both seasons. The Bodega Bay Fishermen’s Festival is a popular annual event on the Sonoma coast, and this year’s festival will be held on May 2/3rd from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Westside Park. Information and tickets are available at www:bbfishfest. org. - Dave Hurley Optimism Abounds for Upcoming Ocean Salmon and Rockfish Seasons 228 HARDTOP Call Now for details and availability! (408)371-6681 www.cvmarine.com 3902 EL GRANADA - Half Moon Bay private and party boats continue to fill in the time between the end of the 2019 rockfish season and the start of the 2020 rockfish season on April 1st, but this opening date is getting closer and closer. There was good news during the February 27th Ocean Salmon Information Meeting regarding the upcoming salmon Anthony and Cody landed and released these massive stripers while fishing the Sacramento season in local waters, and it appears that River on February 15. the season will open on April 4th for a few Photo courtesy of FISHSNIFFER.COM. weeks before a temporary closure until sometime in May before the season reopens for its duration. Paired with the rockfish opener on April 1st, Half Moon Bay will come back to life for private and party boaters. Captain Tom Mattusch of the Huli Cat said, “We are doing boat maintenance right now, and we are hoping to get a trip for sand dab/crab on Sunday, but it looks like there Sturgeon have been the target for Suisun Bay anglers soaking bait off is going to be the decks of the Happy Hooker, but good numbers of bonus stripers some wind. The are showing up too. commercial crab Photo courtesy of HAPPY HOOKER SPORTFISHING, Berkeley.