Fish Sniffer Magazine Issue 4018 | Page 22

22 October 1 , 2021 VOL . 40 • ISS . 18

WHAT ’ S HOT continued from page 2

Amy Wellenkamp holds up a double digit sized lingcod she caught while fishing with the California Dawn .
Photo Courtesy of Ernie Marlan
Steve Martino , from Pleasant Hill , was on fire and caught his share of lings while tossing large swimbaits .
Photo Courtesy of Ernie Marlan
When the captain enjoys fishing as much as his customers you know you are fishing on the right boat . Captain James Smith was all smiles when his customers landed limits of lings .
Photo Courtesy of Ernie Marlan
30lb fluorocarbon leader . While at the Fisherman ’ s Warehouse I did pick up several lead heads in that 8-12oz range and several swimbaits in a variety of colors and I did remember to buy some white and darker colored ones . I was completely focused on throwing swimbaits for big lingcod but I couldn ’ t forget about the pictures and reports of some nice sized rockfish being caught as well . While at Fisherman ’ s Warehouse I picked up some shrimp flies that would work for the rockfish . This trip to Fisherman ’ s Warehouse had me feeling like I was prepared and I was definitely getting excited . I arrived early to the boat , picked a spot where I wanted to fish and got all settled in . The boat was sold out for the day and the weather was going to cooperate and we were going to be able to make it to the Farallon Islands as we planned . The boat ride from Berkeley , California to the Farallon Islands takes about 3 hours . While on the boat ride I learned that we were headed to newly opened fishing grounds that opened this year and had not been fished for many years . As I mentioned , I had been

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watching the California Dawn fishing reports for several weeks and I was hopeful for a good trip but I wasn ’ t prepared to have one of the most epic fishing trips I have ever had ! I am at a loss for words because I don ’ t know to explain to the readers how epic this fishing trip was . I think Captain James stated it best when he said , “ this fishery qualifies as a fly-in destination .” I completely agree with this explanation of this amazing fishery because the trip was absolutely epic ! I know I mentioned the word epic several times in this article already and I don ’ t have any hesitation on using that word and here is why . It took us approximately 45 minutes to catch 230 rockfish which was boat limits ! We took less than a 10 minute boat ride to the lingcod spot after catching rockfish limits and caught 46 lingcod with some pushing the 20lb mark in an hour ! 230 quality sized rockfish and 46 lingcod in less than two hours of fishing ! That kind of fishing trip
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4014 deserves the word epic when trying to describe how good it was ! I will back up and give you some details on how this unfolded . Once we arrived near the Farallon Islands and started fishing the rockfish bite was wide-open . I started off using the double dropper technique that included two small swimbaits and a 12oz weight . Every single drop I was catching at least
I am at a loss for words because I don ’ t know to explain to the readers how epic this fishing trip was . I think Captain James stated it best when he said , “ this fishery qualifies as a fly-in destination .”
one and sometimes two rockfish at a time . Trust me when I tell you that these were not small or even average sized rockfish . These fish were definitely on the large side ! Fish were coming over the rail and it wasn ’ t long before Captain James said , “ alright guys we are at boat limits for rockfish .” He went on to

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4005 say , “ change over to your lingcod setups as fast as you can because we don ’ t have far to go .” Once I heard these words , I quickly switched over to a 9 inch white swimbait with a 8oz lead head . Other anglers opted to use a trap rig with mackeral . We were all switched over in just a few minutes and lucky we did because it didn ’ t take long to get to the lingcod spot . Once the captain gave us a green light to put our baits down , I made a cast and started to slowly retrieve it . A few cranks of the reel and my swimbait got smoked and I was doing battle with a hefty lingcod . I wasn ’ t alone because I kept hearing several other anglers saying , “ fish on !” The newly purchased rod had great action and enough back bone to fight the double digit lingcod that I had hooked up . After a great fight I had my first lingcod on the deck ! Captain James was casting a swimbait and he hooked up with a monster sized ling on his first cast ! It was a pretty amazing sight to see several anglers all hooked up with lingcod at the same time . I looked down the rail and several rods were bent . I looked to the left of me and rods were bent ! I looked behind me and rods were bent ! Pretty amazing ! You don ’ t see that often and it is something I won ’ t forget ! I think this is worth mentioning again . 230 quality sized rockfish and 46 lingcod in less than two hours of fishing ! That kind of fishing trip deserves the word epic when trying to describe how good it was ! Call the California Dawn at 510-417-5557 and book a trip !