Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3815 July 5-19 2019 | Page 17

July 5 - 19, 2019
VOL.38 • ISS. 15
15
Trigger The Predatory Response
In Ocean Kings With An Apex! by Cal Kellogg
W
hen it comes to the Apex
there are believers and there are
scoffers. Do Apex Lures always work
for ocean salmon? No nothing does,
but I’ve seen more than a few scoffers
converted on days when kings wouldn’t
Stock up Now for a GREAT SALMON SEASON!
For Ocean or River, we have what you need!
FOR THE OCEAN:
• Pro-troll Flashers and RSKs
• GDF and Hawkins Flasher Releases
• Hot-Spot Apex
• Brad’s Cut Plugs - River and Ocean Patterns
• Shelton FBRs
• Trinidad Optimizer Spoons and Bait Heads
FOR THE RIVER:
• Brad’s
• Yakima Flatfish
• Luhr Jensen Kwikfish Plugs
• Silvertron
• GVF
• Shallow Glass Spinners
FRESH BAIT!
Tray Anchovies and Hearing
Sardines for Plug Wraps
(530) 887- 0839
11944 Masters Court, Auburn CA
Willfishtackle.com
#424 Glow
In the
Dark!
touch natural bait,
but would abso-
lutely freight train an
Apex!
The vibrating and
spinning action of the
Apex is what makes it
effective.
Golden State salmon
generally feed on bait in
the form of anchovies or
herring. It is the active
darting movements of the
bait that ultimately attracts
the salmon. The dodging
and weaving of the baitfish
creates strong vibrations and predators
like salmon quickly detect these. Yet these
“standard” vibrations may or may not
trigger a strike. Research indicates that it’s
the erratic vibrations created by wounded or
sick baitfish that really trigger the predatory
response in salmon and other predators.
The Apex effectively duplicates
the movements of a wounded
baitfish. It’s contoured scoop
front surface causes a rapid
side-to-side shaking action
as it is trolled.
The Apex
will also dart
violently
from
side
to side and will
spin once in
a while.
These
actions are triggers and are not duplicated
by any other artificial lure.
Apex Lures are made by the folks at
Hotspot. To check out their entire line of
flashers, Apex Lures and salmon gear visit
their website at www.hotspotlures.com
Willfish Tackle: Small Shop Big
Selection Of Lures, Gear & More!
W
illfish Tackle isn’t a big box
store. In fact, the store isn’t
very large at all, but it has everything
you need for catching fish from the
coast to the
Sierra.
I’ve been
shopping
at Willfish
for a long
time
because
they
stock a
full line
of gear and compo-
nents. Line, hooks,
rods, reels, lures and
an array of natural
baits.
Owner Craig
Newton even
stocks some hard
to find items such
as wooden Lyman
Lures, the new 2
inch Lyman and
Arctic Fox trolling
flies as well as
products from Luhr
3810
#423 UV
Reflective!
HERRING AID
#423 and #424
NEW FOR 2019!
GONE FISHING
downfall. Within seconds, I had lost it.
“Easy there, Stacy!” chuckled Chris’s son, and deckhand,
Joey. “Forget everything you know about bass fishing and
just reel in nice and steady.”
I hadn’t fished for halibut for nearly a year, so I had to
reprogram myself.
My next halibut was undersized, but number three was a
keeper! Landing it was easy because deckhands Joey and
Steve work together like a well-oiled machine. Anglers were
hooking up one after the other. But once you heard “Fish
on!”, it was only a matter of seconds before that fish was
netted, tagged, and your line was back in the water.
Captain Chris has decades of experience under his belt,
and it shows. We made several stops as we cruised north
towards Richmond, and at each stop he told us exactly
when to drop our lines and when to reel them back up. No
time was wasted. This strategy resulted in dozens of landed
halibut and stripers.
“I learned from my father,” Chris explained, “and I’m
hoping Joey takes over after me.”
This type of work seems to run in the family; Chris’s son,
Jonathon, and his younger brother, James, operate two other
sportfishing vessels out of the Berkeley Marina. “It’s healthy
competition,” he laughed.
Running 6 to 7 days a week is exhausting work. “This is
the best part about it, though,” Chris explained. “Chatting it
Jensen, Mack’s Lure, Yakima Bait and
GVF Lures.
Craig loves to fish and he’s always ready
with advice whether you’re looking for a
limit of stripers in the Delta, a double digit
cutthroat at Pyramid or just want to enjoy
an afternoon soaking PowerBait at a local
lake for some pansize rainbows.
If you need to top off your trout and
salmon fishing supplies, drop by Willfish
and marvel at the wide selection of gear
that Craig has packed into his shop!
Willfish is located at 11944 Masters
Court, Auburn, Ca. For more information
call [phone]
Continued from page 1
up with passengers, meeting people from all over…in the
end, it’s worth it.”
And boy, did we have a cast of characters on this trip,
from a couple of charter veterans who had been on this
boat more times than they could count, to a Sacramento
man who fished the entire trip with his personal trout rod.
To be more accurate, a man who OUTFISHED a few
people with that lightweight rod.
The passenger I rooted for the most, however, was
affectionately named “Banana Boy” (by me) because
he couldn’t understand why he was getting skunked. He
was later spotted chowing down on a banana and quickly
learned the old wives tale from several of us. Coinciden-
tally (or not), his only keeper was caught once he finished
that banana.
By 2 p.m., the sun was blazing and the entire boat had
reached its full limits of stripers. “Got one!” had been
shouted nearly 100 times, keeping the deckhands occupied.
The last 90 minutes were spent targeting halibut and rock
cod in a last attempt at securing some Taco Tuesday meat.
I went home with over 10 pounds of halibut, striper, and
rock cod filets, but that wasn’t the highlight of my trip. In
between catches, I had the chance to hang out with crew,
learn about the family business, and laugh – a LOT. This
is their of labor of love, and it shows. I made a bunch of
new friends that day, and I’ll definitely be back!
The Pacific Dream has been averaging over 100 keeper
fish per day while drifting live bait in San Francisco Bay.
Here we see deckhand Joey Smith posing with a bunch of
halibut and stripers.
Photo courtesy of CHRIS SMITH, Pacific Dream Sportfishing.