Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3611 May 12-26, 2017 | Page 35

BERKELEY & EMERYVILLE

Full Menu Of Species On Tap For Charter Boaters

EAST BAY — Halibut , striped bass , lings , rockfish and salmon are all being caught by East Bay charter boat enthusiasts and the fishing is improving weekly .

“ I ’ ve been splitting my time between running the Happy Hooker and my six pack boat the Defiant ,” reported Captain Chris Smith of Captain Hook Sportfishing . “ The live bait season has been great so far . Last week we smacked the stripers pretty good during a big set of tides . Next week I expect the halibut action to ramp up in both the south and central bay . To book a trip on either of my boats give me a call at ( 510 ) 322-0493 .”

“ We did really well on stripers early this week ,” related Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing . “ The bass were holding off Alameda and boiling on bait . Our anglers did well with live anchovies , but plastic swimbaits rigged on half ounce heads killed them too . Next week is going to be a great halibut week since the tides are getting smaller . There are lots of halibut in the bay right now .”

Berkeley ’ s New Easy Rider with Captain Joey Gallia at the helm has been on the hunt for salmon beyond the Golden Gate in recent days and they are doing well . Their most recent trip yielded more than one fish per rod on kings ranging into the high teens . Rigged anchovies were the most productive offering . The biggest challenge confronting salmon anglers recently has been the up and down weather conditions .

The Sea Wolf out of the Emeryville Marina has been enjoying fantastic results while fishing outside the Golden Gate for rockfish and lingcod . For example , on April 29 , they took out 25 anglers are returned with 250 rockfish and 41 lingcod to 16 pounds .

With rough weather outside the gate , Emeryville ’ s Sundance and New Salmon Queen have both been focused on striped bass and halibut fishing inside the bay . Last week they scored limits of stripers on most trip and added quite a few halibut . They are hoping the ocean lays down next week so they can resume salmon fishing . he is planning on heading out on combination trips once the weather settles down . There is some good news with the winds as Mike Aughney of USAFishing . com said , “ The water temperature has dropped to 49 degrees at the Bodega Weather Buoy , and the colder water and upwelling will set the stage for favorable salmon conditions in the weeks ahead .” So far this season , private boaters have been not showing up ‘ en masse ’ to this port , but with the reopening of salmon season and the excellent launching facilitie at the Westside Landing launch ramp , all we need is the salmon to show up for the traffic to back up to Highway 1 .

- by David Hurley

FISHERMAN ’ S WHARF

Live Bait Drifters Lay Into Halibut , Stripers

SAN FRANCISCO — Live bait fishing for halibut and striped bass on San Francisco Bay has been very good , according to Aaron Anfinson , captain of the Bass Tub .

“ The 14 people fishing on the Bass Tub on Saturday , April 29 , released around 65 undersized halibut and landed 6 keeper halibut and 4 keeper stripers on Saturday , April 29 ,” said Anfinson . “ The halibut averaged 8 to 10 pounds each and went up to 18 pounds , while the stripers weighed up to 5 pounds . We drifted live anchovies in 10 feet of water in the south bay off Alameda .”

“ On April 30 , the 6 fishermen aboard the boat had a great day , catching 13 keeper halibut and 7 bass ,” said Anfinson . “ The biggest halibut weighed 25 pounds . They fished live anchovies in the Alameda area .”

– by Dan Bacher

CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

This angler was pretty happy after boating this hefty San Francisco Bay halibut during a live bait adventure aboard the Happy Hooker on April 15 . hoto courtesy of HAPPY HOOKER SPORTFISHING , Berkeley

These anglers rounded up limits of lingcod and rockfish while fishing offshore of Bodega Bay on April 15 .

Photo courtesy of FISH ON CHARTERS , Bodega Bay

BODEGA BAY

Rockfish , Lingcod and Crab Fishing Is Great

BODEGA BAY — The salmon season came to its first and only closure period on Sunday , April 30th , and it will reopen on May 15th .

Salmon fishing has been spotty at best out of this port , but Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sport Fishing and the New Sea Angler had a great day in the last week with 10 big salmon to 22 pounds along with limits of Dungeness crab for 10 anglers . He said , “ It has been a slow pick this past week , but we found good action below Elephant Rock , and all of the salmon were big at 15 to 22 pounds .”

Powers cancelled on Saturday due to high winds , but he was back out on Sunday , April 30 , for 33 limits of rockfish consisting of vermilions , coppers , Bolinas , and some mixed school fish to go with 36 lingcod to 13 pounds . With the salmon season closed , Powers will be running rockfish / ling cod trips along with the occasional crab combination for the next two weeks . There is optimism for the re-opening of salmon season on May 15th since the size limit drops to 20 inches .

The recent high winds kept Captain Jeff Carmella of Miss Anita Sport Fishing off of the water over the weekend , but

This young man caught his first ever ocean salmon when he battled this big Golden Gate king from the decks of the New Easy Rider on April 22 .

Photo courtesy of NEW EASY RIDER SPORTFISHING , Berkeley

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