Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3820 Sept 13-27 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen!
37 Years
Serving
Sportsmen
San Francisco Bay Map Feature
MADE IN U.S.A
See Page 16-17
September 13 - 27, 2019
Vol. 38 - ISS.20
Our
37th
Year
Since 1982
“The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!”
Rockfish, Lingcod & Lots Of Halibut Aboard The Happy Hooker!
O
n August 22, I wrapped up the Cal
Kellogg School of Fishing charter
boat season for the summer
of 2019 with a trip aboard the
Happy Hooker with Captain
Jonathan Smith at the wheel.
I planned for the trip to be a
classic Golden Gate live bait
potluck adventure. I wanted
to target coastal lingcod and
rockfish outside S.F. Bay and
then hit the halibut and striper
grounds inside the bay in the
afternoon for a shot at halibut
and perhaps a striper or two.
The trip went as planned,
except the weather outside the
gate was a little sloppy due
to wind chop driven by a stiff
breeze out of the northwest.
For me the day got started when my
feet hit the floor at midnight. By about 1
o’clock in the morning I was out the door.
I made a quick stop in Auburn to pick up
my fishing buddy Andy and we arrived at
the Berkeley Marina at about 4:30.
By 6 o’clock the decks of the Happy
Hooker were jammed with Fish Sniffer
readers and we were off to the rich waters
of the Marin Coast. As soon as we
cleared the Golden Gate Bridge we
could tell that the weather
was going to be bouncy,
but with Greg Brown and
Joey Smith working the
deck and me working the
back of the boat, keeping
everyone baited up and
fishing we figured we’d
be able to put some meat
on the decks without too
much trouble.
The black rockfish
cooperated and there were
some nice browns and
chunky canaries mixed
in. Lingcod played hard
to get, but we picked up
This hefty halibut was caught in the bow of the
a handful including a
Happy Hooker on August 22.
handsome 12 pounder that hitch hiked
Photo courtesy of HAPPY HOOKER
up on a black rockfish.
SPORTFISHING, Berkeley.
In all we spent about two and a half
hours drifting Duxbury Reef. With sacks
A couple days before, Captain
bulging with rockfish and anglers tired
Jonathan had stumbled upon a big
from navigating the pitching decks we
school of white sea bass inside the bay
got no complaints when Jonathan and I
and scored limits of the hard fighting
decided it was time to head back to the bay and great eating fish, so expectations
to try our luck on halibut.
CONTINUED ON PG 21
GONE
FISHING
by
Cal Kellogg
I
Slumps, Skunks, Warning Lights & A Sore Knee…
Kellogg School of Fishing Trip. Typically,
the day before a charter trip I get up late,
do a little writing, get in a light workout,
pack the vehicle and rest up for the next
day’s action. But this isn’t going to be
a typical day, so I figured I should get
up and get some work done before the
proverbial cow patty hits the fan…
It all started a
couple months
ago when I was
driving around
in my F-150 and
something felt
a little “funny”.
Hmmm, I passed
it off as imag-
ination. Over
the next several
weeks I experi-
enced that funny
feeling a few more
times and made a
mental note to get
the truck in to my
mechanic…
Around that time,
Lake Almanor has been the scene of outstanding trout fishing all
I found a beautiful
summer long. This incredible fish was landed during a late August
used Chevy
trolling trip with Captain Bryan Roccucci.
Suburban 2500 4x4.
Photo courtesy of BIG DADDY’S GUIDE SERVICE, Quincy.
t’s 4:15 AM and I’ve been up long
enough to take Lucy out and brew a pot
of coffee. Why so early?
Well I’d like to tell you I’m up for a
fishing trip or one of my crazy hikes into
the back country, but I’m not.
I’m slated to be down in Berkeley aboard
the Happy Hooker tomorrow hosting a Cal
I’d been looking for one for a long time,
the price was within my budget, so I
bought it!
Late last week
I was driving the
Suburban when the
“Service Engine
Soon” light came
on. It didn’t seem
too pressing, sort
of like when the
flight attendant tells
you to fasten your
seatbelt for landing.
You know, a friendly
instruction, standard
operating procedure,
nothing to worry
about.
Fast forward to
Monday, now I’m driving the F-150 again
coming back from the dump when the
transmission goes haywire, warning lights
and alarms start going off and clearly, I
have a big problem.
Oh well, I have two vehicles, so I have
the Ford towed to the mechanic and wait
for the verdict.
When Ross calls me he tells me I have
WHAT’S
HOT
by
Cal Kellogg
CONTINUED ON PG 12
F ish S niffer T IP OF THE W EEK
Fall stripers will strike a long list of natural baits. Shad, bullheads, and mudsuckers represent the mainstays of most Delta anglers.
If you are looking for a trophy striper bullheads and mudsuckers are two of the best baits you can use.
When rigging these baits, either alive or dead you’ll need a bait needle. Pass the needle through the bait
from just behind the gills to the just before the tail. Once the bait is impaled on the needle connect the
leader to it and pull the leader through the bait’s body leaving the hook setting next to the baits head.
When a fish picks up your bait give it plenty of time to run before setting the hook!
Special Section
Catch & Release/
Fly Fishing - page 7
INSIDE
Area Reports
FRESHWATER REPORTS
Almanor - Berryessa Lake......................................4
Bullards Bar/Englebright Reservoirs - Collins...... 10
Davis Lake - East Delta.................................. 12-13
Eastern Sierra - Folsom Lake.............................. 14
Klamath/Trinity Rivers - New Melones Lake ....... 19
Oroville Lake/Thermolito Afterbay -
Quarry Lakes/Shadow Cliffs Reservoir........20
Redding/Red Bluff - Santa Clara Valley Lakes... 22-23
Shasta/Whiskeytown Lakes - West Delta....... 24-25
SALTWATER REPORTS
Berkeley - Bodega Bay............................................ 27
Fisherman’s Wharf...............................................29
Half Moon Bay - Monterey Bay...................... 30-31
FEATURES
Where...When...How...
HUNTING JOURNAL..............................................8-9
BAJA ROUNDUP......................................................29
BULLETIN BOARD.....................................................3
CATCH & RELEASE - FLY FISHING: Cal Kellogg......7
FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY: Steve ‘Hippo’ Lau..........28
GO FOR IT: Staff.......................................................15
HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg.............................................. 11
KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Cal Kellogg ...............5
MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher...............................16-17
MIXED BAG FISHING: Ernie Marlan........................18
SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher......26
STAFF
TACKLE
What We’re Using
Cal Kellogg - fished Oxbow
Reservoir for rainbow trout.
Cal used a 7’ Fenwick HMG
70 ML rod rated for 4 to 10
pound test matched with an
Abu Garcia Revo SX spinning reel. The reel
was spooled with 6 pound Trilene and a 6 lb.
Vanish fluorocarbon leader was employed.
Cal landed one pansize brown and one
rainbow trout while fishing worms under a
slip bobber. Cal applied nightcrawler scent
Pro-Cure Super Gel to his worms.
Paul Kneeland - fished
with Gary Caruso and John
Brassfield in The Fish Sniffer
Rogue Jet 21’ Coastal at
Lake Oroville. They caught
king salmon to 21 inches and 3-1\2 pounds
using a Lamiglas Fish Sniffer special 7’6”
light action graphite rod with a Daiwa Lexa
100 Line Counter reel loaded with 8 lb test
Yozuri Topknot fluorocarbon line. They trolled
red/white Tasmanian Devils behind Vance’s
cannonball flashers and green wiggle
hoochies behind silver Sling Blades, coated
with Rooster Tail salmon spray, 40 to 60 feet
deep off the Canon downriggers at 2.2 mph.
Dan Bacher - fished for
rainbow trout at Loon Lake.
He used a Berkley Ugly Stick
GX2 6’ 6” medium action
spinning rod, teamed up
with a Shakespeare GX235 spinning reel
filled with 6 lb. test P-Line CX Premium
Fluorocarbon Coated Line. He fished with
rainbow Berkley PowerBait, 1/8 oz. gold
and black Panther Martins and 2/5 oz. gold/
red stripe Little Cleos. Dan coated his baits
and lures with Bloody Tuna scent Pro-Cure
Super Gel.