Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3905 Feb 14-28 | Page 26

24
Feb 14 - 28, 2020
VOL.39 • ISS. 5
SALTWATER
REPORTS
BERKELEY
Stripers & Sturgeon Excite Winter
Anglers
BERKELEY Most East Bay charter boats have
either left the East Bay to chase sturgeon in the
upper bays or they are offline preparing for the
salmon and rockfish seasons to come.
There have been a few sporadic reports of
stripers from anglers fishing the Race Track
shoreline. Kastmasters and shrimp baits have
gotten the stripers. There are good numbers of rays
being caught by bait anglers and some of them
are decent size. Anglers fishing grass shrimp and
pile worms under bobbers and off the bottom have
picked up the first surfperch of the year.
In the south bay, a small shot of herring activity
prompted some sturgeon success for private
boaters. The best action is taking place in the
extreme south end
of the bay, but fish
Central coast anglers had
have been caught
lots of fun reeling up big
along the channels
numbers of tasty sanddabs
this January.
off Alameda and
Photo courtesy of HULI CAT San Leandro too.
SPORTFISHING, Half Moon Top baits at this time
Bay. are ghost shrimp,
herring fillets and
eel.
S.F. Bay halibut action is right around the corner. Chris Barfield nailed
In the San Leandro this handsome bay halibut last May.
area perch anglers
Photo courtesy of CHRIS BARFIELD, Sacramento.
are starting to see
increasing numbers
of shiner perch moving into the area. Pile worms, ghost shrimp and white prawns are
the favored baits for anglers fishing from shoreline trail.
BODEGA BAY
Charter Boats Continue with Crab Only Trips
BODEGA BAY – The doldrums of the winter months continue, and party and private
boats are looking forward to the rockfish opener on April 1st. However, there has been
a call for crab-only on occasion out of this Sonoma County port. Limits of Dungeness
crab remain the rule after on a few pulls as the crab counts are climbing up again since
most commercial vessels have pulled their pots and headed to other grounds.
Our first glimpse of the regulations for the upcoming ocean salmon season will
be revealed during the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Annual Salmon
Information meeting on February 27, at 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Sonoma
County Water Agency, 404 Aviation Blvd.,
Santa Rosa. The meeting will cover 2020
abundance forecasts and serves as an
opportunity for the public to provide input
regarding the upcoming ocean salmon
season.
Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sport
Fishing was twice this week with a combined
20 anglers for limits of Dungeness crab to
3.5 pounds in a little over 2.5 hours. He said,
“The weather was beautiful with gray whales
migrating south. We will continue to do these
These anglers crushed limits of sturgeon during an early January Suisun Bay adventure
trips weather and interest dependent, but now
with Captain Hayden Mullins.
Photo courtesy of DRAGON SPORTFISHING, Pittsburg. is the time to get out and watch these whales
migrate while pulling up a limit of crab. I was
back out again with 8 anglers on Saturday,
and they were back at the dock within two
hours with limits of crab. I have postponed my
haul-out unit March in order to take advantage
of the good crabbing throughout the month of
With The Bay Area’s Premier Sportfishing Family… Halibut
February.”
Powers was out on a scientific research trip
Now Booking S.F. Bay Halibut & Striper Stripers
to the Cordell Banks within the past week,
Live Bait Potluck Trips!
Lingcod and their mission was to collect yellowtail and
chilipepper rockfish loaded with eggs, and
Salmon
they found multiple species that were released
with a descending device. On the way out to
Sharks
Cordell, there were schools of anchovies ‘all
& More
the way out and all of the way back.”
- Dave Hurley
Get Your Fish On!
Charters & Open
Loads Available
Departing Daily From The Berkeley Marina
Happy Hooker
[phone]
Pacific Dream
3807
[phone]
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Building
On The
Legacy
of Capt.
Jim
Smith!
Two Boats To Turn Your Fishing Dreams Into Reality!
PACIFIC
DREAM
Captain Chris Smith’s 58’ Pacific Dream
Captain Jonathan Smith’s 56’ Happy Hooker
HALF MOON BAY
Party Boats Awaiting Rockfish
Opener Fill Bill with Sanddabs,
Sole and Crabs
EL GRANADA - Half Moon Bay private and
party boats are filling in the time between the
end of the 2019 rockfish season and the start
of the 2020 rockfish season on April 1st by
either settling for boat maintenance or taking
out light loads for sand dab/crab combination
trips. The good news is the crab limits remain
the rule as the pots are filling up once again
CONTINUED ON PG 26
Sturgeon fishing has been great this winter
for anglers fishing the West Delta with
Captain Hayden Mullins.
Photo courtesy of DRAGON SPORTFISHING,
Pittsburg.