San Francisco Fishing Report

[Wahoo!]

Pacific Ocean

Golden Gate: Salmon season got going Saturday, in case you've been in a coma, and,
so far, it's migrating along nicely. Better than last year's start? Yes. Does it
look like it could be better than 2003's pathetic running? Most definitely, some of
the skippers are saying. The rest are watching and waiting, holding back for one
reason or another, while the wild dogs of enthusiasm run out and run back, happy
just to be fishing. And it's the pack we follow. So, here goes:

Saturday, with the whole of our ocean open to them, the S.F. Fleet was sucked south,
from S Buoy to the Deep Reef, some of the boats even beyond. The pull was generated
by the Half Moon Bay crews, who were putting a nice hit on the salmon just above and
outside Pigeon Point. Many fine scores that first day, particularly for the boats
that ventured far to the south and west. Sunday and Monday, the bite moved up the
line a ways, and the scores went from a fish per rod to limits. Tuesday, for reasons
related to specific weather and general sanity, there was but a single party boat
that left S.F. Bay for the dog-leg left -- Berkeley's El Dorado, which still managed
to net 17 for 13 anglers.

Now Wednesday, with the S.F. fleet running south, yet again. One of the skippers,
don't know who, liked what he (or she, Jacky) saw off Montara, and stopped. Then the
others stopped, and the trolling got started. How it played out: Butchie B 24 salmon
to 17 pounds for 20 passengers, Wacky Jacky 16 to12 for 16, Outer Limits 27 to 12
for 15, Salty Lady (running out of Pillar Point) 20 to 15 for 15, New Rayann 11 to
16 for 13, Flying Fish five to 14 for eight, El Dorado III 26 to 18 for 19, New
Salmon Queen 19 to 13 for 15, New Easy Rider 10 limits to 15 pounds, and the El
Dorado eight salmon to 14 pounds for eight.

As the day was relayed, the Pillar Point boats, party and a few private, ran south
first thing. When they heard the other fleet had stopped outside their front yard,
and were catching fish no more than 8 miles offshore, they reeled up and motored
back. For the day: Que Sera Sera with nine to 14 for six, Huli Cat 10 to 14 for
seven, New Capt. Pete 12 to 15 for 14, Queen of Hearts 11 to 18 for 15.

Bodega Bay: Hugely productive opener here, as well, with the boats filling the boxes
Saturday and Sunday to start the season. Mike Harbarth's six- pack charter the
Calico (707-829-4728) made it both Saturday and Sunday, and both days it was limits,
about 11 miles outside the Whistle Buoy on a 270 heading. Wednesday, because of
weather, the Calico turned back.

Santa Cruz-Monterey: While all the above looks swell, no bite has been better, or
more consistent, than here. Drifting off Pajaro, the Monterey boats have had limits
every day going back to Thursday. The boats aren't just notching limits, they're
notching limits so fast they're tied up at dock again by 8:30 or 9. Wednesday was
somewhat slow, possibly because of the cold snap and charging swell, and the boats
needed a few more hours to box their fish. Just the same, the Star of Monterey had
32 limits, Caroline 23 limits, Tornado 19 limits, the Checkmate 16 limits. The fish
go 9-12 pounds, for the most part, but there seems to be a 20-pounder landed every
10th fish, or so.

The bays

San Francisco: The right fish are out there, that much we now know. We also know
live anchovy is now available. The rest we leave to you. Or to the party-boat
skippers. Personally, we're saving up to afford a half-scoop of bait. But we'll
worry about that later. The New Huck Finn, uncannily true to skipper Jay Yokomizo's
word, got going with the live-bait action Sunday, when he hit some early-season
spots with a group of seven. First stop was off the Alameda Rockwall, where they
landed three halibut, from 7 to 10 pounds. Next and last stop was just off the end
of Berkeley Pier, where they netted 10 more, to 14 pounds, with the outgoing tide.
Next day, with another group of seven and the bay blown over with wind, the New Huck
Finn put in a few drifts off California City and over Southhampton Shoal, and caught
nothing. Next and last stop was the water off the end of Berkeley Pier, still
somewhat green, and the final count was six halibut and a striped bass ... There
also is acc
ess to nearly the same water from Berkeley Pier itself. You can walk out and jig up
your own bait (shiner perch, mostly), maybe catch a halibut. Both the incoming and
outgoing tide are productive, so long as the water is moving.

San Pablo: Keith Fraser informs that live-bait season is nigh. As he speaks the
words, he works on his bait-netting technique, proving that you're never too old to
shrug off preparation and practice. Yes, he says, it's time. He and good friend
Tommy Glasser and one other braved the four-minute run to the Whaling Station on
Tuesday. Wind was blowing, water murky, prospects dim. First minute of the first
drift, they hooked two bass. All told, they landed 13, 4- to 8-pounders. After the
Whaling Station, they tried the Brothers, and did not catch a fish. Glasser went
again Wednesday, with two newbies, and they managed only three bass, again at the
Whaling Station.

Suisun/Delta: A whole lot of wind and, so, a whole lot of trouble catching fish over
here. Barry Canevaro says the best you can do is fight the wind and try some
trolling for bass along the west bank of the Sacramento River. Personally, he's been
fishing sturgeon around Chain Island, with mixed results ... Charter-boat skipper
Steve Talmadge, summing up the week while plucking a turkey that he shot Wednesday,
agrees that it's been tough. Mostly because he's lost some sturgeon right at the
boat. He's fishing the same water he's been anchoring over the past few weeks --
between Marker 2 and the Mothball Fleet, in 35 to 40 feet of murk -- and he's
hooking sturgeon, with some consistency. He's also tried for striped bass, with less
consistency in the way of results. "I think they've passed us by," is what
he said ... Right on top: Bobby Barrack and client Mike Oslund of Lodi were near
Mildred Island last Thursday at the start of the incoming tide. Barrack had Oslund
set
up with a Pencil Popper (rainbow trout-colored), and the bait took a violent hit.
Eight, maybe nine minutes later, they got the fish to the boat. She was a striped
bass, loaded with eggs, and measured 48 1/2 inches, estimated weight mid- to
-high-40s. The bass was released, and swam off to spawn.

E-mail Brian Hoffman at bhoffman@sfchronicle.com