SF Fishing Report

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THE FISHING REPORT

Brian Hoffman

Thursday, April 1, 2004

©2004 San Francisco Chronicle

URL:
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/01/SPGT45ULGC1.DTL

Pacific Ocean

Half Moon Bay: The ocean comes alive Saturday, which happens to be the state-given
start of our salmon season below Pigeon Point (this is a key nugget of distinction,
lest you enjoy conversations with game wardens and judges, and use money to wipe
down your windows). Captain Dennis Baxter and other whale-seeking skippers, plus
dredgers and sundry others with business in the gray-blue, all have seen encouraging
signs -- namely stacks and stacks of hard bait, in the balled-up form of sardine and
anchovy. Only problem: No one's been below Pigeon, so all speculation amounts to
proximal extrapolation, whatever that means. More of the ol' caveat lector: It's
been blowing mighty and mean this week, and with warmer inland temperatures forecast
for the weekend ... who knows, but pray for fog. If you're still looking for a spot
on a boat, good luck. If you do miss the opener, there is space next week, and then
some room for the April 17 kick-off above Pigeon Point. Info: (650) 726-7133.

Santa Cruz-Monterey: All the usual skinny is chattering about, the books are booked,
and the salmon boats are ready to go. Out of Santa Cruz, a commercial-type friend of
a friend who told a guy we know claims there is a mass of bait (again, anchovy and
sardine) off Davenport. Given a chance, there will be a fleet of sport boats in that
very water Saturday morning. Tweaking that item a little, Mike Baxter, owner of the
Santa Cruz party boat Wild Wave: "The few guys going across the bay have
metered bait in the Soquel and Pajaro holes, and you do hear about the incidental
salmon caught by someone out sanddabbing. But the water seems clear and green. The
best I've heard is brown water off Three Trees and then out in 240 feet, where
there's some 'streak' bait, probably anchovy and squid." The squid theory is
backed by the presence of net boats in the area ... Absolutely wretched weather
outside of Moss Landing and Monterey this week, the kind that blows in with spring.
And yet ... encouragement comes in the form of salmon (which were released) mixed in
with a haul of anchovy, some 50 tons worth, netted off Moss Landing on Monday. All
that's left is the actual fishing. Out of Chris' Sportfishing, the weekend has been
filled for months, but there still is room during the week: (831) 375- 5951.

The bays

San Francisco: It seems like it's all about to happen, as it always does this time
of year. The halibut and the bass, the eager hands in the bait tank, the chaos and
triumph, all the good times. The skiffs are primed, if not fueled (an especially
painful and unkind experience these days), the potluck skippers are taking names,
the rumors of fish are here and there, and it all hinges on the same thing: live
bait. And still no definitive word on when live anchovy will be available ... A
commercial friend of Oyster Point bait-shop owner Mike Routson drifted a live shiner
off Alameda Rockwall on Monday, and damned if he didn't land a 32-pound striped
bass, according to Routson. According to the commercial fisherman known as
"Hector," it is the largest bass he's ever landed ... Embarcadero to
Candlestick to San Mateo, there are jacksmelt, rays and small sharks to be caught
from shore ... Insider's good- natured jab of the week brings in Rapid Transit
skipper Mike Fernandez (510- 654-6040), who, as the prelude goes, has been running
sturgeon-shark combo trips. Punch line: He sets up for sturgeon, then catches
sharks. Funny, if the trips weren't so popular. In fact, Fernandez has been one of
the few skippers consistently working through the winter and early days of spring,
as his leopard-shark trips have a faithful and growing following.

San Pablo: The bass are here, making the days a little more meaningful for many of
us. The trollers are into them for maybe 20 a day, working the shorelines with the
usual gear (swimbaits, Hair Raiser-types, positive thoughts, etc.). So far, the fish
have been on the small side, with the corpulent exception of a 32-incher landed at a
secret spot (Red Rock) by none other than Gary Graw, who had a 40-incher a couple
weeks back. From shore, the guys lining Brickyard Cove (Point San Pedro Road) and
China Camp have been doing well. Very well, reportedly ... On the anchor, there
still are sturgeon to be caught, despite the ho-hum tides, and more and more striped
bass. Also from shore, a 68-inch sturgeon in front of Rat Rock.

Suisun-Delta: It happened Saturday on the Happy Hooker, somewhere near Benicia.
Skipper Jim Smith (510-223-5388) had a "booze cruise" (his words) of 11,
but he was determined to catch sturgeon. And they did, five keepers, all better than
50 pounds. At one point, Smith had a triple going, lost one in the anchor chain, and
finally pulled anchor when one of the fish kept running. They got one of the
sturgeon landed (a keeper), long before the other so much as slowed. The boat kept
on drifting. Hour and a half later, our angler, Jason D. Franchi of Tracy, got the
fish to the surface. Four times. Now to estimate its weight, while pictures were
being snapped, Capt. Smith resorted to well- rounded science. He looked at the fish,
he calculated his own weight (sort of the offensive-lineman type), he proclaimed the
sturgeon "every bit of 400 pounds. The head alone was 100 pounds." About
then, the deckhand gloved the line (65-pound test braided tied to a 130-pound mono
leader), and the fish took off, with a snap. Smith is fishing water 50 to 90 feet
deep, and the bait has been salmon roe, almost exclusively ... Barry Canevaro
(916-777-6498): The Fishin' Fool IV trolled the Sacramento from Sherman Island to
Rio Vista on Monday, and four clients landed 15 striped bass, kept three. Predators,
Bombers, Broken-Back Rebels, they're all working, with pink and chartreuse the early
favorites. Canevaro fished sturgeon Wednesday, back in Montezuma Slough, and the
score was a 63-incher (on eel) for three anglers ... Steve Talmadge (510-881-0858):
Out Wednesday, anchored at the first row of Mothball ships for the outgoing tide,
Talmadge's customers landed and released a 78-inch sturgeon, then landed keepers 57
and 65 inches.

E-mail Brian Hoffman at bhoffman@sfchronicle.com .