2016
November- December
My mother's love was something difficult
to explain,
a heart filled with deep devotion,
even as she lived a life often filled with
sacrifice and pain.
Her gentle ways and enduring faith will endearingly
remain,
my angel overlooking as I embark upon the
ocean,
where I can be at peace and reflect until
we meet again.
My mother left us on November 6th. That God
chose a fine, warm day in Autumn, which happened
to also be my birthday, was probably the best
gift I could have asked for. She was proud
of me but I pale in comparison of her noble
and righteous ways. Her love was unconditional.
I will miss her deeply.
I would like to thank all of my family and
friends who were there for me in the past
couple of months, especially those who knew
my best bereavement therapy was time spent
on the water.
October 14-18
I've been trying out different boats in the
San Diego long range fleet and my friend Sandy
mentioned trying out the Spirit
of Adventure for a 5 day. I found a spot
open on an Avet
Reels sponsored trip she was booked on
and added my name to the roster.
On the morning of our departure I arrived
early to watch the previous trip unload. My
friend, Alan, had just been out with this
vessel on an 8 day trip where they had stacked
wahoo like cordwood. He wound up taking first
place with a 48 pound hoo!
I knew it was highly unlikely that we'd "turn
and burn" to go back to that hotspot
but I was hoping we'd get to go into Mexican
waters. Unfortunately the weather had different
plans and Captain Mike Keating made the right
call to head North.
Once again I found myself off the island
of San Clemente where the bluefin tuna were
still hanging out. It was a tough bite for
most of the trip, and the bonito were out
in full force, however we did manage to come
back with about a one per rod average on bluefin
and 8 nice yellowtail. I did win one of the
Avet reels, a Raptor, that charter master
Ben had brought to raffle off and I fully
enjoyed a lot of catch and release fishing
with it.
Sandy outfished me this time scoring a bluefin
on the final day (we came in early due to
bad weather) and we had a ten year old out
with his father who did remarkably well. Sometimes
it not about the catching. I still enjoyed
meeting new people and checking out a fine
boat and wonderful crew. I'm going to try
the Spirit of Adventure again on a 10 day
next year. Perhaps I will consider a Cherokee
Indian smudging between now and then to restore
my SoCal fishing ju ju.
Thank you Dennis for the fish! I love fishing
with folks who can fish but don't like to
eat them. I shared the wealth of this good
natured gesture with my friend, Larry, on
my way home.
September 29
I was at the boat (Tea Sea) at 6:30 am and
tidied up a bit. Capt. Tom, Fred and Tuillio
rolled down to Pillar Point Harbor about 8:00.
We hit the fuel dock first since we considered
heading down to catch rockfish if the salmon
weren't biting... But they were.
We picked up the tail end of the morning
bite right out front. Straight bait. Two of
us on the downriggers 35'-45' and the other
two on rods with salmon releases and 2.5#
balls.
Fred got the first one; a hen. I got the
second; a buck the same size. Lots of stripped
baits but nothing else stuck. Wind started
coming up and we packed it in around 2:00.
South green can had most of the action. We
did see a 22 pounder taken near us on a buddy's
boat... by his girlfriend.
September 27
Today we started off in clear weather but
Mother Nature flipped on the A/C and the fog
moved in. On this day we fished outside the
protected zone and to the north of it. It
was not as wide open as yesterday but we still
got some great data for the California Collaborative
Fisheries Research Program!
For more information and pictures go to these
links:
https://seagrant.mlml.calstate.edu/research/ccfrp/
https://www.facebook.com/CaCollabora...MELINE&fref=nf
September 26
I volunteered again with the folks from
the California Collaborative Fisheries Research
Program. Every volunteer angler uses barbless
gear supplied by CCFRP and all fish are measured,
some are tagged and then they are released
using proper decending tactics.
We fished the protected zone off Ano Nuevo.
I had 40 fish including 2 very nice vermilions
and 6 lingcod (3 taped out
at over 30 inches). One guy got a halibut
and only one cabezon was
caught. The bite was pretty much wide open
and it was shorts and tee shirt weather on
a flat ocean!
September 18
Now that the sun is shifting in the sky Dean
let me sleep in until 4 am today! We launched
his Airslot from the Pier 52 boat launch in
San Francisco around 6 am and picked up Virginia
at Ft. Baker.
As the sun rose behind us we had a nice moon
peeking through the Golden Gate bridge as
we headed out. The sun had our back until
we hit a wall of dense fog off Stinson Beach,
but it was in the zone we were looking for
and large schools of bait were everywhere.
As it was her first time out with Dean and
I, Virginia was up first and shortly after
we dropped the gear in Dean's rod went off.
Dean grabbed the net and I took the wheel
as her salmon made several
great runs before landing in the net and getting
a nice wood shampoo to knock it out for photos.
My rod had several drive-by's but nothing
stuck. Before long Dean's rod starts pumping
again. This time I netted while Virginia steered.
The fish was pretty green at the net and it
was a close call but we won!
With the action slowing among the fleet we
ran up to the Towers where Dean's rod went
off for the third time. Another sleek, fat
and sassy King salmon goes in the kill bag.
We finished off the day after a few more
hours of trolling without success before packing
it in. All three fish were between 13-15 pounds
and it was a beautiful day on the water.
September 14
I rotated back onto Dean's boat today to
take advantage of the hot salmon
bite still going off out of San Francisco.
I was up at 4:15 am and at Dean's by 5:00.
We launched from the city about 6 am and ran
to upper Duxbury over a beautiful ocean. I
used the same combination off my rod (See
Sept. 10th) with the exception of the bait.
There are a few choices when it comes to rigging
an anchovy or herring. Cable baiters and easy
baiter blades require a little more finesse
than using a FBR. Dean happens to make his
own wire-wrapped hooks that are similar to
a cable baiter. So I borrowed one of his.
Game on!
Dean drew first blood with a smokin' 19 pound
fish. I popped up a 16 pounder after that
and rewarded my efforts with a cold can of
Grunion
Pale Ale from Ballast Point Brewing.
Rinse and repeat and before the afternoon
got long we had our limit of 2 salmon each.
Outside the entrance to the golden gate bridge
we stopped to whack some Bolina rockfish for
the icing on the cake.
September 10
Team Hawaiian Hooker consisted of Capt. Mike,
Byron, Armando and me. We launched out of
Berkeley after I figured out I was not supposed
to be at the Richmond Marina. Thankfully they're
not far apart.
Just past the Golden Gate Bridge we saw a
lot of birds wreaking havoc on a pile of bait
but Mike was determined to get us to the spot
he'd been on the day before. With the sea
so calm we fairly flew up North and dropped
in on the North side of most of the Saturday
morning fleet.
I rigged up with a Les Davis Deep Six planer
with a salmon bungee behind it. To that I
attached my leader; a UV FBR tied with about
3 1/2 feet of 35# Blackwater fluorocarbon.
It wasn't long before I whipped in an eight
pound Chinook salmon and
got the skunk off the boat.
Byron got the next one which put up a great
fight and weighed in at 18 pounds. I netted
her and we both had to hoist the fish over
a downrigger lol!
We hit a lull after that but we had fun talking
tactics and whale watching. My camera battery
died after I took a few pics of some pelicans
so I did not get to catch a whale today.
Armando put fish number three in the boat
and then Mike got pestered by some schoolie
black rockfish. We went back to trolling around
and listening to some awesome classic rock
music. I had switched up my presentation to
an Apex Police Car and I'd had a couple of
strikes but they made a quick getaway. Not
to be discouraged I went back to a standard
anchovy rigged on a wire-tied hook. Since
I didn't have any tiny rubber bands Armando
let be use some Magic Thread to tie the mouth
shut against the hook. Worked like a charm
and the bait looked good enough to eat!
Bam! I had a big takedown and the fish started
taking line. About halfway to the boat we
noticed the fish was across Mike's line which
also had a diver on it. Armando skillfully
kept Mike's line loose so I could get the
fish in. Team work! The reward was a fat 20
pound salmon!
We tried for more for the rest of the day
but we didn't get anymore into the net...
Close but no cigar. Next time!
August 30
No rest for the weary today! I got a phone
call from Dean at 4:55 am wondering where
I was... I was sleeping since I had my alarm
set for 5:15. He accidentally texted me to
show up at 5:45 instead of 4:45. I said see
ya in about 30 minutes.
We rolled down to Moss Landing to take advantage
of the one place the wind wasn't blowing too
hard. Several others had the same game plan...
bonito. The fog was a tad
thick and it moved in and then out and then
back for a bit and then finally left completely.
It wasn't long after that that a pair of rods
went off. They were both nice fish, making
multiple runs as we set about looking for
the gaff while we played them.
I handed Dean the gaff while I tried to figure
out how to get my fish over the outside line.
Well it popped off so I didn't have to worry
about that anymore. Tough loss but a great
fight! About that time Dean was losing his
pants as well. I was laughing my ass off and
since I now had no fish of my own to mess
with I went in and gaffed Dean's for him,
but not before I snapped a quick picture.
With a 12 pound grade fish in the box the
bite ended. We did get some stupid mackerel
to commit suicide and I rigged them for future
lingcod baits.
With the wind building we made a short attempt
to drift for halibut North of the bar but
the only takers were cute little lizardfish
that plagued Dean's line.
Fun Times!
Rapalas were the ticket today and Dean's
kicker can troll fast enough to get them to
bite. Had an issue with the main... Got it
fired up in time to heat our siracha tri tip
burritos on the way in. Sand sole and dabs
reportedly were on the chew too. 140ish feet
down.
August 25-28
One of the flagship long range vessels built
by Bill Poole in 1985, the Polaris Supreme
is 90 feet in length with a 25 foot beam.
Her extensive recent overhaul, state of the
art electronics, seasoned skipper and savvy
crew rival the top boats in the San Diego
long range fleet...
I'll be writing an article to cover the Sadie
Hawkins 3 day charter aboard this fine ship
for publication in the Winter edition of Fish
Taco Chronicles but to tide you over until
then here's some snippets from the Polaris
Supreme's web site.
"We started this morning at our chosen
destination only to find rather unfavorable
conditions due to cold water. Looking past
that, we still gave it our efforts and ended
up getting a few on board. We finally decided
after a couple hours that the colder water
just wasn't going to work, we chose to make
a move to another area a few hours a way and
take a look around. Low and behold, there
happened to be even colder water there. Needless
to say, there was no stopping, so we just
continued on to the west . It didn't to take
long to find absolutely gorgeous, more than
fishable waters. We spent the rest of the
afternoon hitting a line of beautiful size
kelps scratching away at good grade dorados
and yellows."
"We arrived nice and early to the tuna
grounds to get ourselves in the best position
for the days work. Shortly after first light
we decided where we wanted to get things going.
It started off quite slow as the conditions
weren't just right. We lacked current which
is not favorable to catching fish so it became
a little bit of a waiting game. That gave
Chef Mike his time to get breakfast out of
the way. Not too long after we got mobile
and did some looking around and finally started
checking out some different schools and began
scratching away at a few bluefin. They were
in the 18 lb class which is not bad at all.
As the day progressed, we found the spot that
looked the best and posted up, getting a solid
chum line going, got the balloons out and
settled in. The fish slowly started popping
up with some bluefin in the
70 lb class hitting the deck as well as Marilyn
landing her first ever balloon fish and first
bluefin at about 70 lbs.
Congrats on that one!! The rest of the afternoon
was a steady pick on that beautiful grade
of tuna. You couldn't ask for a better way
to end a 3 day trip. As soon as we landed
our last 2 nice bluefin, one being Theresa's
75 lb "dream fish", it was time
to pack it up and head home for San Diego.
Us here on the Polaris Supreme would like
to say thanks to Charter Head Bev Seltzer
and her team of ladies and gentlemen for joining
us this year and looking forward to seeing
them next year on the 2nd annual Sadie Hawkins
3 day Charter."
August 12
Got up very early to drive to Full Speed
Fishing Club member Sharkaholic's place to
carpool to Berkeley Marina where we met Hawaiian
Hooker and Don at 6 am.
It was foggy but we had decent weather as
we hit Duxbury and points North. Lots of bait
off Rocky Point but also a lot of dead space
in between. Don got slammed right of the bat
by a big salmon but it didn't
stick. He also spent a few minutes battling
a thresher shark that catapulted out of the
water before biting through the line.
Mike stuck a fine one for first blood and
I got a respectable keeper after that. Randy
had a few hits but they didn't make it to
the net. Plenty of heartbreak today.
Don got the final for the day around 1 pm.
We tried long after that but finally headed
in over a sloppy greeting in the bay on the
outgoing tide.
Great day with great peeps! Oh and had my
cake and ate it too; a nice slice of chocolate.
Shared a bit with Mike lol!
August 9
Back to the local scene and home boys! Dean
and I scuttled over to Half Moon Bay to try
for salmon but after a few hours with zero
hits we switched over to plan B; rockfish.
The condition were not perfect today... Semi-jackass
water... strange drifts, etc.. We did have
a humpback whale that kept us company for
awhile as we picked away at lingcod
and rockfish. I got a nice
cabezon too before we packed
it in at 2:30.
July 28 - August 3
Jeff and I returned to Queen
Charlotte Safaris in Haida
Gwaii. It was my 5th trip and Jeff's 4th
at this great lodge off the coast of British
Columbia.
Jeff opted out of the first day since he
wasn't feeling 100% that morning and that
was probably good for him because we went
out to Marble Island where is was fishable
but had a bit of a swell working. I caught
3 small halibut and then
we came inside the passage and got attacked
endlessly by Chum and Pink
salmon. Every now and then we'd get
a king or a silver.
My boat mates were a fun couple from Canada
and our guide, Nate, was very skilled and
polite. We almost ran out of bait the first
day with so many hits! I had one really nice
fighter that broke off at the flasher halfway
to the boat.
Day two was just salmon and we did box a
few keepers for the freezer. We started playing
with the GoPro too. We also fed an eagle right
next to the boat with a small rockfish!
Day three was similar action and we were
getting more king salmon. After dinner we
took a nice long walk on the beach to see
eagles and check out the beautiful shoreline.
We got an offer to fish with two of the guides
on our fourth day. We decided to fish the
Southeast side of the islands since I'd never
done that and they get some very nice lingcod
and halibut there. The weather was so nice
that day the guys were talking about cutting
their pant legs off to make shorts. It was
a tad bumpy here an there but once on the
grounds it was FLAT! I released a bunch of
4-5 pound quillbacks and
my top lingcod was a 20 pounder. They laughed
when I set the hook on the beast and yelled,
"target species acquired"!
We rolled out of Sandspit just late enough
to miss our connection in Vancouver so we
had to rough it at the Fairmont Hotel for
a night. Trip insurance to the rescue!
Valerie has made some improvements to her
wonderful lodge and boats and I know we'll
be back! She also rewarded me with 5 year
ambassador and grand slam pins. She really
goes the extra mile when she takes care of
her guests!
July 26
There I was on the Royal Polaris tied up
at the dock looking through trip photos. Someone
shouted for me to come out and peer over the
rail at something in the water. It was a red
creature that looked like someone had put
a lobster and a red crab though a teleportation
device and it had gone terribly wrong; Brundle
crab!
And then my alarm clock woke me up at 3:45
am! Time to drive over to Dean's and meet
up to go fishing. Would my dream be an omen?
Good luck or bad?
As we trailered his Airslot out of San Jose
Dean was undecided as to where to go... San
Francisco or Half Moon Bay? As we bore down
on the 280 and 85 interchange we opted for
Half Moon Bay.
Arriving and launching in the fog I got a
call from Tom Cala who fortified our decision
to hit Half Moon. He had had 8 salmon there
the day before.
We ran a short distance from the harbor
and put the rods out. I ran a watermelon Apex
and Dean ran straight bait; an anchovy. There
was not a lot of bait marking on the meter
but there were a few murres on the surface
here and there. We trolled around and sure
enough we had one on Dean's rod. Then I got
bit. Rinse and repeat and we had 4 salmon.
While they weren't huge they were fine specimens
and fought like fish twice their size!
With the salmon cleaned (thanks Dean) and
on ice by 9 am, we headed to an area above
Montara to coax up some rockfish. Dean had
a gigantic soft plastic swim bait he was field
testing. It worked like a charm as he reeled
up a beautiful 18 pound lingcod. I managed
to hit the fish twice in the jawbone with
the gaff before trading the gaff for the rod
so Dean could gaff it. He did seem to enjoy
fighting it back up after each run LOL. His
lure seemed to scare the rockfish but I was
busy catching those on my rig. I also managed
3 more lings to add to our assortment of Bolinas,
blacks and a China.
Dean also had a seatrout that he released.
We pulled the plug around 1:30 a few rockfish
short of limits but with a better plan to
beat the traffic and hit the swimming pool
back at Dean's. What a wonderful day on and
off the water!
July 14
As a member and supporter of Discover
Angling I had the pleasure of mentoring
aboard the vessel Huli
Cat today. While we had a weather window
it was not the nicest one we would have liked
for the kids. The swell got to a few of them,
however most had a wonderful time and Captain
Mike found us nice rockfish off Pescadero
and San Gregorio.
I spent a good part of the day up on the
bow as well hooking and handing off fish,
assisting our deckhand, Donovan, with taking
fish off the hooks and showing the kids how
it's done. Alas I didn't have a kid handy
to pass off a nice 12 pound ling that hitchhiked
up on a smaller rockfish
but rest assured that wa the last mistake
that fish ever made!
The kids caught a wide assortment of blues,
blacks, Chinas,
bolinas, yellowtails,
gophers, coppers
and we had a few vermilion,
cabezon, seatrout
and lingcod.
July 7
There has been one last port on my bucket
list to fish from to complete the list of
ports from San Diego to Neah Bay (actually
I rounded the corner and hit Port Angeles
and went on into Seattle but I'm counting
direct Pacific only).
I decided to roll up to Oregon for a week
to 10 days and tossed a tackle bag and a couple
of rods in the car, just in case I had an
opportunity to fish. The stars aligned on
July 7th and I grabbed a spot on the Samson
out of Depoe Bay. Yep the world's smallest
harbor was the one I had bypassed until today.
With one of my trusty new spiral wrapped
Seeker Rods
(Hercules blank) in hand and sporting my sister's
designer rain boots I hoofed it to the bow.
The rest of the passengers all had standard
issue rental rods but they were in great shape
and rigged to catch! We made the passing out
of the tiny harbor and first took care of
dropping about a half dozen crab pots before
continuing on to hunt rockfish and other bottoms
dwellers.
Captain Lars had a chuckle as I showed him
what I normally slay lingcod with. Well aside
from a quick drive by and a couple of rockfish
my plan was losing steam. Fate intervened
and I hooked up what I believe may have been
a crab pot rope on a lost pot. Lars helped
me break it off and I dug out a brown swim
bait with about a 4 oz. lead head. I threw
on a Harry Boos teaser above it.
Bingo! I started to get down to business
and land lingcod. It's what
I was born to do lol! By the time we had to
go collect the crab I had caught 8, kicking
2 shorts back, keeping 2 and giving away 4.
I had some nice rockfish too and I was gifted
some Dungeness crab for a
couple of those lings I passed along.
I wish I lived closer. I'd go fish with Lars
on the Samson anytime! Spotless boat, nice
crew and a short boat ride to some of the
most beautiful and productive grounds. Two
thumbs up from the Lady and the Lingcod!
June 13-16
Tuna Wars II was the social event of the
season with 3 teams vying for bragging rights
while raising money for The
Friends of Rollo Foundation.
Kicking off the festivities was a captain's
reception at the Bali Hai on Shelter Island.
The following afternoon the real fun started
with 3 teams boarding local vessels to compete
for 2 days.
Captain Dave Marciano (Hard Merchandise)
was aboard the Eclipse
Captain Paul Hebert (Wicked Pissah) was aboard
the Cortez
Captain Dave Carraro (FV-Tuna.com) was aboard
the Tribute
I joined the Tribute team and met some wonderful
people while we hunted down schools of tuna.
Alas it was the Eclipse that edged out our
boat's biggest tuna by a mere 2 pounds to
win the competition. The real winners though
are the lucky kids who will get to go fishing
with the proceeds raised by this wonderful
event.
June 1
Dean and I had plans yesterday to go to Pescadero
but the wind from the south was more than
advertised so we planted 4 crab pots to soak
off HMB while we skipped around between the
cans and the Ritz trolling for salmon for
a few hours for one hit on my green croc that
didn't stick.
We then changed up to rockfish
and lings which worked out
better for us. About three quarters into our
day the sheep stopped rolling in although
the sun never came out. We saw Capt. Dew out
there making the best of it. We saw a "freakin'
baby whale" too. Sunfish LOL! (Google
it it's hilarious!)
I used an 6 or 8 oz. red octopus jig with
a 5"
Flying Fish Stage 3.5 Tad Pole #212 Tomato
Pepper color and did quite well with the
lings... I did lose a very nice fish about
30' under the boat. I beat the jig like a
redheaded stepchild and never even got a paint
chip. I got them off Ebay and I'm checking
to see if the guy is still making them.
Dean was not as fortunate in the gear dept.
and will be shopping for items eaten by the
reef, however he got his share of lings and
some very nice rockfish. We also got limits
of crab!
We also came up with a brilliant idea for
tray bait (not for salmon) which we are keeping
a secret until further testing.
May 14
After grabbing about 5 hours of sleep I was
back up at Richmond Harbor to join team Hawaiian
Hooker for a day of halibut fishing
in the bay.
We had intended to fish a club derby but
the plan fell through. Mike, Rod, Byron, Justin
and I gave it the full court press all day
but aside from a hit or two we got the big
goose egg.
I didn't get to video a really cool natural
phenomenon but here's a clip from YouTube
that shows how Raccoon
Straits looks during a tide change.
May 13
A lot of people consider Friday the 13th
to be a bit ominous as far as luck goes but
a answered the call to fish salmon
with Dean this morning anyway.
We launched in the predawn next to the ballpark
in San Francisco and headed for Duxbury. As
we went under the Golden Gate Bridge the birds
were feeding and we metered bait so thick
you could practically walk on it. No small
wonder that the news had been airing stories
of humpback whales coming into the bay recently;
their food was abundant here!
Dean was set on starting off at Dux since
he'd fished there the day before and done
very well. We had a few other boats out around
us as we dropped in but as the morning progressed
the fleet thickened considerably. A lot of
people must have called in sick lol. I saw
the Queen of Hearts and Tea Sea
out there too.
I was first to put a fish in the boat and
then we had a few heartbreakers between us...
all really nice ones too! Dean got one after
that and then we picked away until I boxed
another.
We decided to head south of Stinson Beach
around Rocky Point when conditions looked
favorable and Dean got his second fish.
We ran 4 of Dean's crab pots to get a few
dungeness crab and then called it a day.
April 20
Met Dean and Jerry at Dean's and we launched
in HMB. We ran up to the city and dropped
in for almost instant action on King
salmon.
We saw the usual suspects out there and after
the action died down we headed South while
most tried North. I saw major action on the
inside and we headed for it... "IT"
started heading for us... About 150 sea lions.
Fortunately they ran right past us and kept
going. Dean found a honey hole and Dean did
the nice thing by doing a radio shout out.
Most of the folks who responded had fish on
within 5 minutes of dropping in once they
found us.
Jerry was the hot stick and had 3 or 4 fish
hit. Dean had 2. The guys only lost 3 of the
fish that hit. 4 fish made it into the boat.
I drank a couple of beers and ate some amazing
Pho that Jerry brought... Dean and I both
got demerits for not bringing wine. Our bad!
On our way back down the coast the main engine
started to steam big time and we had to use
the trusty kicker to putt down from around
Moss and we pulled pots on the way too. I
took an opportunity to sit up front a use
my camera to get some nice photos of marine
life.
After a quick wash down we were on the road
as it started to get dark. We all had live
crab to deal with so I'm sure we were all
up very late. I called ahead to have Jeff
start the water boiling. I hit the hay at
midnight. Poor Jerry had to be in the city
early! I'm sure he was not looking forward
to it.
Just got a note from Dean that it was a hose
rupture. Glad we didn't cook the engine.
P.S. It's nice to see a humpback on hump
day!
April 5
Well since I missed getting out with Dean
for the salmon opener I couldn't let another
opportunity pass me by today.
Dean and I met up with Mark at Oyster Point
Marina for a 3/4 day jaunt on the bay. It
couldn't have been any flatter. We trolled
around keeping the boat in the 12' depth range
most of the day. We did attempt a brief but
unproductive venture into deeper water before
packing it in.
Mark got first blood with a halibut
and then had a second fish give him the slip.
I was breaking in a new spiral wrapped Seeker
Hercules 70L and was actively working the
rod when my halibut hit. Mark also released
a striped bass.
It was a very hot day weather wise!
April 1
Well I'd have been a fool not to go fishing
on the rockfish opener so
I grabbed a spot on the Huli
Cat with Captain Tom. We fished south
of Pigeon Point to a little shy of Ano Nuevo.
The fish were a tad picky today but my first
fish was a beautiful and hard fighting vermilion.
We all got a nice limit of crab too!
March 30
Tea Sea hit the crab pots this morning
for quick and easy limits of Dungeness.
March 25
Mike with the Hawaiian Hooker was
looking for crew so I got up at 4:30 am to
meet up with him in San Leandro for some sturgeon
fishing. With the nice amount of frequent
rain we've been having the sturgeon
bite has been epic and Mike knows all about
these prehistoric critters.
Another gal pal of his, Yvonne, came along
too and we set out a little after 6 am on
nice flat water. We cruised south past the
92 bridge and tossed the anchor down. Barely
15 minutes later we had the first fish hooked
up.
Yvonne fought the beast while I cleared the
other lines and took photos with Mike's cell
phone. Mike netted the sturgeon and when we
taped it out it was 61 inches. We got Yvonne
to pose with it before letting it go. It was
her first one too!
The weather was nice enough to shed jackets
and enjoy the sun. We continued to catch fish
only now we had a nice blitz going with leopard
shark catch and release. I had four
or five and three were over 55 inches. We
all got to have fun with the sharks before
the wind ended our day around 2:30.
March 20
I rolled out this morning as part of Tea
Sea's regular crew. We had nine limits
of crab in 4 pots. I was
the official crab counter and photographer
today.
There was a little SW lump but we managed
to get the job done in 2 hours.
Fresh crab for dinner and I'm making a nice
batch of crab and langostino bisque.
March 16
Another fine day crabbing for tasty dungeness
aboard Tea Sea. The guys let me re-bait
the jars LOL!
February 25
With recreactional crab now safe to eat I
made my first dungeness crab
trip out with Tom and crew on the Tea Sea
out of Pillar Point Harbor. We had big limits
of crab in just a few pots. I'm taking crab
to a few friends in Southern CA soon when
I go down for the annual Fred Hall show.
Link
to my 2017 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2015 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2014 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2013 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2012 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2011 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2010 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2009 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2008 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2007 Fishing Diary
