ARCHIVE - 2010
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IN THIS REPORT:
Past Scores
PAST SCORES:
Click here to go to our 2009 Archive
WHOPPERS (20 lbs. and over in bold):
Click here to go to our 2009 Archive Monday, July 26 - We had a great weekend of rockfishing. A flat calm, gorgeous ocean allowed us to fish as shallow as 15 feet on Saturday, and we had a fun day catching a fantastic variety of shallow water rockfish, including some huge, as big as they get blacks and vermillions, as well as china cod, black and yellows, gophers, brownies and an assortment of other fishies. We put a hurt on the cabezon, too, with 18 cabs landed for our 18 anglers, with a hefty 8 pounder taking top honors. On Sunday, we had a small 11 man private charter headed by San Francisco 49ers center Eric Heitmann. Eric chartered the boat earlier in the season with the 49ers offensive line to start the celebration for a teammate's bachelor party and had one of the few good days of salmon fishing we had this season. Well, they did it again: this time the guys laid away the fish, bagging limits of rockcod and landing the biggest lingcod so far this year, a huge 30 pounder, by Eric's Stanford college buddy Russell Stewart. What were they using? Plastics, bars, some fancy lure? Nope...just the good old Half Moon Bay Sportfishing shrimp fly rig with a strip of squid. Best darn lure day in and day out. Wednesday, July 21 - The devoted duo with the San Mateo Police Activity League are out again today with another group of kids on the rockcod grounds to see what damage they can do. They're geared up with shrimp flies and squid, so hopefully the fish will cooperate and jump on the kids' hooks. Captain Randy is at the helm, giving Bob a well deserved breather and chance to recharge his batteries. Randy also ran the trip yesterday on Tuesday, and they had another day of the haves and have nots, where some folks walked off the boat with their 10 fish limit while others had a tough time just getting a few fish over the rail. Hopefully the kids today will have better luck and lay 'em away. Monday, July 19 - We're back fishing tomorrow on Tuesday, July 20. Our mechanic called first thing this morning with the good news that he was able to track down the specialized fuel line we needed to replace, he'll have it installed by the end of the day and take reservations for tomorrow because we're going fishing. Thanks, Tom...you are totally awesome. So, on that note, we do have space available for rockfishing tomorrow, but reservations are definitely recommended. If you'd like to join us, give us a call to save a spot or two or three for you. The only other day we are available this week is on Thursday, July 22, as we have private charters the remainder of the week.Saturday, July 17 - Unfortunately our trip for tomorrow, Sunday, July 18 has been cancelled. A high pressure fuel line decided to give out today and we have to wait for our mechanic to get a hold of a replacement before we can get back up and running. Tough to swallow that just a simple fuel line can put us out of commission, but absolutely nothing we can do about it. If you had a reservation, we did call the number you gave us when you made your reservation and left a message on your voicemail if you didn't answer. Thankfully we were still able to finish out our day today and our PSEA group did a great job landing right around 7 to 8 rockfish per person, with a majority of the catch made up of the quality brown rockfish we've been seeing a lot this season. I think Bob said they also landed three cabezon, a lingcod and a very tasty 19 pound thresher shark...just a small little pup, but boy, oh boy, they sure made for some fantastic eating. So, at this point, we'll try to patiently wait each day until our mechanic gets the part we need; if we need to cancel more trips and you have a reservation, we will definitely be in touch no later than the afternoon before the next day's trip to let you know. Friday, July 16 - The gopher rockfish were chomping first thing in the morning. Lots of folks landed their limit during the first two drifts of the day, while unfortunately others just couldn't quite get the hang of staying in touch with the ocean bottom and came up empty. After the hot bite ended it turned into a slow pick for the rest of the day, and it ended up as another day of the haves and have nots, with folks either heading home with full limits or less than a handful of fish a piece. Two more halibut were landed, a nice 10 pounder by Bill Price enjoying the first day of his vacation in style, and the second, a 22 pound whopper, landed by Lisa Williams, a woman after my own heart who joins us several times each season and goes fishing whether she has someone to join her or not. I think Bob said nine cabezon were caught, too, with another 10 pounder taking top honors. Thursday, July 15 - Okay, we gave the salmon thing one more try today to see if they'd come out and play, but unfortunately there was no one home, again. So that does it. We're done with salmon trips unless they mysteriously spring up in our backyard before the 2010 salmon season closes on September 6, except for any private charters that still want to give it a try. From here on out, we'll stick with our rockfishing trips, which will continue through the middle of November. Our trip for tomorrow on Friday is full but we still have space available for this Sunday...as always, reservations highly recommended. Wednesday, July 14 - We know you guys like using diamond bars. We know you want THAT lingcod. But, number one, you want to catch fish, right? Then please, please, please listen: right now the fish want shrimp flies. We know they're not fancy. We know they're not exciting. But they work. And they are working the best out of everything out there right now. I have lots of bars for sale on our walls I'll gladly sell you. But right now, stick to the shrimp flies. They catch rockcod. They catch lingcod. They even catch halibut. We can lead the horses to water but we can't make them drink. Very frustrating. We still had a decent score today with right around a 7 fish per person average, made up of shallow water gophers, blacks, china cod, some pretty red vermillion, and one barely keeper cabezon. But the crew definitely knows it would have been better if folks just would have listened to them and put on the good old shrimp flies. Oh, well. Tomorrow we're going on the hunt for the ever elusive salmon again. Still room for four more adverturesome anglers if you're interested. Check in at our shop between 5 and 5:30. Wish us luck. Sunday, July 11 - Darn good weekend. Including Friday, our anglers over the last three days landed an impressive score of over 840 rockcod plus 36 cabezon up to 11 pounds, 21 lingcod to 14 pounds, 3 halibut to 18 pounds, a three pound starry flounder, along with a wolf eel thrown in for good measure. It wasn't a fast and furious bite and folks had to put their time in at the rail, but, with the fantastic flat ocean, it was a great weekend to be on the water. Looks like we're in great shape weather-wise all the way through the five day forecast period, so hopefully the fish will continue to cooperate. What's working the best? Gulp shrimp or shads and/or Half Moon Bay Sportfishing shrimp flies. Honest. Stick with these and you'll catch fish. Friday, July 9 - Sounds like it was another great day on the water...I could "hear" Capt. Bob's smile over the cell phone. Just a few fish shy of limits for 32 people, most folks walked off the boat with their 10 fish rockcod limit with "a lot of red in the bags" (as in prized vermillion rockfish), with an overall good mixture of fish. The cabezon bit pretty well, too, with 12 cabezon landed up to an impressive 10 pounds, as well as 9 lingcod with the biggest taking the jackpot at 12 pounds. Sounded like the day started off kinda slow, but Capt. Houdini came through...as he usually does...and found some spots that cranked out some killer fish. According to the forecast, the weather should continue to be great for the next several days. All of our open trips for the remainder of July are now scheduled for SWLT rockfishing, with the only salmon trip on the books scheduled for next Thursday, July 15. There are already about a dozen folks on the books for that trip, so it is definitely a go as long as weather permits; if you'd like to join us on that trip and give it a shot to try to find a salmon or two, darn good idea to make a reservation. Thursday, July 8 - Finally, thank goodness, the gorgeous weather we've been waiting for has arrived. Our five man private charter today was graced with one of the best days on the water of the season and were also rewarded with limits of just about 100% quality brown rockfish along with a 13 pound lingcod. It wasn't a fast and furious bite, just a one by one by one slow pick all day, but, hey, it made for no better way to spend a wonderful day on the water. Our trip for tomorrow on Friday is now full; the Riptide is running a rockfishing trip out of our shop tomorrow and still has plenty of room, so if you'd like to join him tomorrow, just come on in in the morning between 6 and 6:15. Amazingly, though, we still have room for both this Saturday and Sunday at this point, and the good weather is supposed to continue through the weekend, so if you'd like to take advantage of it while it's here, give us a call to set up a reservation. Albacore update: Heard a hot tip from a very reliable source...big numbers of albacore were landed yesterday near the Davidson Seamound area. With the nice weather forecast for this weekend, the boats venturing offshore for tuna in that area should have a field day. Does that mean the Queen of Hearts will be going albacore fishing soon? Nope. Still too far out of our range and no tuna in our neck of the woods according to a couple of scouts. Unfortunately, even if the albacore do arrive, we couldn't fit it into our schedule probably until at least the middle of August. But stayed tuned.... Tuesday, July 6 - Well, the weather on the ocean is supposed to be getting better, but unfortunately it's definitely been taking its sweet time about doing it. It was looking like we should have been in real good shape along the coastline by last Sunday. The northwest winds that have been pounding us all spring finally did give us a break, but the winds switched around to out of the south, which isn't a heck of a lot better, a "poison wind" as Capt. Bob calls it, so the ocean was still not very nice and was downright sloppy at times, and the fish have not real interested in moving from their crevices in any numbers. We squeeked out about a 5 to 6 fish per person average over the last several days, with some going home with more and some going home with less. On a positive note, most days there has been some quality fish coming over the rail, with several nice vermillions and a lot of quality browns helping fill the voids, along with a few lingcod and a few cabezon. The swell is forecast at only 4 to 6 feet over the next four days decreasing even more by the end of the week, and the winds are supposed to come out of the west and virtually die down to nothing, so we'll keep hoping the weatherman comes through on their predictions. We're available for rockfishing every day this week with the exception of Thursday which is a private charter, and our next open salmon trip is scheduled for a week from this Thursday on July 15. Friday, July 2 - At long last, it really looks like we're in for a decent stretch of weather on the ocean starting on this Sunday and going through the next five day forecast period at least. Yesterday, however, was a different story. The wind was already blowing at the harbor in the morning when we arrived, the offshore buoy was reporting 10 foot swells every 9 seconds, and, after knowing how things were yesterday, we threw in the towel and told folks to go to Plan B because we were cancelling. We made it out today but it was still on the bouncy side; thankfully it should start chilling out again by midday tomorrow on Saturday. Still at least a dozen or so spots available each day on our trips through the holiday weekend, so if you'd like to join us, be sure to give a call and make a reservation. Sunday is "free fishing license day," a gift from the State for the day allowing you to fish without a license, saving the $13.40 one day license fee for folks who don't have a California fishing license. Between the good weather we see coming our way and the free license, Sunday should be a good day to go fishing. The weather on the ocean looks even better for Monday, with virtually flat calm conditions, so if you've been holding off going waiting for the weather to calm down, this is the week you've been waiting for. Wednesday, June 30 - The weather forecast was just about the same for today as it was for yesterday, but, boy, oh boy, it was way different conditions than it was yesterday. The swell was up first thing in the morning and the wind was making its presence known, too, making for a lot of unhappy tummies. We weren't able to fish the areas we have been recently with the weather we were dealt today, so even though there were some, we didn't see nearly as many of the quality fish today as we have been. We ended the day with right about an average of about 8 fish per rod, with some walking home with limits of browns and a few nice vermillions, others with limits of blues, and others with a mixture ranging from a couple of fish to a few more than a handful and everywhere in between. Sure hope it settles back down tomorrow and we can get back on top of the spots that have been cranking out some jumbo browns and vermillion. We'll give it another try in the morning; still plenty of room if you want to join us. Just come on down and check in by 6:15 a.m. BTW, it does look like it gets downright flat calm by the end of this week and into at least the early part of next week. Hint, hint, hint. Tuesday, June 29 - The quality bottomfish are biting again, resulting in another day of limits for all onboard with a solid 90% of the catch made up of cream of the crop bolinas and vermillion rockfish. Don't know where Bob's been fishing or how deep; I know he prefers to fish shallow but he fishes where conditions permit, where the fish are biting and where he feels our clientele on a given day can handle bouncing the bottom. So, as we always suggest, if you have your own gear, bring both outfits for fishing the shallows and as well as for a little deeper water, with anywhere from 2 ounces to 10 ounces of weight and rods and reels from as light as 10 to 12 pound test bass rods up to light action saltwater gear with around 20 pound test. We are rockfishing again tomorrow on Wednesday and there's still plenty of room; if you'd like to join us, don't worry about calling or sending an email...just come on down in the morning and check in at our shop between 6:00 a.m. when I open the doors to no later than 6:15 a.m. Monday, June 28 - Our Fishing Fools gang had a great day of playing with salmon today, ending up with a little better than a fish per rod with 9 salmon landed for their group of 8, and they released at least that many silvers if not more, making for a fun time on the water. So far the wind that is being forecast from Point Arena to Pigeon Point is hitting the Point Arena area and then moving offshore away from our neck of the woods; hopefully it will stay that way over the next several days. As it stands now, it's looking like Fourth of July this Sunday should be a real nice day. Sunday, June 27 - After the last four rockfishing trips, we had high hopes for today. Unfortunately, though, the fish just didn't cooperate, and we ended up with somewhere around half limits for our 30 anglers. Just one of those days where fishing didn't equate to as much catching as we'd have liked. Saturday, June 26 - Without a doubt today was one of our best trips in a long time, with absolutely excellent quality bottomfish with probably 85% quality brownies, limits for all 15 anglers, and 16 lingcod to 18 pounds. Nothing less than what we'd expect from the group that Ernie with Hayward Commercial Door puts together several times a year. When the fish cooperate, these guys lay them away. Today was one of those days. Absolutely outstanding day with smiles all around when they came through the shop at the end of the day. Hopefully I'll be able to join you guys next time. Friday, June 25 - We had our second trip of the season taking out a great group of kids sponsored by our pals with the Friends of Rollo. As usual, the kids did fantastic. Why'd they do fantastic? Because they listen to the crew, do what they say and use what the crew suggests. What a concept. If more folks would follow the kids' example, they'd probably have more success day in and day out. Way to go, kids! This was our third rockcod trip this week, and the rockcod have been chomping...we ended up with limits every day for a grand total of 790 rockcod in three days. That's more like it, thank goodness. Maybe we're back to the kind of fishing we're used to seeing around our parts. We have a private charter tomorrow on Saturday but we do have space still available for rockfishing this Sunday. If you'd like to join us, reservations are a good idea, so give us a call during the day and we can get you set up. Thursday, June 24 - Today we were salmon wishing, I mean fishing. It actually turned out to be a pretty decent day, with six salmon landed to 12 pounds for our eight anglers, along with a couple of fish that would have been keepers but won the battle and swam away to freedom, a few undersize kings that were released as well as several fun to fight, acrobatic silvers that can't be kept. We were fishing the Deep Reef area, nice and close to home. We have a lot of rockcod trips scheduled for the next couple of weeks, but we'll still put a salmon trip or two on the schedule now and then just to keep the salmon honest as long as there's still folks interested in giving it a try. At this point, it looks like our next salmon trip is set for Thursday, July 15. Tuesday, June 22 - Quick update: limits today for all 17 anglers onboard, mostly all nice browns and vermillions. Weather was good, no wind, little swell, just what the doctor ordered to put the fish in a cooperative mood. I was out of town over the weekend, so I'll catch up in the next day or so with details about the last couple of trips. We're rockfishing again tomorrow on Wednesday and still plenty of room. If you'd like to join us, don't worry about getting a hold of us or making a reservation; you're more than welcome to just simply come on down in the morning. Check in at our shop, Half Moon Bay Sportfishing, between 6:00 a.m. when we open the shop to no later than 6:15. Schedule change: We are now available for SWLT rockfishing this Sunday, June 27. Friday, June 18 - Check this out!!! Capt. Bob finally called at 6:00 last night to let me know the portion of the Council meeting he is involved in with the groundfish management section had just ended with absolutely amazing news: The PFMC approved a proposed seven month rockfishing season for our area for 2011 and 2012, opening on June 1 and going through December 31, giving our area an additional two and a half months to fish compared to this and last year's season. In addition, the minimum size for lingcod for the next two years was decreased from 24 inches to 22 inches which should greatly increase anglers' chances of keeping a legal sized lingcod or two, and the cabezon limit was increased from two to three as part of an angler's 10 fish rockcod limit. Wow! After all the cuts over the last several years, it's almost impossible to believe. Bob said it was due to some amazing work by everyone at the meeting, but major kudos have to go to California DFG Regional Manager Marija Vojkovich, whose leadership and diplomatic skills were absolutely invaluable, as well as our recreational liason on the GMT, DFG Marine Biologist John Budrick, who is a total wiz with computer models...the two of them did an outstanding job. Sounds like Capt. Bob did a fantastic job during this six day marathon of meetings, too, capped by nailing his final presentation and speech in front of the Council. There are several more we could name, including the Councilmembers themselves, as without the various states' concessions and cooperation nothing could have been approved. The PFMC's approval and recommendation now goes to the National Marine Fisheries for their final blessing, so it's not set in stone and changes could still be made, but we've got our fingers crossed. Now more than ever, it's absolutely essential that all recreational anglers, whether on private boats or charter vessels, understand how important it is to toe the line...depth restrictions must be observed and obeyed and we all have to do what we can to avoid what I like to affectionately call the "Big Bad Red Three" rockfish: canary, yelloweye (aka goldeneye) and cowcod. Any interaction with these fish counts against us and could cause immediate actions to close the fishery and put us right back in the same situation we just dug out of as well as blow any credibility for future consideration. All it will take is the stupidity and selfishness of a few to ruin it for everyone, so be sure to pass the word, ensure the rules are followed and do your part to keep our seasons open as scheduled. Thursday, June 17 - Today was a charter with a group of high schoolers from Mountain View sponsored by our good friends with the Friends of Rollo, an organization whose sole purpose of existence is to get kids fishing on boats that would usually not have the opportunity to do so otherwise (check out "www.friendsofrollo.com"). With the way the wind has been blowing, our game plan was to stick close to the harbor to at least be able to give the kids a few hours out on the water and hopefully catch a few fish, even if we had to end up fishing for sardines inside the outer breakwater. As it turns out, the weather cooperated enough for them to actually make it down the coast a bit to Martins Beach, where they were able to put a few rockcod in the boat and even battle and release several short lingcod. The catch was nothing to write home about by any means, but our deckhand Heather reported that it seemed like we actually had a shot at a decent score if we could have put more time in as a couple of kids had a couple of drops where they were bringing fish in two at a time. Hopefully a few seeds were planted today that will result in few new anglers in the future. We had a private charter from Redding scheduled for tomorrow on Friday that would have required a long drive along with lots of expense for hotel rooms, dining, etc., so we made the unanimous decision to reschedule their trip to wait for the weather to settle down a bit. We are scheduled to go rockfishing this Saturday, and, based on what we saw today with a tad less swell forecast for Saturday, hopefully we'll be able to make the day. Looks like the same story for our trip for Sunday, too. On a final note, Capt. Bob has been manning his post at the federal fishery management meetings taking place this week. It has been another horrendous week of battles that began last Saturday with a huge roller coaster ride of options for the bad and for the good. Today is "D Day", when the final decisions will be adopted for any inseason adjustments for this year's rockfishing season, and the 2011 and 2012 rockfishing seasons will also be determined. It's now 4:45 p.m. and I still haven't heard from Bob since earlier this morning. Check back tomorrow and I'll post the final results. Could be good, could be bad, but without a doubt, Bob has been giving it his all this week. I'm sure he'll be glad to be back on the water soon. Monday, June 14 - With a one by one by one type of bite with the water temp a chilly 49 on the mercury, coupled along with a sharp swell that knocked about half of our mostly first-time troopers out of commission at the rail, we ended the day yesterday on Sunday with about half limits for those left standing. On the positive side, the catch was made up of a good 90 percent bottomfish including gophers, coppers, bolinas and vermillion. No legal lingcod were landed but several lings were released that didn't quite make the 24 inch minimum. It looks like we're in for a carbon copy of last week's weather with strong northwest winds the next couple of days, calming down again towards the end of the week. We've already cancelled our trip scheduled for tomorrow on Tuesday and we'll take it day by day after that to watch for the weather to shape back up. Friday, June 11 - As of this Sunday we should be back to business as usual with the opening of the remainder of the California coastline for rockfishing, allowing us to finally fish our usual haunts south of the harbor including Martins Beach, San Gregorio, Pescadero and the like. So far the ocean forecast looks like we should be in good shape for Sunday, so now it's all up to the fish. Sunday's trip is full; our next available trips are Tuesday and Wednesday, there's just a couple of spots left for Saturday the 19th and a couple handful of spots open for Sunday the 20th. Monday, June 7 - We've had a change in plans this week. Our trips through Friday have been cancelled so Bob and Heather can head to Southern California and help out one of our friends who's selling his house. Looking at the ocean weather forecast, it's not a bad week to cancel anyway, as the ocean looks like it's going to be pretty mean with northwest winds howling again more often than not through Friday along with combined seas in the double digits. Summer may be around the corner, but I think someone may have forgotten to tell the ocean weather gods. We had decent weather this past Saturday and tried to track down the elusive king salmon again to no avail. We did find a whole bunch of silvers just like we did on Friday's trip; if we could keep silvers, we may have ended up with limits, but since we can't, we ended up empty. From what we heard, a whopping total of two whole king salmon were landed by the entire fleet fishing from as far north as Point Reyes all the way down to Pigeon Point. Maybe this week's wind will cool the water back down and the right salmon will move back in. Sunday's rockcod trip below Pigeon Point was another endurance test against the wind which made for more tough fishing conditions and resulted in a little less than half limits. As of this coming Sunday, the entire San Mateo coastline below the harbor reopens for rockfishing, so we'll have a lot more territory at our avail which should make for greatly improved rockcod scores in the weeks to come. Friday, June 4 - To finish up with yesterday's report, our first halibut of the season was landed, a 22 pound whopper, along with three cabezon, a lingcod and anywhere from 0 to 7 rockfish per person, depending on skill, luck, or a combination of the two or lack thereof. At least it was a beautiful day on the water. The fish were biting well first thing in the morning, but by mid-morning it turned into a slow pick for the rest of the day. Today on Friday we went back to where we had found salmon the last three trips. The water temperature had heated up to a balmy 57 degrees, there was so much jellyfish in the water the jelly was popping sinkers, and there were no salmon to be found. Bob moved up the line to a spot he heard some fish were landed yesterday and they found lots of salmon. Only problem was that they were the wrong kind...they were coho or silver salmon, not kings, which we can't keep. They released more than a half dozen of them before finally finding one of the right kind, but only problem was it was the wrong size, just under 24 inches. So we'll continue the hunt again tomorrow to see if we can track down those fish we were catching a few days ago. As Scarlett would say, tomorrow's another day. Thursday, June 3 - Capt. Bob called in early this morning and said that he was pleasantly surprised that the ocean was the nicest it's been in quite a while...it's about time because it sure has been pretty mean more often than not this spring. Gave us hope that the rockfish below Pigeon Point would be on the munch. It sounded like it started out fairly well with some rockfish coming over the rail early on as well as a few cabezon, a lingcod and even a halibut. I didn't get a chance to touch base with Bob since mid-morning, but the last time I spoke with him he said the light switch flipped and the bite had slowed, so I'm not sure how the day ended. As far as tomorrow on Friday, we will be salmon fishing and have just a handful of people on the books, so there's lots and lots of room available. If you'd like to see if you can land one of those big bruiser salmon that we've been seeing the last few trips, just come on down to our shop in the morning and check in no later than 5:30. I'll be there with the doors open at 5:00. If you have your own gear, we're trolling. Tuesday, June 1 - Not enough time today to be able to sit down and write out a complete update, but, real quick, we landed some huge salmon the last three trips with good action, and the rockfishing trip on Saturday endured more tough weather and even tougher fishing below Pigeon Point. Top news from this past Sunday: Stephen Lee took home a 46 pound two salmon limit after he landed a 28 pound and an 18 pound salmon. Wow. Not enough folks called in to go out tomorrow on Wednesday, but we do have enough already down and will be rockfishing on Thursday. Ocean weather forecast looks favorable so we'll keep our fingers crossed. Friday, May 28 - With the first fish in the box by a little after 7:30, and a chunky 26 pounder landing with a thud by 10:00 along with another handful of fish, we had a downright decent day and ended up with 11 keepers landed for our 20 anglers. Years past that would have been nothing to brag about, but now that it's sunk in that the salmon are not going to come easy this season, it's a darn good score and we'll take it. We had a fish-per-rod-kinda-action with at least another 7 or 8 fish that were lost for one reason or another, a couple of heartbreaker fish that just barely missed the 24 inch minimum and had to be thrown back, and a couple of hit and misses. There was no really big spot of fish that would satisfy the needs of a bunch of boats, but it was all we needed for some decent action. I've been told that a picture of the 26 pounder will be emailed to me, so I promise it will finally knock the picture of me and my yellowfin off the top of this page as long as it really is sent to me. Still plenty of room for our rockfishing trip tomorrow on Saturday, as well as our salmon trips on Sunday and Monday. If you'd like to join us tomorrow on Saturday, don't worry about calling if you decide last minute to join us. Just simply come on down to our shop in the morning, Half Moon Bay Sportfishing, and check in between 5:30 when I open the doors to no later than 6:15. Do be sure to give a call for updates about our salmon trips if you're interested in going out on Sunday or Monday. Thurday, May 27 - The reservations trickled in one by one, but unfortunately we just didn't get enough folks on the books in time to be able to make any runs to go rockfishing below Pigeon Point the last three days. So we'll be back on the water tomorrow on Friday to track down some more salmon. We still have some spots open but we also definitely have enough folks on the books that the trip will take place as scheduled. We'll give rockfishing a shot on Saturday and will be back salmon fishing on Sunday and Monday. The weatherman is telling us that it looks like today will mark the end of the rain for the season, but I'm sure we'll still have to contend with the wind off and on (which is actually our bigger enemy). Thankfully the swells are forecast to stay relatively on the low side through the weekend, so hopefully the winds won't have too much impact on us through the holiday. Monday, May 24 - Variable winds. What a wonderful thing to see. Variable winds are what I long for, as it usually equates to some of the best weather we get on the water, and today was the first day I've seen it so far this year in the ocean forecast. And with variable winds we are back out salmon fishing again after getting blown out this past weekend. A nice 15 pounder was landed early in the morning, and we ended the day with three nice grade salmon for our six anglers. We're scheduled for rockfishing the next three days, weather and interest permitting (remember, the salmon season has a two day closure each week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Even though the winds have switched around and are coming from the south, it's looking like it's just a touch of a breeze with less than 10 knots each day, with only a 4 to 6 foot swell. There are some scattered showers that may come and go this week, but we'll gladly take a little rain over the howling wind we've had to contend with this spring. If you're interested in joining us in the next couple of days, please be sure to make a reservation as soon as possible so we can gauge whether there's enough interest in making the run. We have a sprinkling of people on the books every day, so all it takes is a few more or less to determine if a trip is a go or not. Friday, May 21 - Yesterday's forecast was calling for NW winds 10 to 20 knots, but they lied. We took off in search of salmon and hit a brick wall of wind offshore that drove us right back to the dock. Bob did find loads of bait and whales feeding and breaching before heading back in, but not quite the dark water where salmon typically hang out. They were able to put the lines in the water for a short while and did throw back one shaker before turning tail. The winds cancelled our trip for today as well as our trip for tomorrow on Saturday. We're still scheduled to give it a shot on Sunday even though it's looking pretty iffy; we're waiting until the Saturday afternoon forecast update to see if we'll be able to run on Sunday or not. The winds are supposed to shift around early next week, but as always we'll just have to wait and see when the ocean decides it will let us go out and play. Monday, May 17 - The Fishing Fools gang, a small group of retired gentlemen who have chartered the QH pretty much every other Monday for several years during past salmon seasons, were finally able to climb back in the saddle and ride again. It didn't take them long at all to get right back in the swing of things. By 7:15 this morning they had already hooked three salmon, but the score was: Queen of Hearts 2, sea lions 1. With noone else on the water to steal from, we had the joy of dealing with these furry critters stealing salmon from us all morning long. The sea lions came back to tie the score at 3 and 3, and by 8:30 the battle raged and remained tied at 4 and 4. They munched a total of 7 salmon, but we ended up landing more than they did by the end of the day with 11 salmon in the box for our 8 anglers to 17 pounds, along with another handful that won their way to freedom. The salmon were all a nice grade of fish with not a single shaker in the lot. Darn good fishing, especially considering that the weather was pretty snotty, with a stiff wind from the south that just kept increasing as the day went on. This past weekend we had a private rockfishing charter on Saturday and an open load rockfishing trip on Sunday that enjoyed some of the best weather on the ocean we've had so far this season. Both trips saw good Pigeon Point fishing with some folks going home with their 10 fish rockcod limit and an overall average of about 6 fish per person of just about 100 percent hardhead bottomfish: gophers, black and yellows, a few vermillion and a sprinkling of seatrout. One 8 pound lingcod was landed on Saturday and another one on Sunday, and we also had five cabezon on Saturday with a 12 pound whopper taking top honors. Weather looks good for our rockfishing trip on Wednesday; if you're interested in going, try to let us know no later than noon on Tuesday so we know if there's enough interest in making the run. We have salmon trips scheduled for Thursday and Friday, weather permitting. Friday, May 14 - Yahoo, baby, the salmon have finally arrived in Half Moon Bay! By noon we had enough action that we could have been on our way to limits. Not just a fish or two or three, but actual limits for everyone onboard. There were lots of fish hooked, several landed, lots lost, and a whole bunch of chunky 22 and 23 inch shakers thrown back. Best part is I was really hoping today would be the day, of all days, the salmon would finally show, because today we had a private charter with the offensive line of the San Francisco 49ers. Yep, you read it right, as in the professional football team, THE 49ers. My day started off meeting their center who put the trip together and their kicker, Joe, along with another dozen of their teammates. The guys headed down the dock, loaded their provisions onboard (aka coolers of beer) and off they went to have some fun and celebrate for one of their teammate's bachelor party. They put the first salmon in the box just a little after 8am and continued to hook, lose and/or land fish for the rest of the trip. At least a dozen fish were fought before 10am with half of those making it onboard. The guys had a ball, no pun intended, hooting and hollering and having a good old time with every fish landed...or farmed. They pulled the plug a little after noon to head back to the next watering hole after fighting at least another dozen fish and landing three more. They didn't end the day with limits, but it was definitely limit style fishing, just like the good old days a few years back. With virtually no change in the upcoming weather through the five day forecast period, it's very possible these fish might just stay in our playground for a while. See, we told you it would happen! As we have a few private charters and rockfishing trips over the next few days, our next available salmon trips will be next Thursday, Friday and Sunday, May 20, 21 and 23. Thursday, May 13 - I don't want to jinx it, but, if the forecast holds true, we have some good weather on tap for this weekend and into at least the beginning of next week. We have a salmon charter tomorrow and Monday, and there's a rumor that some fish were caught around the area where we caught a couple last weekend, so maybe tomorrow will be the day we carry the heros that finally get this thing going for us. Saturday is a private rockcod charter and Sunday is an open load rockcod trip, which should be a good test to see if the rockcod want to come out and play a bit more if the wind backs off and lets the water warm up a tad. If you'd like to join us on Sunday, there's still space available; just give us a call to put your name on the books. Monday, May 10 - We made it out rockfishing on this past Friday and Saturday and went searching for salmon again on Sunday. The weatherman lied again and the decent weather we were supposed to have for Friday was not so decent...again. Bob says it was blowing a solid 20 knots or more below Pigeon most of the day, and the water temperature was a shiver-your-scales-off 48 degrees making for some very unenthusiastic rockcod. The wind backed off a little on Saturday and the water temperature rose a half a degree, but the fish were still pretty lethargic. You just about had to bonk them on the head or snag 'em on the bounce to get one on the end of your hook. We ended up with a Southern California type of score with a little over a hundred fish landed for the two days of trying. No keeper lingcod landed but a couple of handfuls of shakers were released. On Sunday, despite the rain squalls that blew through in the morning, the ocean was fairly nice. We started trolling around 7:30 and had our first salmon on the hook around 8:15. A week before it would have been a keeper, but this week with the change in regulations it was two inches short of the 24 inch minimum size limit, so back it went. Less than 15 minutes later we had a fish in the box when an 11 pounder was landed. With all the krill that was in the water, it was looking like we were on the right track, but unfortunately we didn't find any more biters for the rest of the day. We're scheduled for rockfishing most days this week and have an open salmon trip scheduled for Thursday at this point, weather and interest permitting. The way the ocean forecast looks, we'll be picking and choosing our days carefully again this week, so be sure to check in with us if you're interested in going out. Wednesday, May 5 - The ocean forecast is calling for the winds to finally back down tomorrow on Thursday, dropping from 20 to 30 knots today all the way down to as little as 5 to 15 knots by Friday along with a swell of possibly as low as 3 foot below Pigeon Point. As long as the forecast doesn't change, with about a dozen folks on the books, we are rockfishing on Friday. Looking at the extended forecast, the wind may not hold off for long, so if you are able to go fishing on a weekday, I'd recommend taking advantage of the decent weather that we're supposed to get this Friday and get out there while we can. Plenty of room available for Friday; don't worry about making a reservation is you want to join us...just come on down and check in at our shop by no later than 6:15. Saturday, May 1 - So much for the decent forecast we had a couple of days ago for this weekend. We made it down below Pigeon this morning with high hopes but unfortunately the ocean was just too nasty and we ended up turning tail and pounding our way back to the harbor. The wind is absolutely howling on the ocean now, blowing a solid 20 to 30 knots, and it looks to stay that way for the next few days at least. We've cancelled our trip for Sunday and will have to just patiently wait to see when it will calm down and let us head back out. As soon as it looks like we'll get a break coming our way, I'll be sure to pass it along. Thursday, April 29 - We begin our rockfishing season on Saturday below Pigeon Point, and there's still space available for both Saturday and Sunday. Looking at the ocean forecast, Sunday would be the day I'd pick if I had the chance to go as it looks like it should be a better day on the ocean with very light winds and not a bad swell. If you'd like to join us, give us a call to make a reservation. We'll be alternating between rockfishing and salmon fishing next week, with Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday scheduled for rockfishing and Thursday and Sunday slated for salmon (and don't forget, guys, Sunday, May 9 is Mother's Day). Hopefully the northwinds that have been howling more often than not the last two weeks will put some salmon on the munch in our area and, after five months since we were last able to go rockfishing, the rockcod are ready for our return. Monday, April 26 - Boy, oh boy, are we ready for the rockfishing season to open! This Saturday, May 1, rockfishing below Pigeon Point opens for the 2010 season. We sure hope the rockcod are a lot more cooperative than the salmon have been. Capt. Bob figures he's covered just about every inch of the Deep Reef and cruised well over 500 miles so far this month in search of some salmon within our range, but despite the crew's best efforts we just keep coming up empty except for a couple of blind strikes, one resulting in the only keeper so far. Same story for every other boat that has run salmon trips out of our harbor. We can't imagine that some salmon won't show up some day as they do have tails and swim up and down the coast, but it's extremely disappointing and disheartening to go out trip after trip waiting for that day to happen. We were out again this past Friday and Saturday and did release a shaker on Saturday, so at least we got a reminder of what a salmon looks like even if it was too small to keep. Saturday, May 1 is opening day for the rockfishing season below Pigeon Point, and we do still have space available for both this Saturday and Sunday. We have a private charter that will be salmon fishing on Monday, May 3, so that will be the next time we'll get another crack at finding some salmon. On a different note, folks have been coming through our shop telling us about what sounds like some good perch fishing going on around the harbor, even off the outer breakwater. Also sounds like some striped bass are starting to show up along the coast as well as a halibut or two inside the harbor entrance. We've got the shop all stocked up with lots of new stuff for fishing the surf, the pier and the boats, so we're ready and all geared up for whatever fish swim our way. As I find out more news about happenings around the harbor, I'll be sure to pass them on. Wednesday, April 21 - The strong northwest winds have arrived with a vengence...which could be exactly what we need to get some salmon to come out and play. Northwest winds cause an upwelling in the ocean that brings in the bait, and where there's bait, hopefully there's salmon. The only bad part about northwest winds is that they typically knock us off the water until it calms down. As tough as it's been so far, though, the break this time is actually welcomed and will start the anticipation process over again to see what conditions will be like once we're able to put the lines back in the water. It's looking like we might get a break on Friday, but, as always, we'll be watching the ocean forecasts closely. Thursday afternoon update: The forecast is calling for light winds tomorrow on Friday, so our trip for tomorrow is on; it's a real light load but we're definitely going as long as we get the weather in the morning that is in the forecast. Plenty of room if you'd like to join us to see what the winds may have pushed our way. We'll have the doors open at 5:00; check in no later than 5:30 at our shop, Half Moon Bay Sportfishing. Monday, April 19 - Well how about that...after way too many days of trying with no success, we finally found our first salmon of the season this past Saturday. It was a 16 pound beauty, and the news spread fast and wide that the QH finally caught a fish. Wish I could say it opened the flood gates, but it didn't. We had a couple of other brief moments of excitement on Friday's trip when we had a driveby right off the bat...a driveby is when a fish hits the bait popping the sinker out of the release and then coming unbuttoned in the blink of an eye...and we had a couple of tore up baits later in the morning, but that was about it. Just like the weather, Mother Nature is also in control of the fish and bait, and hopefully we'll be in the right place at the right time when she decides to share with us. All we can do is just keep plugging away and giving it our best shot as long as there are folks willing to give it a try while we wait for the magic day when some fish show up in our neck of the woods. On a positive note, we'll be able to go rockfishing a week from this Saturday when the season opens on May 1 below Pigeon Point, so we are definitely looking forward to having some fun on the rockfishing grounds soon. There's still spaces available for opening weekend; if you're interested in joining us, reservations are a darn good idea as those trips do tend to fill up in advance.
Friday, April 16 - Quick morning update: Here's the Reader's Digest version of the final decision regarding this year's recreational salmon season for our area: Through the end of April, the season will remain open seven days a week with a 20 inch minimum size limit. As of May 1, the season is open Thursday through Monday (which means salmon fishing is not permitted on Tuesdays and Wednesdays), the minimum size limit will be 24 inches, and the season will remain open through September 6 subject to any future inseason adjustments if necessary. If you want to read the whole scoop, click on:
http://www.pcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/April-15-2010-Salmon-Seasons-press-release.pdf A table with more of the particulars is at: Thursday, April 15 - Tax Day, yuck. To add insult to injury, on yesterday's trip Randy went all the way down to Davenport, 35 miles below the harbor. With the best weather so far this month, he found whales feeding, jellyfish-free brown water, rips, krill coming up in handfuls on folks' lines as they checked their baits...but not a single scratched bait, not a single salmon. Sounds like that same score was shared by 95% of the boats out fishing, with only a skiff here or there boating a fish or two. Like they say, you can't win if you don't play, and you can't catch a fish if your boat is tied to the dock. And, to throw another analogy at ya'all, the more you play the better your odds, so we will keep plugging away as long as the feds allow, the weather permits, and there are still folks who understand that we will continue as always to give it our all every time they put their trust in us. There's just gotta be a salmon or two swimming around out there with a big QH branded on its side somewhere. Never a follower and always a leader, and not content sitting on the sidelines waiting for the game to get better, we'll give it another try tomorrow on Friday. Weather looks fantastic and there's plenty of room. If you don't get a chance to call in a reservation and want to join us, just come on down in the morning and check in at our shop, Half Moon Bay Sportfishing. I open the doors at 5:00 a.m.; check in by 5:30 as we begin our hunt again leaving the dock at 6:15. Capt. Houdini still has a few tricks up his sleeves...hope he pulls a rabbit...ah, I mean salmon...out of his hat soon. Wednesday, April 14 - The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) posted a page on their website that seems like it may be a good starting point to keep abreast of the fate of this year's salmon season: http://www.pcouncil.org/salmon/current-season-management/. Lots of info to click on if you have the time. If, however, you want just the cut and dry stuff for California only, then click on their link for the California Department of Fish and Game which is at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/oceansalmon.asp. Bob has been at the PFMC's Portland meeting since Friday but "has had enough fun" and is coming home later this evening. While Bob's finishing up, Capt. Randy is taking Bob's place at the helm today and is out on the hunt. I believe his plan was to head south this morning to see if any salmon have shown up to play in our neck of the woods. The cell phone coverage on the ocean has been lousy ever since things were switched from analog to all digital service last year, so the boat's out of range and I won't know how things went until they get back later this afternoon. We've finally got the weather to cooperate, so hopefully the fish will follow suit. Monday, April 12 - 24 years ago today Bob and I officially tied the knot...hard to believe it's been that long, and then again, it doesn't seem that long ago. We get to celebrate our anniversary via the phone as we're 500 miles apart with Bob attending round two of this year's PFMC meetings in Portland. Bob's already given them notice that if the meeting takes place during the same week next year, count him out...we don't know where we're going yet, but we definitely are going to go somewhere to celebrate our silver anniversary next year. Back on the fishing front, Capt. Randy is standing ready, chomping at the bit to get his shot to be the hero on Wednesday while Bob finishes up in Portland (the boat will stayed tied to the dock on Tuesday...trip cancelled). Hopefully Randy can find the first salmon of the season that we've searched for to no avail so far. This past week we only made it out four days between the storms that continued to roll through, and really only one of those days was a decent day weather-wise, as this past Saturday's trip was more of the same. The swells are finally supposed to give us a break this week and the winds are supposed to back way off, too, so we hopefully the fish gods will smile upon us this week after paying our dues...and then some...last week. Thursday, April 8 - No trip today due to the high winds and swells offshore, and we've cancelled our trip for tomorrow on Friday as it's slated for more of the same. At this point it looks like we should be able to sneak out on Saturday, and by Monday this stuff finally seems to settle down and hopefully we can get a much better shot at putting some fish in the boat. Wednesday, April 7 - We're definitely making the owner of the fuel dock a happy man...we've burned through over $1200 worth of fuel in our first three days of scouting for the elusive salmon. Unfortunately, we still haven't been rewarded with anything to bring home for our efforts, even though, obviously, it's not for lack of trying. Today Bob ventured to the inside edge of the Pioneer Canyon, offshore in tuna grounds territory. With all the scouting around, he's found good signs of bait, krill, floating crab larvae, birds working, all the stuff we want to see, but no salmon so far. Heard the top dog out of the bay today had three salmon and the scores went down from there, so not much of anything happening yet for our area. Looking back at our Fishing Report Archives (www.fishingboat.com/archieve.html), the beginning of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons didn't start out much different than this year so far, so don't give up hope. Three days of hunting is just the beginning, not the end. As far as "The End," though, the PFMC meetings will start on this Saturday which will decide the fate of this year's salmon season, and by a week from tomorrow we are supposed to have the final decision on how long we'll be allowed to continue the hunt. We've had to surrender and cancel our trip for tomorrow on Thursday as the wind and swells are forecast to pick up again tonight off our coastline, with northwest winds 20 to 30 knots of wind on top of combined seas of 11 to 16 feet every 12 seconds on tap for tomorrow, way too much for our liking. Really hurts, too, as we had just a couple of fingers shy of a boatload of folks chomping at the bit and willing to give it a shot. The forecast has been going up and down like crazy, so we'll continue to watch the ocean weather forecasts daily to decide whether it's good enough or not to give it a go for the next days' trip. [Thursday morning update: we made the right call...the current buoy reading at 8am at Half Moon Bay Buoy says the wind is 22 knots with gusts to 30 on top of a 13 foot swell every 9 seconds...in other words, flat out nasty. I know it's tough to believe as it looks gorgeous on land, but the ocean can be a different story, as it is right now. We'll keep our fingers crossed it settles down a bit for tomorrow and I'll post an update once we get the afternoon forecast that comes in around 2:30.] Tuesday, April 6 - The gang today gave it their all, covered lots and lots of ground, tried spots all the way down the coast as far south as Waddell Creek (just above Davenport well below Pigeon Point) and all the way back up along the inside of the Deep Reef, but we're still looking to get the skunk off the boat with two trips now under our belt. There was lots of bait and krill off of Pigeon, and it looked pretty darn fishy, but unfortunately there was also lots of jelly fish that moved in; they were so thick we couldn't fish the area anymore and had to move on. It's not a matter of if we'll find some fish, it's just a matter of how soon. Like I've always said, salmon fishing can be like turning on and off a light switch. Just because it didn't happen today doesn't mean it won't happen tomorrow. We'll just keep plugging away until we find them. With a good weather forecast for tomorrow, maybe tomorrow will be the day. We'll keep our fingers crossed...and our toes, too, if it helps.... If you'd like to give it a try with us tomorrow, there's plenty of space available. I'll have the doors open at 5:00; check in at our shop by around 5:30. Monday, April 5 - It was nice to get back out salmon fishing on Saturday...well, kinda. The weather wasn't so nice. It was actually pretty darn downright rotten, but, being Opening Day, we had to stick it out and put in our time. We fished the offshore areas above the harbor to try to get a better angle on the swells. Capt. Bob reported that he found some good signs including dark water and even spots of krill, but with conditions making is tough to even want to check their baits, we ended the day with nothing but a couple of scratched baits for our efforts. From the reports I'm hearing, there was a smattering of salmon caught all up and down the coastline from Bodega to Monterey, so there are definitely at least a few fish still lurking in the ocean waters. We had to give in to the weather and cancelled our trips for Sunday and today, but the wind and swells are supposed to back down for our trip tomorrow on Tuesday, and the weather looks darn good for Wednesday, too, so hopefully we'll get a better shot at seeing what we can find on the salmon grounds and have some good news to report soon. There's still a lot of territory to explore, and even Capt. Bob says he has a good feeling and is far from throwing in the towel. Friday, April 2 - The final countdown has begun...one more day until we're back on the hunt for wild king salmon off our coastline! Our trips for both Saturday and Sunday this weekend are full at this point, but there has been a lot of up and down on the reservations, so if you're interested in being placed on our standby list just in case we get any spots open up, just let us know. The ocean weather forecast is calling for the usual springtime swells over the next several days but thankfully not much wind, so it looks like we might actually be in relatively good shape for the upcoming week. There is a system possibly coming in on Sunday, but hopefully we'll luck out and it won't arrive until sometime in the evening...we'll just have to wait and see. We are definitely running every day as long as the weather permits. Now, some last minute reminders about this salmon fishing stuff: NUMBER ONE...if you have your own rod and reel, make sure you have fresh line, 20 to 25 pound test mono (braid/spectra is NOT allowed on salmon trips). If you don't know how old the line is, it's too old. Strip it off and put new line on. The worst thing you can do is to spend all the money and time to go salmon fishing and lose possibily the only fish you hook all day long because you didn't have fresh line. Also check your drag and make sure it's working properly. NUMBER TWO...the price of lead has gone through the roof just like oil over the past couple of years. If you have any 2-1/2 pound sinkers laying around the garage, be sure to bring them. We ONLY use 2-1/2 pound, nothing bigger, nothing smaller. If you don't have any, check with us about our price compared to the big box stores...the sinkers aren't cheap, but I think we still have a better price. NUMBER THREE...listen to the crew! If they give you a suggestion, take it. Anything they say is only said because they want to help you catch a fish. NUMBER FOUR...Are there any fish out there? We won't know until we put the lines in the water, and even then it may take several days to find out where the fish are or where they aren't. AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST...have fun and appreciate this unexpected chance to catch a prize salmon in our own backyard again for as long as it lasts! Now, for a bit of a sales pitch for those private boaters out there looking for some primo bait: I was able to get my hands on a freezer-full of some awesome anchovy-size tray herring, 14 baits to a tray. Take a look and it and I'm sure you'll agree that it's absolutely a fantastic bait. It's not the huge herring you're used to seeing. I know bait has been hard to find, so if you're in our area, come into our shop, Half Moon Bay Sportfishing, and pick up a tray or two or three of this stuff...I don't think you'll be disappointed. We'll have our doors open at 5:00 Saturday morning. Monday, March 15 - Here's the link to the recent PFMC's public notice regarding this year's salmon season: http://www.pcouncil.org/2010/03/7890/council-chooses-2010-salmon-options/. This notice lists the three options for the season that will be decided on during the PFMC's next meetings that take place in Portland April 10-15. If you click on the actual table of the options on the right side of that page, the paraphrased version of the options for our area are: The season opens April 3 and could continue through as late as November 14 with either a 20 or 24 inch minimum with an option to close the fishery during May and June, or the season could be closed completely, and whatever is decided for this year is supposed to apply to 2011. We know this can be confusing, but here's how it stands at this point: Regardless of those options, the salmon season will open as is currently written in the fishery regulations: The season opens in our area on Saturday, April 3, the limit is two (2) salmon per person and there is a 20 inch minimum size limit, and it will remain open up until either notice of an emergency closure or receipt of the PFMC's final decision on which option they choose. After the closures the last two years, we honestly still do not understand the reasoning behind this ourselves, but that's not our job. We are not scientists, we don't make the rules. We are in business to take folks fishing. If we are told we are able to catch fish, that's what we do. Are there any salmon in the ocean to catch? Just like every season, we'll know more once we put our lines in the water. And, just like every season, one day does not a season make. Each day is a process to figure out either where the fish are at or where they aren't. Ready to join us in that process? We'll be fishing every day, weather and interest permitting, once the season opens on April 3. On the whale watching front, we are batting 1000, spotting a whale on our first trip of the season yesterday morning, albeit a pretty shy whale that kept just barely within viewing distance. Several minutes of checking out an extremely cute sea otter started the trip off on the right foot, though, watching it stereotypically kick and paddle while lying on it's back trying to break open its mid-morning snack. Our whale watching trips will continue for the next two Saturdays and Sundays until it's time to put the lines in the water and get back to fishing. Thursday, March 11 - The 2010 Salmon Season Will Open on Saturday, April 3. The official word was announced today that the salmon season will open this year as scheduled on Saturday, April 3rd in both state and federal waters. The official notice from the government explaining the reasoning behind their decision has been promised to be posted by no later than next Tuesday, March 16, and I'll post the link once it's available. So we now know when the season opens, but we don't know how long it will last. The next round of PFMC meetings takes place April 10-15 and we expect to receive more info then. If it is decided at the meeting in April that an emergency closure is needed, I could be wrong but I believe there is a 10 day notice required, which means we are able to fish for salmon through at least the majority of April and possibly longer depending on the outcome of the next meetings. Sounds like we squeeked through on the rockcod front for this year, too, and will have the same season at the same depths that we had in 2009 (out to 180 feet, opening May 1 below Pigeon Point and June 13 above Pigeon Point). So dust off that salmon gear and let's go fishing! This weekend news: From our contacts with guys up and down the coast, it sounds like the Humboldt Squid have moved on, so we're scratching our squid trips this weekend and next and will switch over to whale watching on the weekends through March. Monday, March 8 - 2010 Fishing Season Update: The 2010 salmon season is scheduled to open April 3rd. Figured that would be cancelled like it has been the last two years, right? Well, maybe not. The powers that be are meeting at the PFMC in Sacramento right now and are hashing out the details for the 2010 season. Word has it that, since emergency action was not taken to close the season, the salmon season will open as scheduled on Saturday, April 3. How long will the season be open? Don't know. Could be one week, could be one month, could be several months based on all the discussions taking place. State waters only or federal waters, too? Don't know that, either. But the returns were reported less than half of last year, and the the season was closed, right? Yep...this doesn't make much sense to us, either, and it's far from written in stone, but the picture should be a little clearer by the end of this week. So, as it stands now, we are now taking reservations for salmon fishing beginning April 3rd. I'm sure there will be an official DFG or PFMC webpage posted within the next week or so with info explaining what's going on and I'll be sure to post a link to it as soon as I find out about it. On the rockcod front, no new news yet other than lots of terrible sounding possibilities, so we'll just keep our fingers crossed and wait to see what happens. We are still scheduled for Humboldt Squid trips this Saturday, March 13 and the next Saturday, March 20, weather, squid and interest permitting. If you're interested in going, be sure to call in a reservation. And last, but not least, we're scheduled for whale watching Sundays through the end of March as well as on Saturday, March 27. Saturday, February 20 - We watched the weather forecast carefully all week leading up to today's trip, and it was different with every update. The last update we received on Friday looked like the winds were going to cooperate, so the trip was a go. Overnight, however, the wind forecast was bumped up again, and we got every bit of the 15 to 17 knots of wind they said we were going to have by the time we left the dock on Saturday morning. It wasn't nice, but Capt. Bob headed offshore and made it to the tuna, I mean squid grounds just inside the Pioneer area which is somewhere around 20 miles offshore, and the first squid hit the deck just a little after 10 in the morning. The tough weather made it difficult to get the squid to the surface, though, and for every three squid hooked only one would find its way onboard, so out of the 25 to 30 squid hooked, 7 made it onboard. Jackpot fish, I mean squid, was a whopping 45 pounder. We are going to go ahead and schedule Humboldt squid trips every Saturday in March as long as the squid continue to hang around (as they are a migratory critter), except for March 6th as Capt. Bob will be at the first round of PFMC meetings for 2010 in Sacramento that weekend. On the fishing front, the returning salmon numbers were finally released and it sounds absolutely terrible. The hope was that there would be at least 120,000 returning salmon, which is the minimum number it would take in order to get a salmon season, up from around 80,000 last year and 60,000 the year before. Well, there were less than 40,000 salmon counted, the lowest number EVER counted, so the disaster continues. The feds meet up in March and April to decide the fate of the 2010 salmon season, but, based on those numbers, we expect the salmon season to be cancelled once again. The rockcod season will be discussed at those same meetings in March and April, and, as it stands now, we should have basically the same season as we had last year.
Saturday, February 13 - Two full boatloads of folks joined us today to view the Mavericks surf contest up close and personal. It's amazing how we can safely sit just off to the edge of the break at Mavericks and watch the guys on their boards dropping in on bombers almost within casting distance away from the boat. Capt. Bob did what he could jockeying for position among the mass of boats trying to do the same thing in an attempt to get our gang in the prime spot to capture some of those amazing Mavericks photos. If you'd like to check out their view, a couple of guys on our boat shared their photo gallery...where you can even purchase your own copies of some of their amazing shots: Monday, February 8 - The storm systems rolling through just wouldn't cooperate to allow us to make it out this past Saturday for a hunt for Humboldt Squid, so the trip ended up being scrubbed. We'll give it another go, weather and squid permitting, on Saturday, February 20. This coming holiday weekend we're slated to go whale watching. As we're right in the heart of the gray whale migration, hopefully the weather will cooperate this weekend and give us a chance to enjoy a bit of Mother Nature up close and personal. Monday, January 18 - As we promised so many of you at the boat show last week, it's time for us to get back up and running. Weather permitting, we've scheduled our first trips of 2010 for Humboldt Squid on Saturday, February 6, and Saturday, February 20. If there's enough interest and enough squid, we may add more trips to the schedule. The reports we're hearing is that there are Humboldts all the way up and down the coastline right now, from Bodega Bay in the north all the way down to Seaforth Landing in San Diego. We'll also start offering whale watching trips in February, too, with our first trips of the season slated for Presidents' Day weekend, February 13, 14 and 15...take your Valentine out whale watching on Sunday the 14th for Valentine's Day. Our rockfishing season this year kicks off on Saturday, May 1 below Pigeon Point. Royal Polaris long range trip news: Frank and Scotty with the RP told me at last weeks' show that the price for our upcoming 7 day long range trip has been reduced $100 down to $1995. There are still about a dozen spots available for that trip, so if you've been on the fence, time to jump on over and take advantage of a great price on a great trip. The price reduction applies to everyone, so if you're already on the books, your price has been reduced, too. Wednesday January 13 - Happy Belated New Year! Capt. Bob and I have been extremely busy this past month, with the last event on the agenda for now taking place this week: the International Sportsmens Expo at the San Mateo Event Center. The show opens tomorrow, Thursday, January 14 and runs through this Sunday January 17. The show is open on Thursday and Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, and on Sunday it's open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Our spot is in the same place as it was last year, Booth 724C, back towards the indoor live fish aquarium. We have a new batch of Queen of Hearts t-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts and embroidered hats for sale at the show...with show-only special pricing! We also have several other fantastically priced items for sale at the show, well worth the price of admission. Hope you'll have a chance to come by and say hi.
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Queen of HeartsHoudini Sportfishing
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