HALF MOON BAY

Booking Six Independently Owned & Operated Boats 650 726-7133


New Captain Pete Sportfishing
(650) 726-6224

March 16, 2010    Headlines

Easy Pickin Crabs
2010 Salmon? Maybe!


Salmon Summit!

Boats in Harbor

Congressional Leaders Come to April 1 Salmon Summit to Meet with Salmon Nation

Want to talk to your congressional leaders on how to save our salmon stocks. Then come out to the 1st annual Salmon Summit and let them hear your concerns. We are hoping for a turn out of 1000s of like minded salmon anglers to voice our opposition to the closure of our salmon fisheries.
We want to prevent another catastrophic salmon fishing closure like the last two years. We want robust salmon stocks that will always support full sport and commercial fishing seasons. Salmon-dependent communities, jobs, and families are at stake in the tug of war for California’s water, along with our priceless fishing heritage. The summit will highlight the impact the collapse of the Sacramento River salmon run has had on the fishing communities in both California and Oregon. California water issues are not confined to the agricultural interests in the Central Valley. Water decisions impact a much broader ecologic, economic, and social base – and fish and fishermen are being hurt.

We need you to come out on April 1! Show our leaders that salmon are important to many people both in California and Oregon and deserve their fair share of California’s water. Tell those with other plans for Sacramento River salmon water that our salmon need water and salmon communities need salmon! Let’s stop the salmon water grab!

Take Action: Join Salmon Water Now! at the April 1st Salmon Summit at Fort Mason in San Francisco to help bring the Central Valley’s salmon back and protect our priceless fishing heritage! The find out more, click here. http://salmonwaternow.org/get-involved


On Tuesday 3-16 Peggy Becket at Huck Finn Sport Fishing said they have been getting a few calls for squid, but since the weather has been uncooperative, there haven’t been any trips. From the reports we are receiving from Bodega and Monterey the squid have likely left town. Dennis Baxter on the New Captain Pete has a few upcoming charters for squid, and let’s hope they pop back up on the shelf. Crabbing is still your best bet with catches of 3 to 6 per pot for those soaking gear in 125 to 175 feet off the Radar tower and down along Martin's beach.
The majority of calls have been for salmon, and they are scheduling starting April 3rd for the anticipated opener. Beckett has procured a limited supply of tray herring that will be split between party and private boats IF and WHEN the season opens. Peggy is taking the wait and see approach. She suggests anglers call and get their reservations in and wait for how things play out at the PFMC meeting over the next couple of weeks. 650 726-7133
Sheryl Jimno at the Rusty Hook in Pacifica said the surf is still rough, but crabbers are still working primarily snares off of the pier for “enough crab to keep their interest”. Striper fishermen are coming into the shop in increased numbers looking at the lures, but they still haven’t committed to pulling out their wallets. That will happen when the bass hit the beaches>. She has a good selection of the popular Little Neck Super Strike lures for top water beach fishing. There have been a few stripers taken on either hair raisers or blood worms from Linda Mar or Rockaway Beaches, but the majority of surf action has been for perch.


Sacramento PFMC Salmon News
The PFMC released late Thursday their final three salmon options for California.
They range from a full-blown season to none at all. Keep in mind, these are the options and the National Marine Fisheries Service gets the last say on the matter in April. But for now, here is what's being considered

Option 1
Fort Bragg: April 3 through November 14, 24" minimum
San Francisco: April 3 through November 14, 24" minimum
Monterey: April 3 through October 3, 24" minimum

Option 2
Fort. Bragg: April 3-30 and July 1 through November 14, 20" minimum (now closed in May & June and 20" minimum, same as SF)
San Francisco: April 3-30 and July 1 through November 14, 20" minimum
Monterey: April 3-30 and July 1 through October 3, 20" minimum 

Option 3
Ft. Bragg: Closed
San Francisco: Closed
Monterey: Closed

Reading between their lines and press releases it sounds like the Feds are trying  hard to get anglers back on the water while the state Fish and Game is now very cautious and saying they are concerned about the lofty projections. (see the Fishing 4 News page for a great "crunching the numbers" by a long time Sac guide Bill Divens.
Bill has done an incredible job of breaking down the numbers and why he feels that the salmon projection numbers are too high.)
This is good news for recreational anglers and the odds are in favor of a season, but can the stocks take it? The other concern is the high impact by recreational anglers on Central Valley winter run stocks that have dropped from over 7000 fish to about 2000 in 2008/ 2009.
Personally, I'm in the conservation camp and don't feel that a season is warranted. Given the just 30 to 50% return to projections of the past three years I just feel that we should wait for the numbers to start to rebound before we start fishing again.  Given the past two years of drought and the  El Nino conditions along the coast now does not favor a productive season.
There is a big difference between "having a season" and having a fishery. A season is just dates on a calendar, a fishery is a resource (that not only provides anglers with an opportunity to fish but supports an industry that did provide over 20,000 jobs and 10s of millions to the California economy)  one, that will NOT recover until Delta water diversions are dropped to pre 2002 levels.
The PFMC will be meeting later this month and again in early April when they announce which option they will select. We can only hope that they select correctly. If we do get to fish and the run comes in under escapement goals it may be years before we are back on the water.
Mike

Related stories

Zeke Grader, a commercial angler's perspective
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Assns, Executive Director

Westlands seeks permit to use California aqueduct as sewer

Water infrastructure, but for whose benefit

Science and Policymaking: Spin on science can lead to mischief and extinction

War on Salmon. Cynthia Koehler and Brian Nelson did an excellent job of showing the cause and effect of increased water diversion out of the delta on salmon.


Upcoming Events:
USAFishing supports the many fishery and wildlife organizations that benefit anglers and hunters throughout Northern California. Does your organization have an upcoming event? Contact us at fishsite@aol.com and we will gladly post your group's information on our reports pages.

California Waterfowl 2010 Dinners and Youth Events Calendar


Party Boat Contacts:
The Huck Finn Sportfishing Center is taking reservations for rockfish and ling trips 650 726-7133

New Captain Pete Sportfishing with captain Dennis Baxter is now taking reservations for charters (650) 726-6224

Great Links: 
Fishermen, check out DF&Gs easy-to-use California Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations Map. Simply click the marine location where you plan to fish, and you will access a list of Sport Fishing Regulations for that area.

Reports will resume when salmon reopens in 2010



Reports resume in July of 2009 or when the longfins return.

 

Caught Fish? Looking for timely informative updates? Check out a FREE trial to the Northern California Hotsheet, California's fastest growing fishing newsletter. The Hotsheet is emailed three to four evenings per week direct to your desktop. No hunting the web for information or waiting on an outdated magazine to arrive in the mail. These in-depth reports keep you on top of what is happening TODAY so you can catch more fish tomorrow! Just $3.50 per month when you subscribe for one year. You can receive a free week's trial copy by e-mailing a request to fishsite@aol.com

 

5-day plot - Wind Speed at 46012

5-day plot - Wave Height at 46012

 

Google


www usafishing

USAfishing.com Copyright © 2005 All rights reserved