 Captain
Jim Smith of the Happy
Hooker just pulled up to
the docks Wednesday
5-7 afternoon, and
reported good action
despite the minus tides
and high winds. He went
up to Red Rock this
morning to search for
bass but was turned back
by muddy water. He then
traveled over to
Paradise, only to find
more muddy water. He
settled down in the
central bay and had the
best action at the top
of the tide for an
excellent count of 15
halibut and a striper
for 8 anglers a two fish
a rod average. He is
running open loads with
room tomorrow, Friday
and Sunday. He said the
bait at the Berkeley
receiver is first class.
James on the Cal Dawn
has been in the boat
yard the past two days.
James lent the Cal Dawn
to a good friend Capt
Tommy who was running a
navigation class for
local Coast Guard
auxiliary members. On
the way in on Monday
night they had a mishap
and put the Cal Dawn
into the breakwater off
Berkeley. This resulted
in about $2K in damage.
James was not on board
and $hit does happen,
even when you are trying
to do the right thing.
Apparently a few
captains and others like "Dyno" are
trying to make a
mountain out of a mole
hill and spreading
rumors in the chat
rooms. This is all just
BS and I guess it comes
with the territory when
you run one of the most
popular party boat
businesses in the entire
Bay Area. The Cal
Dawn will be fully CG
certified when it leaves
the boat yard and will
resume trips this
Friday.
Dennis Baxter on the New
Captain Pete said they
did well and should have
done better on his trip
today. His 20 man
charter group landed 15
halibut to 12 pounds
fishing from TI to
Berkeley to the South
bay flats.
Craig Stone of
Emeryville Sport Fishing
didn't have scores as
the boats have been
fishing until early
evening in the past
couple of days. They
will be running an
afternoon trip tomorrow
with a noon departure,
and they are wide open
for all day trips
through the Mother's Day
weekend.
Mike at Mike's Bait in
Oakland said the
shoreline action has
been great for halibut
in the past couple of
days. The hot spot has
been the Alameda
Rockwall where one
customer landed a limit
of halibut averaging
30-inches on frozen
herring and live
shiners. They sold out
of shiners after going
through 500 in a week,
but he hopes to have
more by tomorrow. The
majority of his
clientele is bank
anglers, and many
regulars are hitting the
beaches to pick abalone
off the rocks in the
minus tide.
John Akina at Oyster
Point Bait, Tackle and
Deli said the wind has
slowed down the halibut
bite the past couple of
days. There were 4
halibut landed yesterday
and no fish reported
today. He said there is
a good showing of bait
off of the Pier and also
at the Swirl, as the
anchovies are moving in.
The striped bass should
be moving to the South
bay chasing the bait in
the next few weeks.
Joel Sinkay of Leonard's
Bait in Port Sonoma
reported wind, wind and
more wind making fishing
a low priority in the
area. He has been able
to shrimp and have been
able to get some good
loads in the past couple
of days. He has a
surplus of grass shrimp
which is a good thing.
He did see one 48-inch
sturgeon caught and
released from the Black
Point bank on Monday.
Captain
Jim Smith of the Happy
Hooker called
Sunday 5-4 afternoon
after putting in a long
day until 5:00 p.m. They
fished the Berkeley
Flats in the heavy
winds, but were able to
located 22 halibut to
23-pounds and 6 stripers
for their 23 anglers.
Most of those fish were
caught on the morning
flood tide before 11AM
and before the winds
began to howl. Captain
James Smith on the
California Dawn today
and had 31 halibut for
the day.
Frank Salazar of
Emeryville Sport Fishing
didn't have today's
scores as of 5:00 PM.
Except for the Wet Spot
that boated 7 halibut to
25-pounds and 4 stripers
to 9-pounds for their 5
anglers. Yesterday the
new Huck Finn landed 31
halibut to 20-pounds and
4 stripers to 14-pounds
for their 18 anglers
with the Tigerfish
picked up 20 halibut to
18-pounds and 4 stripers
to 14-pounds for 9
anglers. The conditions
on the bay were far less
breezy yesterday.
Speaking of breezy,
Keith Fraser of Loch
Lomond Bait and Tackle
in San Rafael said, "It
was worse than awful
today" with high windsť
in San Pablo Bay. He
said the minus tides
began yesterday, so
things on the halibut
front should slow down
for the next week until
the tides back off next
week. Sturgeon fishing
produced at least one
65-incher for the group
from Clear Lake that
hadn't caught a legal
sturgeon until their
breakout day last
weekend.
Joel Sinkay of Leonard's
Bait in Port Sonoma said
things have been very
slow with the high
winds. He thought there
would be at least 5 foot
rollers out at the
Pump house. One angler
did make it out to the
Pump house and Buoy 7
yesterday before the
winds made things
impossible, but sharks
and rays were the only
bait takers. There have
been good numbers of
sturgeon jumping in San
Pablo Bay and with the
good minus tides, action
should improve.
Ly Tu of Ly's Fishing
Goods in San Jose said
the Santa Cruz area
rockfishing has been
dismally slow according
to reports from his
customers. One party
boat went up to Pigeon
Point and only landed a
couple of china cod for
18 anglers on board.
Monterey area
rockfishing has been
better with 22 limits of
rockfish and a ling
taken from Point Sur
yesterday. Tu will
celebrate his 10th year
of being in business
tomorrow and is lowering
his prices on rods and
reels from 15 to 20
percent for the month of
May.
KFOG's
Kaboom is this
coming Saturday May
10th. Several of our
sponsors are booking
trips for the Bay Area's
best firework display.
Trips can be booked on
the Cal Dawn from
Berkeley 510 417-5557,
the Emeryville Sport
Center has several boats
available 510 654-6040.
The New Captain Pete and
the Salty Lady can be
booked through the Huck
Finn Sport Center at 650
726-7133 (the Salty Lady
also has other evening
cruises available this
summer including the 4th
of July).
It
was a wild and crazy day
on the bay on
Saturday 5-3.
Several hundred private
boats showed up for the
"only game in town" and
all the launches were
very backed up as were
the lines at the bait
receivers. In Berkeley
it was so crowded that
the Berkeley PD had to
be called to the marina
to direct traffic.
Despite all the traffic
we didn't hear a single
complaint and counts
held up as well. Scores
for the party boat fleet
did drop off a tad
probably due to the
pressure but that is to
be expected. Jim Smith
on the Happy Hooker had
a fine day reporting 18
halibut to 22 pounds and
4 stripers for 16
anglers. His son James
on the Cal Dawn reported
31 halibut to 21 pounds
for 25 anglers adding
two stripers. Dennis on
the New Captain Pete
reported 15 halibut to
12 pounds for 15 anglers
adding 3 bass to 8
pounds. Here on Sunday
morning at 11AM Jim on
the Hooker just called
in to say they have
about
20 halibut already in
the box.
The
halibut action remains
great and we are
seeing the best season
in over ten years. On
Friday 5-2 James on
the Cal Dawn out of
Berkeley reported 41
halibut to 34 pounds, 10
stripers to 14 for their
25 anglers. James said
they had two fish in the
30 class, 4 in the 20s, several teeners
and the rest
running from 6 to 12
pounds.
James's dad Jim on the
Happy Hooker just got
done with his annual
Coast Guard inspection (
a very close inspection
of all systems and
safety features that all
full size party boats
have to pass every year)
and is back in the
Berkeley. The old man of
the fleet will be back
to showing up the young
farts this weekend. He
still has room
available. 510 223-5388
Emeryville Sport Fishing
reported great halibut
action today as well
with the C Gull II
reporting 23 halibut to
24-pounds and an 8-pound
striper for 10 anglers
with the New Huck Finn
finding 24 halibut to
22-pounds and a 16-pound
striper for 12 anglers.
Both boats are drifting
live bait. They will
have two boats out both
days over the weekend
with room on both. The
Wet Spot “their 4-pack“
will be out on Sunday.
You can expect plenty of
company this weekend
with back-ups at all the
major launches and lines
at the bait receivers.
Jay Lopes on the six
pack Right Hook Sport
Fishing out of Berkeley
Marina reported great
action the past two days
with 10 halibut with 3
in the mid-teens to go
with 5 stripers
yesterday, and they had
12 halibut to 25-pounds
today. He has been
staying out of the main
areas where most anglers
are targeting and
seeking his own water.
He will be back on the
water tomorrow, and you
can listen to today's
action on the California
Sportsman AM 1140
tomorrow morning at 7:00
a.m.
John Akina of Oyster
Point Bait, Tackle and
Deli reported halibut
action has been a bit
slower in the South bay
over the past couple of
days. The winds were
blowing this afternoon,
and Akina said 7 halibut
came in today with 11
yesterday. The fish that
are being landed on the
Oyster Point side of the
bay have been a larger
grade. One troubling
observation has been the
lack of anchovies or
live bait out at the
Swirl. Anglers are
having no luck jigging
up or casting for
anchovies.
Pictured Above Left KFOG's Big
Rick shows off a brace
of Berkeley flat
halibut.
Get your tickets now for
what will be a great day
at
KFOG KaBoom on
Saturday, May 10
Salmon Kiss and
Release
Come join members of
The Tiburon Salmon
Institute in association
with United Anglers of
Casa Grande, The Tiburon
Peninsula Foundation,
Trout Unlimited, The
Tiburon Romberg Center,
The San Francisco Tyee
Club and Foundation,
Wilderness Way, and the
California Department of
Fish and Game—On May 18th
for the 3rd
annual Salmon Kiss and
Release at Blackie’s
Pasture in Tiburon.
Come help the children
release 1,000 Chinook
Salmon Fingerlings into
the San Francisco Bay.
The fun begins at
10.a.m. when the Casa
Grande Truck arrives
with the fingerlings,
that the students from
Casa Grande High School
in Petaluma, have raised
from eggs from Chinook
Salmon from the Feather
River. The Casa
students will bring the
fish to our waiting
youngsters who will
carry them to the bay,
and start them on their
way out to the Pacific
Ocean. We will then
look forward to their
return to Feather River
in several years to
start the process over.
Come listen to the local
music of Tommy Rox, with
special guest appearance
by Brett Boyd of the
Beautiful Losers and
Kevin Frazier with his
saxophone. Enjoy the
barbecue put on by the
Tiburon Volunteer Fire
Department. A special
interactive Native
American Ceremony to
bless the Salmon on
their Journey will be
performed by Marin’s
Salmon Spirit –
Wilderness Way. Most of
all, come support our
children as they give
back to the San
Francisco Bay and help
preserve the great
Salmon Migration we
enjoy every year. There
will be information
booths from all our
partners on hand to tell
you how you can get
involved in preserving
Our San Francisco Bay
Estuary for future runs
of Salmon up the many
rivers and creeks that
flow into this unique
Salmon Habitat.
The fun all starts @ 10
a.m. in Blackie’s
Pasture in Tiburon.
Just take the Tiburon
Blvd. Exit off of
Highway 101 and look for
the Salmon! Hurry
because the Salmon will
be leaving on the 11:30
out going tide! The
party will end at 2 p.m.
as the Salmon make their
way to sea. For more
information call Brooke
at 415 435 6386 or
brooke@tiburonsalmoninstitute.com
Upcoming Events:
USAFishing proudly
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 the
information on our
reports pages.

SalmonAid
is a two day music and
informational festival to be
held on May 31 and June 1 at
Jack London Square in
Oakland. It is being hosted
by one of the largest
coalitions of salmon
advocates across the West – commercial and recreational
fishermen, conservationists,
tribes, scientist and
restaurateurs. Please join
up for this fun event.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Recreational
Fishing Alliance
"Randy Fry
Awards" Dinner:
Saturday, June
14, 2008 at the
Marin Rod & Gun
Club in San
Rafael. Support
the nation's #1
organization for
saltwater
anglers and
divers. Doors
open at 4 p.m.
with no-host
bar; BBQ Tri Tip
dinner at 6 p.m.
Raffle, auction
and prizes. For
more info call
707-357-3422 or
visit
www.JoinRFA.org
for online
registration.
Recreational
Fishing Alliance
Bay Weather
Exploratorium Central
Bay Web Cam
Party Boat Information
and Reservations Around
the Bay
The Happy Hooker will be
running potluck trips
from the Berkeley Marina
+1.510.223.5388
California Dawn will be
running halibut and
striper trips from the
Berkeley Marina
+1.510.773.5511
Emeryville Sportfishing
Center is booking
potluck trips
on their fleet
of 8 boats
+1.510.654.6040
Caught
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