BODEGA BAY

January 14, 2020    Headlines

Crab /Rockfish Limits

The crab counts are holding up for recreational boaters despite the commercial pressure since the December 15th commercial opener, but the end of rockfish season on December 31st results in party boats running the occasional crab-only or crab/sand dab combination trip.
The Reel Magic canceled out on a crab trip Saturday 1-11 due to high seas and wind. We hope to get out this coming week.
 Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sport Fishing finished up the rockfish season with a flourish with 23 limits of bottom-dwelling rockfish and 23 crab. He said, “We have been batting 1000 percent on the rockfish/crab combination trips with limits on every trip since the crab opener. That’s phenomenal. The swell backed off, and there were more lings on the boat as well. This was the best crab season that I have ever seen, and we had a great salmon and rockfish season. Crab-only trips along with whale watching will fill the winter months until the salmon and rockfish seasons are expected to open in April.”

Powers was out on January 3rd with 13 anglers on a crab-only on the New Sea Angler, and they were back at the docks within an couple of hours with limits of crab to 3 pounds as the pots remain loaded. He will be running crab-only trips depending upon weather conditions and interest.

Captain Merlin Kolb Reel Magic, also finished the rockfish season on a high note, but the ling cod were missing in action for the most part over the last month. The Reel Magic will be running crab-only or crab/sand dab trips in the coming months.

The owner of Lawson’s Landing at Dillon Beach is a commercial crabber, and he will be providing the fresh crab for the Golden State Salmon Association’s Crab Feed on Saturday, January 18th at the International Sportsmen’s Exposition at Cal Expo. Tickets are $85/person or $800/table available at www:goldenstatesalmon.org.
 

Note to Readers:
After  24 years we are scaling back on updating these reports with an eye towards travel. I have a summer full of travel plans and can't wait for the adventure to begin. I'm going to Germany and Switzerland next June for a brothers wedding, three trips to our family vacation home in Alaska and then back to Europe for a cruise that my wife Linda wishes to do. It's impossible to travel and update this site so its time to end reports here. Life is short and at 58 its time to see more of this world.  Reports will continue here through May and readers can sign up for the Northern California Hotsheet published twice weekly by Dave Hurley.
The good news is my business partner Merlin Kolb does an excellent job on daily fishing updates on our Real Magic Sportfishing Facebook page. Like us there for daily reports. With the ability to report directly from the water most local captains is going to FB.
If you are looking for a very affordable Alaska vacation we have one week open in June and one in August.
See you on the water!
Mike

Alaska Vacation
 For readers looking for an Alaska adventure we still have dates open in June and August at our Kenai peninsula vacation cabin in 2019
Our fully equipped, coastal home sits on three wilderness acres on the "middle Kenai peninsula".  Being centrally located we are within 30 minutes of five rivers including the Kenai, Kasilof and Anchor and just 20 minutes north of the saltwater tractor launches in Ninilchik and Deep Creek.

Most of our guests do a combination of fishing on their own and a day or three of guided river, fly-out or saltwater trips between self guided trips. With our centrally base location your options are unlimited.
For all our guest's we include a three hour tutorial (at our Sebastopol home) covering tackle, tactics, best locations. We can also hook you up with some of the best guide, charter and fly-out contacts in the area. The three bedroom/ 2 bath cabin comfortably sleeps 6 and weekly rates are just $1675 per week (Sunday to Sunday). Additional info and pictures can be found here.
If you have any questions please give us a call at 707 479-0992

The crabbing and rockfish action remain outstanding. We canceled our trips this Sunday but the Reel Magic was out on Saturday 12-14. Captain Brian reported 6 limits of rockfish and 8 easy limits of quality crabs. Rick on the New Sea Angler also had limits of crabs and rockfish plus two lings for all on board. The Reel Magic has spots open through December.
With the commercial fleet now setting gear and counts will drop quickly by the end of the month. There is just a huge amount of gear that has been brought in and many out of area boats will be hammering the local waters.
 


Owner / operator captain Merlin Kolb is bringing the 34 foot twin diesel catamaran the "Reel Magic" to Bodega bay this month. He will be offering salmon / rockfish and crabbing trips through the spring and summer months. Merlin is a well known local captain who is excited to finally be running his own operation. 707 875-BOAT (2628) or 707 479-0992.

New Sea Angler Sportfishing. Captain Rick is offering rockfish and salmon trips daily 707 875-3344

Abalone Bay 
Sea Ranch Ocean Front Vacation Rental.
Welcomes You to the Beautiful Mendonoma Coast

One of the best OCEANFRONT Sea Ranch rentals.
 Abalone Bay is a classic oceanfront 3-bedroom/ 2-bath vacation rental that sleeps 6. You’ll find Abalone Bay to be perfect for a romantic getaway, girls’ weekend, family abalone adventure, or relaxing retreat. 
Abalone Bay also welcomes your dog on holiday.
Please visit our website for more information and to book your dates.

Nearly all the salmon caught along the coast this year are there thanks to the Golden Gate Salmon Association. If not for their efforts to push both state and federal hatchery managers to truck fish over the past three years of drought we would have likely NOT had a season this year or next. I encourage readers to support this great organization and their efforts to return our salmon fishery to it's past glory. You can visit their website and see all that they are doing to make that a reality.

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 [email protected] and we will gladly post the information on our reports pages.

California Waterfowl Dinners and Youth Events Calendar

Golden Gate Salmon Association Events Calendar

 Party Boat Contacts:
 The Bodega Bay Sportfishing  Center is currently booking trips on the New Sea Angler. They also book the six pack Sandy Ann, Profishn't and during the summer the Predator. Reservations can be made at 707 875-3344.
 
 
 
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 [email protected]

 

5-day plot - Wind Speed at 46013

5-day plot - Wave Height at 46013

Marine Weather
 With the Point Arena, San Francisco and Bodega Bay buoys all out of service it's been tough to judge conditions. There are some land based weather stations, wave rider and even webcams that readers can use to assess current conditions.  The Point Reyes wind observations or wave conditions at the San Francisco wave rider buoy are good tools for Golden Gate anglers.  For Bodega Bay anglers you can use both the Point Reyes wind observations and the Bodega Bay Marine lab web cam at Horseshoe Cove and conditions at the Point Arena light house. For Monterey based anglers looking for conditions inside Monterey bay can use the Monterey Bay Aquarium buoy.

 
 

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