February 08, 2010    Headlines

Winter Action WSB, Crabs and Squid

For anglers looking to get out and enjoy some good weather and fishing this past weekend provided both. Todd Arcaleo of Chris's Landing at Old Fisherman's Wharf said, "its all you can get on the giant squid here". They went out on Superbowl Sunday 2-7 for 80 squid and "as many sand dabs as you want". They haven't pulled the crab pots the past couple of days due to the swell, and the white sea bass seem to have moved up the coast, so they have been targeting the squid and dabs. There is a good video on KSBW.com on a recent squid trip on the Checkmate. They are running Monday and Wednesday through Sunday of the current week. Ly Tu of Ly's Fishing Goods in San Jose said one of his regular customers had a great day off of Pajaro Beach on Friday with a 40-pound white sea bass and a 30-pound halibut, both taken on dead squid. He weighed in a 1.5-pound barred perch from Sunset Beach on grass shrimp on Saturday. As far as the future of salmon or better put the chances of us having a salmon season this year or next looks to be slim and none. The returns to the Central Valley rivers this past fall were worse than that of 2008. While some of the state hatcheries saw a slight uptick in counts the federal hatchery on Battle Creek came in far lower. The PFMC will be meeting this month and next but given the complete collapse of fall run of the past three years we don't see any future for salmon. Until the Delta is fixed and water diversion is brought back down to pre 2002 levels there is little hope of us ever seeing a California ocean fishery (beyond a short far north coast season) ever again.   USAFishing's Kenai Peninsula CABIN   Our Alaska vacation cabin is located right in the heart of the Kenai peninsula. This fully outfitted 3 bedroom, 2 bath coastal home sleeps 6+ and sits on over several wilderness acres. It's within 30 minutes to all five of the Kenai peninsula's salmon filled rivers and saltwater action. Looking for an affordable Alaska vacation on your schedule and your own private home to stay? Weekly rentals are just $1400.00 per week or less than $250. per person for a group of six. We currently have just a few weeks still available in 2010: June 6th, June 20th, July 4th and September 12th. Please give us a call and we will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the house or fishing in general. Ask us how to fly free on Alaska Airlines! 707 762-9776 Pictured above: My 16 year old son Jake shows off the day's sockeye catch from our annual family trip in July 2009. Politics and 2010 Salmon Next year we should see at least a short salmon season but given the lack of angler support to help out the groups fighting the Govenator's canal plan, 2010 could well be the last year of ocean salmon in Central California in our lifetime. Maybe the next generation will get it right but we sure F&*%@! it up for them. YOU aren't fishing  salmon this year because the politicos in Sacramento and Washington DC decided it was better to grow cotton in the California desert and put a subside check on a millionaire cotton farmer's table (and a contribution to their campaign) than keep fish swimming in our rivers. Anglers are the last line of defense but we are so unorginized that  we are going to get blitzed by the water contractors. There is only one way out of this mess and it's through the courts and the hard work of California Sportfishing Protection Alliance Please consider supporting them as they are pushing the lawsuits that will ensure a future or at least a hope of us ever salmon fishing in California again. Our salmon runs didn't die, they were stolen from us by a 40% increase in water diversions from the Delta beginning in 2002. Unless water diversions are rolled back (through court order and the litigation of CSPA) salmon don't have a chance of making it to sea or you or your children to ever fish for them. No group has done more over the past two decades to protect fisheries than CSPA. In the past two months USAFishing readers have raised nearly $10,000 for the CSPA but much much more is needed. Please visit their website and learn more about all the great work they are doing. Become part of the solution and support the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance today! At this time it looks like it will be 2010 before we will be back to salmon fishing. Until then it's rockfish, tuna and crabs. 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. California Waterfowl 2009 Dinners and Youth Events Calendar The BAY AREA SPORTFISHERS CLUB meets the second Wednesday of each month at the I-Hop restaurant at Stevens creek and Lawrence Expy & Hwy280 in Santa Clara. The club has monthly local fishing events and trips each month and supports the Monterey Salmon and Steelhead hatchery and Fishing in the Cities for Kids programs. Annual Alaskan, Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Etc. trips are planned each year.  See: www.bayareasportfishers.com for more information please call us. Blake Broadway 408-263-5488 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