BERKELEY – When the weather conditions allow, deep water rockfishing has been outstanding with limits of Dungeness crab and limits to near-limits of quality rockfish taken from the North Farallon Island to Rittenburg Bank. Rittenburg is special, and when the boats are able to make it out there, up to 31 limits of rockfish have been taken on a single 1.5-hour drift. When the weather is less cooperative, the boats have been working from the North Farallon toward Fanny Shoals for up to limits.
Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sport Fishing has the closest access to Rittenburg, and he put his load of 23 anglers onto limits of rockfish by 9:15 am before setting gear for limits of Dungeness crab. Before the weather went south, Captain Ryan Giamonna of North Bay Charters found 23 yellowtail and an albacore on a mid-week trip 30 miles offshore. Powers went out on a private boat, and they also landed 6 yellowtail and 2 big albacore after trolling by a floating log.
Captain James Smith of the California Dawn Sport Fishing hasn’t been out since December 11 due to the wind and weekend storm, but they continually take up to 27 limits of rockfish and crab when they are able to make it to the grounds. He said, “On our last trip to Rittenburg, one drift was all that was necessary for limits of massive rockfish.” With the commercial crab season not anticipated to open until the new year at the earliest, the only way to get fresh crab is to jump on a party boat. The rockfish season ends on December 31, and it is limited to 50 fathoms or deeper north of Point Lopez in Monterey County to the Oregon Border.
Meanwhile, inside of San Francisco Bay, schools of striped bass are lurking, and Captain Trent Slate of Bite Me Charters out of Paradise in Marin County recently found a wide open bite in San Pablo Bay, saying, “We had 6 limits within an hour, ending up catching and releasing over 100 linesides on live bait or tubes.”
For now, it’s just a matter of taking advantage of the weather windows.
