RELEASING BIG STRIPED BASS FOR THE FUTURE –7-year-old Masyn Martinez from Lompoc and deckhand, Gary Furtado, with a 31-pound striper released on the California Dawn 2 off Mussel Rock
By DAVE HURLEY
WON Staff Writer
BERKELEY – Tides and water conditions have a tremendous effect on the fisheries within San Francisco Bay, particularly for halibut which need clear water to find their prey. When boats have been able to get outside the Golden Gate to work the shoals and beaches north or south, the scores have been spectacular, regardless of the tide. Inside the bay, the tide has greater influence as the past week was a grind for a fish per rod on the halibut. Previously, the beaches outside of the Golden Gate were spectacular early in the week for the boats willing to burn the fuel, and Captain James Smith of the California Dawn 2, Captain Shawn Taylor of the California Dawn I and, Captain Chris Smith of the Pacific Dream went south down the San Mateo coastline to Mussel Rock for a combined total of 53 limits of big halibut to 25 pounds and 70 striped bass to 31 pounds. The California Dawn 2 landed two stripers over 30 pounds, and both large fish were released. This is an encouraging trend that has been occurring on party boats over the past few years. Previously, releasing a large striper on a party boat rarely occurred, but many captains are following James Smith’s lead by advocating for release of the increasingly scarce double-digit linesides. He said, “7-year-old Masyn Martinez from Lompoc released a 31-pound striper, and we followed this up with 25-pound class fish caught and released a few minutes later by Jaedan Bagos of Fairfield on a swimbait. Releasing these fish is the right decision as the overall numbers and size of big striped bass have decreased over the past few decades. Big fish on the beach were the rule when my dad, Jim Smith, ran the Happy Hooker and Chris and I were deckhands, but they are unicorns these days.”
The past week brought a series of minus tides, and the scores dipped to around a fish per rod inside the bay. However, when ocean conditions allowed the California Dawn 2 to head outside the Gate, they picked up 40 big halibut on a few drifts at the North Bar after scratching 10 halibut inside the bay. Their 25 limits on Tuesday was the highlight of the week to be followed by 47 halibut to 25 pounds on Friday along with 3 striped bass to 24 pounds on Friday. Saturday’s weather brought more challenging conditions, and since it was too rough to head outside, most boats stayed in the bay to scratch out a few halibut along with easy limits of striped bass. In the bay, most boats have been drifting around F Buoy between Berkeley and Angel Island, and Captain Bill Clapp of Bill’s Sport Fishing out of Richmond found great recent action, limiting out within a few drifts.
The good news is the tides have backed off, and this week looks like a return to the incredible action experienced over the past few months with limits of halibut and striped bass strong possibilities. The bass continue to be willing to bite, and Captain Trent Slate of Bite Me Charters out of Paradise Marina in Tiburon was out on Saturday and left them biting off Angel Island. All in all, this has been a year to remember for fishing out of all the San Francisco Bay ports.