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Western Outdoor News Central California Report

Central Cal Fishing Reports from Western Outdoor News

Rockfish season opens May 1 Pigeon Point south

Rockfish and lingcod seasons will open Saturday, May 1, and applies to waters south of Pigeon Point. For the Half Moon Bay fleet, local waters will open on June 12.

Trout Season Opens April 24

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) reminds anglers that this year’s general trout season opening day is Saturday, April 24. And while DFG expects thousands of anglers will head to the State’s abundant fishing spots, lingering El Niño legacies could present mixed blessings.

The trout season for most medium and small streams runs through November 15 with fishing hours consisting of one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. The general bag limit remains at five trout per day, 10 in possession.

There are exceptions to season dates and bag limits — and rules about trout size restrictions, gear requirements and outright closures — which can be found in the sport fishing regulations booklet available free from DFG offices and license agents.

Salmon Season Extended through September 6

The ocean waters south of Horse Mountain to the U.S.-Mexico border are open for salmon fishing April 3-September 6, 2010. Although, the waters south of Point Arena are only open for salmon fishing Thursday through Monday. The waters north of Horse Mountain will open May 29. The general limit is 2 salmon per day of any species except coho; minimum size limit is 24 inches total length. See the dfg.ca.gov website for area specific regulations and limits.

CENCAL SALT REPORTS

Salmon return for Santa Cruz anglers

by BUD NEVILLE/WON Staff Writer
Published: July 19

SANTA CRUZ — Successful commercial salmon anglers — prior to the commercial closure — spurred some sport effort on king salmon out of Santa Cruz harbor, and the results were pretty good. While the numbers aren’t off the charts, the average size of the fish is exceptional.

“We fished for salmon on Saturday,” said Captain Jim Rubin of Captain Jimmy Charters. “We had three nice salmon to 20 pounds for five anglers.” The action is coming from Soquel Hole, from deeper water. On board the MegaBite, Captain Tom Dolan scored for client Jim Lapham of Pleasanton, finding him a 30.2-pound king.

Bottomfishing remained great in local waters and even better up at New Years Island. “On Sunday, we fished New Years,” said Rubin. He took the Becky Ann up and in one drift off Franklins Point, his group caught 70 fish. “We had limits of rockfish and two lings by 10 a.m.!” Big ling hit for regular Greg, no last name given. “We had around 13 nice vermilion, and a bunch of big olive rockfish.”

Earlier in the week, the Becky Ann stayed local and found limits of rockfish. “We had a good grade for the local spots,” said Rubin. “We also caught one halibut on Tuesday and another on Wednesday.” He said halibut fishing was good for those who focused on the flatties.

On Sunday, Todd Fraser of Bayside Marine scored halibut limits, all good quality fish, said Rubin.

On board the Velocity, Captain Mike Baxter reported excellent action up at New Years Island. “We had 39 anglers and three quarter limits of quality gopher, Bolinas, vermilion and a few yellowtail rockfish, plus seven lingcod. Just about any spot you go to, you can catch fish.”

Bottomfishing king for Monterey boats

MONTEREY — The charter fleet out of Monterey has been busy lately, with plenty of local bottomfishing attracting anglers, and a solid tourist trade for whale watching. Captain Brian Cutting on the Chubasco said that both the Chubasco and the Sur Randy have been doubling up on trips.

“We’ve been fishing locally mostly, and the result has been limits of decent rockfish,” said Cutting. “We had a couple days when we also caught some lingcod.” One trip to Big Sur scored limits of rockfish, plus three keeper lingcod topped by a 12 pounder hooked by Tom Durant of Modesto.

On the local trips, the main species filling sacks are blue, yellowtail and vermilion rockfish. “We haven’t tried for salmon, but one boat did twice. The first trip scored five salmon, the next trip blanked,” said Cutting.

CENCAL FRESH UPDATE

Kokanee on the move at Shaver

by BILL KARR/WON Staff Writer
Published: July 19

SHAVER LAKE — While it’s still mostly a kokanee bite at Shaver Lake, shore anglers are beginning to pick up some limits of rainbows, too. But to stay on the kokanee takes a new search each day.

One day, the kokes might be stacked up in front of Shaver Lake Marina, and the next they may have moved to a new spot.

“The kokanee continue to be the main bite at Shaver Lake,” said Dick Nichols of Dick’s Fishing ters. “This past week the kokanee have moved from place to place but the skilled fishermen are finding their hiding places daily.” Father and son Jim and Mike Landon from Fresno fished with Nichols last week and scored on multiple limits of mostly kokanee and yearling trout to 16 inches, releasing two limits.

“The hot spots that day were in front of the Shaver Marina to the Point and to the island, but the next day was different,” Nichols said. “The bachelor party of soon-to-be groom, Jared Cowen of Sherman Oaks, his soon-to-be grandfather-in-law Leon Phillips of Fresno and members of his wedding party Steve Chee of Pasadena and Robert Grabroski of Clovis, fished with Nichols on Saturday and scored four limits of mostly kokanee to 153?4 inches. The group found their main action at Eagle Point and the Fisherman’s Club area.”

Both days the kokanee were located at 30 to 35 feet deep and were hitting on Captain Jack’s pink Super Hoochies with a tip of corn behind a Shaver Lake dodger. The green/orange and orange and chartreuse Trout Busters with a tip of ’crawler on the end hook and corn on the near hook at 12 feet deep scored both kokanee and ’bows. Also effective was the orange Apex lure with a tip of corn.

According to Captain Jack Yandell, the kokanee bite should last through July into the first part of August before a slo down.

Shore fishermen are starting to pick up limits of trout as evidenced by Frank and Melvin Policarpo of Fresno, who have been catching their limits regularly near the point using orange Power Bait.

The smallmouth bass bite is on and they can be found near any rocky area using crickets or small spinners.

Small kokanee plentiful at Bass Lake, rainbows and bass also available

by BILL KARR/WON Staff Writer

OAKHURST — If you’re after a fun day of catching and releasing a lot of small kokanee, Bass Lake is the place for you. And every now and then, you’ll luck into a big one up to 19 inches!

“There are lots of kokanee, but unforunately, no size,” said Mike Beighey, Fishing Guide. “But it’s still fun to catch and release, and sooner or later you will catch one of the larger fish.”

The larger kokes are holding between 24 and 38 feet around MIller’s Bay, but “getting them to bite takes persistence and lots of patience,” Beighey said. For lures, use a blue Radical Glow Tube tipped with white shoepeg corn.

“Trout seem to be biting better from shore than from the boat,” he said. “and rainbow Power Bait is always what my so, Martin, uses. “It really gets me how many fish he gets off the shore.”

The trout are healthy this year, and the water coming in from Browns Ditch is one of his hot spots, but he’s also seeing some nice rainbows coming in by the boat launch at the dam. “If you’re in a boat, try wedding rings tipped with ‘crawler behind Dave Davis flashers, from the surface to 20 feet in the early morning,” he said.

Some small spotted bass are coming out, and the best time to fish is early morning around the docks using Luck E Strike 6-inch swirltail blackfire.

“Looks like the lake is going to be down for another year after this, which I think is really having an effect on the fishery, especially the black bass,” Beighey said. “The water isn’t even reaching where they used to spawn. .I’m sure this is only temporary and will recover when the lake is allowed to reach full capacity.”
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