The Fishing Report: A beginning and an end

Ocean chinook salmon season opens for areas south of Horse Mountain this Saturday, April 6. Most experts and novices alike are excited about this year’s prospects. There are several factors that give reason to believe that this year’s season will be as good if not better than last.
First, we had huge fresh water outflows in 2010. In addition, there were a lot of three-year-old salmon that did not spawn in 2012, and couple with that the plentiful supply of feed in the ocean for the last three years, and you have the makings for a great salmon season.
Final regulations for the 2013 have not been set yet.  However, for waters south of Point Arena, the limit of king salmon is only two with a minimum size limit of 24 inches. North of Point Arena you may keep two salmon over 20 inches. Most experts believe that there will some sort of in season closure of a couple of months in June and July announced April 8 by the Pacific Coast management Commission. This is due to the impact of winter run fish being taken by sports anglers (estimated 300 above Point Reyes). Commercial boats with their larger size limits have a minimal impact on the winter run. But interestingly enough, hundreds of thousands of fish are killed every season by Delta Pumps sending water to southern California farmers seemingly unregulated by the State or Federal agencies causing entire seasons to be shortened (2008) or  closed in 2009. Wouldn’t it be interesting if they were limited to kill only 300 fish per season? Not going to happen, so sports fishermen take the blame.
Anglers going out this weekend should be advised that spring ocean conditions can change quickly and be very dangerous. That said, typically this time of year the fish are found well off shore feeding on Krill along the 60 fathom curve.  300 feet of water can be found about 10 miles off our shore so you had better be prepared to go that far and more importantly come back that far. In the event you would like to be guided, there are several options out of Bodega Bay including The New Sea Angler sport fishing boat captained by long time skipper, Rick Powers.  Rick reported that “Conditions look excellent with whales and birds feeding on blankets of krill and Pink shrimp in 50 to 70 fathoms.” There are still a few spots open for Sunday. Also the Miss Anita, 6 pack sport fishing boat out of Bodega Harbor is offering a salmon/crab combo, weather permitting.
One season begins while another ends. Steelhead fishing is now closed on all rivers north of the Russian River. You can however continue to fish for Steelhead on the Russian River using artificial lures only. The Hatchery Manager (Brett) at the Coyote facility in Ukiah reported return numbers of 3426 adult Steelhead which is one of the best returns ever at this hatchery. I didn’t get a number from Warm Springs but I am sure the total for both hatcheries is now close to 8,000 and there is still another month of fish that will trickle in.
Large Mouth bass fishing is starting to kick in to high gear as well.  Our major impoundments like Lake Sonoma, Clear Lake and Lake Berryessa all are reporting good fishing with slightly warming waters. Anthony at the Outdoor Pro shop in Cotati said that he had fished Lake Sonoma over the weekend and caught fish all over the lake.  He used a variety of lures including the Mega Bass lure available only at the shop. Spinner baits and Lucky craft pointers were also producing fish.
 
For more information and/ or reports, please contact Hunt Conrad at Prospect Mortgage, 431-9715.