THE FISHING REPORT

Ocean salmon fishing continues to be really good out of Bodega
Bay. If you want to compare it to years ago, where we would have
limits on end all summer long, then no, it isn’t all that good, but
this is a rebuilding year, and right now, the salmon fishing off
our particular coast is extremely good. There are many other ports
that have had a really tough time of it this year, but for some
reason Bodega Bay has managed to stay fairly consistent all summer
long.
On average, boats out of Bodega Bay for the last month and a
half have averaged about a ½ a fish per rod. There are days like
last Friday where limits were common for the private boats and
around one for the party boats, but generally speaking, getting
even one fish to the boat is a success. Jim brown from St. Helena
got out last Friday and had the hot spot figured out. He had his
hands full, farming several, with two doubles and several other
bites for one short of limits to 20 pounds at 8 o’clock. He had to
work for the next 5 hours to get that final fish to go home. Jim
attributed his success to the use of sardines for bait as opposed
to the standard herring. “They just give off a slightly different
smell that seems to make them special,” claimed Jim.
Party boats have also had a banner year out of Bodega.  Rick
Powers on the New Sea Angler continues to run his combination
trips, starting out fishing for salmon and then finishing up with
almost certain limits of rock fish. Rick was explaining that we got
spoiled in the early 2000’s with the great Sacramento River fishery
supplying huge numbers of salmon off our coasts. He remembers in
the 60’s and early 70’s when we had similar fishing to today. “We
are lucky to have any fishery this year, let alone to have it be
this good,” exclaimed Rick. Rick is currently mooching for salmon
or trolling when possible. Another high liner in the party boat
fleet is Capt. Vince Orsini’s Miss Anita. She is a 6-pack boat out
of Bodega and has found limits slightly easier to come by because
of her size. She also sports a couple of downriggers which allow
her to get right down on the bottom where the salmon seem to be
holding, feeding on squid.
San Francisco boats are finally getting in on some of the action
as the fish migrate around the corner to the north Marin coast
line. The large party boats are getting roughly ½ a fish a rod on a
good day. The private boats are doing generally better, averaging
just under a fish per rod. Chris Conrad from Sebastopol got out on
a friend’s private boat last Saturday and trolled the Duxbury/Muir
Beach area and found limits for 3 to 25 pounds. Chris mentioned his
hot setup was straight bait behind a 4-inch pearl dodger. A lot of
the fishermen I am talking to are going more and more with the
straight bait set up. The apexes, especially in watermelon color,
are taking a few, but bait in a rotary salmon killer, FBR or crow
bar seems to be more consistent at catching these fish.
In addition to the unexpectedly high numbers of fish we are
catching right now is that the quality of the fish is excellent. It
is not uncommon to see a limit of fish with a 20 or a 30 pounder in
the mix. These are beautiful fish to eat and they pull really hard.
When you get one of these big boys on, you better have your drag
set right because they will give you all you can handle. A lot of
fish are being lost because so many of us are out of practice.
There are only three weeks left in the season, with the last day to
fish being September 7th, so you better get your trips  in.
Good luck and tight lines.
For more information and or reports please contact Hunt
Conrad at Prospect Mortgage, 431-9715.