THE FISHING REPORT: October Fish Fest

October has to be the best month of the year. The low angle of the sun makes for comfortable radiant warmth and beautiful sunrises and sets. In addition, the fish and wildlife seem to sense that winter is coming and they tend to be very active, feeding at these polar times of the day.
Albacore tuna have to be the main fish story in our area as boats from Bodega Bay are only having to travel 35 miles to get into “all-you-can-deal-with” fishing. Limited by cooler space and the amount of ice necessary to process this wonderful table fare, is about all that anglers are constrained by. That and their moral compass and common sense that even in the face of what seems like an inexhaustible supply, there is truly a finite number of fish in the sea.  
Sonoma County anglers have been blessed this year by the currents meandering fairly close to shore coupled with good weather windows to access the offshore blue water. Trolling is the main way to find the fish although shear waters and albatross dipping towards the sea surface will also give their location away. Boats usually employ four or five boat rods loaded with 50-pound monofilament. Tuna Clones in pro-dolphin, Mexican flag and all white seem to be the ticket. The boat will speed troll at seven to eight knots with the lures skipping the surface just 50 feet off the transom. The tuna are attracted by the boat’s wake or bubbles and then come up to hit the lures. Tuna fishing has been described as fishing on crack because of the shear pandemonium that occurs when that first rod starts bucking and screaming, often followed by a second and a third until sometimes every rod on the boats is hooked up with a 30 pound albacore capable of speed bursts up to 40 miles an hour.
The boat is then slowed and the anglers sort out the lines which are still screaming and going every which way. Albacore are tough fighters and a 30-pound long fin will fight ten times as hard as a similar size salmon. Once the first fish hits the deck, the fish tails start a wild, out of control syncopated drum roll, and if you are lucky, eventually all five fish are on the deck creating the music that all albacore fishermen live for. It can be delirious. The rush is so intense, but it can also be precluded or followed by long hours of nothing and fuel bills that would rival NASA’s.
There are no guarantees in albacore fishing, but this year seems to be as close as you can get. The season will last as long as the warm water stays close and the wind stays down. Check with these three Bodega party boats for available charters: The New Sea Angler, The Miss Anita and The Reelentless.
In addition to the tuna offshore, the salmon along the Sonoma coast have been pretty good for this time of year. There are only three weeks left to the salmon season. Lots of guys are trolling from Tomales Point to Elephant Rock, but I think a better method is going to be to mooch off either point. This is a drifting method with much lighter gear and utilizing a dead herring strung upside down. The fish that are hooked with this method tend to be larger and with the lighter gear can be more challenging to bring in. In addition, there has been white sea bass feeding on the abundant squid spawn that is happening off of Tomales Point. These croakers on steroids are also great table fare and will run between 30 and 60 pounds. 12-pound test just won’t cut it here, guys, so try to get 30-pound test with a 25-pound fluorocarbon leader. My Buddy Jim Brown, aboard the Sod Buster, landed two last Friday to 56 pounds along with a 18-pound salmon while breaking off two of the white sea bass.
For more information and or first person fishing reports, please contact Hunt Conrad at Prospect Mortgage, 431-9715.