Santa Cruz/Monterey
Rough seas have prevented anglers from getting out on Monterey Bay most days over the past several week, though hardy anglers venturing out on fishable days between storms have caught a mixture of sanddabs, mackerel and perch.

The Velocity made a trip on Saturday February 2 that yielded good sanddab and mackerel fishing for 7 anglers. They caught 200 sanddabs, 50 Spanish mackerel and 40 Pacific mackerel while fishing in 300 feet of water off Santa Cruz, according to Ken Stagnaro of Stagnaro’s Fishing Trips.

“The surfperch fishing has been hit and miss in between the swells and rain,” disclosed Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine. “There are some stripers being caught in the river mouths over the last week.”

There has been some good rockcod fishing in the local reefs at the low tides for poke polers. The crab fishing is still hit and miss for commercial and sport anglers from Santa Cruz, noted Fraser.

The Sur Randy made a sanddab/mackerel trip on February 2, reported Pete Bruno of Randy’s Fishing Trips in Monterey. “There was a big swell, so the fishing was tough and the anglers came in early,” said Bruno. “They averaged about 8 to 10 sanddabs and 8 to 10 mackerel per rod.”

On the latest trip on the Checkmate, the 12 anglers caught lots of sanddabs and mackerel, according to Todd Arcoleo of Chris’ Fishing Trips.

“Some 6-10 pound steelhead are being caught at the local hot spots in the San Lorenzo River,” added Fraser.” This last storm should give us enough water in the river to fish for a few weeks.”

  Half Moon Bay
It has been a tough winter for saltwater anglers living in the Half Moon Bay area. While there are some good options such as crabbing and sanddab fishing available offshore, the weather has been so stormy and windy that anglers have had very few opportunities to get out on the water.

“I got out after crabs on Friday and we scored full limits,” reported Captain Tom Mattusch of Hulicat Sportfishing on February 4. “It hasn’t been easy to get out between storms, but we got lucky that day.”

“I’d like to report that if the ocean conditions calmed down that we could go out after jumbo Humboldt squid, but there is a lot of evidence that the squid are gone. A big mass of squid made a brief showing off Southern California and now they have appeared in Baja. It is likely that the squid showing off of Baja are the ones that were holding off California about a month ago,” disclosed Mattusch.

The folks at Queen of Hearts Sportfishing have not been out of the harbor recently due to rough weather. Weather permitting, they will be offering squid fishing expeditions on Saturdays and whale watching trips on Sundays through the end of March.

“It’s been rainy and quiet down here,” related Peggy Beckett of the Huck Finn Sportfishing Center. “We have not had any boats go out, but we hope to run some squid trips in the coming weeks.”

  San Rafael
The weekend of February 2-3 was a virtual blowout for sturgeon fishing in San Pablo Bay, due to windy, cold and rainy weather.

“Fishing this weekend was horrible, windy and crummy,” said Keith Fraser of Loch Lomond Live Bait and Tackle. “A few hardy anglers caught sturgeon, but it was next to unfishable on Saturday.”

On Friday, Gary Graw demonstrated his angling prowess by catching a 12 lb. striped bass while anchor fishing with shrimp baits, noted Fraser.

“When the wind hasn’t been blowing,” added Fraser, “sturgeon fishing has been terrific. Tides aren’t all that critical now, due to all of the rain that we have been receiving.”

  Berkeley/Emeryville
To say that this is the slow season for East Bay saltwater enthusiasts is almost an understatement. Fishing for most species such as rockfish, lingcod and salmon is closed. While fishing is open for jumbo Humboldt squid, crabs and sanddabs, the weather has been so stormy that no one has been able to get outside the Golden Gate to target any of these species.

The only realistic option for East Bay anglers is targeting sturgeon in various areas of South San Francisco Bay, but even that action has slowed down in recent days.

Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing had been targeting sturgeon holding off the Oakland Airport with a high level of success, but as the month of January came to an end, the sturgeon bite dried up for Smith and as of press time he was preparing to move his boat up to the Martinez area.

At Emeryville, the Emeryville Sportfishing Center has not run any trips recently as a result of poor weather and low angler interest. Currently the folks at the sportfishing center are scheduling sturgeon and squid trips on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Whether or not the trips run is determined by both the conditions and the amount of angler interest the trips generate.

  Martinez/Crockett
Sturgeon seem to be plentiful in both San Pablo and Suisun Bays, but the fishing has been slow primarily due to cold water temperatures. Charter skippers are predicting great action when water temperatures rise, but this probably won’t happen until March.

“The fishing has been pretty slow,” reported Captain Jim Smith of Happy Hooker Sportfishing on February 4. “The water temperature is around 46 and 47 degrees. That is too cold. The fish are sluggish and just are not interested feeding.”

“I had trips in San Pablo Bay on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, my guys got a couple good keeper stripers. On Sunday we ended up landing a single 48 inch sturgeon. The best bait for both sturgeon and stripers has been ghost shrimp,” added Smith.

“With all this rain and the number of fish we are marking, I think we have some really good fishing to look forward to in March and on into April,” predicted Smith.

On Saturday, February 2, Captain Mike took out a group of anglers out of the Crockett Marina aboard the Morning Star in search of sturgeon. The anglers encountered wind and rain, but one lucky angler did manage to land and release a 6 foot plus sturgeon while fishing in Suisun Bay near the Moth Ball Fleet.

Jay Lopes of Right Hook Sportfishing has also been plying the waters of San Pablo and Suisun Bays. Like everyone else, Lopes has been experiencing slow action due to cold water temperatures. Lopes agrees that March and April are shaping up to be really good months for sturgeon anglers.

  Bodega Bay
Bodega Bay is one of the most hardcore saltwater fishing ports in the state, with rough and tumble anglers that always seem to find some sort of action even in the dead of winter whether it is crabbing in near shore waters or targeting jumbo Humboldt squid out in deep water near Cordell Bank.

The last two weeks have tested the patience of even the hardiest Sonoma County anglers. Ocean conditions have been too rough to allow safe navigation for charter boats and private craft. Beyond that there is a lot of evidence that indicates the jumbo squid that Sonoma anglers enjoy battling so much have now left the north coast and relocated off of the Baja Peninsula.

“There hasn’t been any fishing going on up here, since it has been way too rough,” disclosed Captain Les Fernandes at Will’s Bait and Tackle. “We are hoping if the seas flattens out over the next week that we will be able to get out after some crabs and I’d like to get in a shark trip or two.”

“From what we’ve been hearing the jumbo Humboldt squid have left our area and headed back down south. Of course we can’t be sure until we actually have the opportunity to get out on the water to check things out,” added Fernandes.

   Fort Bragg
Noyo Harbor charter skippers have been frustrated by the recent rough stormy weather. Crabbing has been great when the boats are able to get out to their pots and there has been a decent level of angler interest. If the conditions calm down anglers will have no problem scoring tasty limits of fat crabs.

“When it has been calm I haven’t had customers and when I’ve had customers it has been too rough to go out,” exclaimed Randy Thornton of Telstar Charters. “The crabbing is great - I’ve scored limits and near limits every time we’ve gone out. The crabs we’ve been getting have been big and healthy.”