Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3618 August 18- September 4 2017 | Page 18

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16 Aug . 18 - Sept . 1 , 2017 VOL . 36 • ISS . 18
Mike Baume holds up a fresh caught halibut during a live bait drifting adventure with Chad Aho , Captain of the Miss Marin , on July 28 . Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .

Live Bait Magic On San Francisco Bay

The first time I ever went live bait fishing on San Francisco Bay , in the late spring of 1980 , was not by intention . I had planned to go out salmon fishing out of Fisherman ’ s Wharf , but a late start from my apartment in San Jose resulted in me getting there 10 minutes after the salmon boat I was scheduled to go on had already left . I saw a group of people lined up above one of the berths at the wharf with their tackle boxes , ice chests and fishing gear , ready to board a boat , the Bass Tub . I asked one of the anglers , “ What are you going fishing for ?” “ We ’ re going live bait potluck fishing ,” he said . “ We ’ ll catch whatever fish bites .” “ When is the boat going to leave ?” I asked . “ The skipper usually gets here around 7 am ,” he noted . I waited until the skipper , Cliff Anfinson , a jovial bear of a man with tousled reddish blond hair , showed up in his pickup truck around 7:20 am . “ Do you have any spots left ?” I asked . “ Let me count to see how many we have on the boat ,” Anfinson said . A couple of minutes later after he counted how many folks were aboard , he told me I could go down the ladder and board the boat . I grabbed a spot , one of several left . What happened that day was the beginning of nearly 40-year love affair with live bait fishing on San Francisco Bay and outside the Golden Gate . We started drifting live anchovies outside Point Bonita , where we landed a bunch of brown and blue rockfish , and over a dozen cabezon and a couple of keeper lingcod . Then we moved into San Francisco Bay to target halibut and stripers . Anglers began hooking up halibut as we drifted around Alcatraz . Finally , I hooked up my first halibut , a 7 pounder . We ended the day with mixed sacks of rockfish , cabezon , lingcod and halibut . It was a

Captain Chad Aho gets read to net Mike Baume ’ s halibut . Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff . magic day enjoying great fishing and some of the most gorgeous scenery anywhere . After that trip , I was hooked on live bait fishing in the bay and I went out on the Bass Tub many times . The comedic team of Anfinson and his deckhand at the time , Chuck Louie , made the trip go fast with all of their quips and jokes throughout the day . When somebody would catch a red rockfish that had never caught one before , they would often ask , “ What type of fish is that ?” Louie would respond , “ Don ’ t touch that fish ! It ’ s the highly venomous red devil ,” and began grinning after the angler realized he was kidding . Since that time , I ’ ve spent thousands of hours on hundreds of live bait trips fishing with Anfinson , his son Erik , and other skippers on the
Ray Ishita shows off a hard-fighting striped bass that he landed while fishing with Captain Chad Aho of Bay Charter Boats .
Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff . bay , including Gordon Hough on the Morning Star , James Smith on the California Dawn , Jim Smith on the Happy Hooker , Chris Smith on the Captain Hook , Mick Menigoz on the Superfish , Scott Baggett on the Nobilis , Art Robie and later Jay Yokomizo on the New Huck Finn , Jim Cox on the Touch of Gray , and Mike O ’ Connell on the New Keesa . I ’ ve caught hefty halibut to 28 pounds , stripers to 28 pounds , huge leopard sharks , lingcod , and an array of colorful rockfish and other species on live bait adventures . I ’ ve had some of my most memorable fishing experiences ever on the bay while live bait fishing – so I looked forward to the trip I had with Chad Aho , captain of the Miss Marin out of the Berkeley Marina in late July . Fishing with us were two anglers , Ray Ishima of Sacramento , and Mike Baume of Citrus Heights , along with Pat Canavan , the deckhand . Aho reported good fishing on his trip sev-