Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3820 Sept 13-27 | Page 18

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MAP FEATURE
Sept 13-27, 2019
VOL.38 • ISS. 20
Not only does San Francisco Bay offer outstanding fishing for several different species of gamefish, a trip on a Bay Area charter boat
includes great views of many iconic landmarks that people travel from all over the world to see. Here anglers make a drift for striped bass
just yards from Alcatraz, the infamous Federal Prison!
Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff.
White Seabass Offer A Surprise to San Francisco Bay Anglers
O
n the morning of August 20,
Jonathan Smith, Captain of
the Happy Hooker sportfishing boat,
went live bait fishing in central San
Francisco Bay for halibut and striped
bass.
Instead, the eight customers and
three crew members aboard the boat
hooked up white seabass, a migratory
species more common in warmer
waters off the coast of Southern
California and Northern Baja Cali-
fornia. These “ghosts” are known for
their hard battles, as well as the great
tablefare they provide.
On the first drift on the outgoing
tide, the anglers successfully battled
24 seabass, according to Smith. After
the tide slowed down, they fished
other areas on the bay until they
returned on the incoming tide,
finishing the trip off with 9 more
seabass.
“The 8 anglers and 3 crew
members caught 33 white seabass,
full limits, along with 5 halibut
and 3 striped bass,” said
Smith. “ I’ve never seen
this many seabass
caught on one trip in
the bay before.”
The seabass
averaged about
13 pounds each
and ranged
This fisherman
proudly displays
a hefty white seabass
that he landed aboard the
California Dawn while drifting
live bait in San Francisco Bay.
Photo courtesy of CALIFORNIA
DAWN SPORTFISHING,
Berkeley.
up to 20 lbs. “The weather was
pretty windy on the bay and we
finished up at noon,” said
Smith.
On the
following day,
the action
slowed down,
but anglers
still
caught
some
beautiful
seabass
in the same
area.
The 20 anglers ended up with
9 seabass up to 22 lbs. and 13
halibut.
“There was a shorter bite
window that day and a lot
more boats targeting the white
seabass” he said.
White seabass are notoriously
fickle and spooky – and since
that day only a smattering of
white seas bass have been
caught in the bay, with one day,
August 3, producing 5 white
seabass aboard the California
Dawn.
I encountered this fickle-
ness in the white seabass
bite back in 2010 when I
went on a trip targeting
white seabass out of
Fishermen’s Wharf in
Monterey. On the day
before, the 18 anglers
aboard the boat had
Dan Bacher, Fish Sniffer Editor, caught these two
halibut during a California Striped Bass Association
caught early limits of
(CSBA) West Delta Chapter charter to Seal Rocks
seabass to 50 pounds
aboard the California Dawn on July 28.
while using dead squid.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
The fish were in the
bay feeding on the
to be great at the Farallon Islands and
squid that died after they
the fishing for halibut continues to
spawned.
be good in the bay during the smaller
However, the bite slowed tides. For example, The California
down dramatically on the
Dawn returned from a recent Penn
day of our trip when we only Fishing University trip to the Farallon
caught a half-dozen seabass.
Islands with 260 rockfish (26 limits)
Smith believes the white
and 13 lingcod. They also caught 29
seabass are resident fish in
halibut and 2 striped bass inside the
San Francisco Bay that are
bay.
part of a group that has been
The California Dawn is teaming up
growing larger every year.
with J and P Bait and the Hubbs Sea
“Three years ago they were
World Research Institute in hopes of a
under the legal size limit of 28
creating a White Seabass (WSB) pen
inches, measuring from 25 to 27
rearing program in San Francisco Bay.
inches long. Now they are legal-
“We are currently collecting data for
sized, ranging from 28 to 38 inches this project. We need any and all WSB
long. Like the halibut and stripers,
heads to be dropped off either with me
they are feeding on the schools of
at K dock in Berkeley or J and P bait
anchovies inside the bay,” he said. in San Francisco, even if the heads go
While the white seabass fishing into your freezer and are dropped off
has slowed down, the action for at a later date,” said Captain James
rockfish and lingcod continues Smith.