Fishing Reports

1-23-11 We had a great time at the Sportsman Show. We saw some old friends and made some new ones. I pulled the boat out of the water today and will be cleaning and polishing and doing mechanical maintenance for the next few weeks.

1-14-11 We will be at the ISE Sportsmans Show in Sacramento on January 19 and 20 at the Humboldt County Visitors Bureau booth. If you are at the Show stop by and say hello to Sherry and I.

1-11-12 Today was our last crab trip of the season. The commercial crab boats will begin setting out their pots on Friday and we want to be out of their way. We had an excellent year thanks to our many loyal customers and our new ones as well. We have a couple of research trips to do and then we will pull the boat for annual maintenance and some polishing. We take pride in having the newest, cleanest and now the fastest charter boat in Humboldt Bay.

1-8-12 It was a beautiful morning and we took advantage of calm seas and made two crab trips. There were plenty of crab and everyone went home with limits.

1-7-12 We reset our crab pots today and pulled them after an hour and a half soak for 3 limits. Not as many jumbos with the short soak but that was not too surprising. Hopefully they will be all full for tomorrows trips. We still have some room for the next few days. We are still planning on quitting next Wednesday unless the weather looks real good or the commercials do not go as planned on Friday.

1-3-12 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We got out today for a quick crab trip and got our four limits of crab out of three pots. There is a big swell coming over the next couple of days so I will be pulling our pots out of the water until Saturday. It looks like good weather over the weekend so we hope to get out for a few more trips before we quit on the 10th.

12-31-11 We got out today and the ocean was nicer than we expected. The crabs were in a biting mood and we really only needed to pull 4 pots for 60 jumbo size. We were headed back in after about an hour on the water. All in all it was a great way to finish what was a great year for the Reel Steel.

12-30-11 Hope everyone had a great Christmas and took time to remember what the holiday is all about. We brought in some of our gear so we would not have everything out during this bad weather. We are still running crab trips. Sunday, January 1st looks like a nice weather day and we just had two cancellations. If you want to start the year off right with a crab feed then give Sherry a call to go. The crabs are in great shape now and are very full. Don't forget that you need a new fishing license for 2012.

12-26-11 We brought in the crab gear today to sit out some predicted bad weather. We got limits for everyone again. When the weather looks good for a couple of days straight we will reset the gear and run some more trips. I'll post here when we decide to go.

12-25-11 MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!! We are still crabbing and getting limits. It looks like the weather may be starting to act a little more like winter with rain in the forecast for next week. We will probably bring in the crab pots and wait and see what the weather is going to do. Sounds like some strong wind and swell this week.

12-22-11 We made 3 trips for crab today. Everyone went home with their limits. The last trip was right at dusk and we were treated to a flat calm ocean and a beautiful sunset. It was neat to see it from the water.

12-18-11 The swell came up quite a bit today but the wind held off and we were able to get out and get limits for everyone. We are watching the weather closely for this week and it looks to be blown out until Thursday. For the folks that are on this week, Sherry will stay in touch with you and keep you updated on the weather and our departing times. The crabs are mostly in nice shape now with very few light ones anymore.

12-17-11 The weather was nice again today and we were able to pull limits of big crab for everyone on the boat. It looks like the weather is coming up a little for the next couple of days and then settles back down by midweek.

12-16-11 We are having one of the dryest Decembers on record.With a lack of storms, the ocean has been nice almost all month. The crab continue to be plentiful and are in good shape now. We went out again today for limits and sunshine.

12-13-11 It was another morning of quick, easy limits of crab for all. The ocean continues to be nice.

12-11-11 With favorable tides and nice ocean conditions we were able to make two trips today. Once again we enjoyed the bounty that the Pacific ocean has to offer with crab limits for everyone.

12-10-11 The ocean was very calm again today. It sure has been nice out there for December. I imagine that once the storms start up that it will be a different story out there though. For now, we will just enjoy the calm weather. The crabbing continues to be excellent with limits of nice crab on every trip.

12-9-11 With dense fog giving way to beautiful sunshine it was a spectacular morning. We had a full boat but had quick and easy limits in just four pots. The crab were nice size and felt fairly heavy. The commercial crabbers will not be going out until the middle of January so come and take a couple hour boat ride with us on the Reel Steel and go home with a generous 10 crab limit.

12-8-11 We only needed a couple of limits today so we pulled 3 pots to select some nice big crabs. We also had four people from the National Weather Service on board to get some firsthand experience with our ocean conditions. It was very foggy in the Bay but sunny out on the ocean. There is still no official word on when the commercial crabbers will start here but the test results just came in and it looks like they probably won't start until January.

12-7-11 The ocean was flat just as predicted and the crabs were plentiful enough that we were able to select the best ones. Everyone went home with limits again.

12-6-11 Flat calm conditions made it nice to be on the water this morning. It was frosty on the dock but the cabin heater kept us all nice and toasty warm inside. The forecast is great for the entire week so if you are on the fence about going crabbing with us now is the time. The weather in December just does not get any better.

12-5-11 It's hard to spice up a crab report but limits for all aboard again today.

12-4-11 Well, here it is Sunday and the weather is still pretty bad on the ocean. Lots of wind and steep seas. But it is supposed to change for the better starting tonight. The forecast for Monday looks good, and Tuesday and Wednesday look absolutely beautiful out there. If you have been waiting for some good weather to come out crabbing with us then this week is IT. Call Sherry at 707-499-4925 and get your spot on the boat while the good weather lasts.

12-2-11 Saturdays weather does not look good now but Sunday might be OK. We went yesterday and some of our gear was MIA but we still got limits . Early next week is looking REAL nice so if you can go on a weekday take a look at next Tuesday and Wednesday. We are the only ones doing crab trips now so be sure to book early since we are getting a lot of calls now. The word on the dock is that the commercials probably won't go until the first of the year.

11-29-11 The weather looks good for this weekend crabbing. We still have some room for Sat and Sunday.

11-27-11 After a few days off visiting family we made two trips today for crab. The current was running pretty strong for the early trip and the buoys were diving pretty good but we still got crab limits for everyone on both trips. We have plenty of room available if you want to go out on the water and catch some crabs with us. Just give Sherry a call at 707-499-4925 and schedule your trip.

11-22-11 Sundays trips sent everyone home with nice tasty crab limits. We had enough in the pots that we were able to select the best looking ones. They are really starting to fill out nicely. I cooked a batch from Sundays catch and they were all pretty full. We will be ready to go out again next Sunday the 27th and then every day that the weather allows after that.

11-18-11 A storm has created rough seas for today and tomorrow. It looks like Sunday may be pretty nice and possibly Monday morning but after that it will be too rough to get out again, probably until after Thanksgiving. If you want some crab for the Thanksgiving holiday and have not made reservations with Sherry for Sunday or Monday morning then you should call her soon. We may run three trips on Sunday, one in the morning early and two in the afternoon if the weather stays as forecast.

11-16-11 We had a full boat today and were able to pull limits of nice size crabs for all. The ocean was real nice. It looks good for tomorrow as well but we don't have a trip booked. Friday is supposed to have a big swell come up so we won't go out then.

11-15-11 We did not have a trip today but we did get out to move some gear around. Once again the pots were STUFFED. There are some really nice crab out there right now. Easy limits every trip. We will be out of town for Thanksgiving but will try to go out between now and Wednesday am before T-day. We will be back the following Sunday November 27. We will be back in full swing again from then on until the commercial season starts.

11-12-11 Another good day of crabbing. It was a little breezy but that did not stop us from getting limits for everyone on board.

11-11-11 First of all THANK YOU! to our Veterans. I missed a couple of reports but the crabbing continues to be excellent. It did appear that a couple of our pots may have been tampered with but we still got easy limits for all. Today we had Ryan back on the boat for the first time after catching an 11# plus vermilion rockfish this summer, the largest on Reel Steel so far. The crabs are filling in a little more all of the time. We have plenty of dates available so give Sherry a call to book a crab trip. It looks like the commercial fishermen will not start here until December 15th at the earliest. When they start we will put our crab gear away and be done for the year until fishing starts next May.

11-8-11 The crab were plentiful again today as we only pulled 3 pots for over 60 of the tasty critters. There were a couple of "old hands" on the boat and they did all of the work while I stood by like a lump. That is one of the neat things about crabbing with us. You can be as involved as you want to be.If you are going crabbing with us don't forget your fishing license and a bucket. If you have one of those 6 gallon buckets that is better since 10 crab fill a 5 gallon bucket to the brim and some crab might try to climb out. The weather looks really good for the rest of the week and so far we are wide open for the weekend(Saturdays forecast looks good).

11-7-11 We got out for crabs today. There was a little swell but no wind which made it real nice out there The trip took about an hour and we pulled 4 pots for 50 crab.

11-5-11 We snuck out at dawn and set our crab gear. There were plenty of crabs.They are filled out better than the early reports indicated although they are not "plump" quite yet. We just finished boiling up a batch and I can't wait to dig in. Trips are $60 per person and we almost always get limits of big crab. The weather looks really nice starting Monday so let Sherry know if you are ready get out for your own crab dinner.

10-31-11 Today I started to get the boat ready for crab season. The season starts next Saturday November 5th. The limit is 10 crabs per person and the price is only $60. It is a great deal and a chance to get out on the ocean for an hour or two and come home with some of the tastiest treats the Pacific Ocean has to offer. Call Sherry at 707-499-4925 to get your spot on the boat!!

10-30-11 With a bad weather forecast for tomorrow, today was probably our last fishing day of the season. Regular customer and fishing guru, Lonnie Dollarhide managed one halibut and we ran down for a couple of ling cod for the frying pan but that was it for the day. It was spotty catching, definately not the type of fishing that we had most of this summer. I hate taking the fishing gear off of the boat, it seems so final but we will be ready for action again next May when the fishing season starts up again. Thank you to all of our great customers. We made a lot of new friends and enjoyed time with old friends. I was asked how we end up with such nice people on the boat all of the time. I really didn't have a good answer, I guess we are just lucky that way.

10-29-11 We fished for halibut today without much luck. We had one large fish on that came unhooked but it was likely a shark or large skate. There were only a few fish caught by the other boats that were out.

10-28-11 It has been a while since we have been down to the rockfish grounds and I was really looking forward to some good fishing. The fish had other ideas though. There was about a nine foot swell running although with little wind the fishing conditions were not too bad. As has happened before, the late season big swell put the fish off the chew. We ran around to multiple spots and while the fishfinder showed fish only a few wanted to bite. But as bad as the fishing was, we still ended only three fish shy of limits for everyone. We had one lingcod but really not a lot of variety. We had to head for home a little early since there is a huge tidal runoff which could make the bay entrance less than inviting.


10-21-11 We did not have a trip planned for today even though the forecast suddenly improved. I got a call yesterday evening from a friend that wanted to hop on for tuna and hoped that we were going. It was kind of late in the afternoon but with the improved forecast I decided to make some calls. I gave up after 5 or 6 calls. It was late and hard for people to change their plans. Plus the forecast showed a little more wind down towards where we have been fishing tuna and the numbers have not been that great even though there are some fish there (6-8 fish per trip). Well, the boat that did go had an epic day. One of those trips we all dream about where the tuna are biting everything that you throw at them. They had 42 fish up to 40# for three guys. Now that's tuna fishing. The wind is blowing offshore now and it could very well be the end of tuna this year. Rockfish and halibut both end October 31. It looks like it will be too rough to go at least until the middle of the week. We did get out for halibut today and got our limit.


10-18-11 Another great day with another great crew on the boat. We left in the dark to head to what we hoped were tuna filled waters. We got to the area where we wanted to fish and worked it for a while with no results. We moved out a little further and found better color water and tried it some more. We were just about to throw in the towel when our buddy boat hooked a fish. That convinced us to stay. We finally had a hookup and the fish came up the chumline to the boat. We missed several takes and a couple of pulled hooks but we did manage to put three fish in the boat on that stop. We had one other stop for three more fish but that was it for us. Not a lot of fish but the grade was excellent with the largest topping 27#. The ocean was flat and it was T-shirt weather out there. It was kind of a letdown to come back to the fog after such a nice day.

10-16-11 It was kind of a tough scratch out on the halibut grounds today. We ended the day with only two fish which tied us for high boat. There was not a lot of sign and again we did not have a lot of junk fish. Lonnie Dollarhide brought a big soupfin to the boat and I think that we had another shark on at the end of the day that ended up breaking the 65# line. The ocean was nice and we had a pretty good time but I'm not real happy unless everyone goes home with limits. The fish are there, they just are not biting like they were earlier this season.

10-15-11 We seem to be in a halibut rut lately. The last three trips have all ended with 3 fish, one pretty nice size one and two smaller ones. It was very nice out on the water again today. There used to be an ad slogan that went " you meet the nicest people on a Honda". I think that you meet the nicest people on a fishing boat. We sure have had some great folks on the boat this season. Not too many junk fish today. Just a couple of the little bait stealers.

10-14-11 It was a beautiful Fall day on the water today with warm temperatures and flat seas. The halibut bit today in a couple of little spurts and we landed 3 fish for 4 people with the largest at 42#. We had a couple of sharks and some other misc fish to keep us busy rebaiting hooks all day.

10-13-11 It's been a few days since we have been on the water but it looks like the weather is settling down a little so we should be back out fishing again tomorrow. We are mostly fishing for halibut although if the weather allows we can fish rockfish. The tuna water is still out there so if we get some real nice conditions we will be trying for them.

10-9-11 We ran to the rocks for a rockfish trip today. We had one no show so we were a little shorthanded so the gang decided to let the skipper fish some. We limited on rockfish and lingcod. In fact, we had to throw many lings back while we tried to get our rockfish. There were a lot of small ones in the mix so it should be good ling fishing in the future.

10-8-11 The halibut decided to start biting again and we had limits up to 44# by 10:30 this morning. The ocean was very nice. We have some room for the next couple of days. The weather forecast is day to day so we are keeping an eye on that but it looks like not much wind for at least the next few days. It was nice to be able to put some fat Pacific halibut on the boat again.

10-4-11 It looks like we will be off of the water for a few days while the rain passes through the area. Hopefully, the weather will improve by the weekend.

10-2-11 A little better forecast today gave us some hope that if we could buck a southerly breeze in the morning that we could make it down to the rocks and catch some bottomfish. When we got down there the wind let up just long enough for us to slam some quick limits of rockfish.

10-1-11 With high winds in the forecast and a breeze already on the water we decided to skip today.

9-30-11 We tried a last minute run to look for some tuna after getting a report that a couple of commercial boats would be out looking and would give us the scoop when we got within radio range. Well, they got late starts and we nearly beat them to the warm water. We put the jigs in when we saw big bunches of birds and 58 degree water. None of the boats in that area, including us had any action. So we decided on our alternate plan to try for rockfish. The wind came up way stronger than predicted and we took a beating trying to get to the rockfish zone. When we were just a few miles away we got a report that the rockfish were not biting and the wind was really blowing. We were so close that we had to look for ourselves and what do you know, the report was right. The wind was absolutely howling and the fish had lockjaw. We did manage to pry the lips apart on a few and left for home with half limits. We put on a lot of miles today without much to show for it but it was an adventure and sometimes when you take a chance it doen't quite work out the way that you hope it will.

9-29-11 The halibut continued to prove elusive again today. We tried several old tried and true spots for no love. We did catch some misc. bottom feeders but not the big halibut we have been used to lately. There was not much current again today and that may still have them off of the bite.

9-23-11 It was a long run today but we made it out to the tuna. They were not biting real well and we did not see any jumpers but the water was perfect and we managed to put some nice fish in the boat. Everyone on board caught a fish. They are really going for the live bait and we had plenty. A boat near us had a double hookup on dorado and landed one. The ocean was warm and cobalt blue. The air was warm and pleasant. A perfect day!

9-21-11 We tried to take advantage of a small weather window to go out for tuna.The ride out started OK but it got windier the farther out we got. We reached some 60 degree water and put the lines in. There was a commercial boat out there but he was trawling and not trolling for tuna. There were lots of birds around but I think that they were following the dragger around. We did not get all of the way out to the fish and did not get any strikes where we were. The swell that was forecast started to build so we ran back in to port early.

9-19-11 We cancelled todays halibut trip since they aren't biting right now. They should start biting again soon I think. The big news is tuna! A bunch of local boats ran out yesterday to where we had caught some the day before. The fish were really biting early and most guys that knew what they were doing had 20 to 50 albacore for the day. The water seems to be moving in a little so if the weather holds we may be in for some tuna trips. There is plenty of live bait available. Let's hope for good weather for a while.

9-18-11 We had a rockfish trip today and ran south to the rocks in glass flat weather. The fish were biting as soon as we got there and we filled our sacks in short order and headed back home. There was some wind down there so we did not have time to go looking around for lings or halibut. The halibut bite continues to be slow anyway.

9-17-11 We cancelled todays trip because of a marginal weather forecast and VERY slow halibut fishing. The boats that fished halibut today were mostly all skunked. We need a little bigger daytime tides to get some water moving, there is absolutely no current out there now and the junk fish are all that are biting. Well the forecast was off a little and the ocean was nice. After hearing a rumor of tuna only 40 miles out I decided to run out and take a quick look. Two of us left the dock at 11 am. We got out to the tuna grounds around 1pm and fished until 4;30.There were no other boats but we were able to find some fish and caught 9 up to 30+ lbs. Once again, live bait was the key. What fun!!

9-16-11 With a bad weather forecast for the rockfish grounds we headed out to try for some halibut. The ocean was nice enough but there was no(read zero) current and all that wanted to bite were pesky bait stealers like spiny dogfish. We tried all day and were not rewarded for our efforts this time. A special thanks to the crew today that kept a good attitude in spite of poor fishing. It looks like the tuna water is really shaping up again so maybe there is some hope there.

9-13-11 It was a different day on the rockfish grounds today. We managed limits of big black rockfish with some coppers, a vermilion and a ling cod thrown in the mix. It was pretty windy without much swell. The fish did not bite as well as usual and we had to work for them a little.

9-12-11 Today was one of those beautiful flat calm days that we dream about. It makes fishing so much easier when it's calm. We had easy limits of nice rockfish and lingcod to 30#(our seasons best).

9-11-11 The ocean was nice enough to get out and fish for some Pacific halibut. We managed two fish for four anglers. Both fish were caught by the same young man and were his first halibut ever. Nice memories. We had quite a few bites and landed some misc. fish like sand dabs and sharks so there was enough going on to keep us all entertained.

9-10-11 It was too big of a swell to try for halibut offshore so we made a little stab for halibut in the Bay. We caught one nice leopard shark and hooked and lost what was probably a Bat Ray before we came in. The weather is looking better for the next few days. The tuna water has pushed out again to about 90 miles.

9-7-11 It was a fundraiser trip to catch rockfish for a fish feed put on by the local Rotary to raise money for their "Backpacks for Kids" program. The goal was to get seven limits of rockfish and get them to the dock and filleted as quickly as possible. We accomplished that with the help of Rotary volunteers and our good friend Bob "Rave On" Stewart. We had 70 rockfish in about an hour and a half to prove just how good the rockfishing at "the Cape" can be.

9-6-11 It was our first rockfish trip in a while and we found plenty of willing biters. With an experienced and eager crew we made the hour long run to the lightly(especially this year) rockfish grounds. We caught our limit of lingcod and were throwing back keeper lings to get to our rockfish limits. We had a nice assortment of quality rockfish with quillbacks, vermilions,coppers and the popular and plentiful blacks.

9-5-11 And so ends the 2011 salmon season. It was a fantastic season overall that went out with a whimper. The fish continued to be finicky today and were hard to hook and hold. We had our share of bites again but only managed one keeper in the box. It is hard for me to complain though since it was one of the best salmon seasons in years. With all of the small salmon that were caught up and down the coast next year looks to be even better. I can't wait. But now we will concentrate on rockfish,lingcod,Pacific halibut and hopefully tuna. The reports on halibut today were very encouraging and we should be seeing some good catches now.

9-4-11 It was a great day on a flat calm ocean today. The salmon bit early and were a pretty good grade. It was not as good as I had hoped but we did put some nice fish on the boat. We lost a few and caught some that had to be released. There were also a lot of those pesky short biters.

9-3-11 We got out on the water today but it was a late start due to rough bar(bay entrance) conditions. We were hoping that the sloppy ocean conditions would improve but they didn't. With an 8 foot swell from the northwest and a 15 knot wind from the south it was really too rough to fish. We did struggle for a couple of hours and proved that the salmon are still out there. We ended with one keeper, two shorts that were released , a couple of fish lost at the back of the boat and another half dozen bites or so. All in a couple of hours. We have a target area for tomorrows trip. The weather is forecasted to be better. I hope so.

8-31-11 We are taking a couple of days off while the wind blows.

8-29-11 It was a frustrating day for the crew on the Reel Steel. The salmon bite was very slow in the morning. Eventually though, the salmon did start to bite a little. But they were timid short bites that were very hard to hook up. The grade of fish was better than what we have been getting lately but we just could not get them to stay on the hook. Our tally for the day for four fishermen was 25 bites, 3 coho(released) one shaker just under the legal size(released) one micro-salmon(released) and one 10# and one 18# keeper. The ocean was beautiful and we saw a couple of mola molas. It looks like we will be off the water for the next few days while the wind blows offshore. There is some warm tuna water showing offshore but the upcoming winds may mess that up. We will just have to wait and see on that.

8-28-11 Weather today was similar to the last two days. We fished until the tide change at noon for four keeper salmon for 3 anglers. The fish did not really start to bite until around 10:30 am.

8-27-11 The ocean conditions were almost identical to yesterday(a little lump but fishable). We tried a little different area from yesterdays spot. The fish were more cooperative and while it was not the wide open fishing we got used to this year it was good enough for us to get limits for everyone.

8-26-11 It was a tough day on the ocean today. One day after catching two nice salmon in less than half an hour we struggled all day for two keeper fish. We did catch quite a few shakers and a couple of big silvers but overall it wasn't too good. We had a great group on the boat and they handled the tough fishing with gracefull determination. The other boats had a tough time as well and one other party boat that had limits in an hour yesterday only managed one keeper all day. There are still fish around. It is not unusual for the bigger fish to go on a picky bite this time of year.

8-25-11 Today was a planned rockfish trip. We headed south to Cape Mendocino to try our luck. The ocean was flat on the way down but had a little breeze on the water when we got to the fishing grounds. It did not take us long to find some hungry rockfish and everyone went to work hauling in one or two at a time. At the rate we were going it wasn't long before we had limits for all 5 anglers plus a few fish for the captain. On the way home we still had a little time to spare when we came across some birds feeding. The guys were OK with putting out a salmon trolling rig for a little bit just to see if any were around. In about 20 minutes we landed two big king salmon to top off a great trip.

8-24-11 Fishing was pretty slow today. The folks that fished for salmon caught quite a few subleagal fish but not a lot of keepers. We fished for halibut and it was pretty slow there as well. We moved around some before we found a spot with biters. We managed to land one and lost a heartbreaker that was on for a while and made a couple of good runs before the hooks pulled. Other than one very small halibut that we released(good news for the future) we only had the two hookups and then a couple of misc. fish.

8-23-11 The salmon moved from yesterdays location so we went on the hunt this morning.We looked in the wrong direction at first but with a little help from our friends we were able to get on some fish and limit everyone out by the end of the day.

8-22-11 The salmon bite continues to be strong. We had our 4 limits today before 9am. Our last fish came as part of a triple hookup. Most of the fish are still small with a few larger ones now and then.

8-21-11 The salmon bite was ON FIRE!! this morning. The bite tapered off late morning but it didn't matter since we already had our limits. Mostly smaller fish but lots of 'em with some larger fish mixed in to keep it exciting. We seldom went 10 minutes without a bite and usually had a hard time getting all of the rods in the water. We did run out to try for halibut a little but only had one takedown and it didn't stick. Some boats are going to look for tuna tomorrow but we will be back after salmon.

8-18-11 We did not fish today. There were some boats that fished tuna out of Shelter Cove yesterday that killed 'em. They were in water that we can reach from here if the weather gives us a chance. We have salmon trips mostly for the next couple of weeks. The salmon season ends September 5th. We are watching the tuna scene very closely and have our own bait pen setup with some fine anchovies for live tuna bait.

8-17-11It was a pretty slow day today on the halibut grounds. There was not enough current so we were unable to cover much ground while drifting. We had one small halibut in the morning and did not get another until late in the day. It was worth the wait though as it was our largest so far this season. We stopped by Englund Marine to have it weighed on an official scale and possibly enter it in the halibut derby. It went 73# and 56 inches long. There is a little weather tomorrow so we cancelled our trip for rockfish. The guys that fished salmon caught fish today.

8-16-11 Had a great day with a great group. It was pretty foggy most of the day and we had to feel our way around. We weren't able to key in on the birds as well as yesterday. So we ended up working a little harder to get our limits but we "got-er-done". Ten minutes after I announced 20 more minutes to go we landed a double. We had a couple of real nice fish with one around 20# and a hog that was about 33#. We also had one screamer that was peeling line before it broke the leader. A few others that were a nice grade and some smaller fish and a couple of silvers (shorts and silvers all released)made it a fairly busy day.

8-15-11 Today we tried a little different spot from yesterday and it paid off. Instead of getting lots of shakers or silvers, most of what we hooked were keeper fish. The fishing was steady with a bite every 10 or 15 minutes. We had limits before 9am. Our last hookup started off on a deep line and turned into a double when a fish grabbed one of the other lines on the surface as it was being reeled in out of the way. Both fish ended up being nice keepers. The water was glass calm today and we were able to see bait and fish right on the surface.

8-14-11 The salmon bite was a little slower for us today. Lots of boats with a fish or two and some boats with limits. We were a couple fish short of limits ourselves and the fish were small. There are some larger fish around though. The ocean was beautiful and Bob and Shoshana brought a couple of their friends and we had a nice time. The big news of the day was a report of a billfish sighted off of the north jetty. The people who reported seeing it jump out of the water are pretty reliable and a couple of different people saw it.


8-13-11 We had another great day on the ocean with flat calm weather and biting salmon. Once again we went home with limits for all aboard. There is a lot of life out there right now with lots of birds, some whales and of course, fish.

8-12-11 Every once in a while you have one of those truly amazing days on the water when everything goes right. For four lucky anglers, today was that day. We had set our sites for salmon and headed out to yesterdays reported hotspot and set in our lines. We trolled around for a little bit until we heard a report of a boat just a little ways outside of us that was in the fish. We trolled out that way and started hooking up with fiesty king salmon. In pretty short order we were limited on salmon including a couple for yours truly. Since it was only 9:30 we ran out to the Pacific halibut grounds and dropped in our baits there. Well, by 1pm we had limits of halibut for all four anglers as well with three over 30# and one almost 50#. Sometimes, it all goes right.

8-11-11 It was time to try something different so we fished for rockfish today. We had hoped to fish some halibut spots but it was too windy for that so we fished inshore. The variety and size of the Cape Mendocino rockfish is truly amazing. We had 9 different types of rockfish and limits for all four anglers plus some boat fish by noon.

8-10-11 We headed out this morning anticipating the red hot salmon bite from the last few days. The salmon bit early and we were so confidant that we would have easy limits that we released some small but keeper size fish. Then the fish quit biting, completely. So we ended the day with one fish per person with two going over 18# each. We did see some killer whales and the sun came out in the afternoon to warm us up so it was still a pretty nice day to be out on the water.

8-9-11 I was excited to get back out to the salmon fishing that has been so good for the last few days. But alas, the best laid plans of mice and men...Our charter called at 5:15 this morning and cancelled. It did not leave enough time to put together a trip today so I have been tying leaders and getting ready for tomorrow. It's not bad having a day off but I sure hate to miss it when they are biting. Tim

8-8-11 Today we checked out the reports of wide open salmon. It was wide open!! We had our limits and released another 7 fish plus missed some short biters all by 9:30am. It was so early that we had some time to try for halibut. We enjoyed some whale watching while enroute to the halibut grounds. We did not get any halibut and very little activity from the usual nibblers like sole and sand dabs. The guys that started fishing halibut really early caught some fish so maybe the bite is early now.

8-7-11 It was a halibut trip again today but the big news is the wide open salmon bite. The halibut fishing was pretty good. We had 3 fish for 4 people with the largest around 35#. The bite did not start until about 10AM so we kind of twiddled our thumbs until then. When they did start to bite we were pretty busy for a couple of hours until the bite shut off again. The guys that fished salmon had one of the best days this year. Hopefully the salmon are here to stay for a while.

8-6-11 We fished halibut again today with three people on the boat. We only managed 2 fish. I think that the bait stealers were at work since we brought up empty hooks quite a few times. We know that the fish are there, it's just a matter of getting them to bite. On another positive note, one of the other charter boats fished salmon today and limited out. Maybe the salmon will go back on the chew now.

8-5-11 For some reason our internet has been down all day so I am typing this report Saturday morning.We fished for Pacific halibut and the fishing was good. The ocean was nice in the morning and then got a little lumpy around noon. Fortunately we had our 5 halibut by 11:30. Most of the fish were the smaller schoolie variety with the largest going 38#.This is about as good as our halibut fishing gets around here. With the hot halibut bite most boats were fishing flatties. A couple of boats were fishing salmon and one had 4 fish when we left at noon.

8-4-11 It was rockfish again today with easy limits of large rockfish. Many of the blacks were over 21 inches. We also had some nice vermilion and lingcod. It was a great day with a great group of folks.

8-3-11 Today is Sherrys' birthday. Happy Birthday Sherry!! We had the same group as yesterday and we went looking for salmon in a new area. We found lots of willing biters but they were silvers,big silvers. So we moved on and found some Kings on a school of bait and got 3 of them to bite but only got one to the boat. Since we were close, we ran down to the rockfish grounds where we picked up limits of rockcod and limits of lingcod. It was breezy but fishable. When we got back in the boys sang Happy Birthday to Sherry(and they weren't half bad) and Sherry provided them with some home made cookies.

8-2-11 The salmon bite totally died off today. Good thing we were fishing for halibut. With a friendly forecast and plenty of anticipation we hit the halibut grounds this morning. The halibut bite has been pretty good lately but it wasn't red hot today. We put in a long day on flat sunny seas for 3 halibut for 4 people. In a totally class move, George and Jerry (who each caught a halibut) gave one of their fish to Bruce( who caught the most fish but they were not halibut). Nice job guys! Everyone went home with a bag or two of fresh halibut fillets.

8-1-11 Limits of salmon for us today including a couple for the skipper. Mixed grade of fish with 3 over 18#. We still had to weed through the little ones for our limit but it was a lot of fun catching. A little bit of a lull around noon but our last fish was a nice 18.5# fish.

7-31-11 It was another day of lots of action on the salmon but only about 1 out of 10 a 'keeper'.We did get a good show from some whales that surfaced close to where we were fishing and paralleled the boat for a while.

7-30-11 We were back at it again today after a few days off for weather. It meant that we had to find the fish and that took a little while. We did get located eventually and managed to land 7 keeper salmon. We had a lot of action on short fish(shakers) to keep us busy. There was still a little lump on the ocean but it wasn't too bad and should get better in the next few days. The tuna water moved out to about 90 miles so we need some calm weather to let it move back in. We did get some live bait in our new bait pen so we will see how that is going to work out.

7-26-11 We have experienced the highs and lows of fishing in just the last two days. After yesterdays great day with 5 halibut to the boat by noon we were humbled by the King salmon today. Sure, we had plenty of action with short fish and coho (neither of which may be kept) we were just unable to put a fish in the box. We did have one real nice fish within 15 feet of the net but that was the closest we came to bringing home some fresh salmon. It looks like the weather is coming up so we will be shut down for a little bit.

7-25-11 The weather cooperated today which made the fishing much easier. We had 5 halibut to the boat(4th went home with us for dinner) by noon. The largest fish was 50#. The halibut are out there it just takes decent weather to fish effectively for them.

7-24-11 I'm going to have to have a chat with the weatherman one of these days. Today was supposed to be real nice and we planned to fish for halibut. The wind was blowing pretty stong from the south but we had confidence that it would ease during the day. It didn't. We managed to scratch out two halibut in less than ideal conditions. When the current finally got too strong in the afternoon we switched over to salmon. We did not get any keepers but we did catch a lot of fish.

7-23-11 After missing a few days due to rough ocean conditions we were back at it today. It was still fairly sloppy in the morning and there were few boats out. We found a small patch of fish around 10am and lost a nice one and landed one keeper and a half dozen shakers and coho before the group decided that they had enough 8 foot swells for one day. We did not hear of any big numbers being caught so it may take some looking to get back on the fish. Tomorrow is a better forecast so we may try something different.

7-19-11 It had to happen sometime. After 10 straight days of easy salmon limits we ended today with 5 fish for 4 people. The largest was a 28# beauty. The fish we have been catching have been full of krill, so full that their stomachs look like sausages. Todays fish all had empty stomachs which makes me think that they were not feeding today as well. There is a little wind coming up so we are going to take a couple of days off to do some maintenance and hopefully get our live bait pen in place so we are ready for tuna. The tuna are out there and I expect that we will be fishing for them soon.

7-18-11 The salmon fishing slowed a tiny bit today but was still excellent. We had limits for everyone by 11:30. We had 2 real nice size fish and several medium fish and 3 small fish. The ocean was very nice although it drizzled a little.

7-17-11 Was a fantastic day on the water. We left the dock at 6am with 3 regular crew and John, who was new to fishing on the Reel Steel. The salmon bit early and often and we had limits by around 10am including the skippers limit. The largest fish was a respectable 26#. The real thrill was a bite that took John across the back rail and then ran straight to the bottom before it came unhooked. I have not seen a salmon fight like this fish did. There have been some 40# plus fish caught in that area so we are left with nothing but a question mark.The day was young and the crew was eager for more so we ran out to the halibut grounds where we put 3 halibut in the box before heading home.

7-16-11 It was salmon fishing today(for good reason). The fish were biting although it was a little slower than it has been. We had our limits by 11:30 or so.We zipped on out to the halibut grounds where we put a 40# butt on the boat before it was time to go in. We will be concentrating on salmon as much as possible while this incredible fishing continues. There were tuna caught out of Eureka today. Good numbers of good size fish about 60 miles out. We are just finishing up our bait pen and should be ready for the next weather window for tuna.

7-15-11 Todays trip was a Bay trip that was booked months ago. We started out fishing for Leopard sharks and Bat rays. After catching a few sharks and a ray the beach flies swarmed the boat and we decided to go try something else. I couldn't find any live bait so we tried some lures on the jetty. After a couple of drifts we decided to take a peak at the ocean, it was flaaaat calm. So we zipped out and caught 2 salmon (one released) and missed a couple of others. Then it was time to go in. So except for the beach flies it was an awesome day. The boats that fished salmon all day mostly had limits again. There are some boats going out to look for tuna tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what they find.

7-14-11 Today was one of those special days on the water. The ocean was nice and calm. The salmon continue to bite and we had our limits by 11am. Since this was originally a halibut trip we decided to go out to try for some flatties. We managed three halibut in an hour and a half, two of which were over 40#. Everyone went home with smiles and big bags of salmon and halibut fillets.

7-13-11 Here we go again! Salmon limits by 10am. Looked around a little for halibut with no success. Did have a big salmon shark swimming around the boat for a while. The water was fairly clear so it was easy to see the shark when it came close to the boat.

7-12-11 Not to sound too much like a broken record but it was salmon limits again! These fish are big and mean, half of todays fish were over 20#. Their power is surprising and a lot of fish are being lost. Today it seemed like we lost more than our share but we had a GREAT crew and they weathered the lost fish and were rewarded for their efforts and patience with bags of fresh salmon fillets. If you are coming for a salmon trip soon, be prepared, these fish are TOUGH!!

7-11-11 The hits just keep coming. It was limits again today with the largest salmon a fat 27# fish. Lots of action kept us on our toes all day. I barely had time to eat a sandwich. It just doesn't get much better than this.

7-10-11 Another great day of fishing out of Eureka. We had limits of fat King salmon for all aboard by noon. The ocean is finally settling down which made for some nice conditions on the water. This is the best salmon bite in 5 years here. With plenty of silvers and shaker(sublegal kings) in the mix it seems like there are not too many lulls in the action.

7-9-11 The tide turned in our favor and so did the fish( the weather could have been a little better). With three experienced anglers on board and high hopes we ran out to where the salmon have been caught recently. The fish were still there and we got busy pretty quickly. The fish are mostly good size Kings with some silvers and small Kings thrown in. All but one of our fish were over 15# and a couple over 20 and a monster that weighed 36.5#(32#gutted and gilled) and is tied for the largest salmon out of Eureka so far this year. We were busy with fish all day and ran in with limits for all.

7-7-11 We ran out early hoping that the Bar would not be too bad at the beginning of the tide. It was worse than expected so we scrubbed todays trip. The tide will be back in our favor starting tomorrow so we should be in good shape for a while as far as getting out on time.. It also looks like the weather will begin to come down late Saturday. Hopefully the fish will keep biting like they have been. Sherry tells me that we have had a few cancellations so give her a call at 707-499-4925 to see if she has something available to fit your schedule.

7-6-11 The wind has kept us in port for the last few days. Todays group was hardy and willing to try to tough it out.We had to wait for low tide to cross the Bar and the ocean was lumpy but fishable. We fished for a couple of hours for one fish per person before we decided that there were too many whitecaps coming in so I called it quits. I can't wait for some good weather.

7-4-11 Happy Fourth of July everyone!! The salmon continued on a tear today. We were all limited out by 9:15 this morning! The fish are only a short run from the Bay now.Lots of big fish being caught with some legitimate 30 pounders around. Most fish are over 14#.The wind is expected to blow for a couple of days and that may affect our ability to get out. The fish have been in the same area for a couple of weeks now so I expect them to stick around.

7-3-11 We managed to beat the weather forecasters today. It was much nicer than predicted. The salmon fishing was excellent all day as well. We had limits for all including a boat limit. Lonnie Dollarhide had the largest salmon that I have seen in 4 years to the boat three times before it finally managed to shake the hook. It was a dandy that was EASILY over thirty pounds. The fish that we did land were mostly over 15# and super fat. These fish are fiesty and hard to get to the boat. It was one of our best days this year.

6-30-11 The front that passed through last night kind of changed the salmon fishing. We were plenty busy all day with silvers and short kings(shakers) but we were not able to do much with the keepers. We had several strong fish on that shook the hook and were only able to get one into the net. It was a nice fat 23# fish. It looks like we are in for some wind for the next few days. That will change the fishing again.The fish are definately out there as demonstrated by yesterdays action. We just need some stable weather so that we can get the pattern nailed down.

6-29-11 The halibut refused to cooperate again today even though we tried some new areas and some old spots. We were in the rockfish zone though and managed to limit out on ling cod to go with some other nice rockfish. The real news is that the salmon bite went WIDE OPEN today. We will be out for salmon tomorrow and hope that they stick around for a while. The comments I heard from the salmon fleet was "this is like the old days" and "WOW!" That's enough to convince me that that is what we should be doing.

6-28-11 We got a little redemption for yesterday with a nice load of rockfish and two halibut. One halibut was 41# and the other a fat 49#. The rockfish were top quality also with lings and coppers in the mix. The weather was wet all day but the anglers were an experienced and intrepid bunch. The guys that fished salmon mostly had limits or near limits with a lot of big fish still being caught.

6-27-11 It was a tough one for us out there today. We had a great group of guys on the boat that really wanted some halibut. The halibut refused to cooperate however. We tried quite a few of our good spots but the fish were not biting. The salmon bite was fair with some big fish being caught. It is also starting to look like the tuna may be on their way soon.

6-26-11 Once again the forecast was a little off. The 5 to 15 knot winds turned out to be 20 to 25 knots. We tried for halibut, our target fish, but we could not get down with 3 # of weight. We tried a shallower spot for halibut that was good last year but we only were able to make a couple of drifts before the wind chased us out of there. Our last resort was where we caught some rockcod yesterday. They were biting even better today with limits that included lingcod, vermilion, blacks,coppers, quillback, china cod, kelp greenling, brown and a small yellowtail rockfish that we released. Now that is some variety!

6-25-11 It was a salmon trip that wasn't today. We ran down to the area where we caught salmon a couple of days ago but conditions had really changed. We had two short bites but we did not see much birds or bait around. We decided that it would be better to catch some rockfish than look around for salmon. There were a couple of places that I would have liked to try but it was still a little lumpy and the wind was threatening to blow. So we ran down to the rocks and threw in our lines. The fish bit pretty good for us with limits of mostly nice size blacks with a couple of quality vermilion and a quillback to boot.It looks like good conditions for the next few days so we will have more options open to us.

6-24-11 We stayed in the Bay today since the ocean was pretty rough. We fished around for some rockfish and had a dozen or so keepers. Hopefully we get back out on the big blue tomorrow.

6-22-11 Same forecast as yesterday but a beautiful, flat calm ocean. We started out trolling and picked up 2 nice kings before a friend convinced us that we should switch to mooching. We picked up a couple more nice fish and missed a couple of bites before the fish quit biting. We ended up with 4 fish for 4 anglers. They were nice size fish and everyone went home with a nice bag of salmon fillets.

6-21-11 We tried to get out to fish for salmon today but the ocean was pretty rough so we turned around and came back in. Yesterday the forecast was off and the ocean was nicer than predicted but we had already cancelled so we thought that we would take a chance today. It looks like things may settle down by this Saturday and maybe we can get back out to the fish.

6-18-11 The ocean settled down just long enough for us to get out for the day today.We had a full boat and high hopes as we left the dock this morning. Since it had been a few days since anyone had fished out of Eureka it took a while to find a decent spot of fish. Once again we were into coho and small salmon at first. Then we got the report we had been waiting for. The salmon were in on the beach and they were biting. So we headed in and managed to put a few real nice salmon in the boat. The fish were shallow, mean and hard to get to the net. We probably lost more than our share today but that is the way it goes sometimes.

6-15-11 The wind machine is really cranked up right now. We haven't been on the water for a couple of days. We are watching the forecasts closely to see when our next opportunity will come. It's hard sit sit on shore with the hot salmon bite that we have been experiencing.

6-13-11 Another day, another hot salmon bite. We had to run a little farther and fish a little longer but we still managed limits for everyone by the end of the day. The ocean started out glassy flat in the morning and we were able to see salmon feeding on the surface all around us. By the end of the day the wind had come up making for a bumpy ride home.

6-12-11 The salmon continued tear up anything that went into the water today. The only problem is that we had to weed through a LOT of small fish to get limits of keepers. The fish were mostly 7 or 8# but we had one around 18# and one that we weighed at nearly 28#. It was a fun group and everyone went home with a limit of fresh King Salmon.The halibut fishing has slowed down a little but there are still some fish being caught.

6-11-11 The salmon bite went WIDE OPEN today with most boats that were in the right area limiting within a couple of hours. There are still some halibut being caught but everyone is talking about salmon now. Our average fish was about 13# but there were a few 20# fish caught as well.The weather looks good for a couple of days so we should be in for a good time!

6-6-11 SPLAT!! Sometimes you are the bug and sometimes you are the windshield. Today was our day as the bug. We went for halibut today and despite being in the area where fish were caught, we did not get a single one. We tried hard and were looking at going into overtime when all four lines snagged a crab pot and we lost most of our rigging. We decided that was our clue to just pack it in and wait for a better day. It looks like the weather is taking a turn for the worst for a few days so I may not have any reports until I get back on the water.

6-5-11 We tried down south for halibut for no bites. There are still some flatties being caught, we just missed them today. So since we were in the neighborhood anyway,we went for rockfish. We had a killer day on the rockfish with 5 ling cod, 5 vermilion, a couple of coppers and limits of blacks. Young Ryan caught the largest vermilion landed on the REEL STEEL so far. Way to go Ryan!

6-4-11 We tried for halibut today at the spot where we have been doing our best lately. There were a lot of pesky petrale sole and black cod that all have to be released stealing our baits. We did manage one small halibut for our efforts but the fish may have moved some and we did not find them. A few halibut were caught but there was no one hot spot for us to run to.We tried a favorite ling cod spot for nothing so we ran inshore where we found the rockfish in a more receptive mood. We did get a nice vermillion and a 24# ling cod. The fishing was almost too good and we limited out quickly.

6-3-11 We made an attempt at some halibut and ling cod but the best bite was on rockfish so we fished for them with a couple of ling cod thrown in.

6-2-11 We caught a lot of fish again today but the majority were small king salmon or coho, neither of which we are allowed to keep. We did better than most of the other boats with 2 nice kings and during a little lull in the action we decided to run a ways offshore to try a halibut hole from last year. We got to the spot about 11:30 and proceeded to catch 3 halibut before it was time to go home. So the final score was 2 king salmon, 3 Pacific halibut and 19 salmon safely released.

6-1-11 Cancelled todays trip because of a forecast with thunderstorms and we were planning on running down 15 miles for rockfish. Took the boat out to get fuel and decided to make a quick trip out to the salmon grounds. The bite was on today and Sherry( the nice lady you talk to when you call Reel Steel) boated a nice 15# king in about 45 minutes of fishing time. That was enough for our dinner so we came in.

5-30-11 With a forecast of afternoon wind today it was salmon all of the way. We got an early start but then so did the wind. We had a lot of action again with small fish and silvers with only a few nice keepers mixed in. Lonnie Dollarhide, a regular on Eureka charter boats made the most of a wind shortened day and landed two real nice fish including a 21# fish he caught after a heartbreaker a little earlier when a nice fish broke his leader just out of net range. The fish are out there and we just need a little nice weather to be able to fish 'em.

5-28-11 Once again we only had one halibut, a 40# fish but today we switched after the tide change to try for some salmon where we saw a lot of sign yesterday. Well, the salmon were thick, they just weren't very long. We landed 25 salmon but only two were keeper size. One 12# and one 11#. All in all it was a nice day to be on the water and it looks salmon fishing is about to take off.

5-27-11 After taking a couple of weather days off we were back on the water. We ran down to where we scored on halibut a couple of days ago with high expectations. The south wind and swell conspired to keep the halibut from biting our hooks so we ended with only one fish for a full day of fishing. We did see a lot of salmon around where we were fishing and I plan to go look there again tomorrow as it looks fishy there.

5-24-11 We had a good day on the water with a couple of repeat customers ( including one that caught a 98.5# halibut on our boat) and a couple of first timers. We landed 3 nice halibut, 25#, 42# and 60#. We also stopped in to try for some rockcod but they were not biting too well. Everyone left the dock with nice bags of fillets and even left a little halibut fillet for the skipper for dinner ( thanks David).

5-23-11 It was a little bumpy out there today and the salmon fishing was not red hot. We released about 8 or 9 silvers and shakers for two keeper kings for the boat. Really nice fun people so we had a good time in spite of the weather.The salmon bite has been up and down but it is early in the season and we expect things to keep getting better and better.

5-22-11 We did not fish yesterday or today because of the wind. We are going to take a look tomorrow.

5-20-11 We did not fish yesterday and did some odd jobs on the boat(like FINALLY get the heater reinstalled). We heard about a good salmon bite so that is what we tried today. We ended with one fish per person with about a 14# average. Very nice fish for this early in the season. The fish are feeding on krill and are really wild. It's hard to get them to the net.

5-18-11 The wind came up this afternoon but we managed to squeeze in the day. We were on the hunt for halibut and while the boat next to us put in a 30# fish we had nothing when the radio reports started coming in about a wide open salmon bite 5 miles away. It was a tough decision but with a difficult drift and the wind coming up we decided to run to the salmon. The bite was good and a lot of boats were limited or close to it when we arrived. We managed to put a couple in the box and had the hooks pull on a couple more just out of net range before it was time to go. If this is what salmon season is going to be like then it is really going to be a special year.

5-17-11 Nice ocean today but almost not enough current for fishing. We went to one of our favorite halibut spots and pulled out a 62#er in the first 20 minutes or so. Then we did not catch another halibut the rest of the day. We were near the rockfish grounds so we ran around looking for some quality rockfish. The blacks were biting like crazy but we had our sights set for bigger game. We ended up with one lingcod per person and some nice size coppers to go with the blacks.

5-16-11 The ocean was nice today and we had a great group of guys.We limited again on nice halibut and fished for salmon for a while and lost one and landed one.

5-15-11 Every day on the ocean is different. Still glowing with yesterdays success we were slapped in the face by reality and a cold, wet south wind. We struggled for one halibut around 35#. We had some other bites but the boat was moving so much that they did not stick. The crew was awesome and worked hard but the conditions just were too much today. The salmon fishermen caught a few today but the wind and rain made it tough for them as well.

5-14-11 It was a great day on the water today. The ocean started out with a little swell and then got nicer as the day progressed. Even though salmon season opened today we were on the hunt for Pacific Halibut. The fishing started out a little slow with one 40# fish by 9am. Then we got on the fish and landed 4 more fish by 11am with the largest just shy of 70#. That fish is now in the lead at the halibut derby. The salmon fishing started off kind of slow but also got better as the day went on. One of the other charter boats came in with one shy of limits. Rockcod opens tomorrow so now all of our options are available to us and we plan to make the most of them.

5-13-11 We have not been on the water for a few days now. We cancelled todays trip because the swell came up and the wind was already blowing offshore. It looks good for the weekend though so I should have some fresh reports. Things look great for the salmon opener tomorrow with a lot of great sign out there. We will start out fishing halibut and see how things work out.

5-8-11 Quite a bit slower fishing today. There were only 2 fish caught and most boats went home with a skunk. We had one of the 2 fish and it was a nice 34# halibut. It got a bit breezy but otherwise it was sunny and fairly warm.

5-7-11 We cancelled yesterdays trip by mutual consent since the wind was blowing pretty good in the morning. Only one fish was caught with about a half dozen boats trying. Today was beautiful out there and we had a great trip. We were the lucky ones again with 4 nice halibut including a 50# and a 59.5# fish. We are going to give it a try tomorrow. Then it looks like Monday and Tuesday will be blown out. Wednesday is looking good and we have openings up to next weekend. Salmon season opens the 14th and rockcod on the 15th so we will have a lot of options available to us after the weekend. We saw a lot of birds and bait out there today which is a good indication that there may be salmon around. Congratulations to Lonnie Dollarhide on his 59.5# fish and Jon and Kyle on their nice halibut.

5-2-11 A lot nicer ocean conditions and better fishing as well. It was limits on the REEL STEEL today with the biggest halibut a nice 63.5# fish caught by Steve from Salt Lake City. We entered it in the halibut derby where it sits in first place for now.It looks like some wind starting up for a couple of days so we might take a short break until the weather settles down a little.

5-1-11 Opening day of halibut season today. Not a lot of fish were caught. We caught one nice 41# fish for our efforts which yielded a couple of nice bags of fillets.It was a little sloppy ocean in the morning but then it layed down nicely. As always, Sherry met the boat at the dock with fresh cookies.

4-30-11 Halibut season opens tommorrow. We have a fair number of openings the first 2 weeks in May. In the past it has been pretty good halibut fishing when the weather is good.

4-13-11 Salmon season will begin here on May 14th. It looks to be a great season. Other ports like Bodega and Shelter Cove are already catching and conditions look good here too!

4-11-11 Just got a call from a friend at the PFMC meetings where our salmon season is being decided. He said that it looks like it will begin on May 14th. I was down at Shelter Cove (the next port south of Eureka) where their season opened about 10 days ago. Most boats were coming in with limits of nice size salmon. With Pacific halibut opening on May 1 and rockfish opening on May 15 it looks to be a fantastic season here. Some prime dates are getting booked up so call Sherry at 707-499-4925 and get your spot on the boat.If you are local, I will be giving fishing seminars at Redwood Marine for rockfish, halibut, salmon and tuna. They plan to have some nice giveaways so come on by.

3-22-11 I don't know about anyone else but I'm ready to go fishing. Halibut season starts May 1st. Salmon may start as early as May 7th but no later than May 21. Rockfish will start May 15th. All of the seasons run into September or October. Tuna will start whenever the fish show up, usually around the begining of July. I have a goal of beating our largest halibut (98.5#) this year. It's easy to book a trip, just call Sherry at 707-499-4925 or email us.

3-11-11 It has been quite a day! We we awakened this morning at 1am with the news of an earthquake in Japan and a possible tsunami on the West Coast. We got up at 4am and went down to the boat to double all of our mooring lines. I was glad we did since the current from the tsunami was quite severe. We came out OK with no damage to the boat. Our friends in Crescent City and Brookings were not as lucky and many boats were lost and damaged as well as both of those harbors.

Now is the time of year when we work on the boat and tackle. We will be at a couple of outdoor shows this year. Sherry will be at the Sacramento ISE show at the Humboldt County booth on January 20 and 21. Stop by and say HI and pick up a discount coupon from her. We will also be at the Shasta District Fairgrounds on March 4,5,and 6. Come by and see us.

11-20-10 We continue to get limits of nice size crabs.We have spaces open for Sunday 11-21 and Monday 11-22 and then we will be closed until Saturday the 27th. We will shut down for the rest of the year when the commercial crabbers get started.

11-14-10 We have been crabbing evry day that conditions allow us to get out. So far, everyone has gone home with limits of BIG, tasty crabs. The trips are usually about 2 hours long. Call Sherry at 707-499-4925 to book your spot.

10-29-10 The weather has kept us off of the water as a series of storms blows through the region. We tried to fish offshore halibut today but with 13 foot swells we decided to stay in the Bay. We did manage one late season California halibut in the Bay. Now we turn our sights to the CRAB season which opens November 6th. This is a great way to go out and get your limit of jumbo Dungeness crabs. It is usually about a 1 to 2 hour trip. Sometimes we see whales and dolphins out there. The price is only $60!! Call Sherry and get yourself a spot on the boat.

10-14-10 EPIC TUNA!! Today was one of the best tuna trips that we have had. Working on some intel from yesterday we ran straight out of Eureka about forty miles. We arrived on the tuna grounds around 8:30 and put out 4 troll lines.It was about 10 minutes when our buddy boat had a hookup. A few minutes later we had a small single about 12 pounds. We moved a little ways and had another hookup on the troll and one bait fish as well. It was now about 9:30 and we spotted a large flock of working birds with tuna boiling underneath them. As we trolled by we got a double hookup and started to throw some bait. Well, in the next two hours our four fishermen boated about 30 fish from 20 to 35# on one continuous bait stop. These were big bruisers and they battered fisherman and tackle alike. When the sharks showed up we ran back up to where we started and found an even larger school of foaming tuna. We made two more bait stops for another 20 to 25 fish. We lost count but figure about 55 fish total with most going 20 to 35#. We left the tuna grounds at one pm with lots of smiles and tired muscles.

10-13-10 A real nice day on the ocean today. We landed two nice halibut, a 38# and 55# fish. The boys out on the tuna grounds had a good day so we will be heading out that way tomorrow.

10-10-10 We cancelled todays trip because of big swells.

10-09-10 The ocean started out a little choppy this mornig but got nicer as the day wore on. We were able to find a couple of Pacific halibut and boated a 42# and a 45# fish.

10-08-10 It has been a while since we have fished for Pacific halibut and it showed as we were unable to find the fish. The ocean was nice but not much action besides small black cod stealing our baits.

10-01-10 We heard good things about the tuna offshore so when the weather settled down today we went out for a look. We were well inside of our intended start area when we spotted a log and cruised over to investigate. A boat about a quarter mile away said they saw jumpers so we put out the troll lines. We hooked up pretty quickly and landed four fish over 25#. We put the lines back out and trolled near some jumpers and had another hookup and landed a couple more fish. We worked that area for a while but the bite had shut off. A buddy called and said that he had 2 quad hookups and it sounded like a pretty good bite there so we headed about 9 miles to his spot. Well, the bite shut down there as well. We were 30 miles away from the main body of fish and by that time it was too late to run out that far and get back before the tide changed. All of our fish were large but we kind of missed out on the main bite. Hopefully we can get back out again next week.

9-28-10 We haven't been out fishing for a few days because of big swells and offshore winds. It looks like it will begin to lay down this weekend. The tuna water is holding up offshore so far and we hope to make some more trips soon. The commercial guys were getting them pretty good a few days ago.

9-23-10 WOW! What an epic day on the water. The ocean was glass flat all day and we took advantage of it. We ran south to where we caught good numbers of tuna last week. It may have been the full moon but the fish were NOT in a biting mood. The epic part was the life in these waters. There were yellowtail caught, mako sharks hooked and marlin seen jumping. There were huge schools of sauries being chased by tuna and yellowtail that were thrilling to watch. Most of the boats had zero to 5 fish and we finished with a total of 8 and we were probably high boat. There are plenty of fish there, they were just not in a biting mood today. Hopefully, the weather will be good next week and we will be running some more tuna trips. Be sure to call Sherry to make sure you are on her list.

9-20 10 Today we ran way south to an area where some boats were catching good numbers of tuna. The water is also a little warmer there as well. As sometimes happens, the warmer water held smaller fish in larger numbers. These were not the big hogs that we have been catching but 12 to 15#ers. They bit on the troll better than bait. We did get 5 of the larger variety over 20# and finished the day with 24 fish for 4 people. The ride home was a little bumpy heading into a wind chop for the first few miles but then settled down. It was sunny and beautiful for most of the day until we got close to Eureka and the thick fog descended on us.
9-15-10 Another great day on the tuna grounds. We headed out with a tank full of lively anchovies to where we caught tuna a few days ago. The fish really wanted the live bait and by the end of the day we had 16 BIG albacore. Most of the fish were off of bait stops. Still the most fun fishing there is!

9-11-10 We ran south for rockfish today and unlike a few days ago the bite was wide open. We fished for about an hour and a half for limits of big rockfish and 3 nice ling cod. It looks like the weather will be nice for a little while. All I can say is "It's about time!".

9-9-10 Tuna! again. We ran out to the close water where we caught fish a couple of days ago. We did not do any damage there so we ran out to the outside water and began to troll. We caught a single fish next to a floating log but could not get anything else to go there. We began trolling north to where some friends were catching a few fish.The weather was balmy and the ocean was calm. It felt just like we were fishing in tropical waters.We saw a patch of birds working and jumping tuna beneath them.We trolled by and hooked up. With a reel screaming,I began to chum some live anchovies and the fish swarmed the back of the boat. Everyone was getting bit on big 25# plus fish. We had the usual tangles and cutoff fish but still boated 5 fish on that stop. We repeated that action a few more times. The fish were big and strong and really wanted the live bait. We lost nearly as many fish as we landed. We came in late in beautiful weather until we ran into dense fog about 20 miles out which reminded us that we were not in the tropics but back in Humboldt County. It looks like we may get in some more tuna trips this year. Sherry is working off of our call list with whole boat groups (4) getting first shot. If you want to go you need to be on the list.

9-8-10 It was rockfishing today. The ocean was nice but the bite was a little slow. We had 2 short ling cod and limits of rockfish by the end of the day.

9-4-10 The end of salmon season is upon us and it was too rough to go offshore to fish. We stayed in the Bay for the usual fare of rockfish and sharks. We made some drifts for halibut with only one bite.

9-3-10 TUNA! TUNA! TUNA! We finally had a day of nice weather and the warm water has moved in close. A lot of local boats went out looking. I loaded a tankfull of live bait the night before so the boat was ready if everyone showed up early(which they did). Since no one has been fishing this water the fleet kind of spread out to look. We ended up fishing by ourselves for the better part of the day. We found a spot of larger fish than what most of the other boats were getting and we stayed on them. It was never red hot but was fairly steady for most of the day. The average catch seemed to be around 8 fish with a couple of boats in the high teens.We ended with 12 fish and farmed three. 8 of our fish were over 20 pounds with the largest about 27. The fish were somewhat scattered with no large schools.We are ready to go again when the weather lays down.

9-2-10 With the buoy showing 9 foot seas and a halibut trip on the agenda we decided to postpone todays trip for another time. If ocean conditions allow, we may look for tuna again tomorrow. Then it looks like the wind will blow until Tuesday. Salmon season ends Monday so we will concentrate on the tuna whenever it appears possible after that.

9-1-10 I'm back to work after a couple of days of fishing meetings. We ran out to try for halibut and were able to fish for a couple of hours before the wind became too much for drift fishing. We were headed in when one of the three boats that were out there hooked a salmon. We switched over and caught two fat salmon and lost another nice one before it was too windy to even stay on the water. Biggest salmon was 20 lbs.

8-29-10 Just another cranky ocean in the am and slow fishing. Another boat landed a salmon when they first put their lines out and hooked up again in just a couple of minutes so we switched from halibut mode to salmon mode and proceeded to catch.....nothing. The boat that started it all ended up with that one salmon that they caught in the first 5 minutes.There was a lot of life out there, whales,porpoise, birds but the fish would not bite. Conditions look good though. I think that it was just "one of those days".

8-28-10 We skipped yesterday because of the weather forecast and almost skipped today as well. I'm glad that we didn't. The wind was blowing and it was raining this morning but then it got real nice and we had a fine time on the water. The halibut bite was pretty slow but we managed to pull out a 26# and 58# fish right towards the end of the day. The guys on board were very patient and it paid off for them.

8-26-10 With a crummy forecast and reports of slow salmon fishing we ran out with high hopes tempered by low expectations. The ocean was sloppy but fishable. Only one other boat ran out and they turned around went back in. We were able to find a spot of activity offshore with lots of birds and sealife. We trolled around for a while before we started to get some bounce on the rods. We would be slow for a bit and then have a flurry of action. We ended with 2 keeper salmon, 2 chinook that were just shy of the mark, 4 silver salmon and one lost to a hungry sea lion. It looks like there are some fish out there.

8-25-10 TUNA!!! We made a quick exploratory run about 40 miles southwest to look for tuna before the wind machine started up again.We had live bait but only 3 tuna bit and all came on the troll. There was some decent sign there and if we get a break in the weather the tuna season may finally be on.

8-22-10 The weatherman really missed it this time. Today was supposed to be 5-15 knots of wind with 15-25 knots in the afternoon so we cancelled out until the middle of the week. What do you know? It was beautiful out there today and I missed it to do maintenance on the boat.I should have the boat back in the water in a couple of days and it will be ready for anything. I just hope that the weather is good for a late season push.

8-21-10 The weather is a little unsettled right now so we are going to take a few days off to get the boat ready for tuna. The fish are about 40 to 50 miles out right now and well within our range. As soon as the weather lays down we plan on making some trips. I have made some arrangements for live bait but they are somewhat tenuous and I would suggest having some Butterfly jigs handy to cast to jumpers.This is the best time of year. Everything is open and usually biting. Salmon season ends September 6th. Rockfish ends September 15th. Halibut ends October 31st. We will fish for tuna whenever we can.

8-19-10 Since the other fishing has been slow, we decided to go for rockfish today. They did not disappoint us. We had limts in less than 2 hours and saved a little time to try for some ling cod but the wind came up and we left before we caught any.There is some offshore wind coming in the next few days. If it does not mess up the water temps then we should be able to start running for tuna soon. A commercial friend caught tuna within our range last week.Update:there is warm water north and south of Eureka within 40 miles. We only need some nice weather now!

8-18-10 Today was a slow day for pretty much all of us. There were only 2 halibut caught.Fortunately, ours was one of the 2. There was a little bit of a salmon bite and there was about a 1 to 5 fish average there. I had a great group on the boat and we really had a lot of fun in spite of the slow fishing.

8-17-10 Todays trip was similar to yesterdays with one smallish halibut and limits of nice rockfish for everyone. The boats that have been running for tuna are getting about 8 fish per boat right now, but the water seems to be moving in and there is some really hot water out about 80 miles.

8-16-10 It looks like the tuna water is getting closer. It is supposed to blow a little this end of the week but after that if it gets nice we should be able to start running some tuna trips. As for today, we finished with one halibut and nice limits of rockfish with ling cod and copper rockfish.

8-15-10 The halibut bite was slow today and we only had one halibut. We did well on nice size rockfish with limits for all.The ocean was nice again today. It looks like the tuna water is starting to move in but is still just out of our reach.

8-14-10 The ocean was as calm as it has been all year. We went rockfishing and did OK with a pretty good bite at our first stop. We pulled the plug a little early to get a couple of guys back to the dock. It looks like nice weather for a while. It's about time!

8-13-10 Friday the 13th and we still managed to catch limits of rockfish for all that wanted them. The only downside was a lack of big ling cod. The current and a south wind probably put them off of the bite a little. It looks like the tuna water may be on the move finally. The south wind and current may start to push it in reach for us. I'll be watching it closely.

8-12-10 It was 2 halibut for 3 people today. Both were nice big fish. We fished straight out in front of Eureka so it was a short boat ride. Seas were still a little lumpy but not much wind.

8-11-10 Limits of halibut today for 3 lucky anglers. A 30#,42# and 56# fish. It took all day to get three fish(like it sometimes does) but it was a nice group of folks from Laytonville and we all had a great time so the time went by quickly. The ocean was nice with a weird drift that was making things difficult but we eventually figured it out and scored. The salmon bite was fair today with the other charter boats boating four or five king salmon each. Salmon season ends September 6th.

8-10-10 Halibut were on the agenda for today and they cooperated nicely. We had a 25# and 35# fish for 3 anglers. We decided to call it a day early and were in before noon. The ocean was slick calm and looks good through Sunday. I am still watching the tuna water. We have room for 2 for Friday. It looks like good weather so we should have plenty of options available to us.

8-9-10 We ran south to fish for rockfish today.The ocean was a little lumpy and did not agree with everyone on board. We caught limits of fat black rockfish in about an hour and then went looking for halibut or ling cod.We fished for a short time before it was decided that we would head back to solid ground. We had one of our old (not in age) friends on board and even though he would stay out and fish in hurricane conditions, he was a gentleman and made the decision to come home early for his friends.

8-8-10 We fished in the Bay yesterday since it was forecast to be rough outside. We caught some rockfish on the jetties with live bait. Today we fished for halibut and had limits from 20 to 30#. We tried for salmon for half an hour or so but did not catch any. The boats that fished salmon for most of the day did well with some nice 20# kings being caught. The salmon bite is not wide open but is the best that it has been all season. The tuna water is still about 70 miles from Eureka and I am watching it closely.

8-5-10 I haven't posted for a couple of days. We have been trying for salmon but are having a hard time getting them down deep where they seem to want to stay. There are fish around. We finally cried uncle today and swiched to halibut for a nice 40# fish. Conditions are starting to look more like summer with lots of krill and whales and birds. We saw a big salmon shark yesterday and at least 5 thresher sharks have been hooked by salmon fishermen.

8-3-10 We started the day for halibut until we got a call from a commercial friend doing salmon survey that said that the fish were biting good about 10 miles away. So as we were picking up our gear the halibut bite started, we ran to the salmon spot just as that bite died. Oh well, we did manage some very nice rockfish so at least our gang left with some nice fillets.

8-2-10 We went for halibut hoping that they would start to bite again. We landed one medium sized one and went in for a few ling cod to fill out the box. It was a great group and we had a lot of laughs. The ocean was pretty nice and very fishable. The salmon slowed down some today but one salmon angler hooked two thresher sharks.

8-1-10 Fished for halibut today. Only one halibut and a couple of other fish. Tried the jettys for rockfish and caught a few but not a lot happening there either. The BIG news is that there was a real good salmon bite with lots of limits and near limits right out in front. I saw one boat with a 20# and a 30# fish. The fish are very wild and really tested peoples' tackle.

7-31-10 I had a real nice family from Utah today. We got a late start and ran out to where they have been catching a few salmon. We had one take down that did not stick before it was decided that the calm waters of Humboldt Bay might be more comfortable. So we set out ater the elusive shark. And they were elusive as we caught only one by the end of the day. But that one shark made a young man very happy before it was released. It looks like the weather is starting to mellow a bit this coming week.
7-28-10 It was a great day on the water for our group as we picked up 5 limits of a real nice grade of rockfish. Big blacks, vermillion, coppers, and ling cod. The ocean was very pleasant. Thursday and Friday I will be in Fort Bragg for MLPA meetings to try to save some of our fishing spots.
7-26-10 Cancelled todays trip at the boat after discussing our options with a big swell running. So Sherry and I drove to Shelter Cove to see the "hot" salmon bite. Apparently it fizzled as quickly as it began as there were few fish caught. I am going to do a little scouting tomorrow to try to find some salmon here. Wednesday looks like a flat ocean and we have plenty of room so give Sherry a call if you are ready to go fishing. Thursday and Friday I will be in Fort Bragg for MLPA meetings.
7-25-10 Today we ran down to the area where we had our 100# halibut last year. They didn't come fast but we got our limit of nice halibut to 65#. (congratulations,Lonnie) The ocean was great where we were fishing but the trip home was a little bouncy so it was a slow trip back. Thanks to the A team of Lonnie, Jim, Jerry and Steve for doing a great job out there.( Steve, we have your binocs) The salmon bite out of Eureka was a little slow today so it is good that the Pacific halibut fishing is holding up.
7-24-10 We took one for the team today and went exploring for salmon. We saw some good sign but no fish. We did end up fishing for bottomfish with one halibut and sacks of quality rockfish. Sounds like the weather is going to hold for a few days.
7-23-10 Sherry and my anniversary today(which I forgot but she didn't). We ran out for salmon but the ocean was much rougher than forecast(imagine that). The reports that I have been getting from the commercial guys doing the salmon sampling was that the fish are way deep. I guess that we were deep enough since we caught a nice 25# Pacific halibut. No salmon though. We took a vote and came in early to get out of the rough weather. The forecast looks real good for the next few days.
7-22-10 Fished for leopard sharks again and scored on some real nice ones.
7-21-10 Another shark trip in the Bay with a nice family from Minnesota. It was a little cool and breezy but we managed to catch some real nice leopard sharks. The weather is starting to settle down with some calm winds in the forecast. Sundays spot is filled but we have room for one or two on Saturday and an open boat on Tuesday. Friday is open as well.
7-19-10 The wind kept us in the Bay AGAIN. The shark and ray bite was fair and we caught about 10 fish. The leopard sharks were a nice size. It looks like the weather will start to lay down Friday. We have room for a salmon trip Friday if you can take a little bit of swell. There were some salmon caught by commercial survey boats yesterday. We have room for one person on Saturday, it will be a Captains choice trip. Sunday, we have room for one as well and you would be fishing with the "A" team. Most likely it will be halibut/rockfish at the BEST spots. The tuna water has moved out a few miles and is about 70 miles from Eureka. I am watching it very closely and we will head out there as soon as conditions allow.
7-17-10 Fished the Bay for sharks and rays today. 23 fish to about 60# including 5 leopard sharks. All fish carefully released unharmed. Several halibut were caught in the Bay today as well. We did not try.
7-16-10 Since the wind offshore continues to blow, I went out on the bait boat today to help them catch some anchovies for a commercial tuna boat. We made a great set and were happy to see bait size anchovies instead of the 3 inchers that they currently have in the pen. I am hopeful that when the wind finally quits we will have good bait ready to go.
7-14-10 We said good bye to our friends John and Christian today as they head back to Illinois. We tried for bay halibut this morning with some tiny(2 eyes and a wiggle) anchovies. They did not tempt the halibut but the bullheads(Pacific Staghorn Sculpin) liked them. The weather forecast is stinky until early next week. Hopefully the seas will settle down then.
7-13-10 No fishing today or probably the rest of the week for that matter. We seem to be at the center of the wind universe.Hopefully, when it finally quits it will be flat for a long time. The tuna water is shaping up nicely. If the wind would quit, we would be tuna fishing now. The live bait is in the receiver with a mix of small anchovies and medium sardines. I would rather have all large anchovies but this year I'll take what I can get.If you have a date booked with us now you may want to start thinking about going tuna fishing if the conditions are right. I would HIGHLY recommend it. It is by far the most fun fishing that we have around here. Yes, it's a little more expensive but it is an adventure and usually well worth it.
7-12-10 Rockfish were on the menu today despite questionable weather reports. We decided to try and head for the rocks and hope that the weather held for a little while. It barely did. We managed to sneak out with some quick limits but were only able to make one drift for halibut before the seas got BIG. We were all glad to be in a safe, seaworthy boat. It was a long ride home but we made it fine and now it's time for some tasty fish tacos.
7-11-10 The ocean was kind of sloppy again and changed all day. Nice for a little while and then the wind would blow for a while. By the time we left the fishing grounds it was nice offshore but very windy and rough inshore. Oh yea, we caught one halibut and some misc. bycatch like petrale sole, sand dab and black cod.
7-10-10 The ocean was pretty rough today. It was fishable, but barely. We tried for halibut for a little while but decided to come back in.
7-9-10 Had a real nice group today with a couple of kids from the midwest. We went to where we caught our halibut yesterday and the wind started to blow as soon as we got there. Not just a little breeze but real wind. We did catch a couple of ling cod and rockfish before we decided to run inshore to try to get out of the wind. The wind was still blowing inside but we did manage to find some hungry rockfish and caught all we needed. Other than the wind it was a great day with nice folks. The forecast has been really hard to nail down lately and we are trying to let people know before they travel if it looks like we might not fish. I spoke to the weather service and they said that since they missed things a little last week that they are still trying to figure out what went wrong.
7-8-10 The halibut bite EXPLODED today with lots of boats bagging nice fatties on a calm ocean. We had our limit of halibut to 50# then switched over to rockfish and got a great grade of rockfish limits too.
7-7-10 tried for halibut for a little bit for no action so we ran for rockfish and got limits pretty quickly.Rachael and John had the hot sticks and put some good rockfish and a nice vermillion on the boat.
7-4-10 HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY !! We did the Bay again today for sharks and rays. We went to the same spot as yesterday and only caught 2 leopard sharks. What a difference a day makes. It looks like the weather starts to settle down mid-week. It's blowing like crazy here today.
7-3-10 Big seas kept us in the Bay today. We fished for sharks and rays. The guys caught 12 bat rays to 80# and 3 leopard sharks and 7 brown smoothhound sharks. Everyone stayed busy and had a great time.
7-2-10 We were one of the only boats out today. The wind came up overnight and it blew. We did manage to scratch one Pacific halibut before the wind blew us in.Hopefully, better days are coming.
7-1-10 We had our trip today cut short due to some seasickness. The salmon bite was slow anyway so we did not miss much. The tuna water looks to be within reach if the ocean would lay down for a while. The forecast for this weekend and into next week does not look too good. We plan on getting out for tuna as soon as we can. There are still no anchovies in the Bay so live bait is not available. I don't know if we will get live bait or not. I hope so.
6-28-10 SALMON LIMITS!! Well, we only had 2 anglers on board but they each got their two fish and went home with nice bags of fillets.We tried to run offshore for halibut but when we got to the spot it was too windy to fish. So we ran back inside and worked around for our salmon. It was a little lumpy and there were not many boats out.
6-26-10 We tried for salmon today with only one fish to show for our efforts. The ocean was fishable but a little rolly. We did have one fish come unbuttoned but overall the salmon remains kind of slow. We are all waiting for it to take off any day. Conditions are looking better each day which gives us hope.
6-24-10 We had a group that fished with us last year come back for rockfish and halibut. We had an interesting day. We started out trying for halibut and boated a dandy 72# fish within the first hour. Then a boat near us developed mechanical problems and we assited them while they called the Coast Guard. By the time we finished with that, we needed to start rockfishing if we were going to have time to get limits. The wind was blowing making it difficult to stay on the fish. We did finish the day with limits of rockfish for all six people, two ling cod and the big halibut. I had also dropped in a couple of crab pots and we pulled about twenty crab as well. The salmon bit a little better for the boats that fished for them but it was a late afternoon bite.
6-23-10 The salmon bite has slowed somewhat with most boats only getting a fish or two. We lost two fish and boated one. The fish have been feeding on krill which makes them extra "spunky" and they are harder to get to the boat.
6-22-10 No trip today or yesterday but the fish we found are holding up and I saw several boats come in with nice salmon to 20#. We'll be back at it tomorrow. The weather looks good for the next couple of days.
6-20-10 The wind was blowing early so we cancelled the halibut trip we had planned and decided to try for some salmon instead. There were no other boats around so we looked until we saw some good sign of bait and birds. It worked out well for us as we went in with limits of king salmon to 16 pounds plus a fish for the skipper as well. This was the best score of any boat out of Humboldt Bay so far this season.The weather forecast looks real good for this coming Wednesday for salmon or halibut/rockcod. If you are thinking of booking a trip then Wednesday might be a good day. Thursday and Friday are already filled. Call Sherry at 707-499-4925.
6-19-10 Tried for salmon with only silvers to show for it. All were carefully released. Still not much on the salmon front though. We eventually tired of all the silvers and ran in for quick limits of tasty rockfish. Weather looks good for tommorrow so we will be back at it again.
6-15-10 The wind has been blowing contantly for a while now. This is good news for future ocean conditions but is keeping us off of the water right now. The tuna water is getting closer every day and is about 150 miles out right now. Usually when it gets close it gets here in a hurry. Hopefully it is full of fish.
6-8-10 Our group for today cancelled at the last minute so we were unable to put together a trip for today. The ocean was nice so Sherry and I ran out for a little recon mission. We were told about some good looking water with bait and birds off of Eel River so we went to take a look for some salmon. We did not see any sign of salmon despite trolling for an hour and a half. There was a lot of bait however. In some years past, the salmon have stayed way offshore until the water warms up offshore and they move in closer to the beach. The conditions have not changed for a couple of weeks so we are still waiting for some North wind to cool the nearshore down. The North wind is going to start up Thursday. I expect that things will begin to change to a more summer like pattern. After our salmon try we went to the rocks and caught some nice rockfish for the skillet. I never got a line in since I spent the entire time unhooking Sherry's fish. There were also a few boats out fishing for Pacific halibut and several went in with limits so it looks like that is still happening.
6-6-10 We left the Bay this morning to flat seas and no wind. By the time we had run 15 miles the wind was screaming out of the south and we were down to 12 knots. We made the decision to tough it out and ran down to the first rockpile. The fish were in a biting mood and we had limits of rockfish for everyone in about an hour. We even had a couple of nice ling cod. We ran home for a wind-shortened day feeling like we cheated the weather.
6-5-10 We got out today for a very nice time on the water. We were able to fish where we wanted to since the weather was so nice. We caught 2 halibut 1-39# and 1-49# and then went in for limits of quality rockfish. The salmon bite was still slow today. We are still in this southerly flow and it kind of has the fishing messed up. Hopefully, we get back to normal weather soon.
6-4-10 Wet and stormy weather has kept us at the dock for the last few days. Hopefully we are getting into a summer weather pattern starting next week.
5-31-10 With the poor showing of salmon, we decided to run for rockfish today. It was the right decision because the ocean was beautifully calm and the fish were hungry. We tried for halibut for a while first with one hookup that got down into a rock and broke off (go figure) and switched over to rockcod. We got easy limits with a nice variety and limits on big ling cod to over 20#. We are still hoping for the weather to switch around and get the salmon water going. There were a few more salmon caught today so I think it will pick up with better water conditions.
5-30-10 Again ,no love for the salmon. There was only one fish caught today. The water is too warm right now because of all the southerlies that we've been having. We need a few days of strong north winds to get the upwelling going and get things in gear.
5-29-10 The salmon opener was not too good. Most of the fleet turned around because of sloppy conditions and no one got offshore where we expect that the fish are. Hopefully tommorrow will be better.
5-18-10 With a forecast of a little wind and a building swell with a chance of rain, we didn't know what to expect today. It turned out that the wind blew a little but the fish were in a biting mood. We had limits of beautiful rockfish with lots of big coppers and quillbacks making up the majority of the catch. We caught 11 different kinds of fish today. Fred Kramer topped it off with a 50# halibut. Not quite as big as his 100# fish last year but still a very nice fish.
5-16-10 We had a little bit of redemption today. The ocean completely calmed down and the drift was light. We were able to run to one of my favorite spots for halibut and rockfish. The halibut were not in much of a biting mood and we only caught one but the wide open rockfish bite made up for it. We were able to put nice limits of blacks and coppers with a couple of lings thrown in.
5-15-10 Every once in a while there is one of those days when the fish remind us who is the boss( hint:it's not us).Today was one of those days. We stuck out a long day on the halibut grounds for one halibut bite that didn't stick. The guys on the boat worked their tails off with 3# of lead that made bait checks a chore.But the wind and current conspired to make it one of the toughest days in a while. Tommorrow is another day and as fishermen we are always optimists.Hopefully our luck will change.
5-14-10 The ocean conditions today were a little more challenging than we normally like but we were still able to prevail.The current offshore was ripping and the wind blew a steady 12-15 knots. But the halibut were willing and we ended with limits for 3 by a little after noon. The conditions look fantastic with lots of birds and bait around. I have high hopes for the salmon season that starts May 29th. Rockcod opens tommorrow.
5-8-10 We had a great day on the water! The ocean was so flat and nice that we had to run to our favorite halibut grounds. We caught our first fish about five minutes after the lines went into the water. We stayed at it a while and ended up with limits,including one for the skipper. It's gonna be fresh halibut steaks tonight. Most of the fish were around 40 pounds with one smaller 25 pound fish.No trip scheduled for tommorrow so we get the day off. Actually, I could use it since we have been doing scientific rockfish surveys. We use regular rod and reel and have been averaging about 50 fish per angler per day. I'm pretty confident that it will be rockfish limits when the season opens on the 15th.
5-4-10 A couple of boats ran out for halibut yesterday. At least one of them landed 4 fish up to 47#. So the fish are out there. I have room on Saturday and the ocean looks like it should be pretty nice with 10 kts wind and 4 foot swells.Give Sherry a call.
5-2-10 The weather is looking good for Friday, May 7th.I have only heard of one boat that has gone out for halibut since Saturday and they got one 40# fish.So it sounds like there may be some fish around.We have room for this weekend.
4-27-10 It looks like the halibut opener on Saturday is going to be blown out so we cancelled. We are getting a lot of rain today and the wind follows the rain so we may stay dockside for a little while. I'm excited about the season since it looks like a mild El-Nino for tuna and plenty of spring upwelling for salmon.
4-15-10 GREAT NEWS! It looks like the Eureka salmon season will start May 29 and run until September 6th.The last year of full salmon seasons Eureka had the best fishing in California. June and July are the best months for salmon with larger fish in August.We ran a scientific trip yesterday as part of a 2 year study of rockfish on the North Coast. We fished 6 randomly preselected locations ( no going to any secret spots) and with 4 people fishing we landed, measured and released 205 rockfish in 5 hours.I'm pretty confident that we are going to have a bust out season!
3-14-10 We have the salmon options for the 2010 season. There are 3 options and I believe the most likely one will give us a season from June 16 through September 7.We will find out for sure by the middle of April. Conditions are looking like they did in '07 when Eureka had the best salmon fishing in California. We will probably schedule some combination salmon/halibut trips. Because you can't use a barbed hook for salmon we have to fish for halibut first and then salmon. These were popular trips a couple of years ago. If you are wondering when to book your trip, look at the archived fish reports and see when we were doing the best on the fish that you want to fish for and book a trip during the best time. 2-6-2010 We are in the middle of the offseason but that doesn't mean that we aren't thinking and talking about fishing. It looks like there may be a marine reserve placed around Punta Gorda next year so we are going to run more trips down that way for the BIG halibut that live there. Tim has been tuning up the tackle and will start getting the boat all polished up soon. He has been catching some Herring and brining them using our special formula for halibut bait this summer. We will find out if there will be a salmon season sometime in March. There is still an El Nino going on so it may be better for tuna this year. We limited out on every trip for rockfish last year and I don't expect it to be any different this year. In fact, with these short seasons and the depth restrictions rockfishing is as close to a sure thing as there is. We will have sweatshirts for sale this year with our new logo on them that look real nice. We have had a couple of earthquakes around here lately but no real damage for us. We are starting to take reservations so if you have a special date then drop us a line and we will put you on the list. Last year was a great year here for fishing and we are expecting another this year. Thank you to all of our friends that fished with us last year. You made it special for us.
11-23-09 We have been doing real well on crabs with limits on every trip. We also are catching big Humboldt squid.
11-14-09 We have been running trips for crabs every day that the weather allows. Limits so far for everyone. Thursday we ran out to 1,000 foot depth and dropped in for 19 big Humboldt squid. Great for calamari.
10-29-09 It's been a while since my last update. We have made a few trips and are still getting about one halibut per trip.Last Sunday, Lonnie caught a small halibut and Jim had a nice one come off the hook. It happens. Today was the Coastside Fishing Club trip and they ended up with.. you guessed it. One halibut. It was a nice fish at 65#. We had another one on for a while that came unhooked. We saw a large thresher shark feeding about 50 feet from the boat and there were Molas around the boat all day. Up to 11 at one time.The ocean was flat.
10-21-09 I got a little behind on the reports lately and I apologize for that. In the last few days we have been averaging a fish a day. Todays halibut was 44#. The current has totally died on us a couple of times and when it does we start catching sharks. Not the usual little spiny dogfish but big blues and soupfin. We had 3 on Sunday with the smallest being 5 and a half feet long. Today when the current quit the sharks started up again. We went in after boating and releasing a nice size soupfin. These dudes are murder on terminal tackle. We lost our spot as having the largest halibut this year when someone weighed in a 115# fish. Sorry Fred, you're still in second at least. Only a few more days of halibut fishing and then we will run some crab trips starting November 7th, weather permitting.
10-17-09 Sherry and I snuck out for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and Sherry caught a 20# halibut, her first Pacific. Today we had a strong fish right off the bat that came unbuttoned about halfway up. It doesn't happen often but is always disappointing when it does. We ended up with one halibut for the 2 guys on board. We had to get in early because of the extremely strong tides.We had some squid bites but they would not take the jigs and all we got was a suction cup on one hook.
10-11-09 Finally got out to look for some halibut today. The forecast was great with 5-10 knots of wind and not much swell. They got the swell right but the wind was screaming out of the south around 20 knots or so. We stuck it out for a few hours for a couple of nice halibut and a couple of broken lines. Alex caught a nice fish around 20#. Lonnie Dollarhide got big fish honors with a dandy 70# fish.The fish were right on our hot spot. Hopefully the storm coming on Tuesday won't mess things up too bad. We caught fish up until the last day of the season last year so we hope to finish this season on a high note as well. Halibut ends October 31st and then we will be running some crab trips starting November 7, weather permitting.
10-08-09 Tried to cross the bar today but it was too rough. So we stayed in the Bay and tried for some California halibut, but all we caught were some sharks. A couple of the leopard sharks were nice size though and fun on light tackle.
10-5-09 It looks like the weather is finally going to lay down so we can get back out on the water. The tuna water has pushed out for now so we will be running Pacific halibut trips and maybe look around for some Humboldt squid. We have most days open so give Sherry a call and come out for an end of season trip. Also, we will be running some crab trips starting November 6th. The limit here is 10 and we usually get some nice ones early on.
9-22-09 Made a tuna run today with some free divers that wanted to spear a tuna. We had a little action but were never able to get the school to the boat. There are still some fish around. Hopefully , the weather will give us another shot at them soon. Room for one for halibut on Sunday.
9-15-09 We spent the last day of rockfish season fishing for tuna. We should have stuck with rockfish. Everyone was excited this morning with flat seas, excellent live bait and sea surface temps indicating that the tuna should be close. The end result was that very few fish were caught. Of the three charter and 4 sport boats on our dock, there were two fish landed and they came on a single stop. To say it was slow would be an understatement. I think that the fish are around but just were not in a biting mood today. There were a couple of swordfish spotted on the tuna grounds today. Hopefully, we will be back out there again soon.
9-12-09 Went to Cape Mendocino for bottomfish. There was a big (10 foot) swell running that really put the fish off of the bite. We found one small spot of biting fish and limited out the boat with a very nice mix of vermilions, quillback, copper, blacks, china cod and one ling. There were only a few boats around us and I think that we did better than most. Tuna is really heating up and we will be running on the nice weather days while they are here. If you are not already on our tuna call list, call Sherry at 707-499-4925
9-11-09 Ran out for tuna for the first time in a while. We found them biting for most of the morning and had 15 fish by 11 am. It slowed down a little and we finished with 23 fish for 3 anglers by the end of the day. The live bait was the hot ticket today. We had one very experienced tuna fisherman and 2 guys that were good fishermen but had never caught a tuna before. They all had a great time pulling on powerful tuna.It looks like the tuna fishing is starting to shape up nicely.It always amazes me how a 2 hour boat ride can take you from cold fog to almost tropical weather.
9-6-09 The ocean was a lot nicer today than we expected but the fish were uncooperative. We had 4 silvers and 3 shakers but no keepers. We did have one large silver salmon that broke the line in front of the flasher but came to the surface and we were able to catch up to it and get our tackle back and release the fish. The whales were active around us again today also. Rockfish season ends on the 15th of this month so if you want to get some fish for the freezer, give Sherry a call at 707-499-4925
9-5-09 We ran out to our offshore spot and put down our troll rigs. We had 5 silvers, 2 shakers and Brian caught his first keeper salmon( our only keeper). All this in about an hour before a squall came up blowing 20 knots and roughing up the ocean. One anglers stomach did not agree with the now rough seas so we went looking for calmer waters. Unfortunately, the wind followed us in and we decided to cut our trip short.
9-4-09 The ocean today was flat! We had some first timers that got to see some great whale shows. We had about 10 fish to the boat with 3 keepers. The tuna are on fire offshore so as soon as salmon season ends, we will begin running tuna trips, weather permitting.
9-3-09 We started in our new area today and ended with 4 nice kings for 4 people. We had lots of action with over 20 fish coming to the boat. Lot's of silvers and short kings. We lost a couple of fish to the sea lions. They have to eat too.
9-2-09 We tried a whole new spot today and found a few fish there. There was a lot of life including lots of whales, birds and sealions. The fish bit good in the morning but shut down in the afternoon. I think that we could have done pretty well if we had started there. (we will tomorrow) So we finished with one legal king after weeding through numerous silvers and short fish. There were several nice fish caught today in the same area.
9-1-09 We really pulled out the stops today in search of better salmon fishing. We ran south 30 miles to try a traditional hotspot. We had several bites that didn't stick and one smallish (but legal size)king to the boat that shook the hook at boatside. We will try to track the fish down again tomorrow.
8-31-09 It is pretty slow for salmon around here right now. There is a lot of activity where we have been fishing with whales, birds and fish feeding on krill. The problem is that there are not many legal salmon there. We caught some very nice silvers today but no kings. Maybe we will try a new spot tomorrow.
8-30-09 The second day of salmon season was a lot like the first for us except that we did not bring in a single keeper. Oh, we caught a lot of fish but they were all undersize. I think that we will try a new area tomorrow and see if we can get on some bigger fish.
8-29-09 Opening day of the 2009 salmon season and it was..... a little slow and a little rough. It took quite a while to find some fish today. Most boats did not find any or maybe one. We had a lot of action in the windy conditions but not a lot of keepers. Out of 14 fish we landed , only 3 were keepers. The rest were silvers or undersize kings. The weather is going to be a little rough again tomorrow but then it is going to lay down real nice at least through Thursday.
8-23-09 A rough ocean kept us in the Bay again today. We ended with a pretty nice box of black rockfish and some kelp greenling. We have our fingers crossed for good weather for salmon season.We are seeing fish. There should be a lot of boats fishing so it should not take too long to find them.
8-20-09 Had a small group today that did not want to keep many fish but wanted to catch,so we played on the jettys for most of the morning. The jumbo blacks are in now and even though we only kept a dozen fish, the sack weighed over 50#.We released about 20 fish and had a great time.
8-17-09 The wind has been up for the last few days so we have been in port. We did fish today for Ca halibut and only caught one short. We went to the jettys for rockfish and caught about 8 per person before we went in.We have a couple of openings for Pacific halibut on Wednesday and it looks like the ocean should be nice. The wind messed up our warm water so it will be a little bit before we head back out for tuna.
8-12-09 WHAT A DAY!!! We ran straight out 45 nautical miles to the tuna grounds and found the fish biting.A couple of friends were out ahead of us and were catching fish when we got there. We trolled to find the fish and then would switch to live bait when we hooked up. It was not wide open but it was pretty darn good. The ocean was nice all day with a little breeze starting up in the afternoon. There were some birds around but otherwise not a lot of surface activity. The water was 63.5 degrees and tuna blue. It was warm out there, you would never guess that you were on the ocean in Northern Ca, instead it felt more like Baja. We ended with 28 fish to over 30# for 3 anglers. We had many multiple hookups on the bait but managed to get most fih into the boat.
8-11-09 Ran out for halibut today. It was pretty slow and we came in at noon with one 47# fish. The ocean was nice and calm. We are going for tuna tomorrow and possibly again next week if the weather allows it. Right now it looks like Friday to Sunday will be too windy to fish offshore.
8-9-09 Cancelled a halibut trip for today because of the weather forecast. So we put on a group of 4 nice folks that were willing to fish the Bay if it was too rough outside. Well it was not too bad so we ran south to our rockfish grounds and fished there. We finished pretty early with limits of rockfish and 7 lingcod. There was a boat that ran for halibut today and he had 5 fish to 53 pounds by noon, so they are still biting as well. The weather looks good for Tuesday and Wednesday this week and we are open so if you want to try for halibut it might be a good time to do it.
8-7-09 Ran south for rockfish and tried a new spot for halibut. No love on the halibut ( it was a slow halibut bite overall) but came in with nice limits of rockfish. We are really getting geared up for tuna now. Everything is lining up nicely as far as ocean conditions. There have been 2 opah caught out of Eureka as well as the bluefin we caught and the marlin we sighted. If you want to fish tuna then you will need to get on the call list. Full boat charters will get called first, then individuals. If you want the whole boat, I would suggest only four anglers so everyone can be fishing. See you on the water soon.
8-5-09 Sherry(the boss) booked a tuna trip for herself to try and get some fish for canning. We took a couple of friends and went exploring. Again, the numbers were not great but we did find some fish. If not for our generous supply of live bait we would not have ended as well as we did. We did have a nice surprise though when one of the troll fish turned out to be a 18# bluefin. The water was green but the temp was good. We saw a marlin jump about 150 yards from the boat. We are very close to running some tuna trips so if you are on the list you may get a call soon. There is some wind forecast for this weekend and early next week.If it does not last too long and we get another low pressure system like this one then the tuna hunting will begin.
8-4-09 Fished rockfish at the Cape today. We did things a little different than usual and looked for bigger fish right off the bat and then finished up with some black rockfish to fill out our limits. It ended up being a pretty impressive box of fish with ling cod limits and cabazone,vermillion,quillback and others. We had a great time on a nice ocean.
8-3-09 It is Sherry's birthday today. Happy Birthday Sherry!! We went for halibut today. We got one fish fairly early and soon after had a double, well, don't count your fish before they are in the boat. We lost both fish in the double. Then we went through an extended dry spell ( read long) before we got another fish. So only one to go. Then another dry spell and Bam!! another double and we were done. No big fish for us today. 15 to 30#. Just so everyone knows, we alway hope for big fish but are grateful when any fish bites.
8-2-09 Made our first real tuna run today. We new it was a crap shoot but decided to try anyway. We found a small spot of fish about 50 miles from Eureka. We ended up with 9 fish to 26#.We had a beautiful load of live bait and that helped our score plus it is a lot of fun.The ocean was glass flat all day.
8-1-09 Another nice day on the ocean. Fished with some old family friends and we had a good time. There was a little breeze on the water which made things a little more dificult than yesterday but we still landed a 53# halibut and limits of rockfish for all.
7-31-09 We had a great day today.The ocean was flat and beautiful all day. We ran south and tried for halibut. Wayne Stanfield landed a nice 60# fish. The hilight though was when we hooked a BIG fish that fought like the 100 # fish we caught earlier this year. Unfortunately it came unbuttoned after about 10 minutes of serious straining. It is still down there. We also limited on a nice grade of rockfish for 6 people.It looks like tuna may be soon if the weather holds up. We have not got a good satellite shot to see where the warm water is. Hopefully one of our commercial friends will clue us in.
7-30-09 The ocean is flat calm today with no wind. Our charter cancelled at the last minute( we don't usually require deposits so last minute cancellations are problematic for us)The one boat that went out fished the same area we fished yesterday( he was beside us all day and only had one fish as well) and had 5 fish by 11 am. Sorry we missed the good bite. Sooo the weather is going to be good until the middle of next week at least. Now is the time to go.We are booked through Tuesday. We may try for tuna on Sunday if we can get any intel. There are several commercial boats leaving today and I hope to get a report from them in the next day or two.
7-29-09 Fished for Pacific halibut today with only one fish to show for our efforts. I have been talking with some longliners and the fish are there, they just don't bite all of the time.
7-21-09 We went looking for Pacific halibut today. We got one fairly early and then nothing for a long time. We had a few short bites but nothing that stuck.One boat near us got a couple of fish and another left with the skunk. We eventually pulled up stakes and fished the jettys for rockcod for an hour or so for 25 fish up to 6 pounds. The forecast and tides are not too great for a few days so I think we will hold off on running until the weather straightens up.
7-18-09 The ocean was a little sloppy this morning. We took a vote however, and decided to take a quick look outside and try for Pacific halibut. We hooked one right away which came unbuttoned near the boat. We decided that it wasn't that much fun out there so we came inside to fish. The report on the Bay halibut was not that good with LOTS of boats fishing a small area. So we fished the jettys and what do you know, we finished with limits of snapper to 6#. I have to tell you, I'm really itching for another stretch of good weather.
7-17-09 Ran down to the Cape for rockfish. The fish were biting good and we picked up limits pretty quickly. We switched over to try for some lingcod but only picked up one before the wind started to really crank so we headed home. A friend fished the same area for halibut that we did yesterday and caught two fish in an hour. They were using the same rigs that we were using yesterday. That means that the fish are still there. Check out the "rock fish photos" and see what a tough day of fishing will do to you (or what it did to Thomas).

7-16-09 Went out looking for Pacific halibut today. We tried the spots where we have been catching them lately with no luck So we tried a couple of new areas for no luck there as well. Not even a trash fish.Oh well, better luck tomorrow.

7-17-09 7-12-09 Well the fish continued to be tempermental today with only one fish for us. They are biting short and not sucking down the baits like they were a few days ago. Hopefully , they are just going through a picky phase and will get back to sucking down baits like normal.On a side note, my friends that went looking for tuna today caught a few and did well on the live bait. The wind is supposed to pick up for a few days but when it settles down I think that we will be ready for a tuna run.

7-11-09 Went out for Pacific halibut today in great conditions. The bite did not last too long and we really did not take advantage of it. We(I) lost the first fish at gaff and then we only caught one more fish. Lots of junk fish around pestering our baits.The fish seem a little timid right now.

7-10-09 Fished the Bay again for California halibut. The tides were a little off so we did not do as well as we would have liked but we ended up with one fish per person.

7-9-09 Fished for Pacific halibut today. Caught 2 in the first couple of hours and then we may as well have gone in since the bite totally died. At least we know where the fish are. Both were decent size fish. Had some other bites that did not stick.

7-8-09 With a threat of some wind on the rockfish grounds we stayed inside for some California halibut again today. The tide did not really get "right" until about 10am and by then the wind was starting up. As it was, we landed 5 keeper halibut and a leopard shark along with some other sharks and short halibut that were released.

7-7-09 The wind came up a little today so we stayed in the bay and fished. The fishing started off slow but in the end we had limits of California halibut and a couple dozen black rockfish.

7-6-09 Looked for big halibut again today but only came up with 2 small ones. So we went exploring for some new rockfish areas and found one that obviously had not had much pressure since it kicked out a great variety of fish including lings, vermilion, cabazon, chinas and lots more. The ocean was flat all day.

7-5-09 Ran way down to really try for a big halibut.We had 3 halibut up to 36#'s for the morning. We had to release a nice 26# lingcod because we were in the rockfish conservation area.( sorry Sandi). We stopped off on the way back for a few rockfish including a couple of lingcod.The ocean was flat all day!!

7-4-09 Happy 4th of July!! Took John and Christian out for rockfish today. The fishing was great. The breeze held off until we were on our way home. See you next year John.

7-3-09 We worked hard for 2 halibut today. 40 and 35 pounds. But we still had enough time to catch 30 rockfish ( I think it only took about 1/2 an hour.)The rockfish bite has been very dependable this year. The halibut fishing is up and down, limits one day and 1 or 2 fish the next.I guess that's fishing.

7-2-09 Fished offshore for halibut today. The ocean was nice with a little swell but no wind. Had John and Christian on board again. I can't say if we were lucky or not. There were 3 boats out there and we landed the only halibut of the day, a nice 25 # fish.

6-29-09 After a break because of bad weather conditions and tides we fished Humboldt Bay for halibut with our good friends John and Christian. The first fish in the boat was the biggest California halibut we have landed in 2 years. There is still some question as to who caught the fish. I'll let them work that out. We finished our halibut limits just before 10am so we ventured out to the jettys to look for a few rockfish. Rock and roll ally was just that with 8 to 10 foot breaking waves. Needless to say, we used our good judgement and stayed inside for some small rockfish that we released. It looks like the weather is coming down finally so we are excited to have a chance to get back out on the ocean.Hopefully, the tuna are still out there and we can make some runs for them soon. Give Sherry a call if you want to go fishing. We still have some dates open and it looks like things are about to take off.

6-24-09 Have not fished for a few days because of the wind. It still looks like it will blow a little longer. At least the fish are getting a break. I'm getting anxious to get back out there. We have live bait now so we are in a good position when the wind lets up.

6-20-09 Tried the Bay again for halibut....but.... they did not bite too well and we only ended up with 3 for the day. The wind is supposed to blow for a while so our reports may be a little sporadic.

6-17-09 After a much needed day off yesterday we fished again today. The trip was supposed to be rockcod but the buoy was already blowing big time. I had not fished in the bay for halibut this year so we decided to give it a try. We found bait right outside the marina and loaded up with big anchovies in no time. We ran a little ways up the bay and put our lines in with about 15 knots of wind. A big weather change like this is usually not too good for fishing so we tried not to get our hopes up. Well, it was better than we had hoped and we had 3 limits in just a few hours. We were all pleased with that result. It looks like the wind will be blowing offshore for a while and a couple of trips have cancelled due to the weather so it is a good time to come and catch some halibut in the bay while they are biting good.

6-15-09 Went out to scout for tuna. We were a day late since the boats yesterday caught about a 10 fish per boat average. We had a great load of live bait but no willing biters to eat them. One fish for 8 boats was the score. It looks like some wind for a few days and then we will see where the good water ends up. It looks like this could be one of those special tuna years.

6-13-09 Went for rockfish today with limits for all including a couple of very large vermilion and several nice ling cod.

6-12-09 Had a great day on the halibut with a great group of avid fishermen from Austria. They were in tune with the fish and we limited everyone including the skipper by 11:30 am. Ocean was flat and we watched dozens of salmon chasing bait on the surface. Conditions look a lot like 3 years ago when we had a great season for salmon and tuna.

6-11-09 Fished a couple of hours for halibut with no bites but nice rockfish limits for all 5 anglers. Exciting news!! Yesterday, several boats ran out of Eureka for albacore tuna and found a few fish. This is the earliest that I can remember. One guy even caught an 85# opah!. We should be getting our bait pens up and running soon. This is another reason to use the Woodley Island charter boats ( REEL STEEL, Shellback and Seaweasel)for North Coast fishing.Nothing works better for albacore than live 'chovies and they are great for California halibut too!

6-10-09 Fished for halibut for most of the morning with one 50# fish for our efforts. Since we were in the neighborhood anyway, we caught a bunch of nice rockfish too.

6-9-09 Another fantastic day with a great bunch of anglers from Laytonville.Landed two nice halibut 46# and 58# and then went in to catch limits of nice rockfish.The guys had so much fun that they are coming back again tomorrow. Some of the halibut grounds are not near rockfish so every trip may not include both. Be sure to let Sherry know your preference so you get to do what you want. We will always work hard to get your fish. On another note, there are some local boats going to look for tuna tomorrow. We'll let you know if they get into them.

6-8-09 Lost one halibut at the boat and caught limits of nice quality rockfish. It was a little breezy on the halibut grounds but was nice for rockfish

6-7-09 Tried for halibut today but missed our only bite. The fish are there but have changed their feeding a little since some other boats around us got some fish. We did limit everyone on rockfish again so it was still a good trip.

6-6-09 Had a great group of guys on today. We worked real hard to get some of the halibut that have been biting so good lately.One good bite that didn't stick was all we had to show for our halibut efforts. Fortunately the rockfish were biting good and we filled out everyones limit one them.
6-5-09 Another flat calm ocean today.Fred Kramer landed the biggest fish so far this year, a 98.5# halibut 62 inches long. We also had another smaller halibut and nice limits of rockfish with some huge vermilion.Looks like the weather pattern will last until Tuesday then back to normal.

6-3-09 Man, the hits just keep comin'. The weather has been great and we have been taking advantage of it. Today we had two on board for our donated trip for Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers. Thanks to Suzie for buying the trip and supporting HASA. We caught our 2 Pacific halibut 43 and 45# in less than an hour and a half and then went in and caught our limits of fine rockfish.We have openings for this Thursday and Friday and a spot for Sunday.

5-31-09 WOW!! What a day! It was flat calm all day without a breath of wind, which allowed us to look in some areas that I have been wanting to try but it has been too breezy. We started off with a 45# halibut and then put 2 more in the box, a 35 and a 25 for 3 anglers which limited us for halibut. So we went for rockcod and limited on them too, with a nice variety of coppers, blacks, blues, china,vermilion and quillback. A couple of short lings and we ran back at 25 knots to fillet fish for the frying pan.

5-30-09 Another day of rockfish limits. They came fast and furious from when the first lines went in. A couple of ling cod and vermilion spiced up the box. All of the fish kept were nice big ones and everyone went home with big bags of fillets and wide grins.Ocean forecast is good through the better part of next week. Good time to hop on a rockfish charter.

5-29-09 Fished rockfish at the Cape today for limits. We spent some time looking around for some quality fish. It was breezy with about 12 knots of southerly keeping the drift fairly quick. Looks like good weather for a few more days at least.

5-24-09 The wind machine kept us in the Bay again today.Tried for halibut for a little bit but only caught a HUGE redtail perch on the live bait. So we switched over to shark gear again and finished with 7 leopard sharks, 1 smoothound shark and 2 bat rays.It looks like the weather will let us back out on the ocean by the end of this week.

5-22-09 Stayed in the Bay today and fished for sharks and rays. 6 real nice leopard sharks to 60 inches and a few rays to boot. I talked to our live bait guy today and he is ready to get our bait almost any time now. The halibut are begining to show up already so we will be ready.

5-18-09 Tried for halibut for about an hour but it was too windy offshore despite the forecast. So we ran down to the rockfish grounds and picked up limits of nice size rockfish for all.

5-17-09 Another good day of rockfish catching. Limits for all with a nice variety incuding blacks,blues,coppers, vemilions, quillbacks and ling cod. Back before noon.

5-15-09 Opening day of rockfish season finally arrived. We ran down south about 20 miles to look for rockfish. The fish definately missed us and they bit like crazy. It was quick limits for all. We ran out to a little rock and picked up a couple of nice coppers and had a nice fish on that came unbuttoned. We even got a couple for the skipper. Sounds like fish tacos tonight.
5-10-09 A good forecast for today sent us offshore to try to locate the halibut that eluded us last trip. Based on a couple of tips from some commercial guys and a hunch we decided to run a ways and try some new territory The conditions were somewhat rougher than forecast but we stuck it out for a while and picked up a couple of real nice Pacific halibut.One 43# and one 30#. We had several other bites that did not stick so I think we found a good spot. I'm anxious to get back out there now and give that spot a real good look.

5-9-09 Too rough and windy to venture offshore today so it was a stay in the bay day. We caught a half dozen leopard sharks and bat rays for the morning.

5-7-09 Made our first halibut trip of the year today. The reports have been less than stellar with only a couple of fish caught so far. We did not help the average with no luck for us. I have heard several reports of fish being caught by commercials in the deeper water. We have a couple of trips this weekend so if the weather allows we will look out a little farther and see what is out there. It still is kind of early in the season so we aren't discouraged. 4-9-09 Well GREAT NEWS!!! We will get a 10 day salmon season starting August 29 and running through Labor Day on Sept. 9th. Two Chinook salmon per day! This will be the only ocean salmon fishing in California this year. While it is late in the season ,it is also when Eureka is the best port and when we get our biggest fish.. Mooching is usually the preferred method at that time as well.

3-13-09 Made a trip out to look for squid and sand dabs. No luck on the squid but the dabs were biting. We are going to run sand dab trips when the weather is nice until halibut season opens May 1 so if you want to ocean fish for something that is tasty then give us a call. The price for these trips will be very reasonable and it gets us back out on the water. 1-19-2009; HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Not much to report since we won't start fishing until May 1st when halibut season opens. May 15 will be the begining of rockfish. We should have word on salmon season by May as well. Sherry and I have been out recently for sandabs. They don't fight much but they are good eating. We were catching some Humboldt squid about a month ago and may run trips for them if we can get that fishery dialed in. We will be running crab trips next November so you can get an early taste of crab. Some dates are starting to fill up so call if you have a date that you want to fish. Sherry will be glad to help you out.

2008
10-29 REPORT; It looks like this will be our last trip this season. We got an early start this morning since everyone showed up early.We ran out towards the halibut grounds in the dark with fog and flat calm conditions.The fish did not bite early and we only heard of 2 fish caught by 1pm. We moved around a little and tried several different areas. We eventually got a good take down on a circle hook rig that did not stick. 5 minutes later Lonnie hooked and landed a nice Pacific halibut around 30#. 15 minutes later Jim landed a smaller halibut.No love for Fred who did catch some sand dabs when things were slow. So we went in with 2 fish for 3 anglers.It was a fun bunch of guys and we had a good time even with the slow fishing. The ocean was like glass all day but only a couple hundred yards of visibility in the fog so we could not see the whales that we heard swimming around the boat.We will be taking dates for next season so if you want a particular date(especially around holidays like the 4th of July)you should book as soon as you can. It looks like Pacific halibut will open in May.Rockcod will probably open May 15 and run through September 15. Salmon is still not decided but we are hopefull for a season next year.The tuna usually show around the end of June and are off our coast until the end of November. They follow the warm ocean currents so it is hard to predict when or where they will show.

10-17 REPORT; ran offshore today in slightly sloppy seas to look for halibut. Just one angler on board but I haven't been out for a while and wanted to see what was going on out there. It was slow fishing for the most part so we put out a sand dab rig and caught a couple of sand dabs, a small black cod and a 10" long king salmon.We were hoping to look for some squid but it was really blowing in the deeper water. We eventually put a nice 40# halibut on the boat and headed in.

10-6 report: You can tell by the reports that we are not running daily now. We made a run to the pool of 61 degree water off of Punta Gorda to look for tuna. We saw plenty of good looking water but did not see any fish. We did catch one yellowtail and a few mackeral off of a kelp patty late in the day. There are a few fish around but with only two boats looking it is hard to locate them. We are waiting for the ocean to settle down a little before our next tuna trip.

9-28 REPORT:We made a long run to Punta Gorda today only to get turned around by sloppy seas right at the fishing grounds. We stopped on a few spots on the way back up the hill towards Eureka but could not find any fish.There was some chatter about Humboldt squid being caught farther north so we started to run up that way. About 8 miles short of the fleet we decided to stop on some meter marks under birds in deep water. Well, we caught our limit of 4 Pacific halibut to 41 pounds and a half dozen large squid in about 2 hours to finish a great day on the water. I think it shows what perseverence and confidence in your methods can do. Once again Jerry Stewart caught the largest halibut of the day and everyone went home with a fish and some calimari.

9-10 REPORT: It has been so long since we have been out I was wondering if we could still catch. The last 2 trips were in the Bay and one was the last day of rockfish and we only got 2 blacks in the Bay where we had limits the day before. We had not run a trip since then until yesterday when we went looking for halibut in the Bay. It took us quite a while to locate the fish but once we did we were pretty happy with the results. We had six excellent fishers all from Bishop Ca originally, but transplanted to the north coast.They got the hang of light tackle halibut and ended up putting 17 keepers in the boat. Add some shorts and sharks and a bat ray and they were busy most of the time. It looks like we will head north for some tuna fishing next week. If you are not on the tuna call list and want to catch the most fun fish on the north coast call Sherry at 707-499-4925.

8-24 REPORT; Well we finally got our tuna fishing going.We ran out 65 miles offshore with a great load of live anchovies and a couple of experienced and eager anglers.The bite was on as soon as we reached our spot and we quickly put 17 fish on the boat. Then we hit a lull and only put a couple more fish on before we had to head in. The water was glass smooth all day and we saw plenty of life out there including dolphin, molas, birds and a killer whale. Looks like another blow but then we will be ready for another run. If you want to go you need to make sure that you are on the tuna call list.

8-21 Report; no fishing for the last couple of days. Sounds like rockfish will close Sept.2 so if you want a big lincod or a box of nice rockies give us a call. The latest SST shows warm water moving in close. We will probably be making another run for tuna real soon. 1 08-17 REPORT; We made the run to Cape Mendocino and we were glad we did. The rockfish bite was not on fire but it was steady. We had 4 limits that included several 8# vermillion and lingcod up to 23#.We stopped on the way back to watch a pod of whales and saw salmon jumping at the same spot.Tomorrow we are hoping to run out and look for tuna.
08-15 REPORT; We had a great day again in the Bay. 6 halibut,2 lingcod and about 30 assorted rockfish. Bob and his gang from Laytonville were great fun on the boat and we all had a lot of laughs.I still am anxious to get back offshore though. It looks like the winds are going to lay down for the next few days. I heard that there is a good chance that rockfish will close up here on Labor Day. So if you have been on the fence about a trip for rockfish and a shot at Pacific halibut as well you need to give Sherry a call at 707-499-4925 or shoot us an email soon.
08-13 REPORT; Another day inshore for us. The halibut which seemed to have lockjaw a week or two ago have begun to bite again. Dale and Hunter managed to land 8 halibut and a nice bunch of rockcod. These bay trips are a real bargain as you can have a relaxing day on the boat with not much rocking and rolling and still go home with some fine eating fillets.
08-12 REPORT; With a little lump on the ocean we stayed in the bay for some inshore action. We were not disapointed and ended up with a nice box of halibut and rockfish. The gang from the horse race film crew were really fun and we all had a great time.
08-09 REPORT;Well, we beat the weather and got down to Cape Mendocino on a flat calm ocean. It sure is nice having a fast boat to take advantage of nice conditions to get in more fishing time.We started out with a slow bite on the first stop but then the second stop went wide open. We put 50 rockfish on the boat in less than an hour. We had quanitity so now we wanted to look for some quality. We stopped on a spot in 17 fathoms that I had not seen before and quickly began catching a nice variety of coppers, vermillion and ling cod. We finished with 60 assorted rockfish and 11 lingcod for 6 anglers.

8-8 REPORT; today was everything you want a rockfish trip to be with flat calm weather, a fun bunch of anglers and plenty of willing biters. We worked the heavy gear for 1-40# halibut, three lingcod to 25# and plenty of copper and vermillion rockfish. Then we finished the day with a flurry of quality blacks for limits for everyone.

8-7 REPORT rockfish limits for all today with some HUGE blacks Friday is filled up now.

8-6 REPORT ran a short day trip for pacific halibut. Had one that went 55#. It takes time to get one but when you do it is all worth it.We have room for 1 or 2 on Fridays rockcod trip.

8-4 REPORT; no trip today but the ocean has laid down nice and looks great ALL week. We have a rockfish trip on Thursday and are open besides that. We are hoping to make a tuna run on Saturday if the water temps look good. If you want to go anytime this week, call us now.

8-1 REPORT; We made our first tuna run today in the new boat. We had 3 experienced anglers and a great load of live anchovies for bait. We ran out 50 miles in flat calm conditions and put the lines in. After one large mackeral off a kelp paddie we decided to pull up and head way offshore. At 80 miles out we put the lines back in. There was not a lot going on but we did see two schools of jumpers but they would not bite. We finally hooked up one 16.5 # albacore on a blind jig strike. After that we headed back in. We saw good signs out there and the water is now moving in pretty quickly.Everyone commented on how comfortable the new boat is.It looks like tuna is starting to line up so if you want to go and fish live bait tuna then you need to get on our tuna call list.

7-29 REPORT; It was a beautiful day on the ocean with no wind or swell.We were able to bag one nice Pacific halibut for our troubles. We were also treated to the songs of some nearby humpback whales. It was so quiet out there. What a neat experience.The weather is gradually improving and we have some open days for charter coming up. We expect the tuna to show soon so get your dates as soon as you can.

7-27 REPORT; Another day of red hot rockfish at the Cape. Plenty of jumbo blacks with some coppers, vermillion and lingcod thrown in. It was windy with a pretty good drift but we were able to score early and often with limits for all by 11AM.

7-26 REPORT; A fantastic day for rockfish at Cape Mendocino. We really got to see what makes this spot so special. The ocean was flat calm and the fish bit. We had limits of rockfish and ling cod for 5 anglers. Jerry caught the biggest ling that was about 20 pounds.We are going to head back down there tomorrow for another shot.
7-18 REPORT Another day in the bay. The offshore winds just refuse to let up so we can get out for some ocean fishing. Fortunately the bay is still kicking out decent numbers of fish despite the pressure.We'll be back out there again tomorrow.
7-17 REPORT, a little breezy on the halibut grounds today. We had a lot more shorts per keeper than yesterday. We still managed to put some meat on the table though.
7-16 REPORT,Had a group of 6 firefighters from Michigan today. They had a great time on the halibut with limits for everyone and enough sharks and rays thrown in to spice things up.Our bait is in great shape and I think that is making a big difference for us. Looks like the weather might start to settle down by next Monday.
7-12 Had a great group of anglers today in the pursuit of California halibut, the fishing was very good in the morning but slowed somewhat after the tide change. We still ended up with plenty of halibut to take home. We also landed a lot of sharks, including one nice leopard shark and lots of spiny dogfish and brown smoothhound. We now have our own live bait receiver stocked with plenty of fat anchovies. They work great for the halibut but we can't wait to use them on albacore.
7-5 UPDATE,Limits of nice rockfish for 5 by 10AM.The fishing was almost too good but it gave us time to stop and shut down the engines for a while to watch a pod of whales feeding on some krill off the mouth of Eel River.
7-4 update, Well it's the fourth of July and the fishing is red hot. We made the trip down to the Cape with 4 eager anglers. The fishing was a little slow on the first stop so we moved a couple of miles and found an abundance of blacks,coppers,vermilion,quillbacks and blues. After getting our limits we moved to a spot known to put out an occasional halibut and were rewarded with an 80 pounder caught in just 80 feet of water.

7-3 report, this was the second time that we had Cody, Paul and Jeanie on the boat. Like before they were great fun and we had a good time with small halibut ending with 6 keepers and releasing many shorts. Looks like the ocean will be nice until Sunday and then the wind starts up again, hopefully not for long. We are dying to get out for tuna. It looks like they are still a ways out but are heading our way.

7-2 report, we're getting spoiled with these flat calm conditions. The fish were biting again today and we had rockfish limits at the Cape by 8:30 am. We spent some time looking for trophy lingcod but no one wanted to play so we came in with a mixed bag of vermilion,copper and black rockfish.
7-1, another great day on a flat calm ocean. Limits of quality rockfish for three.I have to thank John(Red)for the gift today it was totally over the top and I am still blown away, you made my whole month,thank you.
6-30 report/ another day on the water with John and Christian,The weather was nice and the halibut were biting, at one point I think we caught and released 4 fish in 10 minutes. Looks like the weather is going to be nice into the weekend so if you want to catch some good eating fish, now is the time to go.
6-29 report, limits on jumbo rockfish again today with the jackpot fish a hitch hiker ling caught by Christian, ocean was decent.6-28 report; ocean was a little rougher than the forecast so we headed into the calm waters of Humboldt Bay for some light tackle halibut. They were biting good and we had easy limits for 3(9 fish) and then ran to the entrance for a few rockcod to fill out the bags with a little variety.Everyone went home with a nice bag of fillets.
Report for 6-21-08: Back to Cape Mendocino today for another shot at the big rockcod that live down there. We were able to limit the 4 anglers pretty quickly on blacks,coppers and vermillions.Then we set out to a spot where some large halibut have benn hooked recently and dropped our jigs down. We caught a couple of nice ling cod before something real serious grabbed a Mudraker jig. Unfortunately it was not to be and the big fish earned its freedom. We know it's still down there, sore lip and all.

Report 6-20-08 Fished Cape Mendocino on the Lost Coast for limits of big rockfish.We had a 70 year old gal that landed the biggest quillback I have ever seen. It was a bit windy and we had to use the motor to slow our drift but the fish were willing,we'll be back there again tomorrow.
Report for 6-19-08; 3 nice pacific halibut for 3 people(limits). Don and Sue were experienced fisherpeople and it showed when they were bringing their fish up.Some pesky hake and spiny dogfish kept us entertained whenever the halibut weren't biting. It was a fantastic day on the water with good company and flat seas.We had a king salmon chase an anchovy about 5 feet from the boat. Tomorrow is rockfish on the Lost Coast.
Report:May 28 We have been rockfishing for limits the last couple of days when the weather is good. Limits for jumbo blacks on most trips. Some lings and vermillion. One halibut trip last week for one keeper for four anglers. We could have used a little more drift.
June 14 Still too rough to venture out of Humboldt Bay so we stayed inside the Bay and fished for California Halibut. There is lots of bait in the Bay and we were able to fill the bait tank pretty quickly with nice anchovies.The drift was just right in the morning and we were able to stay on our spots pretty well. The halibut bite was steady if not wide open. Lots of smoothhound sharks to keep us busy between halibut. We finished the day about noon when the wind came up with 10 halibut of which only 3 were keepers. One very large leopard shark and probably 20 other sharks. Had a GREAT group of anglers on the boat with Josh catching all the keepers.It looks like the weather is going to lay down midweek and then a southerly push that should push the tuna our way. Stay tuned.