Fishing Reports

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.