Thresher Sharks

Salmon and halibut are both being caught right now, but the wind has been blowing. Red crab have been doing very well. More are being caught because people can't be picky with dungeness.

As you may or may or may not know, Tomales Bay and the nearby areas are very good places for shark fishing. I've heard every shark out there be called delicious, but only one is really tasty to me. Thresher sharks are a delicacy. They taste quite a bit like whitefish if prepared properly. If it isn't, it tastes like urine. But, bragging rights were always more important anyway. Be careful when you catch them. That tail is designed to cause serious damage. If anyone watches Wicked Tuna, remember what that captain's chest looked like after a smack from a thresher.They tend to bite salmon gear, but I would modify it. Use wire instead of fishing line, because, being sharks and all, they have very sharp teeth. I have hooked two threshers and the one hooked in the mouth bit through the line. When, you hook it prepare for a long fight and a nasty tail. The shark I managed to keep on the line was only juvenile and it fought for almost an hour with no oxygen running through its gills. Here's a step-by-step:

1. Make sure you have wire leaders and a buddy or two in  the boat.
2. When you hook it at first, let him wear down running a bit. Unless he's going towards surf, rocks, or boats, make him do the work.
3. Don't be afraid to take shifts fighting.
4. Whoever isn't reeling should drive in the direction of the shark to make it easier. 
5. Once you can see it, estimate its weight and size and ask some questions:Can you and the crew get him in the boat? Safely?Is he tired? Consider letting him run a bit more.
6. ALWAYS WATCH THE TAIL! 
7. If he can be safely brought aboard, do so. If not, you could attempt to tie a rope to the tail of the shark and the stern (back) of the boat. 
8. Get it on ice and clean ASAP. Sharks urinate through their skin.
9. Come brag at the boathouse to brag like the above person.

Trolling

The salmon bite has slowed down a bit. They appear to be biting on baitfish. A few halibut were caught off of Ten Mile Beach. They would only take plain herring. For an idea of a successful day of salmon fishing, watch the video below. It is a clever collection of fishing film shot on the Fourth.

When I say "trolling," I am not referring to the internet practice of writing nasty things everywhere you can to ruin someone's day. I mean leaving the motors running while you fish. It helps you cover more ground, so it's very useful if you're not certain where the fish are. The downside is that you require heavier equipment. No, your fly-fishing rod won't cut it. You need more weight to get down since you're moving, making a sinker release essential. Most fishermen troll at about three or four knots (for those of you who don't know, that's one nautical mile per hour and about 1.51 mph). However, I prefer a slower troll because it catches bigger fish; our boat has landed three 40+ lb. salmon. My great-grandfather, who preferred a faster troll, never broke the 40 lb. barrier.

Sinker Releases

Salmon are biting well, if you're brave or stupid enough to get out there. I got out to fish Wednesday and Thursday, with the pictures shown below respectively. Wednesday couldn't have gone better, when we caught ten big salmon with Gerard Fitzgerald. On the Fourth, the weather was getting more iffy. I was fine, but there was a cookie tossing contest on board. A couple hours rewarded us with three salmon, the largest being thirty-one pounds. Rumor has it that a few halibut have been picked up in the bay, but I won't say where until I see one of these fabled fish myself. Weather is going to be nasty until Sunday.

You need sinkers to get your lure to where you need it, but until they outlaw lead weights and we're forced to come up with something craftier, how do we avoid dragging two pounds of lead along with a very distraught fish? Sinker releases. Both kinds I've used worked basically the same way. Fish bites, line is tugged and sinker falls to the watery depths. Both kinds are available in the boathouse.

 

Cockles

 Salmon fishing is really picking up. Last weekend and the last few days have yielded many salmon. On Wednesday, an almost-40-pounder was brought in. See here for details.Most when fishing that day,but I took advantage of the low tide and went digging for cockles. While I was not particularly successful that day, they were still unbelievably tasty. Today I'll tell you about the process to catch them.

After

Before

First, you want to wait for a low tide, preferably one that's 0.0 or below. The lower the tide, the more clams are exposed. Unlike most clams, cockles are located on rocky shores. When scouting out a location, look for obvious holes in the beach. This indicates the someone has already been there and that it's a bad spot. Bring a hoe or rake to dig them up with. Start digging. If your hole doesn't yield many clams, don't be afraid to move to a new hole. If you have a lot of luck with one hole and then you dig all the clams out of it, dry digging outwards rather than deeper. Remember that cockles have a daily bag limit of 50 and a size limit of 1.5". Most crab gauges have a hole in them can be used to measure cockles.

Bells and Whistles

Salmon finally went on the bite in earnest last weekend. A number of fish over 20 lb. were brought in. I also heard that on Wednesday, the New Sea Angler, a charter (or party) boat out of Bodega Harbor, hooked 18 salmon and landed ten and only returned because several folks on board had very disagreeable stomachs. At the time they were in 180'-deep water off of Bird Rock.

There are countless different modifications to lures that fishermen swear by. Many of these additions have been wildly successful catchers. Of fishermen, that is. You should be careful when purchasing gear so your "quick stop" won't turn into a triple-digit bill. Not all of these are just a waste of packaging, though.

Flashers can be wildly successful. Often times, it's a coin toss between the fish finding it an irresistible toy or it being completely terrified. The idea is that they grab the fish's attention. The soon-to-be-dinner then hopefully notices the weaker, slower, smaller fish (your lure/bait) behind and hits it. My best and worst days of fishing both involved flashers. A good bet is to give half your rods flashers, to see what's catching.

Scents been largely unsuccessful for me. That is, I haven't noticed a scented rod get more fish than any other. However, scents have been known to assist greatly with crabbing. The boathouse carries Smelly Jelly for crabs.

Glow-in-the-Dark products are actually quite useful despite how odd they appear. I have heard people say, "Only a moron would try something so stupid." If that's the case, then I am a gigantic moron. But I'm a moron that catches fish. 

These are only a few of the thingamajigs out there asking to be bought. If you're considering something iffy, remember the following:

• Does it look like a fish?
• Might it scare the fish?
• Is it too expensive to gamble on?
• Does a sales rep recommend it, and if so, might it be because of sales commission? 

Of course, there are exceptions to all rules and this one defies most of them, but I can vouch for it personally.

Rockfish

Bait fishing off the pier has been terrific. From how many are being caught, I would estimate several hundred perch in the waters under the pier. A 16-1/2 lb. salmon was brought in today as well, but salmon has yet to pick up. However, the regulars are lining the boathouse's benches, waiting for someone to come in shrieking, "The fish are coming! The fish are coming!"

Rockfish season began June 1, but with salmon on the mind, no one went. I felt it was pertinent to say a thing about them, though. There is a ten apiece limit with no size regulations. You can have one line with a maximum of two hooks, with no regulation on hook type. Bait is helpful but not necessary for the typical and reliable setup shown below.

Notice that despite the hook type, I don't spring for the treble hooks. Think about where you're fishing. Rockfishing. Single hooks are considerably easier to get off a rock than a treble hook. Monofilament fishing line is also detrimental to getting hooks loose due to the flexibility. But, before you get cocky, you will lose gear. I would estimate that I have left $30 in lead, line, and lures floating on the bottom of the ocean. And that's being very conservative. 

Bait Fishing

The wind has been keeping most people off the water. Forty mile-per-hour gusts can make the bay get nasty. However, the halibut fishermen are waiting for the first window to get out because a learned regular has maintained that when shiner perch are biting off the pier, there are halibut on the bar. And the shiners were and are biting like piranha. On Monday, I experienced the best pier fishing I have ever seen. In twenty minutes, my brother and I filled a bucket with jacksmelt, shiners, herring, topsmelt, and even a sardine. I can tell you from personal experience that anything you can catch off the pier will work as better bait than anything you buy frozen.

While there are undoubtedly many ways to catch bait, a very successful way to do it is with Sabiki rigs. The hooks you see below are small enough for these fish to bite and, while it sometimes helps, they don't need to be topped off with bait. If you decide to, remember to only cut pieces small enough that they cover the tip of the hook. Because they come with six hooks, untangling them can be a pain. If you are worried about tangling this nightmare of a rig, try cutting it into two separate rigs. They will (hopefully) tangle less, and if you lose one on the pier pilings, no need to worry. Children love to fish these off of the pier, but always use supervision. A couple years ago, I used my trusty Leatherman to take one of these out of a man's hand. He was almost certainly intoxicated, but that didn't numb the pain much. The swearing and Oh Dear God Make It Stop were a dead giveaway. While his was a rare case (the hook was halfway buried into the meaty part of the thumb), you should use caution with these and any hooks.