South Side Anglers arrived at the boat at 5AM, ready to go. Huli Cat pulled out at 5:30am, and Porter McHenry met us at the bait dock to load on on quality Merva W sardines. With the quantity we got, I was sure we would not only not run out, but I would have a barrel full for crab bait. The weather report was a bit worrisome, but the anglers were so excited about trying the Farallons, we set the course and left in thick fog. Point & click called for 14 gusting to 19 kts, we never saw 10 knots of wind. I ran up towards the North Islands and didn't stop at closer spots that looked loaded with fish. The absolute majority of the group used live bait and the results were impressive. 25 lings for 23 anglers, great coppers and vermillions, about three handfuls of bocaccio. After a while, several folks added shrimp flies and diamond bars for a good number of island quality yellowtail and blues. A jumbo halibut was a bonus fish Just for fun and being the last day, Huli Cat ran up to Fanny Shoal for an almost final drift. On the way back, I saw a spot that looked tremendous and we put the gear in again. Oh by the way, we ran out of bait. The South Side Anglers were bait fishing fanatics!
The close of the local rockcod season also served as a reminder to really, really check your catch. DFG Wardens were at the dock and a ticket was issued for a canary. It turns out they found a number of violations today. Folks, I urge you to be careful. Have your friends double check your bag, check each others bag, count the number of fillets in a personal bag, know the fillet length of size limit of the fish you are targetting.
Huli Cat will offer rockfish crab combos for a short period, then crab trips and even squid trips to help you load up on crab bait. More and more customers are talking about how popular the squid is to eat.
