Salmon Opener..Test Run..HAYSTACKES

[squidslayer]

But No SALMON.....took a gamble from the norm of going south...Went up past Dux to the 30fathom line as far as 10miles NW of the N Bouy 37.50N 123.50W...saw some good signs on terrafin .. heard about some halbut trawlers netting lots of Salmon......as we trolled for 5 hours it looked real GOOD.. Big Balls of Bait..some as big as 100ft from top to bottom. Haystacks!!...Birds... but nope....used WM Apex...spoons...green RSK..all the tricks
Nice to have a inclosed cabin though ...mist...rain and fog....nasty
To make our day complete...Racing Out of the fog a Coast Guard Cutter comes up and just hangs for 15mins...then out pops a red zodac! 3 Board my boat..ask if we have any weapons (yes a 10 inch filet knife!) checks EVERYTHING from hooks to the bath room..
got a citiation for having outdated flare gun.
Oh well this was my first salmon trip in the new boat...Everything worked perfect!! Chalk it up as a good trial run.... used 36 gallons for 87 miles 2.41 MPG .....
On the way back the BIG swells following seas ...thru the shipping channel toward The Golden Gate were getting to 9-11 ft high...boat ran really stable even surfing down those walls..was like a roller coaster
The Bait is there the salmon will show up soon! Maybe it was that South Swell lockjaw!! The Best action was down south at Montery some Salmon to 20pounds
We will gert them..It always takes a week or so to find the SCHOOL!!


Dick
255 TomCat
"ShirleyMae"
Orinda,CA

[C-Hawk]

I didn't make it out for the opener. I was sick last week and PJ was sick over the weekend. I did make it down to the ramp to talk with the Game Warden. I only know of 2 confirmed keepers in our Santa Barbara Channel area. A few more up at Port San Luis, and better up in the Monterey Bay area.
We typically get into them later- in May/June. Will make a couple runs for them later this month.

The water temps in our area have been too warm, 56 - 58f. Hope the NW winds pick up and cool the water for them.

[bncwaite]

I heard the catch was pretty slow so far. What few fish were caught most were on red crocodiles.Thanks for the report.

Brandon