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From the monthly archives:
Here’s the latest in our Name that Fish game…this cute little fella typically runs 6 to 18 inches and inhabits near-coastal rockpiles and kelp beds from Central California to Alaska. He loves small fish, crabs and shrimp and is often caught by anglers with squid, mussels and jigs…though mostly incidentally.
Here’s another big hint….
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To someone from outside the area, it may see odd that San Francisco Bay can produce some red hot fishing action for a variety of species. After all, the bay is the center piece of an immense and sprawling mega-metropolis and is surrounded on all sides by densely-packed civilization.
Despite all that, fishing remains good and, right now, California halibut are the main focus for anglers. On Wednesday, I headed down to the bay to see how the bite was going and I wasn’t disappointed…
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Big Fred and I encountered this pimped out drifter on the Cowlitz River in Washington State…it was one of those weird deals when you know what your eyes are seeing but the brain has trouble making any sense of it. Imagine the scene: we’re fishing along and out of nowhere there’s this wooden driftboat, with no visible means of propulsion, streaking downstream at about 40 mph.
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I took this picture of a 6-foot hammerhead shark in the Bahamas. The sign pretty much says it all. However, I might add a little something to the bottom of it like “….so wire leaders are advised.”
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Hard to believe, but Malibu Creek in Southern California (just 25 miles outside LA), used to be one heck of a steelhead fishery. It is thought that this small stream once held runs of sea-run rainbows that numbered a thousand or more, and supposedly Hollywood heavies like Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy liked to like to fish for them. Now days, however, we’re lucky if a dozen fish return to spawn each year.
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I always go to B.C. in the spring to chase steelhead with my pal Gill McKean of West Coast Fishing Adventures but I couldn’t make it this season. Oh well, doesn’t look like I missed much…I mean, if you think a 20+ pound steelhead on the fly is any sort of a big deal.
Bill Seaman, a longtime client of McKean’s, was the lucky guy who caught my fish. Nice work, eh!
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Here’s another Smoker of the Year Contest entry.
This really bizarre-looking king from the Sacramento River was bright enough to probably taste okay, but what’s with the big head, skinny body deal?
The thing looks like a giant smolt. Hey, that would be kinda cool if we had smolts this big — think of what size they’d be after 4 years in the ocean!
Don’t forget to nominate your favorite fish for Smoker of the Year!
Smoker of the Year Contest Rules
Send us your darkest fish pictures! The winning entry will be picked by a completely biased panel of river rats, pirates and poachers and the “Smoker of the Year” will win a free fishing trip with me…(maybe for downer steelhead or something along those lines!).
To enter, end me an email via the contact link on the homepage and then I’ll send you an email address to send the pictures to. You can also entre through my guide site: www.thesportfisher.com
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I found this old picture of me (I’m the geek in the middle with the Hodgeman neoprenes and sandals) and pals Ty Shalley (L) and Jeff McDonald (R) after a day of fishing on the American River from waaaaay back. In those days, we’d load up my 15-foot Westcoaster Widebody and back-bounce brown eggs (we never bled our fish back then) and, oddly enough, catch the hell outta kings. Could be that there were a lot fewer people on the river and there were more fish, but I like to think it was my deft boat control (yea, right!).
Anyway, I sometimes miss those days when there was plenty of time for fun fishing and hanging with the homies. Somehow, life seems to get more busy by the year with jobs, kids, etc…
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