Kayak adventure off Sonoma Coast reaps plenty of rockfish

JENNER – Four anglers experienced a stellar day of kayak fishing for rockfish at Ocean Cove off the Sonoma County Coast north of Jenner on Sunday, Sept.11.

“We caught limits and near- limits of rockfish, including gopher, olive and one China rockfish,” said Virginia Salvador, who took time off from serving as co-captain of the boat with Zack Medinas of Gatecrasher Fishing Adventures out of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.

Salvador of Vacaville went out with Annie Nagel of Rohnert Park, Sage Marshall of Berkeley, and Kanani Wong of San Jose.

Marshall, the news editor of Field and Stream, also caught a keeper lingcod.

“I used Pit Bull weighted hoochies to hook my fish,” said Captain Salvador. “Annie used a halibut setup with dead herring and Sage fished with shrimp flies.”

“We fished at 40 to 60 feet deep in our ocean kayaks. We got off water at 11:30 a.m. and then had a barbecue,” she added.

The key to rockfish success when fishing from a kayak is to wait for the right conditions – and not to go on a windy day with “crazy tides and current,” Salvador stated. This is important for safety purposes and for having a productive day on the water. “The weather was beautiful on our trip - like a lake,” she added.

Medinas and Salvador have been targeting salmon out of Fisherman’s Wharf this spring and summer, but they have also done some halibut and rockcod fishing.

“The salmon have been a good grade lately – but we’re not getting fast limits, now,” Salvador said. “On our last two trips, two people caught their limits of kings one day and four anglers caught their limits the next.”

Salvador is the second licensed woman skipper operating a sportfishing business from the front row of Fisherman’s Wharf. She has been a licensed charter boat captain since 2019.

She works full-time at a hospital laboratory and part-time as a skipper on weekends. She and Medinas will be returning to the Pittsburg Marina after Fleet Week in October to book catch and release sturgeon fishing trips in the Delta and Suisun Bay. Information: (925) 497-7171.

The Ocean Cove Store and Campground offers camping on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and boat access to the sheltered cove. Information: (707) 847-3422.

Meanwhile, party boat anglers are enjoying wide-open rockfish and lingcod fishing while venturing aboard the New Sea Angler out of Bodega Bay. The 17 anglers aboard the New Sea Angler on Sept. 11 bagged 170 rockfish , 27 lingcod up to 19 pounds and 5 Chinook salmon to 26 pounds. Information: (707) 875-3495.

Delta Striped Bass: Striped bass on the Delta are still biting as they have been all summer, but they have scattered a little and not as many big fish are showing.

Striper expert Mark Wilson reported catching around 30 fish to 5½ pounds with Barry Johnson and Frank Columbo during a trolling adventure Friday. They kept their limits of keepers and released the rest.

“We have been fishing the West Bank of Sacramento, Broad Slough and Antioch Bridge on the San Joaquin with deep-diving Yo-Zuris at 11 to 15 feet deep,” said Wilson. “The outgoing to bottom of tide is the best time to fish.”

New Melones Channel Catfish/Trout: Night fishing at New Melones Reservoir is going strong. Kyle Wise of Headhunter Sportfishing reported catching an average of 10 catfish per evening while fishing cut bait, including mackerel, sardines and anchovies. Information: (209) 531-3966.

“The fish range from 3-to 15 pounds and average around 8 pounds,” said Wise. “On my latest trip, Stacey Barawed hooked eight catfish,” Barawed is the host of “Stacy Goes Outside” on YouTube.

Bay Halibut/Marin Coast Rockfish: Anglers are experiencing top-notch rockfish and lingcod action off the Marin and San Mateo County Coast, while halibut fishing continues to be surprisingly productive in San Francisco Bay. The California Dawn returned from a trip to the Marin Coast on Monday, Sept. 12 with 9 limits of rockfish plus the crew (110), 15 lingcod to 16 pounds and 3 halibut to 15 pounds. Information: (510) 417-5557.

“After the last report the salmon was doing pretty good but has slowed,” reported Steve Talmadge of Flash Sport Fishing Charters. “I am surprised how good the halibut fishing was in the bay, during the last set of slow tides. The rockfish and lingcod fishing has been good also.” Information: (510) 851-2500.

Contact Stockton Record correspondent Dan Bacher at danielbacher53@gmail.com. 

This article originally appeared on The Record: Kayak adventure reaps lots of rockfish