Sea Forager Coastal Update November 2013

Nov 20th:  Our monthly event.

Free Tour For Members:  Nov 22nd (if you're coming, e-mail me or sign up)

Next SF Inner City Fishing Tour:

Herring

Here ye! Here ye! It is my intense pleasure to announce that we are now entering herring season!

Huzzah!!!!

My friend Jimbo marked a huge school of something, off Hunter's Point 2 days ago, holding at about 40 feet. Not sure what it was but you never know... an early spawn?

For those of you who have taken my tours and had your interest piqued, this is the moment where you can join in all the fun.

How It Works:

1. You send your name and cell number to fish@seaforager.com with the words, "herring tour", in the subject line.
2. When the herring run, I send you a text that simply says the following: The Spawn Is On!  Then...
3. You call me.
4. I take the first ten people to reach me. I'm not going to lie. I prefer people who leave friendly and excited phone messages.
5. I have all the nets. You should bring a five gallon bucket of your own.
6. Payment: 40 dollars, pay in person. You can also tip me if you are really, really happy at the end.

Hope to see you all out there this year.  If you are already on the herring list and want to be removed please let me know so i can make room for other people.

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Sea Forager Coastal Update Nov 2013, pt 2

Dungeness Crab

How could it be that we're two days into the commercial crab season and I'm already sick of crabs?  Just trying to figure out how in the hell I'm going to get crabs to all my Sea Forager Seafood customers is enough to increase my blood pressure drastically.  That and navigating my way around all the pots at the wharf.  Yikes.

As far as catching your own.  I'm just going to say for the record that my snares are working exceedingly well.  That's what everyone tells me.  The crabs are very shallow right now and that works out well for all the shore fishermen out there.  Took me 20 minutes to land two hawg crabs in Bolinas recently.  I only had a brief window to fish, but threw out my snare just as the tide started coming in at dusk.  Got robbed twice and then landed two in my last five minutes.  Not bad for 20 minutes of fishing.

Definitely seems to help fishing on the incoming tide for crabs.  That's what always works for me.

Surf Perch

There've been a few reports of a good perch fishing in the HMB area, but I can't confirm any.  And Pissed of Pete (the true perch expert) tells me he's only catching dinks.  And very few rubberlips or pile perch yet.  Hopefully things will pick up on the perch front.

One area that seems to be holding a lot of perch is the South Bay.  It always surprises me to hear that the perch caught around Burlingame and the San Mateo Bridge are mostly barreds--and a few redtails!  Both of these species are normally associated with the open coast.  Not sure why they show up in the south end of the bay?  Must be something down there they like eating.  Pile worms?  Shore crab larvae?

FYI: The only time to fish these areas is high tide.  Otherwise you'll be casting out onto dry land.  Especially down by the San Mateo bridge.

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Sea Forager Coastal Update Nov 2013, pt 3

Lingcod

This is without a doubt the best time of the year to go out there and catch yourself a lingcod.  They move in close to shore in the fall. I was  on a commercial trip out of HMB recently and we bagged 18 in one day.  The water is just loaded with blue meanies right now.  I unloaded another 26 from a boat fishing further down the coast.  In my case the best bait was a very large white swimbait with an 8 ounce jig head.  But  large frozen sardines with a stinger hook on the tail are the way to go, especially if you're targeting lings specifically, because very little else (except a cabezon or a large vermillion) is interested in swallowing a large sardine whole.

Purple Urchins

I know I mentioned this last time but, man, the urchins are simply loaded with uni right now!  So make sure you get out there on these big upcoming tides.  Urchins are found at the extreme edge of the low tide line, as close to the sub-tidal as possible, and yes, you can use a tool to pry them off the rocks.

And that's it for my belated November update.  

Again, if you want to be contacted about herring tours email me ("herring tour") at fish@seaforager.com 

And come on out for my monthly Sea Forager party on 11/20 (this Wednesday @ 6pm) at Driftwood! Sea songs, fish tales, fishermen and cold beer. It's fun.

Kirk-out

Sea Forager Coastal Update Oct 2013

Ok. Here we go. Bizzy bizzy.  Holy Neptune, Sea Forager Seafood is growing faster than a market squid on steroids.

BTW:  I'd like to announce a new pick-up location in the East Bay for Sea Forager Seafood!  American Steel Warehouse at 1960 Mandela Pkwy, 94607, enter on 20th.

Anyhoo, here's the latest press:

Sea Forager In The Chronicle

Lots of challenges coming up after this month, though. Like for instance, what sustainable seafood can I possibly provide after salmon and everything else closes in two weeks? Hmmmm. I will have to dig deep (or drive far) to keep this going, but I'm actually looking forward to this challenge. And if a sustainable, hook and line halibut from Alaska makes it into the package every now and again, I can live with that--hopefully you can too!

October Party!

The fishwife and I will be doing one of our fishy events on Wed., Oct 16^th at The Orbit Room.  I will be showing a movie about local fishermen and the fish they pursue, singing songs with The Fishwives, and doing a reading from my favorite seafood writer: Joseph Mitchell.

I will also have a local fisherman or two present to answer your questions, or drink the beers that you buy them (just stating it like it is).

This event will start at 6:00 pm, and end promptly at 8:00. If you come late you will miss out on the music and the pupus—so please don't be late!

Tours

I am doing a rare weekend Mega Low Tidetour in HMB on Nov 3^rd If you've been waiting for me to do this on a weekend, this is it! I will not do another weekend tour this year, or maybe even ever.

I don't like to add to the weekend masses out there so I don't typically do weekends in HMB. There's

another Mega tour on Mon Nov 4^th (see link above) but it's sure to sell out too, so get your tickets now. Half price for members of Sea Forager Seafood... if you're a member and don't know the password, e-mail me.

Also, I've got an Inner City Crab/Eel tour on the 12th and on various other dates through Nov 9th.  Again it's discounted for members.  E-mail me for the password.

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Oct 2013 Coastal Update, part 2

Halibut

Well... after a 3 year hiatus, the halibut chose October to finally show up in this area. And there was actually a week where it was kind of like 2009 all over again. By which I mean they were everywhere. The bite in Half Moon bay was quite remarkable, but frankly there's only a few guys that know how to catch the big loads of halibut in that area--and I'm not one of them. It boggles my mind that there are commercial fishermen in Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz who can go out and catch 20-40 halibut in a single day, using hook and line only. To do this requires an Obi Wan Kenobi level of skill. Seriously.

I know this is all past tense... sorry. The bite has died off, and being that it's now October and the tides are getting bigger... I really don't think the halis are coming back. Halibut are caught with higher frequency on mild tides... or so is the popular wisdom. Hopefully I'm wrong and the rest of October will yield significant halibut numbers. But I'm not betting my house on it (and I don't even have a house to bet!)

Lingcod

This is the best time of year to catch a lingcod from shore. And there are plenty of lings out there right now. In fact, if I could get away from my life for a day, that's what I would do. Drive up to Marin and fish for lings from the rocks. Fish and Game seems to think the lingcod population is doing quite well. And anectodal data suggests they're right. I am sitting here, writing this, having just consumed a massive quantity of the fishwife's Lingcod a la Tapenade (with new potatos, swiss chard and zuchini). Baked to perfection. And I must say... there is no finer fish, for my money than lingcod. Mmmmm.

I should also point out that despite the frenetic, macho character of the fish (the lingcod is a badass animal), the seminal Miles Davis/Gil Evans album, Quiet Nights, was the perfect compliment to the meal. I'm not really sure why this is. I would have thought something more demonstrative and angry would have worked better with lingcod... but alas the character of lingcod meat is surprisingly subtle, understated, sweet. Not unlike that album.

Monkeyface Eel

  

As everyone probably knows at this point, I have the state record for the largest monkeyface eel ever caught on hook and line. (A-hem) I've also, arguably caught way more of these poor creatures than anyone else on the planet (with the possible exception of certain Ohlone Indians several hundred years ago).  No doubt, when I die monkeyface eels will celebrate my passing with endless parties and deafening cries to their comrades. But until then...

The monkeyface eels I've been getting lately have been abnormally huge. Slugs. Lunkers. Donkeys. Call them what you will. My friend in the fish, Brian Lynch has been experiencing the same thing of late. Here's his latest pic (see above). Anyway, lots of big fat eels. The news this year is that I'm now using octopus instead of squid (stop the presses!). There was a load of octopus that nobody wanted at the warehouse the other day so I took some of it and caught 6 monkeys in like 30 minutes... just using the tenticles. Makes sense actually. Given where they live, monkeys are far more likely to encounter octopi than squid.

Oh and if you were wondering about good spots in the city to get eels... check out the first line in the Gary (spot burner) Snyder poem...

Things To Do Around San Francisco:

Catch eels in the rocks below the Palace of the Legion of

Honor.

Four in the morning—congee at Sam Wo.

Walk up and down Market, upstairs playing pool,

Turn on at Aquatic park—seagulls steal bait-sardine

Going clear out to Oh's to buy bulghour.

Howard street goodwill—

Not paying traffic tickets; stopping the phone.

Merry-go-round at the beach, the walk up to the cliff-house,

sea lions and tourists—the old washed-out road

that goes on—

Play chess at Mechanics'

Dress up and go looking for work.

Seek out the Wu-t'ung trees, park arboretum.

Suck in the sea air and hold it;

miles of white walls

sunset shoots back from somebody's window

high in the Piedmont hills

Get drunk all the time. Go someplace and score. 

Walk in and walk out of the Asp

Walk up Tam

Keep quitting and starting at Berkeley

Watch the Pike in the Steiner Aquarium:

he doesn't move.

Sleeping with strangers

Keeping up on the news

Chanting sutras after sitting

Practising yr frailing on guitar;

Get dropped off in the fog in the night

Fall in love twenty times

Get divorced

Keep moving—move out to the Sunset—

Get lost or

Get found

--Gary Snyder

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Oct 2013 Coastal Update, part 3

Salmon

The salmon season is finally coming to an end. What a ride! And to think, 4 years ago everyone was predicting the end of salmon on the West Coast. Go figure! That's what 3 years of upwelling and a more sane water management policy will do (ie: bring the salmon back). Although the numbers are down (everywhere except in the rivers), there are still some donkey-sized salmon coming back to the docks. And if ever there was a time to go throw a mooching rig off of Yellow Bluff, this is it! I would imagine they are nailing salmon at Rodeo right now, but I haven't checked the reports in a while. The catch totals on the Klamath this month were... yes I'm going to use this word now... reedonckulous.

Sardines

As can be predicted, there have been quite a few sardines running in and around 3rd street. Monkeyface Operative 007, aka: Champion de la Banana, reports he caught 38 sardines in two hours of jigging with a (totally legal) 3 hook Sabiki near Agua Vista Pier a week ago. I have no idea why sardines forego all the other areas of the bay, and show up on that dilapidated shoreline every year, but they do and I'm not going to complain about it. The popular wisdom tells us that bio-accumulation is a non-issue in species like sardines. Especially in areas where they are merely passing through.

Surf Smelt

My surf smelt woes have now reached epic proportions. The truth is, they just did not run this year. Talking to the old timers out on the beaches, everyone tells me that surf smelt are streaky. They will typically run hard for a few years and then disappear for a few years. That seems to be what's happening. I mean we had 4 stellar years in a row, hard to ask for more than that. Still I can only adequately express my disappointment in verse. So I will now wax haikuic.

Fish Haiku #2139

(From: The Smelt Diaries, Book III, ch, 7., p. 238)

Surf smelt in the foam

Were you just a dream of mine?

Or will you return?

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October 2013 Coastal Update, part 4

Minus Tides

Looks like we have a few decent minus tides late in the day on the 19^th and 20^th of October. Beyond that they're just too late. Although eels and other intertidal species do eat at night it's sort of problematic poke poling in the dark. And probably not the safest thing to do either.

I should also point out that this is the best time of the year (in my humble opine) to fish from shore for rockfish, cabezon, greenling (friends don't let friends eat greenling), and lingcod. Where should you go to engage in this activivty. Anywhere on the Pacific Coast that has rocky shoreline.

Purple Urchin

Additionally, this is the best time of year to get the local purple sea urchins, as they tend to be loaded with uni in the fall. Purple urchins of course are nowhere near as large as the more commonly eaten red urchins... but the nice thing about purples is they live out at the far edge of the intertidal and can be found on minus tides—in other words, you don't have to swim to get them, (and you don't have to buy them for 20 dollars an ounce). However, I would like to encourage the local echinoderm hunter to make sure not to wipe out an area. Pick sparingly and do not feel that it is your god given right to always take a limit of 35. That's my thought on the matter. And remember, urchins are not mollusks so the “by hand or hook and line” rule does not apply.

Surfperch

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And that's going to do it for this month... aw shux... I forgot to mention that the perch bite on all the beaches north and south of the bay has been fantastic, if you like perch. For many years now I have been talking shit about the embiotocidae as a food source. Even though I am very fond of them as a cool, dynamic family of beautiful fishes... and of course I made this chart when I worked with the DFG several years back. But last year I found that surf perch make a truly excellent ceviche and it has since rekindled my interest in the culinary potential of the local perches. I actually liked pogie ceviche better than the redtail and calico but they were all really good... maybe I'll post more of this next month.

OK... that's gonna do it for October. Sorry for the tardiness of this update (again!). I'm a little overwhelmed with the fish biz right now... please come say hi at the Orbit Room on Oct 16^th, 6-8pm.