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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