Sept 2013 Coastal Update, part III

(Sept 2013 Coastal Update continued)

Forage Fish

                                        Bait ball

Anchovies

The big game fishing contingent may laugh, but man, August was a great anchovy month down around HMB. And I'm not talking about pinheads (juveniles) either. There was a school of lunker anchovies (did I just write, “lunker anchovies?) just outside the harbor in HMB most of this month. This was an epic school. I mean massive. Like a mile long. The funny thing was how few fish were coming up in throw nets. At this point I would have to say my throw net skills are reaching a pretty high level of excellence, (a-hem) and yet throwing a casting net into the water with anchovies literally thick as soup all around me, failed to produce a single fish. I think it has to do with water depth more than anything else. Throw nets don't to work very well in anything over 6 feet of water. That's my experience anyway. Though maybe I just need a more heavily weighted net.

                          Brown peilcans workin' the 'chovies

On the downside, one of my salmon-fisher friends expresses concern over the relative lack of baitfish along the Marin coast, (compared to former abundance). I'm also hearing lots of folks complaining about the squid take. Can the ocean really support the harvest of 200,000 tons (or whatever the quota is) of squid annually? Even given the squid's amazing ability to repopulate and the fact that a market squid's lifespan is only 11 some odd months? The official answer of course is, "Yes, the squid fishery is sustainable." But the numbers are staggering—and one has to wonder, how much better off would the food web be if we left a few more squid out there for the birds and the whales and the fishies.  And really, who does the squid fishery benefit?  How many licensees? Or is really just a private fishery for a few select millionaires?  It's the American way I guess.

I'll take my answer off the air.

I am not taking a position on this, mind you. Not yet anyway. I am only reporting on a persistent complaint that many fishermen have been expressing to me.  And since I don't see this complaint getting much press... might as well voice it here.

           

Sardines

Predictably, the boat that fishes live bait for the sporty receiver at the wharf got into the sardines two weeks ago. So there were a few fresh sardines showing up at some of the up scale seafood joints around town.

Then on Aug 14^th I watched a fellow miscreant put about 18 jumbo sized sardines into an orange five gallon bucket while fishing off the draw bridge on a certain ill-named body of water on the south side of our fair city. The next day the same fisherman reported 6 total sardines for 3 hours of fishing. The day after that: none. So, unless you are privy to some very inside information, you can put your Sabiki rig on hold until later in September. Like I've said before, big anchovy years tend to be small sardine years—and vice-versa. There are exceptions but by and large that's the rule.

Evidently San Francisco is doing some work on the Islais Creek area... thanks to Kent for sending this link along:  Islais Creek Restoration

Night Smelt

It was a truly epic season for the little guys. And although they are now officially gone from the few local beaches where I get them, the large number of fresh nighties in the

local markets proves they're still running somewhere. Up the coast near Eureka most likely. One thing to keep in mind is that night smelt don't tend to run in big numbers two years in a row. So prepare yourself for a bit of disappointment next year.

Surf Smelt 

All the usual old timers have been out on the beaches. But the surf smelt will not comply. I bypassed the crowds further north and drove all the way down to Martin's Beach which in years past was a sort of Mecca for surf smelt fishermen.

     
     Martin's back in the day.  Fun for the whole family!

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