It's time for the spring coastal update... but where to begin?
First: Tours and Classes!
3 new tour/class dates for July and August. (April, May and June are all sold out).
I've got Mega Lowtide Clam Tours (in HMB) going on Fri July 7th at 08:30 and Thurs Aug 3rd at 07:30 (yeah, that one's for the early birds!)
Also... we've got one City Fishing Class Sat July 22nd @ 08:30 (in SF)
PLUS A CHARTERED HALIBUT FISHING TRIP: Special day trip with Captain Adam and Kirk the Sea Forager aboard the F/V Gatherer Outfitters. Just 7 spots on Thursday, April 27th sign up HERE and enter "sea forager" for 15% off!
Second: SMELT OBSESSION
First description of a "Columbia River Smelt" Feb 24th 1806. From the expedition journals of Meriwether Lewis. Chief Coboway {of the Clatsop} came to the fort to sell hats, sturgeon, and “a species of small fish which now begin to run, and are taken in great quantities . . . by means of skimming or scooping nets.”
As many of you may know, I am a bit obsessed with the osmeridae—or true smelts. The two local (market available) smelt species in our part of California are the surf smelt and the night smelt (though the endangered longfin and delta smelts also belong to the osmeridae). The more fishy, scaley, behemoth known as a jacksmelt, or it's equally fishy and scaley cousin the top smelt are not true smelts but silversides—think flying fish or grunion.
I first learned about surf smelt while working for the CA DFW's CRFS program. I was stationed at Martin's Beach one Saturday and got to witness a full on surf smelt spawn there—Martin's was famous for smelt spawns back in the day, as anyone who has seen the mural on the wall there can attest. Anyway, I have fished both night smelt and surf smelt commerically and recreationally. And I have spent no small amount of time obsessing over the state of true smelts all over the planet. From the beleaguered and fast disappearing inland smelts of northern Europe to the “eperlans” of the Baltic, to the capelin of Newfoundland, Labrador and points north. The true smelts need clean cold water (even more it seems than salmon) and they perish without it. The fact that we actually have two fishable populations of osmerids in California has always struck me as a bit of a miracle.
But there was once a third. The king of all smelts. A fish deeply important to the native people who hunted and gathered on the West Coast of North America (and less so to the people who arrived here later). That fish, the “super smelt” is called a eulachon. Also known as “hooligan.” Or candlefish. Legend has it that the candlefish was so full of fat and oil it could dried and burned like a candle. Native Amerians in California once prized the oil of the eulachon, and it was so popularly traded amongst the tribes of the interior that east-west trails on the west coast were called “grease trails.” (See video below for eulachon oil extraction in Ak)
In any case, after a long absence, candlefish have (over the last few years) been returning to the Columbia River—and various smaller rivers near it—especially the Cowlitz. This year the Washington Fish and Wildlife Dept decided they didn't see enough smelt in the river to open it to fishing, (even for a few hours). But the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department reported a massive return to the Sandy River, just outside Portland. So last Tuesday they announced that there would be a 7 hour eulachon dip net fishing window from 12pm to 7pm on Thurs 3/30. In short: a seven hour season.
So what's a smelt obsessed fish-head to do? Well... fly to Oregon on a moment's notice, I guess!
Never thought they'd let me on the plane coming home with ten pounds of smelt as my carry on, but kudos to Alaska Air (“We're very tolerant of fish” said one of the TSA checkers). The rest is, as they say, history. I made the little video below, so you can see what it was like.
FYI: the smelt were decent grilled and pan fried, but smoked they were insane (oily fish do well with smoke, of course). I believe there is still a commercial fishery in Alaska for these fish, and I am looking into how we might get some shipped down here for Sea Forager customers. More on that as it develops.
Night Smelt
Went out last week for night smelt (about two months later than my first trip in a normal winter) and ended up with a net full of yuck. The rivers are still raging up and down the coast and the water quality was like chocolate milk. Chocolate milk with all kinds of insane detritus mixed in. I still managed about 6 pounds, so the wife and I had plenty. Hopefully, as the rains die down and the rivers return to normal, there will be a lot of nightfish around. Smelt tend to react favorably to high rain seasons.
More Smelt
Heard enough about smelt? Ha! Didn't I mention I'm obsessed? I've been looking for surf smelt every single day. Got all excited to see a tern diving near my local beach. Only to discover a few anchovies in the swash. Haven't caught a surf smelt in three years. They seem to have vanished from local waters. May need to take a pilgrammage in June to Humboldt. Ah, for the old days! (Or more like wah, for the old days).
Striped Bass
The Brisbane Tubes, lagoon side (From the RecFin Website)
What can really be said? The last striper I caught was 6 years ago—and that day I was fishing for perch. In truth, I don't even try anymore. Champion de la Banana reports some good striper numbers near Ashby (Frontage Road) in the East Bay. All I can say is if your idea of a good time is fishing for striped bass on the shoulder of I-80 all day, go crazy. Me, not so much. Likewise 101 North. I actually pulled over to watch a guy land a small bass on the east side of the Brisbane Tubes at the end of March. He was throwing swimbaits as they tend to do there. The striper in question was maybe 23 inches.
Halibut
The commercial fleet is starting to whack 'em in ernest. And reports are coming in of some shore caught fish in the Oyster Point/Burlingame area. I think as the water clears up there should be quite a few hali around. One thing to bear in mind... when we have a salmon closure, everyone and his brother starts targeting halibut. I've received numerous phone calls from new fishermen looking for markets (why is it that these guys tend to be so surprised when I tell them I have all I need?) Anyway, I always think that the halibut are going to start declining due to increased fishing pressure. And yet they never do. Not sure why they are so resilient (is this just phony optics?) Maybe there are way more local hali than anyone even knows. Seems to me like a 2-fish limit for the sport fishery wouldn't be a terrible thing. Or maybe they should close the commercial fishery to anyone who hasn't averaged at least a thousand pounds over the last five years... or something... anything. But just ignoring the potential problem seems insane to me. That's my two cents anyway.
Surf Perch
Exhibit A: Redtail surf perch Exhibit B: Calico surf perch
Probably a good idea to be able to tell these two apart. Redtail (left) min size 10.5 in... calico (right) any size will do.
This just in: Champion de la Banana reports limits of perch in Pacifica and HMB. With a good number of redtails mixed in with the barreds. The reason I am including this picture is that I saw a fisher-woman over the weekend with a whole lot of 9-10 inch redtails that she was calling "california perch." I assume she meant "calico." Or maybe she was just totally clueless. In any case she had a over a thousand dollars worth of violations in her bucket. Don't be that person. Study the two pix above!
Salmon
For those of you that haven't heard the news. Here's all you need to know about the upcoming non-salmon season:
Tours and Classes: Spring dates sold out fast, so I added a few more for Summer. Join me out there (or give one as a gift) BOOK NOW!
3 new tour/class dates for July and August. (April, May and June are all sold out).
I've got Mega Lowtide Clam Tours (in HMB) going on Fri July 7th at 08:30 and Thurs Aug 3rd at 07:30 (yeah, that one's for the early birds!)
Also... we've got one City Fishing Class Sat July 22nd @ 08:30 (in SF)
And if you're still looking for a sustainable seafood source for your weeknight supper, you know where to find me! We had some fun doing live crab pop-ups, and while the crab season is basically over there's a lot more tasty, sustainable, seasonal seafood for you.
And that should do it! Hopefully we'll see ya out there.
Kirk-out