Coastal Update

Sea Forager Coastal Update Summer 2015

 

Hi everybody it’s time for the Sea Forager coastal update… for early summer.

But first here's some tours and stuff coming up in the next few months: still a couple spots left for my Father's Day San Francisco Coastal Fishing & Foraging tour on 6/21 (then 7/25, 8/29) and my mega low tide tour on 7/6.

It’s been a strange season thus far, marked by a paucity of some regular summer fish and an over abundance of others. Alas, only Poseidon himself can predict the mysterious ways of the ocean--or even pretend to understand them. 

Small Fish:

 

 

True Smelts

It has turned out to be a very disappointing season for the fan of true smelts. At least locally. Night smelt have been spotty (though I finally did find them this past month) and surf smelt totally non-existent. Not really sure if this means anything. These fish tend to be cyclical and we’ve been due for a down turn for a few years. But still… it would be nice to see a few surf smelt. (Or even one!) I should also point out that we’re at the southern edge of the true smelt range.  Reports from northern California and the large number of night smelt at the fish wholesalers’ warehouses earlier this season indicate that the fishery is as robust as ever up north. So if you’re bound and determined to get your own, pack that A-frame and head to Humboldt.

Retiring From Dip Net Making

                             A Yurok Fisherman circa: 1918

 

I should point out that I am retiring as the sole A-frame dip net maker on the West Coast. It seemed like such a good idea! But I forgot how big a pain in the anal fin it was to make those friggin’ nets. So if you want an A-frame, you’ll have to go back to Craigslist and find a used one somewhere. They come along every now and then (yeah, like once a decade) but as for Sea Forager dipping into the dip net business, I’m done!

Mackerel

 

Never seen so many durned mackerel in my life! First the squid boats started getting them in Monterey. Then there were a few in Santa Cruz. Then all of sudden - woosh! - they swept through the HMB area including Princeton Harbor (and all the way to Pacifica Pier). Only thing, most of these fish are not true mackerel (Scomber japonicus) but rather the diminutive jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus).

Locally, jack mackerel are a good 1/4^th to 1/5^th the size of a regular Pacific mackerel so they’re small and bony.  (According to fish expert par excellence Milton Love they actually reach 32 inches in length! But the big ones live way, way offshore… like hundreds of miles. Only the little ones frequent shallow coastal waters). Nevertheless, their meat is quite good. I did not realize how good till this month because I have rarely ever caught them in the kind of numbers we’ve been getting them lately. Best way to eat them is grilled. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Three minutes a side. Squeeze a lemon on ‘em and call ‘em done. Nothing fancy. Some of my seafood subscribers did a boquerones style cure with jack mackerel fillets and it worked great. Only thing, these little guys are a tad smaller than your average herring so filleting them requires a very sharp knife and a high degree of patience.

         Hey, I just noticed the fish on the Sabiki package is a jack mackerel!

To get in on the mackerel go to Princeton Harbor at dusk and fish into the early evening, especially on an incoming tide. The fish have been swarming the harbor at night. The usual unbaited Sabikis work well but I find the big Sabiki with the white “feathers” is the best. Oh yeah, anything with more than 3 hooks is a royal pain to deal with. Jack mackerel are the ones without the stripes or spots. Just a spiraling lateral line on a pale blue-green background—pretty little fish these. 

Japonicus

 

As for the “real” mackerel, the larger Pacific chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus, they seem to be running in amongst the jack macks. But they are vastly outnumbered and you can expect maybe 5 percent of your total haul to consist of Pacific mackerel. 

 

Sardines 

 

I won’t lie I think I’ve eaten my weight in sardines this summer. All of them caught by me (sport fishing) and a few bought from The Sardella, the last hand-pulled lampara boat in California. 

But wait! You thought sardine season was closed! Actually sardines can still be targeted recreationally. And the commercial take is permitted as long as the vessel was targeting mackerel, squid or something else. In other words, sardine by-catch is still legal and will remain so thru 2015.

So again, these guys have been running with mackerel in the harbor on a good day you’ll get 50/50 jack mackerel to sardines and on a bad day, 90/10 jack macks to sardines. But that’s sort of a gold-plated problem, y’know?

Same sabiki rigs, same incoming tides for sardines.

Halibut

Really good halibut numbers for the sporties so far this season. It’s all been about the Berkeley flats this year. Predictably, the bite’s been dropping off on the big tides and then picking up when they mellow out a bit. Unfortunately, for Sea Forager Seafood, it’s been difficult to line up a good commercial halibut slayer as they tend to all stick with one buyer for the season—not sure why. The dockside price for halibut is actually higher than salmon and hasn’t gone down a penny since March. Go figya! Good for the fisherman and bad for everyone else. Local halibut is fast becoming a delicacy rather than a staple. But I figure this is probably a good thing. 

Strangely the shore bite for halibut has been pretty dismal this year, although there’ve been a few fish landed on Berkeley Pier… and get this… Emeryville Pier (!) which is the least productive public pier in the Bay Area (when I monitored the city piers for PSMFC Emeryville Pier was consistently the worst. Unless you like bat rays and polluted po’gies).

Striped Bass

Hawg striper carcass hanging on a fence outside San Gregorio General Store… Gee I wonder where this one was caught? (this appears to be a sort of neo pagan custom when the bass are running at Pescadero and San G.)

When the dust has settled and we anglers look back on the summer of 2015 ten years from now the thing everyone will remember will be the bass. Pick your spot. Last week the sand crab soakers around Sloat Ave at OB slammed them. And the week before that same deal at Taraval. Pacifica beaches have been red hot all season, and there have been good runs in HMB, San Gregorio (see picture) and Pescadero, lots of small schoolie-sized fish, but some hawgs too. Sand crabs seem to be the key, but the plugging’s been excellent too. Especially at dusk. Bass fishing in the Bay has been ridiculous. In fact, if you’re in it for the halibut a little too ridiculous!  I’ve been going with the big rattling SP Minnow that looks like a smelt (hoping that stripers remember what a smelt looks like) but swimbaits and hair-raisers seem to be de riguer for the coast right now… as per usual.  

Salmon

Yes, there appears to be a salmon season going on right now. If you can get out there and find them you are doing better than most. Waiting till the northern fish come back down to the Golden Gate as is their wont. Hopefully it picks up in July and August… right now there isn’t a whole lot to report.

Lingcod

Unbelievable numbers this summer.  And the size limit is still only 22 inches (for sporties). DFG gave us some very liberal rules the last few years and lots of folks are responding by getting their lings on.  Good reports from the shore-bound swimbait tossers and jetty walkers. And plenty of live bait (read: mackerel) for those who want to ensure success. The nice thing about ling abundance is that it indicates other stocks are doing well, well enough to keep the lingcod happy.

Sea Weeds

We are once again in the thick of it. Lots of nori along the local rocky intertidal areas near my comely abode in Moss Beach.  But one thing about living on the Coastside has been the absolute lack of an adequate area to dry my sea weeds! Having lived in SF for half of my adult life I sorta thought I had a handle on fog. Boy was I wrong. I mean seriously. I recently tried putting my nori in the dryer (at a friend’s suggestion) and that worked pretty well… except for the little crispy bits of nori that got stuck in the little holes in the dryer walls and are now all over my sweaters, underwear and tee shirts… a-hem.

In any case now is the time for seaweeds. Here’s a decent seaweed book if you need help identifying them.  Seaweeds Of The Pacific Coast, by Jennifer and Jeff Mondragon. I would like it if the color photos were a tad bigger. And often I find that one photo of a seaweed species is not enough since they come in many shapes and sizes, but over all this is a good starter book.

Minus Tides

As far as foraging minus tides go, the lowest tides remaining in 2015 are today (Tuesday, 6/16 and Wednesday 6/18) but they’re super early. Beyond that you’ve got some good mega low tide action happening July 2^nd through July 6^th. Then more mega minus tides July 16^th and 17^th and some good ones July 31^st  through Aug 3^rd.  After August 3^rd there won’t be any mega low minus tides (lower than -0.5) until late November—as per usual.

I'll be co-hosting a special locally-sourced seafood dinner party at 18 Reasons on July 24th, more details here. Yes, there will be sea shanties!

And that’s going to do it for your Coastal Update for early summer 2015.

I will be doing nightsmelt trips again if there’s any interest in it… but be advised, I don’t take anybody… and you will subject to excessive Sea Forager scrutiny, and will be forced to pass my arduous cardio-vascular testing process ;)

And as always, if you're looking for a sustainable, super-fresh seafood source (and the story behind it) sign up for Sea Forager Seafood! I've got pickup spots all around S.F., the East Bay and South Bay.

In any case, this is Sea Forager Kirk signing out for June 2015, hoping to see you at, on or in the water! 

Kirk-out

Sea Forager Spring 2015 Coastal Update

Coastal Update Spring 2015

Here ye! Here ye! Spring is in full bloom! No maypole dancing just yet but lots of stuff happening on our local shores, here's the skinny:

1. Striped Bass

 

2015 is shaping up to be an epic striped bass year. Shore pluggers have been steadily nailing the stripers since early April. On a personal note, I gave up on that iconic striped bass lure of the Bay Area, aka: The Hair Raiser, after what had to be my 10,000^th cast, and have been getting much more action with the fancier (and pricier) SP Minnow sold at various tackle shops. I seem to be getting more hits on the one that looks like a smelt, not the pimped-out one with the chartreuse sides, that everone seems to like. The SP Minnows cast really well too, though I have to say all my strikes have been within 20 feet of shore, so its not like you need to break casting records to reach the fish. Lots of bass caught in HMB thus far, and in Pacifica, and I recently heard of a nice bite down at Montara. Bay fishing for stripers has been excellent too by the way. Champion de la Banana reports “lots of bass, Champion!” in the Burlingame/SFO area. And in the East Bay near the race track there's been quite a few schoolies—tho not many lunkers.

Everyone always asks about the advisability of eating bay stripers. Yes, they are very high in mercury, so you should probably eat no more than 1 per month. Ocean stripers are probably a bit better, but one never knows where they have swum. And like I've said, stripers like to swim in some pretty sketchy places.

2. Cali. Halibut

The halibut season started with a bang in March. Slowed down, and then picked up steam again just before the big tides (and winds) moved in. Most of the action was around the Berkeley flats, and Point Richmond. There's been a few fish down in Santa Cruz but by and large it's been an East Bay thing this year. Expect the hali numbers to pick up as soon as we're done with the big tides.

3. Not With A Bang...

There were some fairly robust predictions for salmon this year and then the season opened and very few fish were caught. In truth, everyone agrees, the salmon are stacked up north near Fort Bragg, and won't be coming down here for a few more weeks/months. In HMB it took a day or two for the commercial fleet to find any fish to speak of. High boat was I think 26—for two days of fishing. Some fish were caught early Monday morning (today) in Bodega but most of these were in the 8-9 pound class. And many, reportedly, were a tad skinny. That's what one buyer tells me, anyway. So if you're really looking to get into some high class salmon fishing, we suggest: head north young woman.

4. Small Fish:

Sardine

Most of you have probably read about NOAA's recent decision to shut down the commercial sardine season. (Recreational sardine will remain open) I've received several alarmed e-mails from appropriately concerned “seafoodetarians” on this subject. I should remind everyone that it is now a proven scientific fact (whatever that means) that sardine populations go through natural periods of abundance and decline. These fluctuations seem to occur at 30-60 year intervals. So regardless of fishing pressure, there would likely have been a large drop off in sardine populations this year. The bad news is that NOAA grossly over-estimated the abundance of sardines last year and allowed the commercial take of way too many. Hence the hurried and somewhat frantic nature of this year's shut down. Go here for a more detailed diatribe on the subject: My diatribe on sardines.

Nightsmelt

Yeah, this pic is from last year, thus far in 2015 I haven't caught half as much as this.

What a difference a year makes. I looked in my fish diary from last year and saw that I had something like 1000 pounds of night smelt by May 2014. As much as it pains me to admit it, I've got a cumulative total of 12 pounds this year. Yikes. 12 pounds! So what happened? Well... ummm... not sure. But before I start screaming the sky is falling, warm water years tend to be hard on the little nocturnal osmerids we all like so much. They're evidently still slamming them up north—so maybe they all moved up there? I should point out that the 12 pounds I bagged was on the last quarter moon not far from my current domicile. But I'm not saying where. Sorry. Just look at the sand. The sand doesn't lie. Big grains = smelt. Fine grains = no smelt.

Surfsmelt 

Yeah I keep hearing rumors about surf smelt in Half Moon Bay. But they sure as hell aren't anywhere nearby when I'm on the beach... and I should add that when I'm on the beach I'm always looking for them. Strangely I've seen very few of the usual spotter planes, aka: Caspian terns. In fact, I've seen one tern all season. I was plugging for stripers last week and he materialized in front of me, buzzed the waves a few times and suddenly dropped in and speared a surf smelt. That smelt, by the way, was the only one I've seen in 2015. Once again, rumor has it, there've been a few surf smelt up north... hey this is sort of a continuing theme here... hopefully it doesn't indicate irreversible trends or global warming. But I'm suddenly noticing that three of the fish I've described here are virtually absent this year, and are all being caught where the water is colder. 

 

 

 

Mackerel 

The exception to this of course, is mackerel. Lots of mackerel offshore in Monterey Bay of late. Not sure if they've moved inshore at Capitola where last year where the sporties were getting them by the bucket load. But I'm really looking forward to another good mackerel year especially with surf smelt so slow and sardine numbers down. Hopefully we'll see more of S. japonicus this coming summer—and remember, if there is afringe benefit to global warming, it's that mackerels and tunas tend to like warmer water!

Sea Weeds

    Our friend Kacie Loparto of She Sells Seaweed

 

Well... it's seaweed season folks! Not really sure what to say beyond, go out and snip some (snipping with scissors is the sustainable way to harvest sea weeds)I'm seeing copious quantities of nori in the upper/middle intertidal all along the coast and with all the big swells lots of bull whip kelp washed up on the beaches. For those who don't know what to look for when looking for seaweeds, or researching them, here's a list of the most popularly foraged seaweeds in California, along with their scientific names so you can google them and get the right species:

1. Turkish washcloth: Mastocarpus papillatus

   This red algae is the stuff you want to boil down to make ice cream and pudding.

2. Sugar kelp: Laminaria saccharina

   This kelp is best eaten fresh and raw but can also be steamed or dried and rehydrated. Most abundant in northern Cali, esp Mendocino coast.

3. False Wakame: Alaria marginata

   Best used in soups benefitting from oceanic flavoring

4. True wakame: Undaria sp

   This invasive species grows under docks in coastal harbors and in SF Bay. Undaria is the traditional seaweed used in miso soup.

5. Rockweed: Fucus gardneri

   Good for your thyroid but kind of slimy when eaten raw or steamed. Best dried and rehydrated.

6. Bullwhip kelp: Nereocystis luetkeana.

   Chop the long whiplike stalk into one inch circles and pickle.

7. Dulse: Palmaria hecatensis

   Closely related to Palmaria palmata the most commonly eaten seaweed of the Atlantic ocean.

8. Iridescent seaweed: Mazzaela splendens… Another red algae, this one is also great for making your puddings and icecream.

If you'd like to chat in person I have some fun events coming up in June: the Fishwife and I will be a the CalAcademy's Nightlife on Thursday, June 4th with my nets and fish tales (and hopefully a beer in hand), talking and singing about the sea for their Sustainable Catch evening. Which reminds me, if you're still wondering where to find sustainable seafood when you can't catch it yourself, be sure to check out Sea Forager Seafood, my CSF (Community Supported Fishery).

And for more  foraging fun, come out to the Bay Area Book Festival where I'll be in some fine company speaking on a foraging panel on June 7th. Event details HERE.

Well, that's going to do it for this spring. Stay tuned for my summer update which will be sent out at some point in June or July. Until then, see ya at, in, or near the H2O!

Kirk-out

Late Winter Coastal Update

Party For The Release of: "Me, Myself And The Monkeyface Eel"

First things first: I've got two books due to be published this year. The main one that takes up most of my waking hours is for my favorite local publisher: Heyday in Berkeley. The second is a small artisinal project for some like-minded intertidal enthusiasts who also happen to double as professional printers. These guys contacted me after taking one of my tours and told me they were deep into the lost arts of making books. They wondered if I'd be interested in writing a book for them. At first I was skeptical, but then I went out to their warehouse space at American Steel (after delivering fish there) and could not believe what I saw. These guys have a friggin' type smelter! (and I thought a smelter was person who catches smelt). Get this: they cast their own type out of molten led. They also own an old 19th century printing press. There are only like 3 people on earth who know how to operate it! In any case I wrote them a short piece called: "Me Myself And The Monkeyface Eel" which is a sort of humorous, absurdist study of my life in eeldom (a la Flann O'brien and V. Nabokov). Then I got my dear friend Leighton Kelly (seriously, click the link and watch all the episodes, Leighton is Brick Rockson) to do the woodblock prints. And voila! It's done!

 The author and his record-shattering prickleback 

We will be celebrating this cult classic of fishing lore with free beer (voluntary donations accepted) and witty repartee, a short flick about how the book was made, a few sea shanties by The Fishwives, a brief lecture (or diatribe) by yours truly and good times for all on 02/21/15 at the beautiful offices of Stamen on 16th and Mission. 6:00pm-8:00pm. Please email RSVP at fish@seaforager.com and put "prickleback" in the subject heading so we can get a sense of how many folks are gonna be there! Come on out and support your local artisnial book makers and lunatic eel hunters!

Herring 2014-15

 

Before I get started here. The phone just rang and the herring are still going at Elephant Rock in Tiburon. So drop everything and head there now.

From a net-flinging perspective the herring season has been deeply epic. For the commercial herring guys (and the fish monger who would like to sell their fish) not so much. 

In other words coastal fishers and foragers are right now experiencing the most epic season in recent memory! Everyone else... tough luck. 

How did we arrive at this curious state of affairs? Well it has to do with Alaska. And the incompetence of last year's herring buyer. Evidently the fishermen in Alaska are willing to sell their herring to the Japanese buyers for pennies on the ton. This has degraded the price even as far away as SF. Why would a buyer pay 300 a ton when the fishermen in Alaska will take 50 bucks? Then last year the new buyer at the wharf basically blew the load (through bad handling and equally bad timing) and the local guys got stuck with 200 per ton, which to quote one of them, "didn't hardly pay my gas and crew."

As bad as this has been for the fishmongers and commercial fishermen it's been a boon to local sporty flingers. The spawns since late December have been incredible. Seriously. I saw some 60 pound tosses this year. That's two buckets in one throw of a 6 foot net. Here's how the spawns developed:

1. October--Nov: multiple spawns in the eel grass beds in Richardson's Bay

2. Dec: Towards the end of December there was some spawning down south near the San Mateo Bridge.

3. January: It's all kind of a blur. There's been a spawn every couple of days. First the South Bay went off. Jan 1st to 3rd. There must have been a hundred guys throwing nets. Everybody was complaining about combat fishing, I just drove down the Burlingame shore, parked my truck near the hotel and fished off the pier. All alone I might add. Took about 10 throws to fill a bucket. Which is just how I like it. 

4. Paradise/Tiburon went off a few days later… i mean, I think. It's all a big silvery blurrr.

5. Then at the end of that first week of Jan the Mission Rock shoreline went off, but there were fish spawning all over the city. How cool was that? Kudos to all the intrepid folks that made it out that late Thursday night in the crazy fog. Holy hell that was insane.  

6. I was peddling blackcod during the heart of the Sausalito spawn but I caught a few fish at the very last gasp of it off the Fort Baker Pier. During the Herring Festival, the shoreline was covered with birds, but they were just pecking eggs, the spawning had finished up three days before.

7. This last few days it's been all about Pt. Richmond and now Tiburon again. The Richmond spawn was also really crazy. 

Only two boats have fished this year. This ain't one of 'em

 

I'm really only putting this here for those folks who aren't on my herring list. Herring spawn in pretty much every corner of the bay from San Mateo to San Quentin. So there's no excuse! Get out there and catch a few. 

Typically they will continue to spawn through February. I know Tiburon is happening as I write this. The thing is, with no commercial fleet operating there are 3,000 additional tons out there! But they've already spawned once in most of their favorite locations so… this may be it! Go to Gus's Discount Tackle, pick up a casting net, and go to work! If you need a reminder on how to cast your net, study these photos of me netting herring, formerly known as Kenny Belov of TwoXSea, at the recent Sausalito Herring Festival:

Singing "Shoals of Herring" with The Fishwives sea shanty trio

Sturgeon

    Champion and last year's sturgeon 

 

Right before the herring spawned in the South Bay, there was nice sturgeon bite there. The shore casters at Fisherman's Park between Embassy Suites and Coyote Pt, bagged at least 6 keeper sturgeon in 3 days, and the skiff guys did even better. Predictably, as soon as the herring spawned the bite died off. I guess those ghost shrimp start to look pretty underwhelming to a sturgeon when there's 30 zillion tons of kazunoko in the water.

Dungeness Crab

    Sea Forager snares! Best ones on the coast!

Well… everyone's complaining (including me). Lots of small crabs and lots of females right now. But I dunno…. when one considers the number of commercial crab pots dropped into the Pacific Ocean in November, it seems to me rather remarkable that shore fishers, surf boarders and kayakers can catch any at all.

I'm not going to lie. I'm bitter about dungeness crab. I'm glad it provides such a great financial opportunity to so many fishermen who are able to raise 200,000 dollars for the boat, license and gear (one might ask if someone capable of raising that much money actually needs more… ha!). But from my end it's a soul crushing ball breaking fishery that I have come to deeply despise. In fact. Life is too short. I'm done promoting it. 

Just kidding (heh heh). I've still got two big bags of crab snares to sell and from what I hear there's been a nice bump in inshore numbers on the Marin Beaches… my friend Jorge tells me he bagged 6 fat males in three hours, last week near Bolinas. Pacifica Pier and HMB have been dead for about a month.

Rawk Crab

Two rawwwk crabs… red (right) and yellow (left)

Live large people. Try something different. Forge ahead into the unknown and under-utilized. Of course rock crabs are not really "unknown and under-utilized" nevertheless, when compared to the human feeding frenzy on dungeness crabs, it sometimes feels like the noble rawk crab has been forgotten entirely. Your ever vigilant health department maintains that rock crab is one of the safest choicest for those inclined to dine on the locally caught seafood. One positive development with all the warm water we've been having of late, we've been getting quite a few yellow rock crabs mixed in with our reds. These have been showing up in rocky areas offshore of HMB and Baker Beach. A recent rock crab catch that I purchased for my Sea Forager Seafood customers, was comprised of 20 percent yellows! These were big beautiful beastly crabs with nice quantities of meat in the claws (see pic above).

Night Smelt

It's on people! I can't believe it. 4 years in a row night smelt spawned at the end of January. Go figure? I guess it's one of the fringe benefits of global warming. In any case, my lucky CSF customers will be getting super fresh cucumber scented night smelt very soon, and to every body else… I am definitely running my smelt classes this season. In addition I have A-frame dip nets for sale. These are real beauties. Hand carved with secret-coded glyphs which will remind you when to fish for smelt.  Got some brand-new knotted white anchovy netting (easier to see the fish on a dark night with a white net), with new galvanized strap hinges with the brass pin in the slot. These are so awesome I may decide not to sell  them… so contact me now if you want one. (Enoch, you get first dibs).

"Hand carved with secret-coded glyphs which will remind you when to fish for smelt."

FAQs

            Invasive Undaria (Wakame)

 

I've been fielding quite a few questions about seaweeds of late. So just to make it clear: this ain't seaweed season. Seaweeds are best foraged in the summer when they are in full "bloom." Last April I found a bit of nori growing in the city in April. So there may be a few harvestable tufts in the late spring, but this is really a summer foraging thing. By the way, it is absolutely necessary to have a fishing license when harvesting seaweeds in California! Even for the highly destructive and invasive wakame (Undaria) growing under the piers around the city.

Also: as to shore fishing for rockfish, cabezon and greenling in the winter months. It's still open! It only closes for boat based anglers. 

Surf Perch

Lots of perch on the beaches right now, but man I sure wish they were something other than walleye perch. Still haven't chanced into the red tails and calicoes I prefer. But, living in Moss Beach now, I'm looking… every day! February tends to be a big month in the bay for rubber lips, but unfortunately none of my surfperch operatives have checked in with me, so I'm not sure how the rubberlip situation is going. For those who don't know, the rubberlip is the heavy weight champ of the perch family. Big ones get up to the size of a small striper. Nothing more fun than hooking into a big rubber lip on light tackle. Hopefully I'll have something to report on rubberlips in the next few months.

Striper

Yes there was a brief striper bite around mussel rock and Linda Mar in early January. But before I could get my hair raiser off the visor in my truck (where they live), it was gone.  Striper bites in the middle of January tend to be like that. Poof! Here today gone tomorrow. 

OK that's going to do it for my late winter update. Stay tuned in mid March for the early spring update. Though… I doubt I will have much time to write once baby #2 arrives. Projected birth date: 03/14/15!!!

And don't forget the big party for my little artisanal eel book on 2/21/15, and a few other fun events in February  too.

Kirk-out

WINTER 2014 Coastal Update

 

Ok... before we get started there's a few things happening in Sea Forger Land:

 

Well it's that time of year again. If you're not on it already and you want to get on my herring list, e-mail me your cell #, and write “Herring List 2014” in the subject heading of the e-mail (tours@seaforager.com). Last year I did a whopping total of like 4 tours or something so you want to get on the list or at least let me know how badly you want me to call you when a spawn happens. In otherwords, I will call the people who are most excited about witnessing and learning about this awesome natural event.

 

Herring

There's a nip in the air, a little extra fog, a light drizzle and a few blinking lights in a few neighborhood windows. All of which spell one thing: Tis The Season For Herring! Or the very beginning of it anyway. Several of my operatives, working in extreme conditions in Sausalito report light spawns and “cormorants with big fat herring in their mouths.” Already! 20 throws of my ol' casting net failed to land a single fish though. No that's not true, I got a jacksmelt and a few pinner 'chovies. Nothing to write home about. Really herring doesn't get going in ernest till December. Hopefully I will have more to report then.

Crab pots at Fisherman's Wharf. Next to Sea Forager Truck

 

Dungeness Crab

Crab season started with a bang last Saturday. The bang being the sound of the bone crushing waves pounding the shoreline. In any case the first day was ugly, for the kayak crew on the city beaches but every day after that has been awesome. Unfortunately for coastal foragers (but happily for everyone else) commercial crab season has opened, and the inshore abundance will start to fade by late December. So get your snare and get out to the beach now!

White Sturgeon

 

Sea Forager fishing buddy, "Champion de la Banana"                                                                       and the lunker sturgeon he caught two years ago,                                                              in Nov 2012. The herring ran a week later.

A few lunker sturgeon have been showing up in the area between SFO and Coyote Point of late. A lot of these caught by shore casters using ghost shrimp and herring popsicles from last year. Can anyone guess why they're there?

Perch

When the swell and wind die dow for a few days the perch bite has been quite good. Lots of calicos and barreds down in the HMB area and some of the more rocky Pacifica beaches have produced epic perch numbers for some of the sand crab soakers.

Big Minus Tides: 11/20-24

The problem of course is that these tides are late in the day and this time of year the sun sets so durned early. So make sure to get to the shore by 4pm and be off the beach 30 min after sunset (if you're getting clams).

And that's going to do it for my coastal update this month. Check my tours page for upcoming coastal foraging tours and a mega low tide tour, and get on the herring list... Now!

Kirk-out

September 2014 Coastal Update

Game Fish

White Sea Bass

     Josiah bags a seabass on his Hobie sail-yak, (Josiah says: "Shhhhhhh! Don't burn my spot!")

 

Well the big news in August was the arrival of white seabass from Santa Cruz to HMB and beyond. I heard reports of “giant croakers” caught as far as Bolinas. The hot bite was all around HMB from the Ritz to Montara to Linda Mar. Some of the open access commercial guys really slammed 'em. One of the boats I unloaded for Sea Forager CSF, told me he had caught 20 the previous day and I saw the landing receipt for this so I know it's true. For those of you unfamiliar to white seabass, they're big fish. It was rare in this stretch to see any under 30 pounds. The biggest one I saw this season tipped the scales at 63 pounds. Kayak angler, ornithologist and naturalist par excellence Josiah Clarke launched his Hobie catamaran sail-Kayak somewhere near SF and after a two hour run bagged his first WSB of 2014 this was two weeks ago, so if you have the location pegged from the photo, shhhhhhh!

California Halibut

The halibut bite inside the bay has been pretty crappy for a few months now, and it ain't likely to improve. A few boats are getting fish but it's been way better outside the bay, and south of SF down in Monterey Bay some of the open access guys tell me it's been a great season. I saw one shore caught halibut this year, hanging on a stringer off of Pier 14 near the ferry building. The angler was using live shiner perch on a high-low leader.

Striped Bass

Except for that brief window in late May and June, when the shore pluggers bagged 30 stripers in one night near Pacifica, the ocean bass bite has been fairly miserable. It's been better inside the bay, but as I've said before, I don't fish for bass in the bay or in the delta and so I don't really get great info on the bay bass bite. Bass are already so egregiously high in mercury and other lovely toxins that I have no interest in targetting them in the areas where these will necessarily be increased. I have heard that the north bay has been productive for bass and as per usual they're getting some nice fish in the delta.

Salmon 

Well, they're here! The salmon have entered the figurative 7^th inning of their remarkable life cycle. They're stacked up off of Duxbury Reef, Bolinas and straight out in front of the Golden Gate preparing to make the final run up the the bay, through the Carquinez Straights all the way to the spawning grounds in the Sactramento River. So if you missed your opportunity to catch a salmon this year an you don't know anyone with a boat, drop everything and head to Sausalito. The best two charter boats in the SF Fleet are the Outer Limits and the New Rayanne. In my opinion anyway.

One other thing: the best location to catch salmon from shore this time of year is off the cliff known as Yellow Bluff, just above the Fort Baker Jetty. Just be advised, you will need to research “mooching rigs” though I imagine you can find everything you need on Pierfishing.com. A mooching rig used from a shore is a completely different beast than the mooching rig used from a boat. The entire leader is attached to the bottom of the bobber. You cast an anchor sinker out, let it catch on the bottom and then slide the entire mooching rig down to the surface from a clip attached to the top of the float. E-mail me if you need more details.

Forage Fish 

Night smelt

Night smelt season is now officially over. It was a great spring/early summer. And I still bagged a sporty limit as late as early August. Can't wait till March!

Surf Smelt

For two years in a row now, the surf smelt numbers were low. This is the way it usually goes, especially considering the 3 consecutive years of excellent surf smelt runs we had previously. Still, June was a banner month, and I hear there have been spot runs at several locations south of Pillar Point Harbor. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a late bump in surf smelt spawns. If anyone wants to join me for a semi-legal excursion to Martin's Beach let me know. I say semi-legal because I'm not entirely sure how the lawsuit over Martin's is going. The Surf Rider Foundation has been embroiled in a long and arduous suit to keep the beach open to the public, (click here so you can actively help: Open Martin's Beach) despite the best efforts of the evil Vinod Khosla, a billionaire developer who evidently wants to put an exclusive hotel down there. In any case I fished it a few times last year as a local judge ruled it was cool for the public to visit the beach as long as the lawsuit remained in progress... though I'm not sure where it stands now. If surf smelt are spawning anywhere in this area right now, it would be at Martin's.

Mackerel

 

The mackerel numbers in Capitola/Santa Cruz/Monterey have been insane the last few months. I went down there In August and bagged 200 pounds in one day—with a Sabiki! 4 hours is all it really took. Mackerel may have supplanted surf smelt as my favorite forage fish—they're just so durned good! In any case you can rent a boat at Capitola and chase them around or you can just fish off the pier. Word has it they're still down there especially on days with smallish tidal flow. And really these fish are so deelish... especially butterfly cut and grilled. Yum! Call the bait and tackle store in Capitola to confirm they're down there before you go. And remember to get the big Sabiki rig. Mackerel are the largest of our small schooling fishes.

Surf Perch

Lots of Calicoes on the beaches south of SF right now. That's what I hear from Sea Forager operative #007 (The Champion of the Banana) who adds that the best tide for perch is the incoming tide after a minus. 4-6 feet of tidal movement being optimal.

Blame It On The Moon

 

Not much you can do about these September tides. Same deal in October. In fact, the next big minus tides don't really happen till November. Poke poling is still an option and if you're a fan of sea lettuce, rockweed, and nori all of these are reachable in rocky areas on most medium low tides.

And that's gonna do it for September 2014. I will most probably be moving these updates to a bi-monthly (every other month) schedule in the future--as that seems to be what's happening anyway!

If you're eager for more Kirk Lombard, I highly recommend picking up one of my snappy Sea Forager hats or aprons! Crab snares too...

 

Hope to see you all at, in, or on the water... until then... Kirk-out

Coastal Update July 2014

 

 

Hey there coastal fisher/foragers it's time for your July 2014 Coastal Update!

First off here's some of the tours and events we've got going on in July/Aug: 

1. Cal Academy: Nightlife: 6-9pm: grab a cocktail, look at the amazing displays, and come hang out at our table while we regale you with sea chanteys and tales of the sea!

2. Cal Academy: Meet the Scientist: 1pm. Come on out and meet the scientists and singing fishmongers in your own town—everyone talking about, and answering questions about the oceans!

 My next avilable SF City Fishing/Foraging Tours are:

1. July 20^th 11:30am,

2. Aug 2^nd 9:00am

3. Aug 23^rd 4:00pm

I am also offering my Fisherman's Wharf Scalawag Tour on:

1. July 25^th, 7pm

2. Aug 8^th, 7pm

 An now without further adieu...

Game Fish 

 

King salmon:

Well... the commercial fleet has been fairly bummed out by the way this season is shaping up. The problem, of course, is that all (or most) of the local Sacramento fall Chinooks (the lionshare of our local salmon stocks) upped and deserted us for Oregon waters. So the Oregonians are reaping the benefits of our California tax dollar funded fishery. Oh well. What can you do? Jump up and down and get really mad at the salmon? Impose a fine on them? Tell them they're bad? Or just wait till they come down here. I mean at some point they all have to go up the Sacto, right?

I should point out that I just got back from Fort Bragg and the sporty boats have been nailing the big kings 10 minutes from the mouth of the Noyo Harbor. One of the Grady White contingent informed me over 10am Tecates, that he and his four buddies got limits of salmon and were back to the harbor, boat on the trailer, first beers still cold, at 8am.

Cali Hali:

 

 

This is by far the best halibut year we've had in a while. Although it hasn't been the wide open type of bite we had four-five years ago, at least in going out for for the great predatory doormat of the Bay Area, you don't feel like you're wasting your time—that's what they tell me anyway. Unfortunately for the shore fisher the hottest bite has been out at the North Bar (just outside the Golden Gate) and off of Seal Rock. I've eaten more halibut this year than ever before. And haven't caught a single one of 'em. Such is the life of the fishmonger I suppose. Hard to complain. Still, when big swell and high winds blew all the commercial salmon guys of the water for most of May and June it was nice to have some local halibut to fall back on. When I did my rounds earlier this week, I saw a 14 pound halibut caught on Pier 1, downtown (still my favorite spot to fish in that area) the guy was using live juvenile jack smelt which he had sabikied (new verb) two hours before high tide.

White Sea Bass

Reports on the white squid hounds are all from Santa Cruz and Monterey. I've heard nothing from north of there. Word has it the fish are few and far between and the average size is 25 pounds and under. Maybe if the big squid schools move up north we'll start seeing them around HMB. Will report in more detail in August.

Lingcod

The lingcod bite has been great the last few weeks, although it's died down (because they all got caught?) as the ground swell picked up. Stay tuned next month for more detail on everybody's favorite hitch-hiker.  If you're new to this, get out as far on the rocks as you can and fish swimbaits or whole squid or whole sardines (the bigger the better) near structure. Or just get one of these puppies:

 

Striped Bass: 

 

I will admit that my striped bass reports are always a bit lacking. The reason? I don't like to fish stripers in the bay. Bass are already so loaded with mercury it seems absurd to compound the problem by eating them out of the bay or the delta. So when I report on stripers, I'm really just reporting on the surf (and really, what is the difference in methyl mercury loads between a surf caught striper and it's Bay/Delta counterpart?) Still, catching a big (or even a medium-sized) striper in the surf is one of the great thrills the Pacific coast has to offer. This year everyone is raving about the SP Minnow and at this point I think I'm finally ready to give up on my f---ing Hair Raiser (there was a time when I could actually spell out f----ing on these reports but, at this point, there's quite a few kids reading this and I figure I should probably block out the fucking letters). I mean, I'm somewhere approaching my 5,000^th cast without a fish and I think it may actually be time to move on. So goodbye Hair Raiser, been good to know ya.

All the beaches between Mussel Rock and Rockaway have been producing stripers this summer, but the numbers in late May and early June were, as they say, off the hook. I mean my gawd. We're talking about 20+ fish landed a night for a few nights. Oh yeah, did I mention that most of the hot bites have been at night. For those of you new to this, stripers like to feed at night. Especially if these little guys are around, (see pic below).

Small Fish:

 

Night Smelt

Amazingly, the night smelt are still here. Not as predictably as they were this spring, but they've been running pretty hard through June and now into July. Typically, in our area, nightfish stop spawning in August, so if you've been putting off your night smelt trip, dust off the old A-frame and hit the shores.

I have to apologize for being so remiss about my offers of dip nets and guided smelt trips. I'm just slammed for time these days, and making an A-frame takes a lot of time. As to the guided trips, well... I'm not offering them at this time. 

Surf Smelt

 

The nice thing this year has been how many dayfish I've gotten in Pacifica. I usually only fish Sonoma and HMB for these guys and it's been great to catch them a lot closer to home. The thing is, the fish further north and south can be predicted to some degree but there's no predicting these Pacifica runs. In every case it was good cell phone intel. that put me on the fish. Not the moonphase, tide or my usual surf smelt formula. Thanks to Gilbert and Champion for the calls!

Anchovies

 

As strange as it may sound to the unitiated, the anchovy situation has been kind of uninspiring of late. I mean some folks think of small fish as uninspiring from the get go (these miscreants are in need of schooling—pun intended). But what I mean is, there've been a lot of pinheads lately. So where are the lunker 'chovies of yesteryear? Not sure. If you are of a mind to go down to the local shoreline and Sabiki (there's that verb again) yourself a few anchovies. Try Pier 7 at or near high tide. No you don't need to bait the Sabiki. In any case thanks to Beau for sending along this awesome footage of a nice anchovy school down in the southlands of our fair California:

 

 

Mackerel/Sardine

Well here's the deal. Drop everything (except maybe the baby if you're holding one, like I am, sort of, right now) and head down to Capitola Pier. The mackerel and sardines have been coming in every night and a fisherman armed with the aforementioned Sabiki rig (or two daisy chained together) can expect to fill up a couple of buckets in one night. Key word: night. This is a night time thing evidently. The day time bite has been insignificant by comparison. I spoke to a local saba fan on the Monterey wharf last weekend and he said he bagged 500 mackerel in one night down there. And some of them were huge by mackerel standards. I'm talking 3 pound slugs.

It's funny, Paul Greenberg's been getting a lot of much deserved press for his new book on the outsourcing of American Seafood. But as if to illustrate one of his salient points NPR interviewer Terry Gross mentioned how grossed out she was by mackerel. Greenberg countered that he loved mackerel, but that a person has one bad experience with a type of seafood and they never eat it again. (Coincidentally, this happens to be the way I feel about Terry Gross).

Perch

Perch season opens back up in Aug 1^st in SF Bay and I will do a proper send up at that time.

El Nino

So everyone is saying this is an el Nino year but where are all the exotic species? Last time there was a major el Nino event on this coast guys were catching Tuna 10 miles out the gate and bonito and mackerel from the Berkeley Pier. In any case a strong el Nino would suck for salmon fishermen (salmon depend on the cold upwelling), but at the same time el Ninos tend to bring a lot of winter rains... which the salmon (and everyone else) need desperately. In any case we ought to know by the end of this month if it's happening and as problematic as it may be for the upwelling, it'll be a boon for albacore fishing!

Sea Weeds

In short, I have never seen so much nori in my life. I mean, it's sort of anybody's guess if it's a good idea to eat it out of SF Bay, but my goodness, there sure was a lot of it down on the China Basin shoreline near Mariposa two weeks ago. I gathered enough to fill a medium sized shopping bag in about 10 minutes and this on a rather average low tide. Nori tends to be kind of high in the tideline and if you have trouble identifying it, remember it's dull green, and is only one cell membrane thick. Also, lots of tiny snails and pebbles in it this time of year so rinse it thoroughly or you risk breaking your teeth!

And that's gonna do it for July.

Until August, see ya at, in, or on the water.

Kirk-out

 

 

(Belated) May 2014 Coastal Update

 

Well it's starting to look like Poseidon is granting us one of those crazy “boom” years—where everything seems to be going off at once. At least for now. Unfortunately, there are some dreadful predictions of bad water heading north. Ugh. Wouldn't you know it? Just when everything is looking so perfect... they're saying we're heading into another dreaded el-nino cycle. For those of you who are unclear what this means, read this: 

http://news.sciencemag.org/climate/2014/05/el-niño-coming-back?rss=1

No reason to be alarmist about it. But man, el Nino really does wreak havoc on the ecosystem, and I'm hoping it doesn't happen this year—although I suppose it's inevitable at some point. And there is something to say for catching bonito and mackerel in SF Bay. 

But rather than toll the bell of doom here, let's talk about the amazing spring we're having! And, I figure, why not start with the little guys. 

 

True Smelts (osmeridae)

 

                        Surf smelting mural, Martin's Beach Ca.

 

1. Surf smelt: well, they're back. After a year hiatus. Not sure how long they'll stick around but I've bagged something like 150 pounds already this year, which is a damn sight better than last year. So break out the casting net and start looking for birds (primarily Caspian terns) diving in the surf, north and south of SF. Surf smelt tend to favor outgoing tides and large sand grains—just like night smelt. One other thing. Word has it they've been showing up at Martin's Beach. I got this intelligence from a surfer who's been going down there. Martin's Beach was the smelt capital of California for many years, until a billionaire named Vinod Khosla bought the place out and closed it to visitors. Last year the Surf Rider foundation filed suit, on the grounds that the public must always have access to the coast. While the suit is on-going no one can cite you for jumping the gate and walking down to the beach! I should know I've been down there 4 times. In any case, it's a rather long walk from Hwy 1 down to the beach, but you can stop en route and check out the only smelt mural on earth (see above). Anyhoo, I encourage coastal fishermen to go down there and represent. Surfers have been way more pro-active in this struggle than us. Martin's Beach is part of the culture of fishing in San Mateo county. So stand up for your rights smelt jumpers and surf pluggers! Don't let the .0005 percent take away our beaches!  (I wrote this a few days ago... here's the latest update: Vinod Khosla forced to appear in court).

2. Night smelt: It's already been a ridiculous year for nighties. I've had some deeply epic nights. Like 15 pounds in one dip kind of nights. Though they seem to have disappeared in the last two weeks. I'm still doing the odd nightsmelt tour. And I'm also selling A-frames to those who don't want to sew their own nets, saw their own brackets and shellack their own 1x2's. So shoot me an e-mail if you want to do my smelt dipping class or just purchase an A-frame.  

 

                             

                                        

3. Anchovies:

 

Lots of 'chovies in the bay right now. The receivers are full of 'em. I saw the bait boat yesterday making a set near the mouth of Richardson's Bay--sea gulls going berserk. Turns out they hammered a big ball of sardines too. It always seems like a good sardine year is a bad anchovy year, but it looks like there will be plenty of both for summer 2014. 

 

4. Sardines:

 

 

HMB has been inundated with sardines for a solid month. I watched two kids wade
out into the inner harbor and slam about 75 pounds (2.5 buckets) with a cast net in 20 minutes (cast nets, strangely, are illegal for sardines). Santa Cruz and Monterey too. I did a perimeter check of all the SF Piers
yesterday and didn't see any sardines or mackerel. Big fat nasty jacksmelt, yes. Clean shiny beautiful sardines, no. Nevertheless, they are here. I heard of a few guys getting them in the East Bay, and they evidently swarmed around Fort Baker for a day or two. Look for pelicans diving, and big flocks of cormorants chasing them around. One of the best spots for them is the area along the China Basin shoreline. Check out Agua Vista Pier. And all the downtown piers.  Unbaited Sabiki rigs of any size, (see photo) are the way to go. 3 hooks only in SF Bay!

 

5. Mackerel:

 

I keep hearing reports of nice mackerel numbers in Santa Cruz, but no one has confirmed this for me, and I haven't been down there in a year. So I will farm this one out to you guys. Are there really huge numbers of mackerel in Santa Cruz right now? Or is this just the rumor mill going round and round.

One thing for sure: if the El Nino that's coming our way actually arrives... we'll have more mackerel than we know what to do with... and yet... that's slim consolation for the havoc the warm water will potentially wreak.

 

Striped Bass: 

 

 

This is starting to look like a good bass summer. Lots of fish up in the North Bay, San Pablo Bay, and down south from Oyster Pt. to the San Mateo bridge. But I'm most excited about what's happening in the surf! I admit I'm a bit of a snob about bay stripers. Not really interested in them. Maybe I'm just deluding myself but ocean-caught stripers always seem to look (and taste) cleaner. And stripers are so loaded with toxins anyway, why risk eating one out of the Bay? Of course there's no reason to assume that a striper caught off of the San Mateo Coast didn't spend a good portion of its life in the Bay/Delta, but at least it's easier to my deceive myself that it's a cleaner fish. Anyhoo, lots of big bass in the surf this year. And virtually every shore-caster I've seen is using the usual white hair-raiser/white grub combo or a medium sized swimbait.

 

Lamprey eels:

 

 

Well, after years of curiosity bordering on obsession, I ate my first lamprey eels!  My friend Lindsie hooked me up with a jar of smoked and pickled lampreys caught by one of her Yurok friends on the Klamath. I would love to rave on and on about the great culinary possibilities of these strange parasitic, cartilaginous fishes but... well... it's a bit of an aquired taste... and though I loved them, I'm not sure everyone reading this would.  This is one of those creatures that is kind of hard for people of Euro-caucasian descent to fully accept as a food item.  It's sort of the oceanic equivalent of a leech.  Here's a little video showing the Yurok method of lamprey hunting.  Kind of a weird interviewer guy on the beach with the eel hunter, fast forward to 3:09 if you want to see the capture of the beast.

DFG regulations state that it is legal to capture lamprey eels in this manner.  The height of Lamprey season is April, and by all accounts this was a good year. Can't wait to do this next year!

 

 

 

Halibut

 

 

I haven't got any word at all from the sporty skiffs, but the commercial guys are slamming the big flatties better than they have in 3 years (except for the last three days when I need them the most!). I only know this because of conversations at the wharf and some of the huge 20+ pounders I saw down there last week. The hot bite has been just outside the Golden Gate Bridge, apparently, but there've been plenty of fish in the East Bay, behind Treasure Island and down near SFO.

Salmon

The commercial opener on May 1^st went pretty much as anticipated. Lots of boats on the water, a few high-liners, and a lot of other guys scratching their heads. It's always tough finding the fish at the beginning of the season.  The sport boats have been doing well fishing the islands, and up north near Point Reyes.  But you can read all about this in the newspapers and don't need me for it!

 

Red Tides

  This is not a California red tide, but it's a cool pic nonetheless

 

Mussel season is closed, and most of the red tide reports are coming out of Santa Cruz and Monterey. The main concern is bivalves and filter feeding fishes like sardines and anchovies. Anchovies are potentially more dangerous because people tend to eat their 'chovies whole—like night smelt--and it's the stomach contents that pose the biggest health threat.

I've mentioned it many times here before but it's always a good idea to call the biotoxin hotline before heading to the coast for bivalves or small filter feeding fishes, here's the number again:

OEHHA Biotoxin Monitoring Hotline: 800-553-4133

Now, having scared the waders off of everyone, I should point out that no biotoxin reports have been issued for the SF Bay Area yet, and since there's a lot of sampling in this area, that's a good sign.  Just be advised to keep checking that number if you're going out for clams--especially up north for razors--on these big tides coming up.

Okay. That's going to do it for May. Hope to see some of you guys at, on or in the H2O... until then...

Kirk-out

April 2014 Coastal Update

Hi everybody, welcome once again to your Sea Forager monthly coastal fishing and foraging update. But first here's what's new in our tidepool:

1. Sea Forager Seafood is now offering door to door delivery service in San Francisco and for the East Bay peeps a new pick up location at Smoke BBQ Restaurant in Berkeley!

2. I have some tours coming up, incuding SF Coastal Foraging on 4/13 & 27 and my Mega Low Tide Expedition in HMB on 4/19

3. I'm doing a Tedx Talk called "Where the Wild Things Are" on April 26th at a winery in Menlo Park!

April 2014

 

Recreational Salmon Season Opens

The recreational salmon season opened this past weekend with most of the action centered around Santa Cruz. The Sausalito boats actually did find some fish on Sunday, but even this success was upstaged by the dramatic events down south where party boats were back at the dock in 2-3 hours with limits for all 30 passengers (!) 

Santa Cruz is becoming a salmon mecca due to the stocking efforts of the DFG.  All those fingerlings from 4 years ago are now mature fish, many in the 12-20 pound class.  It's kind of a cruel joke though.  I mean all those fish are gathered around Monterey Bay with hopes of swimming into the Santa Cruz harbor in the fall to spawn in a river that doesn't exist.  The fisheries managers knew this from the get go.  The Santa Cruz fish are not there to breed.  They're there to provide sport and commercial opportunites for the citizenry.  All the more reasons why we should all be going down there to get our salmon!

Striped Bass

Lotsa small bass in the bay for a change. All reachable from shore. From an edibility standpoint these are the ones you want to eat.  I mean, if you've already decided that eating a striper is something you want to do, go with the small ones! (ie: the ones that haven't lived long enough to bio-accumulate significant amounts of things like methyl mercury, dioxin and poly-aeromatic hydrocarbons).  I for one am a catch and release striper fisherman.  My good buddy and former fishing partner Nico "Sharky" Von Broembsen thinks that anyone who catches and releases a striped bass should be slapped with a hefty fine and that striped bass should be treated much the way invasive snakeheads are treated on East Coast rivers.  Of course "Sharky" makes his living as a salmon fisherman, and that skews his viewpoint to a degree (stripers eat a lot of baby salmon and have been irrefutably linked to the decline of the winter run chinook).  I myself take no position on the matter.  But I must admit, catching a big striper in the surf is one of the great thrills a shore fisherman can experience... and another thing... at what point is an invasive species no longer invasive?  Stripers were first brought here in 1878 so it ain't like they showed up yesterday.  Plus which, it's always seemed to me to be slightly hypocritical for human beings to get all outraged by the presence of invasives. 

Anyway here's the skinny on stripers:

1. SF and San Mateo County beaches: nothing yet.

2. North Bay: China Camp, Paradise Park.

3. South Bay: Bulingame (Embassy Suites to Coyote Pt).

Halibut

Well there's still a fairly good bite going on, especially when compared to the last two years! The hotspots appear to be Alameda Rock Wall (behind Encinal High School) and I know of at least one fish landed on white, 5/8 oz Hair-raiser with rubber grub, on the beach at Crissy Field (saw this myself yesterday). So if you are wondering if it's worth it to go out and start casting lures ad infinitum into the bay, I would have to say that yes, you've got a good chance right now of catching something. 

Forage Fish

Surf smelt: nothing yet. Though there've been a few reports of terns diving in the foam near surfer beach in HMB but none of these have been confirmed.

Night smelt: here's what it has been like:

 

False smelt: evidently the bay smelts (jack and top) have been showing up in increasing numbers off all the piers and jetties.  Good counts at Crab Cove in Alameda, and in the south bay too.  Pretty much anywhere in fact.  

After slamming these species for years and even coining the slightly pejorative "false smelt," I have decided to give the local silversides a second shot in 2014 and have every intention of trying them again. Mrs. Q. Tran of Muncipal Pier fame, has invited me to try her steamed jacksmelt with ginger and garlic and who am I to resist such an aficiondado of local sea-fare?

Mackerel:

 

I keep hearing reports of massive schools of mackerel in Santa Cruz but I can't for the life of me find anyone who's been catching them, or mentioning them beyond the fact that salmon are eating them :(

Fresh local mackerel is one of my favorite fish. I've been wanting to provide them to my Sea Forager Seafood customers. But haven't been able to find anyone willing to go out and catch them.  (Which is one of the reasons I'm considering buying a new boat!)

Every few years mackerel show up in huge numbers in SF Bay, but again, it's impossible to predict this.  Hopefully it'll happen this year.  But either way, I'm bound and determined to find a source for mackerel (durn it!)

Sardines: nothing in the bay yet. Rumors of big schools in SC and Monterey as per usual.  Nothing in HMB yet.

Anchovies: rumors only. Nothing yet to report.

Minus Tides: 

Best tides for coastal foraging in April: 4/17-4/20 and 4/30. Monster tides coming up in May!

Here's a tidbit from last year on the second best oceanic pickled concoction (pickled herring is, of course,  my fave, but bull kelp pickles are awesome too).

Bull Kelp Pickles

  

In my never ending attempts to keep everyone happy, I'm going to try to do a seaweed post every month. This month's post concerns the easiest of all local seaweeds to identify. Bull kelp (or bull whip kelp). Now as far as bull kelp goes know this: if you clip the "leaves" near the top of the bulb, you are not injuring it.  But if you cut the "stalk" the kelp dies.  Since most of my readers do not own boats this is a non-issue.  The way most everyone harvests bull kelp is to pick it up when it washes up on the beach after a storm.  When doing this be sure to select a nice, crisp, green piece.  Not the sun withered, dried out stinky old thing covered with kelp flies.

Cut yourself maybe three or four 12 inch secions of the "stalk" or stipe. Rinse these in cold seawater (as a general principle don't rinse offshore/sub tidal sea weeds in fresh water). Take a carot peeler and peel the outside of each section (especially if your bull kelp isn't particularly fresh). Now take the nicely peeled stalks and cut them into small rings.  I like my rings maybe a quarter inch thick, and maybe 1-2 inches in diameter.  For bigger rings cut higher up towards the bulb.

Now that you've got your fresh cut bull kelp stipes, cleaned (in seawater) and skinned by carrot peeler, put them aside and start on your pickle juice. 

The main thing with pickling liquid is this ratio: 3 parts vinegar to 4 parts water.  You can use red, white, balsamic or apple vinegar.  I usually do white.  But I'm not a very adventurous pickler. The pickling recipe I use is essentially the same thing i do for herring, though I lay off on some of the spices and add garlic and black pepper.  You will find a number of wonderful recipes for pickled bull kelp online.  Here's what I do:

Ingredients:

1. Bull kelp stalks, peeled (use a carrot peeler) and diced into rings

2. Onions

3. Three quarts white vinegar

4. Four quarts water

5. Garlic

6. Pickling spice

7. Dill

8.  1/4 cup salt

9.  1/2 cup brown sugar

Take bull kelp rings and layer with onions in a glass, ceramic or plastic container (non metal). Put all the other ingredients into a pot and boil.  After it comes to a boil pour the liquid into your containers till they are filled to the top.  Shaking them a bit to make sure the pickling liquid covers all of the chopped onions and kelp rings.  Refrigerate for 2-3 days.  

Open and voila!  Pickled bullwhip kelp.  Yipee!

(By the way, there's all kinds of sites online with more involved recipes than this...)

Wow.  Can't believe I got this done.  Okay.  Baby Django is hollering again.  Time to go.  Back on the night fish tonight.  Hopefully some cool stuff to report in May.  Until then, see you at, on, or in the water!

Kirk-out 

March 2014 Coastal Update

Before we get into the meat of the thing, here's some stuff we've got happening in March/April:

And if you haven't yet, sign up for my sustainable CSF Seafood business! Seaforager Seafood 

Tours & Events:

1.  HMB Mega Mudflat Tour (April 19th. Only weekend tour this year! Still some spots available!)

2.  SF Coastal Fishing/Foraging Tour (Mar 16th and Mar 29th!) Sea Forager Seafood Customers E-mail me for discount!

3.  March Events : I'm presenting at CalAcademy and providing seafood and sea songs for a boat party!

 

 

 

Herring 2013-2014

Put a fork in it, it's done.  One of the more disappointing herring seasons from a shore fisherman's perspective.  Especially a San Francisco shore fisherman's perspective.  The commercial fleet did better than last year thanks to the big spawns in the North Bay, but frankly I'm bummed.

Seriously what was wrong with these fish this year?  They never came into SF, never moved inshore to the main drag in Sausalito, never hit Candlestick, Islais Creek or McCovey Cove.  Weird.  In fact after all my talk of herring tours I never really did one. Just took a few peeps out here and there.  But no real tour.  Imagine that! 

Which serves as a reminder... when the fish are running, when it seems like they'll never stop, when you're right in the thick of it, (or the herring text wakes you up at 3:00AM), it's a good thing to remember that you're lucky to have found them at all--and that there's one unassailable truth: there are no guarantees that you'll find them again.

Not sure what the numbers were this year, but I think the boats came pretty close to the 3,700 ton quota.  Will post the details next month or whenever they tabulate 'em.  And now, it's time to put all the talk of herring away till next December.  Until then...

Halibut

 

The first few halibut of 2014 were caught in the South Bay last week but man, it's hard to be optimistic after the last few years.  One hopes that the stocks are going through a period of natural decline, and not that they got fished to the brink by slumming salmon anglers a few years ago (when the salmon season was closed down and there was nothing else to fish for).  In any case I will go back to my favorite shore spot this year (Crissy Field Beach).  With the hope that I can somehow induce a doormat hali to take my offering of a streamer fly... don't hold your breath on this, but if it happens rest assured, I will post it for fame and glory on Sea Forager.

For those who wonder about the mercury levels in halibut, they aren't actually as bad as everyone thought they might be.  The OEHHA report recommends halibut once per week for women "in their child bearing years" and kids.  Everyone else:  2 servings per week.  I mean, that's way better than I actually thought it would be for a predatory fish that lives a good deal of its life inside the bay. Don't believe me?  Go here:

OEHHA Report

One thing.  Since live bait is the key with halibut, and the live bait receivers aren't open this time of year, you will necessarily want to seek out shiner perch.  Here's a post I did on Shiners from last year:  

 

Shiner Perch

 

The shiner is a dwarf species and as such offers very little for human consumption in it’s own right—although I know several septuagenarian anglers who rave about shiner soup.  Unfortunately, shiners tend to retain toxins in alarmingly high amounts--just read the OEHHA report.  Not sure why this is being that they only live a few years and do not occupy a high rung in the food chain, but studies have shown them

 

 

to be surprisingly high in all the bad stuff.  Mercury, dioxin, poly-aeromatic-hydrocarbons, etc.  So despite how good they may be in your grandmother's soup, I would highly suggest not eating them.

Really, the only reason I mention the shiner perch in this Sea Forager’s update is because shiners make an excellent live bait—for the exceptionally delicious California halibut.  Often, in early halibut season, before the live bait fish receivers open in Northern California, an angler’s only option for a quality live halibut bait is the shiner perch.  Shiners can be caught by means of bait rig or casting net (North of Point Conception only) to the tune of 20 per day—regardless of location, season or whether the angler has already reached his limit of other perches.  Go to virtually any saltwater pier in the state of California and jig a Sabiki loaded with tiny chunks of shrimp near the pilings and you have a good chance of catching shiners—it should be noted that they favor the top of high tide.  Oh yeah, only three hooks inside SF Bay. 

I would be doing a great disservice to the noble suffering of this creature were I to fail to mention its endurance.  There are few bait fish species that will stay alive and wriggling on a hook longer than a shiner—a dubious distinction for this courageous little fish, but one that no doubt has lead to its popularity as a halibut bait.  Only the toughest of all fishes: the Pacific staghorn sculpin (aka: bullhead) can hold a candle to the shiner perch as far as durability is concerned (ok... midshipmen too).

The Human Element: 

There is a small scale live bait fishery for shiners in SF Bay.  Most of the shiners brought to the local bait shops are caught by means of traps.  But there is at least one shiner fishermen who uses baitfish rigs and actually catches his shiners by hook and line!  Way to go Pete!

Recreationally this species if very popular with the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn types—or what local bay area fishing guru Keith Fraser famously calls: the shiner patrol.  This is due to the fact that shiners, when they are around, are very easy to catch.  Ludmilla Orensen a 10 year old shiner fisher-girl from San Francisco, interviewed on Pier 32, one sunny day in July 2010, informed the author that the reason she likes shiners so much is because they are “so cute and pretty.”  This statement makes me want to cry every time I think about it.  It seems there should be a better fate for a creature so cute and pretty (and yet tough and resilient) than to be  skewered through the face by a live bait hook and dragged around the bottom of the ocean for hours at a time.  But alas, that is what we fisher-folk tend to do with shiners.  Doubtless, someday, if karma proves to be a valid concept, we will return in a future life, to experience what it’s like to be a noble creature poorly used.

King Fish 

                                 This just in. Wong fa on Pier 7!

"Wong Fa" in Chinese. "Chogie" in Korean.  "Kingfish" in Amer-slang.  Genyonemus lineatus... in bio-speak. Call it what you will, it's one of the most delicious fishes in the Pacific Ocean. There. I said it. It's a shame (Caucasian) people are so intimidated by a few worms (Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Samoan kingfish fishermen not so much).  I used to be one of these dainty people but have since changed my tune.  Wild animals have parasites.  Get over it.  It's just a little extra protein.  Hell, pick 'em out and then throw those puppies in the skillet. Or better yet, steam 'em (the kingfish not the worms) with garlic and ginger.  Yum.  I'm serious.  Thing is, the OEHHA tells us kingfish are high in toxins.  I for one find this hard to believe.  I know with shiner perch (see above) they sampled the whole fish in their study. Heads, gills, guts and all... but no one eats perch guts. No one.  So why did they do this?  Why did they sample the whole body instead of the fillet? Too lazy to fillet a few (hundred) small fish.  That's my guess.  (And having de-boned 150 pounds of sardines on Wednesday, I understand this implicitly)." 

Of course it may be that kingfish are just high in toxins... (Lombard of the Interidal always accepts the possibility that he is dead wrong on any given issue).

The best fish picture I've ver taken.  Or maybe just the most expressive fish I've ever                   photographed. 

Anyway... kingfish used to be one of the most popularly caught (and eaten) species in SF Bay--along with jacksmelt and starry flounder. Then about 20 years ago, the flounder and the kingfish just upped and disappeared.  Not sure why.  I read somewhere that there was an over-the-counter weed killer or something that fucked up the fertility of kingfish and starry flounder in the bay, but I never again found that document, and have no idea if I hallucinated it, dreamed it, or made it up.  In any event, I see a kingfish in SF Bay and I get excited.  (Outside the bay, and in HMB they are still quite abundant).

Anyway, while I was doing my rounds today I saw about 20 between Pier 7 and Pier 14.  And as silly as it may seem to anyone who used to catch them by the bucket load, I think it's worthy of noting.  

I mean were it not for the sudden appearance of adulthood (my own) in my life.  I would no doubt wake up tomorrow morning, take the Bart downtown, stop off at the crappy cigar store that used to be Sherlock's, purchase a 9 dollar cigar, walk out to the end of Pier 7, throw my three hooks baited with little pieces of squid (squid is the best of all wong fa baits, or course) out into the bay, break out my copy of Paul The Deacon's epic tome: History Of The Lombards (written in the year of our Lord 876AD), and fish all day while entertaining myself with sordid tales of my babarian ancestors (Gepid skulls for ale flagons anyone?)

Anyway, where was I?   Right... there's some kingfish in our back yard.  Don't be squeamish, go get a few.

Seaweeds: 

Same morning I did my SF pier check, I went out and checked the coast for nori. Nori starts showing up on rocks in the intertidal zone in March and comes into full bloom by late spring-early summer.  I always see the arrival of night smelt and nori as harbingers of spring.  So I noticed a few small tufts of everyone's favorite seaweed growing on the rocks by Fort Point Pier. I'm not actually certain if it's legal to pick seaweed inside a State or National Park, so please don't do it until you read up on that a bit.  But within a month there should be plenty of it growing in pickable areas further north and south...

As i sit here attempting to put together a reasonable overview of nori, I realize Kacie Loparto (She Sells Seaweed) did a stand up job on it last year:

Nori - Porphyra perforata

Hello seaforagers!  Kirk asked me to write about the local nori, so here's a few tidbits...

Nori is part of the family of seaweeds that grow in the “red zone."  These red seaweeds are smaller than the brown kelps and come in a range of colors from white corallines and pinks, to olive and lighter greens and browns, to burgundy and reddish black. There are a number of species of Porphyra growing on the Pacific Coast. Nori has a broad one or two cell thick blade that grows to about 18 inches in length sometimes up to three feet. While walking along the beach you can spot small tufts, usually less than 6 inches in length, of nori growing on large round rocks at the high intertidal zone. The wet blade is stretchy because of its generous protein content. Because of its thin blade it dries quickly in the sun clinging to the rocks like cellophane. The wet nori turns from an olive green-brown color to black when dried.

Nori can be gathered any time of year on the Pacific Northwest Coast depending on the location. The best time of year to gather nori is throughout the summer months when the nori is about a foot in length and before the sun bleaches the blades in late summer. By late summer/early fall the quality of the nori decreases this is a good time to give the seaweed a rest. In late spring small tufts appear on the rocks and as the months roll on the nori matures to a good length for gathering. To gather nori, gently tear the blades from the rocks leaving behind the holdfast. I have noticed that nori may have a few growth cycles throughout the season.

 

Important:  Before eating nori, sort through each piece and remove rocks, snails and other small objects. Stretch out each small piece of seaweed and lay to dry in the sun on a sheet, tarp or screen. Enjoy eating nori toasted, fried or added to a stir fry.

The flavor of nori changes quite pleasantly depending on preparation. Toast nori on a cookie sheet in the oven on a very low temperature for less than 10 minutes and check to avoid burning, or on the stove top in a dry pan to crisp. Grind it up to use as a shaker seasoning. Combine with toasted sesame seeds for an even more nutritious condiment.

Break or cut with scissors into very small pieces, again double check for any snail shells or small stones, remove and add to stir fries. Nori will readily soak up the flavors of your marinade of choice; works well with a teriyaki marinade. Everyone who tries nori prepared this way loves it! It’s the most healthy and delicious chip.

 

Try frying nori in coconut oil or olive oil. Add a ½ inch of oil to a small fry pan and heat oil until it pops. Lower heat to medium and add inch long or smaller pieces of nori. As soon as nori is fully coated it should be ready to remove from the oil less than 20 seconds. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain. Garnish your home made miso and ramen noodle soups with toasted or fried nori!

Really bummed out that Kacie left us for the landlocked Appalachian splendors of Asheville, NC. I learned alot about seaweeds from her, and hope at some point she comes back this way so she can sell me some durned seaweeds!

Crab Snaring:

 

                                                   Champion de la Banana

Right when I was ready to call it quits, I went out to one of my favorite crab beaches and snared 3 keepers in two hours.  So they're here again!  I've had a hard time keeping myself stocked with crab snares so I am now buying them all from the Champion.  Champion de la Banana that is.  The guy who taught me how to make them in the first place.  Anyway, eel-mail me if you want to come get a few snares: tours@seaforager.com 10 bucks each, (with lead).

Osmeridae:

Well the nocturnal true smelts are well and good. But I'm really hoping the diurnal osmerids start showing up soon.  And hopefully last year's total disappearance was an anomaly, and not the beginning of a ten year trend.

This year I have to remember to get footage while I'm actually bangin the smelt. But until then, here's what it's like when they are running kind of light. 

 

And that'll do it for March 2014.  

Until April.  See ya at, in, or on the water.

--Kirk-out

Belated February Coastal Update

Hi guys!  Welcome to yet another (belated) Sea Forager Coastal Update!

First, some reminders and links to cool stuff:

1. To sign up for my only Mega Low Tide Clam Tour in Feb, go here:  Mega Tour HMB (FYI: This will be my last Mega Low Tide Tour till May).*

2. If you've somehow escaped hearing about my Seafood CSF go here:  Sea Forager Seafood

3. Plenty of room on my next city tour 2/22/14: Inner City Tour*

4. The TV show I am hosting can be seen on Pivot Network every Wednesday at 6:30pm (Pacific Time).  Here's the website: Dark Rye On Pivot.

*(All members of Sea Forager Seafood CSF get half price (or sometimes free) tours.  E-mail me for the discount code).

 

 

Ok.  I'm changing the title of this monthly update to "Belated Monthly Coastal Update," because the way it seems to be going I just can't get this sucker posted before the ides of any particular month... 

Anyway.  February is half over, actually yesterday (2/14) it was half over.  Nevertheless here's where we are with our edible shores:

 

Herring

Weird.  January was the boom month.  Most of which I missed while pursuing fame and fortune in, of all places, Texas (where we were shooting segments for my TV show).  Oh well.  I missed all the major spawns in the North Bay.  Though I paddled out under the Richmond Bridge for the San Q. after-spawn and actually got my net in between sea lions and on a few fish.  But other than the first four hours of the beginning of the Coyote Point run on Jan 2nd, I've either been out of town or otherwise engaged.  And believe me, I've got enough people on my herring list to make this more than a little frustrating.  

Nevertheless, I took the ol' yak out into the bay today and marked massive schools of fish off Crissy Field.    And some fairly massive flocks of birds too!  All of 'em going berserk out in the channel and by Mel's Reef (off Alcatraz). And since there hasn't been a whole lot of action along the China Basin shoreline, I'm kind of thinking (hoping really) that we will get the big city spawn that we all love so much any day now (please Poseidon, let it happen on a Tuesday when I'm actually available).

Funny thing. You guys all realize that I am now making a living as a fishmonger right?  I could with little difficulty provide my customers with my own herring.  But I can not do this legally so I am forced to buy choked and beaten (and sucked) herring off the gill net receivers.  Which is fine because I can sort through them and find the nice ones.  But none of 'em ever look quite this sexy:

 

 x

                                                  Ah! For throw netted herring!

 

Anyhoo... look to the south!  Keep eyes peeled from the Ferry Building to Candlestick.  I think they will go off any day now.  Like tomorrow and whatnot.  Seriously.  All the usual spots.  Mission Rock.  Candlestick.  Look for birds.  Or... send me your phone number, get on my herring list, and wait for the "spawn is on" text.

BTW: the commercials really banged 'em up in Richmond and earlier at Paradise. So of the 3,000 some odd ton quota there's only 300 or 400 tons left... if that.

 

Night Smelt

Yep.  They're back!  And all I can say is Yeeeeeee haaaaww!  I love these fish.  I don't care if they have sand in their gills.  In fact I don't give a ratfish's ass.  Just take 30 minutes and cut the friggin heads off.  Or fry 'em whole, hold 'em by their heads, dip 'em in tartar sauce and bite off everything but the head.  Are these not some of the most delicious little fishes in the ocean?  Mmmm smell the cucumber!

Anyway... I'm gonna do a few more guided night smelt trips this year, so stay tuned for that.  Also, I'm looking forward to another big season for these little guys.  Even if I have to drive 20 extra miles to get 'em.

 

You guys notice a theme here?  All my fish seem to wind up in buckets. Which is perhaps the very definition of "small scale" fishing!

 

Where was I?  Yeah, I'm really hoping we'll get another great night smelt year... and if the early runs are any indication things are looking up.  So it's time to offer hecatombs to the Earth Shaker, or at the very least keep your fingers crossed!

 

 

 

Low Tides In Feb/March

                                   Lots of big eels like this one lately. 

 

Well, the monster mega tides are over till May but there are some pretty good ones from Mon 2/24 to March 1st. Plenty low enough for mussels, clams and of course big monkies like the one pictured above.  I should also point out that I am starting to see little tufts of Nori coming up on the rocks where I do my city tour.  Nothing harvestable yet but give it a month.

 

            Common Pacific Littleneck

 

And another thing... I've said this many times before but for what it's worth... manillas, littlenecks and macomas are all readily available on any tide lower than +0.3.  So you don't have to wait around for the mega minuses to get them.  BTW:  I did two very successful private clamming trips last year, and would gladly do more if there was interest. 

 

Crab

 

My sources tell me there's been a sudden bump in keeper sized dungies, especially on the beaches south of SF.  No surprise since most of the bigger commercial boats have pulled up their pots and are now fishing up north, or waiting till next year.  Kind of hard to hear the crab captains at the wharf kvetching about how few crabs there were this year.  I mean, at the prices this year and the dock price down in HMB I'm sure they all made a killing.  At least by everyone else's standards but theirs (really I'm just bitter about this, those guys work their butts off and deserve a good price).  And anyway, everyone predicted an off year.  Crabs, like everything else go thru cycles of abundance and decline and this year was predicted to be a (comparatively) poor year from the outset.

I still think the best way to get dungies is to go out and catch 'em your self.  To that end, I am now getting all my crab snares made for me by the great sport fisherman known as Champion de la Banana (the guy who taught me how to make snares in the first place). As it turns out I just don't have the time to sit around making snares all day--and, being retired, the Champion does.  These lovely hand made snares, include lead weights (melted in place) and can be purchased by e-mailing me at: fish@seaforager.com... here's a picture:

 

                                    Note lead soldered into the cage!

 

What else... I think that's gonna do it this month.  Stay tuned for my Belated March 2014 Update (hopefully, before the ides of March!) which will include some stuff on underutilized clams (piddocks, macomas), nori, and hopefully, early reports on halibut!

Kirk-out