Tom Ryugo a.k.a. “Gilligan”
Poppa and his Fish
It’s been a while since I’ve gotten excited about salmon fishing. The salmon season was closed in 2008-2009, opened back up in 2010 with miserable results, and was pretty mediocre in 2011. But 2012 opened with great anticipation because biologists, fisherman, and whale watchers alike all reported seeing conditions conducive for a banner salmon year. The biologists counted lots of fish and the other observers reported the ocean being full of krill, anchovies, and other salmon food. For salmon anglers, the year didn’t disappoint. Starting in late May/early June, boats reported catching between 1-1.5 salmon per rod. In early July, the scores increased to a fish per rod to limits (2).
With all that news, I put together a group to go salmon trolling aboard the New 
Seeker of Emeryville. There were 8 of us: myself; Nelson Owyang; Karen Soo; Greg Wong; and Celeste Rogers (all NSC members) plus three other friends: Chris Mackey; Irena and Mike Pattullo. We arrived very early – 4:30 – because the boat was sold out (hot salmon fishing news travels fast). Given that the previous day, all boats caught limits of salmon, we looked forward to a great day. Chris even convinced his sister-in-law to babysit his two boys with the promise of a salmon dinner. Alas, that’s why they call it fishing not catching.
The ocean was a tad rocky on the trip out so some of our group were looking a bit uneasy. Plus, it was a long boat ride. Not surprisingly, when Captain Harry stopped the boat after about two hours, somewhere between Stinson Beach and Point Reyes, some of our group headed for the rails and tossed their cookies. The weather was overcast and breezy but the ocean had just the right color salmon like – brownish green water full of plankton. On the very first drop, I had a bite and then a fish. 
When the fish came into view though, it looked small, a measurement fish (minimum size for salmon is 20″). I was thinking how disappointing after all the reports of fish averaging 12-15 lb. Irena was feeling too uneasy to fish her line so I checked her bait and put it back down – but when the bait was barely 20 feet away, a big salmon came up and grabbed it. I called for Irena to reel it in but she said she was in no condition – so I reeled it up. A real beauty ~ 18 lb. Not long after that, I had a bite on my own line – and another tough salmon fight. After ten odd minutes, this salmon was in the net, also ~18 lb.
Meanwhile, however, the rest of our group weren’t faring so well. Greg had turned several shades of green, Karen was looking queasy, the salmon seemed to be playing with Celeste (one took her bait and sinker when she closed her eyes for a few 
minutes), and the fish avoided everyone else’s line like the plague. Despite seasickness, everyone in our group gamely toughed it out and kept on fishing. Other passengers weren’t faring well fishing wise either – there were 4-5 other fish in the box but that was it. Captain Harry finally decided to head north to Point Reyes where the rest of the fleet said fishing was better. I reeled in my own line and then reeled in Irena’s line. Just 15 feet from the boat, another big salmon hit the bait. Alas, this one shook its head mightily and threw the hook. Oh well – how disappointing. An hour boat ride later, we were near Point Reyes with lots of company from other charter boats, skiffs, and commercial fishing boats. There was a lot more action here but unfortunately, it came from small fish. The ratio of undersized salmon to legal (barely) salmon must have been 5-1. Most weren’t strong enough to release the trolling sinkers (which was good since people got their sinkers back). Irena, Nelson, and Greg each pulled in a small but legal salmon. Finally, Captain Harry said enough was enough – we should have stayed put at the first spot – and we were heading back to our morning spot.
Back at the previous spot, the passengers got a huge thrill from a pod of enormous blue whales feeding on the abundant krill. The biggest looked to be 70-80 feet long. Some surfaced barely 200 yards from the boat, shooting spouts from their blowholes and waving their big flukes in the air as they plowed through the water. We joked about the extra charges for whale watching. Everyone with a camera pulled it out and tried to time the whales so as to catch tails in the air. Then it was back to salmon fishing. The action wasn’t fast but it turned out well for our group. Greg, having shaken off seasickness, hooked a big and hard-fighting salmon. After a tiring fight, a 15 lb salmon went in the box. Then it was Karen’s turn – but when the deckhands initially took her rod to work out a tangle, she was reluctant to take it back. All that dithering gave the salmon a chance to shake the hook – and after Karen finally took back the rod, that’s just what it did. Finally, at 3 o’clock, Captain Harry gave the order to wind up and head home. Just enough time for one last thrill. As Nelson reeled in his line, a big salmon clobbered his bait barely 10 feet from the boat. A short but fierce struggle later (only ten feet to reel in), another 15 lb salmon was in the box.
Overall, it was a feast or famine day for passengers. In our
group, four people caught two legal salmon and four people caught none. That seemed to go for the rest of the passengers – ~20 salmon for 24 people. My big fish and Irena’s big fish tied for biggest fish on the boat so we split the jackpot. I gave my share to the deckhands, Tom and Rob. I also gave my smaller salmon and the carcass of the big salmon to Chris – couldn’t have him disappointing the family. Also took home a bag of fresh salmon roe (tasty but very rich). A fine day of salmon fishing for me when all was said and done.
~Tom~
