Sanfrancisco Charters?

Mr. Fisherman · 10-05-2005, 05:08 AM

I had an associate ask me about charter fishing out of SanFrancisco. I have never fished out of there.
Anyone have any info I can pass on?
Thanks in advance...

Zodiac-Fisherman · 10-05-2005, 07:25 AM

Drive down to Half Moon Bay, or even down to the Monterrey Bay Area, they may still be doing tuNA charters..

Stagnaro's, and the Mckaira out of SC are both good outfitters.

KillerBeee · 10-05-2005, 07:29 AM

I know they run salmon and bottom fish trips right out of the harbor in San Fran. I went on one a few years ago, but I'll be darned if I can remember who it was.

Mark Mc · 10-05-2005, 07:37 AM

Ray, it depends on what you want to chase. If it's salmon, and you are staying in SF, then either the Butchie B out of the wharf, or go to Sausalito and go with Jimmy on the Outer Limits. Both friends of mine & both very good skippers.

baddotter · 10-05-2005, 08:07 AM

The best captain is Shim on the New Salmon Queen out of Emeryville. He is the extra mile skipper, and a real fish killer. The tuna run down here never really materialized, and no one is running for them, however our salmon run is late this year, and this is when we get the sacramento river slugs. I got a 35# on Wed. If you cant get on shim's boat, than the OUTER LIMITS is a good boat also. IVe fished both.

Mr. Fisherman · 10-05-2005, 08:32 AM

Good stuff guys, thanks. I'll pass it on.

Salty Walty · 10-05-2005, 08:35 AM

Makaira out of Santa Cruz was a good boat but Tim and the Boat moved up to Fort Brag CA. The ones The Jedi Master suggested are good for the Bay Area. I used to go out on them when I lived down there.

Mark Mc · 10-05-2005, 08:56 AM

I think the FT Bragg folks sold Makaira; new owners re-named it the Tigerfish; in Half Moon Bay now.

Always funny when people say things like "John Doe is the best skipper in......"

Yes Shim has a good reputation. If you were going out of the east bay, and you wanted to mooch, then he would be a good bet. But if you were staying in a SF hotel, it probably doesn't make sense to drive back to the east bay. There are at least a half dozen other salmon skippers who are in the same league.

BTW baddotter, you almost slipped by us.....how about the customary introduction & fish story?

FINZ · 10-05-2005, 09:14 AM

Here is a different kind of Charter. Not fishing but I would still love to go on this charter out of Sanfrancisco.

Farallon Islands Charter

Zodiac-Fisherman · 10-05-2005, 11:10 AM

Off topic..

Mark looks like you know quite a bit about the SC fishing..

How does their tuna fishery compare to ours?

Havent done the tuna game down there.. Just Rock Cod and Salmon.

Stowaway · 10-06-2005, 07:38 PM

Another recommendation for New Salmon Queen out of Emeryville. All captians out of Emeryville are great....at least this is my experiance.

Mark Mc · 10-06-2005, 10:01 PM

Dylan, I didn't spend a whole lot of time that far south (SC) except a few commercial trips; rather, mostly from Half Moon Bay north to Ft Bragg. Spent a lot of years in the charter boat business out of SF Bay & Ft Bragg. Everybody is getting older. Most of the old timers from way back are gone. A lot of the "experienced" skippers down there were the wharf-rat deckhands I grew up with.

Tuna fishing out of that area has varied wildly over the decades. I started tuna fishing there in about 1974. In the 70's and 80's, although we always had live bait, there were so few fish within 100 miles that it was rare to have a bait stop last very long. The "big" day was getting 35 fish for 10 guys. The exception was the strong El Nino of '83....we had quite a surprize run of tuna & bonito show up in Ft Bragg. Then of course in the 90's the fish started coming back, after the ban on high seas drift nets.

I moved up here in '92. It seems that down in central / northern CA their best years for tuna were around 98 - 03, but these last 2 years haven't been that good for the private boats (many salmon & cold water). While up here, we have had way better tuna fishing. My friends down there just can't believe the scores we have gotten up here.

It's all an ever-changing cycle.....who knows maybe BC will be the hotspot in a few years.