Salmon Dominance

Waters outside the Golden Gate exploded with activity in the past couple weeks. A big-time early arrival of salmon off the Marin coastline has allowed the Argo to take advantage of this bounty posting limits of large Chinooks on many trips last week.

In recent years it’s been a waiting game for salmon to trickle toward the Gate, but seemingly large schools of anchovies have been the catalyst to an outstanding beginning to our summer salmon activity. Humpback whales are adding to the spectacle as they join the outstanding ocean harvest.

When playing with some inshore coastal rockfish the anchovies have been so thick in 20 to 30 feet of water that there doesn’t seen to be enough water to hold them all. We have yet to run a full day concentrated rockfish/lingcod trip because of the allure of salmon, but if the weather holds before long bottom fish will fill the box.

Inside San Francisco Bay, the addition of live bait has put its stamp on halibut and striped bass. On a half-day trip the Argo produced three halibut and three striped bass for two fortunate anglers. Between those fish came other bites and consistent action.

So long as the weather is feasible, we’ll continue venturing outside the Gate, but even on some of those more funky days the bay will be fishable and seemingly productive.

Shark action has been outstanding within SF Bay with almost exclusively large leopard sharks munching baits placed on the bottom. This is a great activity for kids or simply introducing a new angler to something that pulls hard. The Argo practices catch and release with all our sharks.

There are still a couple open weekend dates available in May and June with more room in July and August. These summer weekends will fill up. 

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