Thanks for posting. Looking forward to more days written up.

That looks tasty.
For California catfish, I'm assuming the large ones and particularly the large ones from Clear Lake and maybe from Berryessa would not be desired.
Where would one target the cleanest catfish for eating? I'm thinking targeting fish in the 18"-24" size would be the way to go.

Awesome to get fish on a trial voyage.

Thanks everyone!

Quote from: JoeDubC on July 19, 2024, 03:28:39 PM

3mm farmer john wetsuit, pfd, whistle and personal marine radio are the minimum you need to go out on the salt. Then try Santa Cruz or HMB or Monterey on calm days ( waves at 4' or less and wind less than 9-10mph). I like Windy App the best for forecasts. You can get into fish sooner at SC in the kelp or halibut and even lings in the sand outside the harbor. At HMB you typically need to go further to get to the reef. Boat traffic is worse at HMB. Monterey is a great spot too and easy to launch, get to close reefs, but watch for afternoon winds

Nice tips, greatly appreciated! To be honest I'm a bit scared I should start with taking the launching course in HMB or SC. Maybe it'll help to build up my confidence.

You don't need to beach launch at HMB, Monterey or SC (harbor launches). Doran and Monterey have beach launch options but usually they are very mild. But learning beach launching is always good and will give confidence. In the Bay, you don't have to worry about swell, but wind and tide currents are the limitation. Wind waves can be pretty tough.

Hi Mr. X,

Welcome home from your big adventure - man against the elements, man against man, man against himself - the whole gamut!

Now you have to deal with the the inane bureaucracy of city government. I deal with submittals to 20 different cities and counties around the Bay Area and I often say the "Deep State" is local. SJ probably has a tree ordinance and there is a good reason for that. If everyone removed the street trees at their discretion, then the streets would be hotter and unlivable. If the city is reasonable, there is probably a simple application for tree removal with a recommended replacement tree. It is in the city's interest to remove a tree causing damage to infrastructure.
My tree removal went smoothly and quickly in Walnut Creek, but I can't say all cities are that reasonable.

Second one looks so small is it about 10"?

And are these Eagle Lake trout, hows the meat and flavor?

The small one is 13"-14". The big one is the size of a small ocean salmon.
The meat is orange-red and they don't taste as good as salmon or kokanee, but they are pretty good trout.
Most of my salmonids get the soy/brown sugar/ginger/garlic (maybe smoked paprika) treatment. Baked at 375 on foil.  Maybe someday I'll get a smoker.
The smaller ones can vary in fight and flesh color - probably some have been in the lake longer than others.

The lake is still 5 feet from full in mid July. Surface temperature is pretty warm at 80° or more. Launched at 6:30 and had two bass and two trout by 9 AM. After two bass and one trout, I switched to Kokanee and thought I had the biggest Kokanee ever, but it turned out to be a 23 inch trout. it felt like a Kokanee. After 2 more hours of trying for Kokes with no bites, I called it a day.

Hi Bill,

I'm gonna try Tomales for the first time in over 20 years tomorrow. It's definitely not a sure thing.
I've only got one halibut out of Linda Mar but it was a nice 34"er in a December.