12/16 Saturday Dino Hunt

Planning to give it another try at China Camp on Saturday.  9:00 ish launch from the main beach.

Who's in?

Here's the tide

http://www.mobilegeographics.com:81/locations/2076.html?y=2006&m=12&d=16

I think the GAF is at an all time low, but ya never know. I might even surprise myself and show up.
Good luck with the WX. Looks like rain. Definitely dress for it.
Hope you go for a smokin' sleigh ride.

I'm in 

Wishin' ya a fruitful outing! I am getting the Ol'trolley & misc. attached this wkend(hopefully) and will be in on some future hunts for sure.

I'm in.  Maybe we'll meet this time.

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Good luck gotta work

I'll have to see, but I think im in.

will try 

F VISIONS of holiday sturgeon are dancing in your head, this might be the weekend to spend a day on the bay.

That's because the tides are ideal, flushed by rain that sweetened the water, churned the bottom and pushed fish down from the Delta.

If that wasn't enough, a herring spawn in Richardson Bay could whip the sturgeon into a feeding frenzy.

And sturgeon fishing is already hot, both from boat and shore.

Last week, Joe Carlomagno of Novato reported sturgeon biting like wild dogs east of the Pumphouse, toward Sonoma Creek, where his crew posted more than a dozen hookups. Several dozen big fish were hooked by anglers based at Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael last weekend alone.

The Morning Star party boat hooked 14 the other day in San Pablo Bay, including seven legal fish weighing up to 80 pounds.

Yesterday, Ross Peterson of Stockton and two pals decked three legal sturgeon and seven stripers near the Pumphouse, with the biggest sturgeon stretching 66 inches. Landscape exec Gary Graw of Novato, fishing not far away, got a 52-incher.

The bite is on at McNears Beach pier as well, with rangers reporting two or three big sturgeon decked daily of late.

"There have been some really nice ones, quite a few, actually,"
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park ranger Maggie Balman said Thursday.

"We've had good fishing, two or three a day," she added, noting several legal fish were hooked Saturday, and several the day before, along with a number of "good-size leopard sharks." Striped bass are in the mix, too.

Pier veterans say the trick is spooling up with enough line to handle an extended run by a big sturgeon, monitoring the bite and setting the hook hard, then playing the fish out, keeping it clear of the pilings, and walking it down the line to shore.

After that, there's no doubt the best gift you can give the sturgeon fishery this holiday season is releasing the fish to spawn and fight again another day.

Sturgeon are, after all, senior citizens of the bay, a dwindling population of creatures that scientists say are tainted with varying toxins. In short, they are best left in the gene pool rather than taken to the dinner table.

Loch Lomond Live Bait's Keith Fraser says that if the weather cooperates, weekend sturgeon fishing should be stellar, providing lots of chances to hook and release big fish.

"It should be great. The weekend tides are great," he said, noting a nearly six-foot wall of water will roil the bay, with even better tides early next week.

Prime weekend time is from noon to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.

I'll be at a family funtion in Sac...good luck!

Conditions sound ab-so-lutely perfect!! Go get em guys!!

Z

Hey Erik,

I might be late... and I don't have my VHF yet.  Would you mind sending me a PM and let me know where the honey hole is so I can meet you guys?  Otherwise, I'll be heading out about two miles straight east of Bullhead.

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