Date: Friday, November 14, 2003 at 12:30:23
Current Report:

It's good to be back! In the river that is. If I never see another shark, it will be too soon. I ended up catching over 500 leopard's this season, releasing more than half of them. On to bigger and better things! (sturgeon of course) On Nov.1 Tim Roush and his fishing buddies landed three shakers and a 58"x 40 lb. caught by Kieth Baker. On the following day five anglers landed three shakers and a 58"x 44 lbs. taken by Michelle Bagnasco.(she was due!) And on Nov.4, Two regulars, Emil & Valdi landed limits. Valdi's fish went 67"x 62 lbs. and Emil taking a 64"x 65 lb. hog! Most of the D'Backs were taken on ghost shrimp and eel. I've been spending most of my time fishing around Chain Island and the mouth of Broad Slough.Other good places to fish are Grizzley Bay, the lower part of Montezuma Slough and Big Cut just to name a few. This past week I've also done a little bass fishing off Decker Island. On Nov. 11 Lloyd Teragawa and his 13 year old son Drake, landed some nice stripers going 9 1/2 and 10 lbs. Also releasing a few smaller fish all on shad. Looks like it's going to be another good year for both, I hope....Keep'em Bent...Mark

Well my season in the bay is coming to a close, with only a handful of shark trips left. I'll be heading back to Pittsburg for the sturgeon and striper season which should be a good one. Last weekend wasn't too bad, the five guy's I had on Saturday landed 12 leopard shark, keeping 10 big fish to 52 inches. On the following day the five anglers drifted live bait, after running to Angel Island, Richardson Bay, Berkley Flats, Southampton Shoals, and the Sisters.(Whew, Thank God for a fast boat) we finally boated a couple halibut going 13 and 17 lbs. at the top of the incoming tide at Paridise Cove. On Monday myself and a few friends hit the top of that tide again taking three butt's going 11, 14, and 15 lbs. plus a bass to boot, not too bad. I can't wait to head up river, sturgeon season is just around corner!! See Ya Soon...Keep'em Bent! Mark

Shark, shark and more shark. I had to beat'em off with a stick! On my last four shark trips, I have landed over 100 leopards! My trip on saturday the 25 th., Brian Ponte and five of his fishing buddies had a wild day landing over 30 shark to 26 lbs. Keeping 13 big males to 26 lbs. We released all the females and smaller males. On sunday the 14 th. the six anglers landed 22, keeping 12 fish. Every thing came on "midshipman", the shark are bitting on both tides. Most of the action is taking place between Hunter's Point and the yellow "A" bouy in 45 to 55 feet of water. So if you want to go and CATCH SOME FISH, give me a call, I'll be doing shark trips for about another month. Stay Bent!! Mark

Wow! Would you believe it, less than a month and I'm typing again, that's gotta be a record! Seems the hot bite lately has been Leopard Shark. We have been having so much fun catching sharks, I mean lot's of them. On 8-9 six anglers landed 13, keeping 10 and releasing 3, almost all males in the 50"-52" range. Most of the action started on the top of the high tide during slack water using fresh frozen Midshipman for bait. On the following day we had 15 Leopards for 4 people, releasing 3 females. I started using 10/0 Mustad Octopus hooks on 90# nylon steel leaders about 3 ft. long, I bent the barb on the hook for easy release. Last friday the 15 th. I had out three fishermen that fought and landed 16 shark by 11 a.m. keeping nine of the fish. We had the first three at the bottom of the out going tide, but when the tide turned the action really turned on. We even had a triple! I have been spending most of my time fishing between Pac Bell Park and the "Big Red Stack" near Potero Point in 25' to 55' of water. I haven't had too many calls for live bait potluck trips. (that doesn't hurt my feelings none) I don't think there's much going on anyway. Seems the salmon bite is starting to pick back up, I'll know more after this weekend. By the way, I forgot to mention that I made it out for my first Albacore trip with my brother Dave (his first tuna trip) and a very good friend Larry Frey of Lodi. We left the dock about 5:30 a.m. and were trolling by 7:30. We started about 4 miles past the Islands. It didn't take long to hit our first triple, landing all three fish. We ended our morning by 11 o'clock keeping 14 tuna to 24 lbs. The ride in was even better taking only an hour and fourty minutes. What a great trip! I can't wait to do it again, know what I mean? Forever Bent!! Mark

Well it looks like the salmon bite is going good now, with limits of fish on my last few trips. Although the boat ride to "God's Country" (no not Colorado) takes awhile, the trip is worth it. However salmon are starting to show around Duxbury bouy down to Muir Beach. The fish range anywhere from eight to twentyfour pounds with a lot of bigger fish starting to show. I've been trolling Scottie's Salmon Rotary Killers with a Vance's 6" trout dodger about twenty inches above the hook. Seems the chrome w/charttruse work the best. I've been trolling about three knot's with 1 1/2 lb. balls at thirty to fourty pulls for best results. Give me a call if you want to get to catch a couple, I have lots of room. And like always, Keep'em Bent! Mark...

Hey Fisher People! Long time no type. Well the live bait bite has been a little slow for me the past few weeks with an average of a fish a rod, the halibut have been nice size ranging from eight to fourteen pounds and a few bass up to five pounds. The most consistant bite happening around the Berkley Flats. With all the big tides happening this week, it made the bay one big mud bowl. My leopard shark trip on 7-14 turned out fairly well as the six anglers landed nine shark to twenty two pounds. I have more shark trips comming up this week, I'll let you know how they turn out. Stay Bent! Mark

Well I'm back in the bay, couldn't stand the heat on the river. but if you can, there's still a lot of D'Back's around. On my last trip of the season, I headed back to Montezuma Slough. I had a girl show her four friend's (guy's) just how to do it. Lisa Cook from Livermore was one very happy angler after landing a 65"x 63 lbr. All that her friend's could come up with were two shakers. You should have heard the badgering she put on them! Back to the Bay, My first couple live bait trips were a little rough, only catching a few shaker halibut, but after a little boat ride down to South Bay, I started finding a few fish. On Sunday 6-1 the five guy's I had out landed a pair of ten pounders way down by Oyster Point, we ended up taking one more keeper at Berkley Pier and released a couple of shakers. Yesterday 6-3 was a little better. The gang from the San Joaquin Sheriff's Dept. had a decent day landing eight halibut from 8 to 10 lbs. and a leopard shark to boot, all caught off the Alameda Rock Wall on the income tide. Halibut seem to be spread out in most of the usual places like Paradise Cove, South Hampton Shoals, both sides of the Berkly Pier and Alameda Rock Wall. A good friend tells me that the Leopard shark bite is very good in the south bay also. Give me a call! Keep'em Bent! Mark

Well not much to report the last few weeks, it's been a little slow for sturgeon lately, with a lot of wind and the rain has put a dent in the bite . The last decent bite for me was the 12th. of May. I had out three guys from the Cameron Park area. We started the day in Montezuma Sl. fishing eel on a incoming tide. I had marked a couple of fish just above the cable crossing. I dropped the hook, tossed out the sea anchor and was fishing shortly there after. After 20 min. or so, Curt's rod went down. The big fish pulled hard! A little too hard, that's because it was snagged in it's lower half. So after releasing it, we got back out. It wasn't too much longer when Jim Miller's rod went south, deep south. After a good fight, we boated a 70"- 88 lb. D'Back, his first keeper. With the slowing of the tide, and the wind picking up, we headed for the tules. We baited up and tossed out. It wasn't but ten minutes when the rod that Jim was standing in front of started bouncing, he started to go for it then paused and said "Ah that's just a #*&@%$! catfish bite". And I said catfish bite censored, as I cut in front of him, grabbing the rod and setting the hook. I turned the rod over to Dave and he went to town on it, landing the 68"- 68 lbr. And after we managed to fix Jim "CATFISH" Miller's lower jaw, we called it a day, not a bad day...And in other news, I'll be moving the boat back to Richmond around the third week of May so give me a call if you want to catch Leopard Shark, Striper, Halibut or Salmon...Keep'em Bent!!...MARK

WOW! Has it been a month already? Well I've been a little busy lately. If you have been waiting for a good time to go sturgeon fishing April is looking really good. March wasn't too bad either, taking sturgeon about 75% of the time. This past week has been awsome! On 4-5 Keith Baker of Clayton took home a 57". 4-8 was a wild one, landing two keepers. The day started out nice with a five foot tide and not a breath of wind. Five anglers and myself were fishing just inside the mouth of monte"zoo"ma slough. After a couple of hours of fish "bumping our lines", they decided it was lunch time. Our first D'Back mesured 57" and as soon as I casted out the last line, the first one went south, and I'm talking deep south! After this "School Bus" ripped off 200 yards of line, I figured I better pull anchor. Good ol' "Mean Gene" bit off more than he could chew, after 30 mins. or so, John the horse shoer took over. After another 10 mins. and a half a mile, I told John just get it up (what we needed was a Ramsey Winch) and ended up popping the big fish off. Went back to the "spot" and anchored up, and in a short time J.B's rod went down resulting in a 62" not a bad day! On the next day 4-9, five anglers including Mean Gene and his fishing buddy Little Joe (at 84 years young) did it again. Gene hooking up first, landing a 62". Our second fish was a good one also, but it had other plans and "jumped bail". After a short time it was Joe's turn landing a 66" that was bigger than him (no kidding!). So looks like the bite is in high gear. I don't recall what a striper looks like, but hey, who cares it's sturgeon time!! See you on the water....Stay Bent! Mark

Very slow sturgeon bite this past couple of weeks, with only a couple keepers going 59" and 62" taken on the main channel around light 10 near the mouth of Sherman Lake. On 2-24 Bobby Tyler of Thorton landed his first D-Back, a 59" caught on eel.Catch this, he had some company with him, his girlfriend Bobbie, and his sister Bobbi. Very confusing every time I said "Hey Bobby", all three said "huh" in sync. And on 3-1 I had six anglers from the West Delta Chapter, Calif. Striped Bass Assoc. with five anglers fishing for sturgeon, and one young man had shad out. The bet was five bucks apiece for "biggest keeper". Well the five anglers fishing sturgeon, landed three shakers, while 11 year old Remington Steel (no kidding!) took home a 12 lb. striper and $25 to boot! Boy was he happy.On my trips on March 3 and 4 resulted in only a couple of shakers and a 7 lb. bass. The weather has been fairly nice with decent tides so the striper bite should improve in the comming weeks. Try fresh shad, bullheads or pile worms. I'll keep in touch...Stay Bent!!....Mark

Not too much to report this past week. We had big tides and small fish (mostly shakers). With tons of debris on and under the water. There was so much trash on the out go tide, I needed 8 oz. of lead to stay down. On Saturday the 22nd the four guy's I had out landed two shakers, a 5 lb. bass and one 54" keeper taken by Chris Anderson of Laytonville, Ca. on the top of the income tide. (the fishable tide) The week before wasn't too bad, on 2-13 I had out five anglers taking a 64" for Steve Grahm of W. Sac. And on the following day, "Heart Day" 2-14 the two couples on the boat had a good day, Debbi Estep from Farley, Nevada told me all she wants is a sturgeon for Valentines Day, well she landed a 45". and was a little disappointed when I told her that the fish was an inch short. However, Cupid must have been listening because a short time later, her rod went down and came back with a 48" D- Back, (BIG SMILE) and a little while later Ralph Elliot landed a 66" x 69 lb. hog. Looks like the upcomming week should be fairly good with an incomming tide most of the day. I'm still using Lamprey Eel for the D-Backs and have been tossing out shad and grass shrimp for a few stripers. I've been spending most of my time fishing between Light 34 near Pittsburg and Light 12 up near the "Powerlines". There is also a few fish in Montezuma Sl., Grizzley Bay and Big Cut, So go get'em...Take Care and Keep'em Bent!!!Mark

Howdy! Well looks like February should be a good month as long as the wind does'nt blow. The first thru the seventh was a little slow, however Saturday the eighth pick up for the five anglers (the Key family) on board. We fished shad on the top of the incomming near bouy 5. Where 12 year old Kylee Key landed a 6 lb. bass. When the tide changed directions I headed up river aways, metered a couple hogs on the screen and dropped the anchor. I don't think it was much longer than 10 minutes when little Kylee Key's rod hooked up again! (We call her "Killer Key" now) However her killer sturgeon came up an inch short. But it was still a big fish judging from the "killer smile" on her face. About a 1/2 hour later, Killer's rod went down a third time, but this time she decided it was time to share with her older sister, Tori. I set hook and Tori took over landing a 53" in about 10 minutes. About another 20 mins. went by when Nelsen (The Master) Key's rod went south, when he set hook, I could tell it was a fattie. After a long battle we landed a 66"x 66lb. D-Back. Everybody's smilling in the Key family! Sunday turned out to be a good day too, landing a 64 incher and losing another heavy fish. We also took a couple of bass to 7 lbs. I have trips most of the week so I'll keep you posted.... Until then Keep em' Bent.....Mark

I know, It's been awhile from the last report but the truth is, I hate computers. I only have two typing fingers, one on each hand. Did I mention I hate typing too? So I better stick to fishing. We'll have to go back aways to catch up. Starting on 1-5 Tim Boczanowski (age 16) landed his first keeper, a 67" taken on the income tide. We were in 4 ft. of water in Grizzly Bay when the big fish hit. Ended up having to pull the anchor to put approximately 200 yards of line back on the reel."whew". After boating the hog, I noticed it had no right eye! No eye, no socket, no scar, no nothing, just skin.Cool! On my next trip 1-10 I had out five anglers. John Vincze landed a 63" at Decker Island just above light 18. After a short battle we boated the fish. Just as John held the fish up for pictures, I noticed that this fish HAD NO LEFT EYE! What a trip... No eye, no socket, etc. etc. What's the odds on that, two sturgeon 20 miles apart! After that the bite slowed down. I had a couple trips that resulted in a few shakers here and there. On 1-18 I had six from the S.J.Co. Sheriff's Dept., it was another slow day, but in the end Brian Orr (his third trip) landed a 53" putting a big grin on his face. On the 19 th. the five anglers landed 6 shakers to 45" on the out go tide at light 3 just above Chain Is. And when the tide turned around we hooked up with a bigger fish only to be broke off after a few minutes. I figured to try my luck again at the same spot on 1-23 I had out only three anglers but was able to land a 68" tag teamed by Steve & Ray Brandon, after the "photo shoot" the big "legal" fish was released.The 24th and 25th went belly up only landing three shakers for both days. This season is not as good as last but I'm still getting some big fish, I'm hoping it well improve. Untill then, I'll keep you posted...Keep Em' Bent Mark P.S. Did I mention I hate typing.....

Howdy, Hope all your holidays went well.So back to fishing! First off, The Crabs , with the water dropping off to 45 degrees, that really slowed them down, Ha Ha. And the D- Back bite has been darn good this past week. Starting on 12-24 the five anglers and myself motored up to Decker Island (change of scenery) We ended up popping a 54" and a shaker, not too bad considering how bad the bite has been. Then all those storms knocked out the next four trips.But on Monday the weather calmed down, so me and six anglers headed up Monte-ZOO-ma slough. After wasting most of the day in there, we took a ride ending up near Garnet Point. Where one angler "farmed" our only fish, (dont worry DON "CAPT. FUDGE" FRANKLIN I won't say no names). Good fight though, three times out of the water, once around the boat then took off like a torpedo!! Then spit the hook as it waved it's fin to Don,as if it were saying,Hey Donny, dont worry you'll catch me next time!! So moving on, On 1-1 myself and five anglers went back to "The Hole" and landed a 60"and a 68" plus a couple of shakers, a Happy New Year indeed! On 1-2 two clients, my son and a buddy of his went back, same spot again.It didn't take too long before my sons rod went down, I ran over and set hook! (I would've let him do it but he's 4 ft. nothing and 8 yrs. old) I gave him the rod and told him just keep on reeling, before long we boated his first sturgeon, a 62 incher!! Boy was he happy. We landed a shaker too. Everything was taken on PACIFIC LAMPREY EEL. I have four more trips coming up this week so I'll be back a little sooner. Until then, Keep'em Bent!! Mark