New member checking in

[Paul O]

My name is Paul Ongaro, i live in Petaluma and have a vacation home in Bodega Bay. I retired from the plumbing and HVAC service and repair industry a few years ago. I have been a weekend warrior fisherman my entire life. (Being retired, I try to avoid the weekend crowds nowadays) My main fishing has been in the ocean for primarily salmon, occasionally rock fish, and crab. I have been doing an annual 5 day salmon fishing trip at a lodge (North King Lodge) in northern British Columbia for the past 20 years. I have done a substantial amount of albacore fishing in the past, and my fingers are crossed for El Niño bringing them close enough to the Bay Area this year. I made 4 unsuccessful attempts on Bay Area blue fin last year. I have a 24 foot Scagit Orca that I bought new in 2001 and owned a couple of boats prior to that. I recently went on a 3 day long range trip on the searcher out of San Diego with some mutual friends of Alan Tani from the South Bay. I have been servicing my own reels for years and have utilized advice from this forum as a none member in the past, much appreciated. have a couple of questions I will ask in a separate post.
Thanks Paul

[happyhooker]

Greetings, Paul, from Minnesota.

Frank

[Keta]

Hi.

[Brewcrafter]

Welcome Paul from the SoCal Inland Empire! - john

[foakes]

Welcome aboard, Paul!

Best, Fred

[alantani]

welcome!!! swing by for a beer when you're in the san jose area next!!!

[Paul O]

Will do, thanks Alan

[Crab Pot]

Welcome Paul, we are almost neighbors.

I'm in the Sacramento Area.

If you ever need to a fill a spot on that Orca hit me up.

I've been known to get sick when the Albacore are close, cough cough... and not show up to work. 

[Paul O]

I'll keep you in mind. I sure hope the long fins show up this year. I'm missing salmon fishing.
With a handle like Crab pot, I assume you fish for crab. I saw several sport boats still crabbing from Portuguese beach north this weekend. Not sure how they did as I was hosting a family reunion and didn't turn my radio on. The Newley required hoop nets work better than pots for day soak trips. This season was pretty good for me. I do miss being able to leave the pots out for multi day soaks, but I think those days are numbered.
I haven't done any deep rock fishing yet, but a friend of mine caught limits of large rockfish and a pacific halibut south of Cordell banks. He has the numbers, and I plan on giving it a go some time in the near future. Thanks for the welcome.
Paul O

[Keta]

You do know Oregon is not that far to tow a boat and we have had several years of good albacore fishing....and we have a 25 fish a day limit. I towed a 23' boat from Oregon to Venice,LA and fished for a month.  Any port from Coos Bay/Charelston north will get you 20-30 miles from the fish.

[Crab Pot]

I'll keep you in mind. I sure hope the long fins show up this year. I'm missing salmon fishing.
With a handle like Crab pot, I assume you fish for crab. I saw several sport boats still crabbing from Portuguese beach north this weekend. Not sure how they did as I was hosting a family reunion and didn't turn my radio on. The Newley required hoop nets work better than pots for day soak trips. This season was pretty good for me. I do miss being able to leave the pots out for multi day soaks, but I think those days are numbered.
I haven't done any deep rock fishing yet, but a friend of mine caught limits of large rockfish and a pacific halibut south of Cordell banks. He has the numbers, and I plan on giving it a go some time in the near future. Thanks for the welcome.
Paul O

Paul O, yes, I have 10 crab pots but haven't been out this year due to all the F&G nonsense.

I don't like the hoop nets but they do work. However the "trained seals" that follow you out will steal your bait and there nothing to stop them.

The Long Fins haven't been too far south of Fort Bragg these past few years. Not saying they weren't further south because they were, just not close enough for private boats to safely reach them. We did ok off Fort Bragg last year there was even a guy on the radio that wanted to trade Duardo for Albacore. All we caught was Albacore but that is what we were after.

I was of the impression the Cordel Banks and surrounding area was a marine sanctuary, no bottom fishing allowed. Tell your buddy to watch where he fishes!

I had a buddy catch a 130 pound Bluefin there last year and I also heard reports of Big Eye and Duardo. Fun season for sure, looks like it may repeat this year with El Nino.

Fingers Crossed. 

[Paul O]

If the long fins don't come in locally, I will be hauling the boat to fort Bragg this year. I'd only hall it to Oregon if I were to stay for a week, and won't have the time for that this year. I never had issues with seals stealing crab bait, I guess I've been lucky. Lost a fair amount of salmon to the fur bags though.
There is a large sanctuary around the Cordell banks, but there's a lot of ocean still open. Just named the closest named location for reference. I fished the Cordell banks many times before they made it a sanctuary. Tried for blue fin last year from Cordell to bodega canyon without success. Did watch a couple get landed.

[Benni3]

Welcome from salem va,,,,,,

[Crow]

Howdy!!

[Bill B]

Paul good to have you here.  Bill