Morning Star fishing report , San Rafael, 1-20

[Fishing Report]

With a primo outgoing tide and equally primo weather he headed west on January 18 for what we hoped would be a preview of a banner winter sturgeon fishing season. First stop was the very shallow water near the mouth of Sonoma Creek. You have to keep one eye on the depth finder that far West on a big outgoing tide or you’ll find yourself aground! I don’t know about you, but the prospect of being stuck on a boat till dark thirty with the Deck Dog is enough to keep anyone on their toes. A couple crabs, a few flounder and two shaker sturgeon later we headed south to slightly deeper water. The water was muddy and fishy, and we immediately caught a few more shaker sturgeon and missed several obvious sturgeon bites. They were really biting!

James Williams was the first to hook something substantial. If we were going to throw this one back it wouldn’t be because it was too small! His rod was doubled over. Alas, we’ll never know, this fish (like so many others on Wednesday) escaped after a brief battle. James returned to the bow in despair, seeking solace in his i-pod, never to been seen again for the duration of the trip.

John Murray was the first to land a legal sturgeon. John has caught a legal sturgeon every time he’s been out! Editors note; This was his first trip.

Walt Fung was the next to yell “fish on”. This fish was wild! Repeatedly jumping and dragging Walt from one end of the boat to the other. Truth be known, I was secretly (OK, openly) hoping Walt would lose this sturgeon because of the $15 bet I foolishly made with him at the start of the trip. But alas, Walt’s fishing prowess prevailed and we finally muscled it aboard. Then, seeminly an act of devine intervention. We discovered Walt’s fish was 2 inches too big! This was a win/win/win for all concerned.

Win 1. Walt had the battle of his life with a giant fish.

Win 2. The sturgeon learned a valuable lesson about eating tasty treats with strange entanglements.

Win 3. Our bet was for a legal sturgeon. Too bad so sad Mr. Fung.

John Murray Sr. (like his son, on his first ever sturgeon trip) was the next to hook up. This fish refused to give up! Not sure who was going to win this battle for awhile, but John prevailed, and this one at 65 inches we could keep.

Bottom line; Two legal sturgeon, one oversize (ha,ha) sturgeon, 7 or 8 shakers and many, many lost opportunities. We also caught one 7 pound bass and 8 flounder.

John Sr. donated his 65 inch sturgeon to the boat, so all aboard had fresh fish for dinner.

Morning Star
110 Loch Lomond Drive, San Rafael, CA 94901
Loch Lomond Harbor Bait Shop: (415) 456-0321
Morning Star boat phone: 1 (800) 464-1431

Located on the west edge of San Rafael within 2-1/4 miles of Highway 101.
The Morning Star departs at 7 a.m.
http://www.morningstarfishing.info