Foggy Fishing Tuesday

Went out with a couple of my old college buddies last night. Thomas and Pete. Had a true San Francisco experience. Martini's at John's Grill (from the Maltese Falcon); and dinner at Sam's Grill on Bush Street. We sat in a private wooden booth with a curtain and a buzzer to call the waiter. 

We drank, we laughed, we reminisced. I had a nice buzzed walk home. 

Came in and made Beth listen to a Waylon Jennings song, "You Asked Me To". She knew two things: I love her and I was drunk. I had planned out what I would write last night. I had taken some pictures. I thought - I'll just lay down for a minute first. Asleep instantly. C'est la vie.

The alarm woke me up at 5 a.m. I needed more sleep. Dragged myself up for another big fishing adventure. Ubered to the boat and started the engines and set everything up. Roe and Bob soon arrived. Radar working. Knew I might need it today because the Golden Gate had been fogged in. We needed to get out there to throw some crab traps.

Left the Treasure Island Marina at daybreak. Headed into dense fog. Visibility seemed like less than 100 yards. Could not see land at all. Had to rely on instruments - radar and GPS. Disconcerting. 

I wanted to start the day with a drift (frozen anchovies) for halibut from my favorite spot - the F buoy at the Berkeley flats. We had not drifted five minutes when bzzzz I've got a fish on. Keeper halibut. 

Great start to the day. The fog lifted at the same time. We could still see the Golden Gate socked in. After a few more unproductive drifts, we moved over to San Francisco, near the Golden Gate to catch rock cod. We caught about a dozen small ones. 

Golden Gate still socked in. We talked about it and decided to go outside the Gate to Baker Beach. It wasn't too far. It was slack tide. We had good radar and GPS. We crept out past the south tower. Could not see it until we were right up on it. Water very calm. No swell. Kind of eerie. The foghorn blasted us. We kept creeping our way left around the corner to baker beach. Passed a tugboat idling out there. Saw it on the radar and GPS but did not know what it was til we were right up on it. So wierd out there in the fog unable to see more than about 20 yards around you. 

We found a decent spot in about 75-100 feet of water. Baited up with squid and mackerel. Dropped the traps and marked the spot. Crept back over to Chrissy Field. Trolled around Chrissy Field. Thought about getting back to Baker Beach to get the traps at slack tide. The fog worsened. It extended all the way past Alcatraz.  Drifted and trolled around the Berkeley flats and Treasure Island. Dreamt about getting lucky and finding a White Sea bass. 

An hour before slack tide. Miraculously the fog lifted. You could see all the way out the Gate. Off to Baker Beach. Got to use the electric crab puller for the first time. Found the traps. Fourteen decent size crabs. Perfect ending to another great fishing adventure.