Reports

Getting There

Made good time from the mountains down to San Diego and checked into the hotel. After unloading, I headed straight to Mitch’s Seafood—because honestly, it’s not a proper trip until I’ve had wahoo tacos by the bay. Andre showed up the next day around noon, and we rolled down to the landing to meet up with the cousins (Mark & Mitchell) and my old coworker Ronaldo. While in San Diego our old pal from Intel came to hang out and that was realy nice to catch up. 

We were organized, prepped, and ready to roll early. Once aboard, we loaded up on some excellent bait and pointed the bow south—way farther south than last year’s trip on the Condor.

The Fishing

Last October, we hit Bahía Colonet and tangled with 90-120 lb yellowfin—absolute dream fish. This year was different. We had to grind for every bite, searching hard to find the right schools and make them stick.

Our group still managed to pull together a solid mixed bag:

• 🎯 Ronaldo nailed the hat trick: bluefin, yellowfin, and yellowtail.

• 🐟 I landed two bluefin (20–40 lbs), several solid whitefish (5–7 lbs), and a bunch of copper rockfish (3–12 lbs).

• ⚡ Andre stayed hot, bringing in 7–10 bluefin along with other species.

• 🐠 Mark and Mitchell I think pulled n 80lb each or together.. 

The biggest fish of the trip was a kite-caught bluefin over 100 lbs—just one, but an absolute unit.

Lessons & Gear

Even though it was a tough bite, I learned a lot this trip:

• How to really see bird behavior and read the signs on the water.

• A neat self-recovery trick: when tangled, touch rod tips—if the lines cross, you’ll instantly know who’s over and who’s under.

• Confidence in my live-bait game.

Gear notes for the tackle nerds:

• My Phenix M1 Inshore 15–35 lb with a Penn Fathom 300 and 50 lb braid / 25 lb Sunline Tunageat fluoro leader was a killer flyline setup. That little combo handled tuna like a champ.

• Picked up a new heavy rig: UC80 Terminator paired with an Avet HXJ 5/2 spooled with 80 lb braid and a 50 lb top shot. This is my new go-to for multi-day trips.

Where We Went

We fished the waters off Isla San Martín, San Quintín, and Lázaro Cárdenas, before heading north to Ensenada for the best action of the trip. That’s where I connected with my tuna. Ronaldo got his yellowfin and yellowtail early, mine came on day two.

We wrapped things up at Cortez Bank with a quick tuna check before switching to rockfishing—always a crowd pleaser. The coppers (aka chuckleheads) were thick and tasty as ever, along with plenty of whitefish to round things out.

Life on the Boat

The Ranger 85 was originally one of the Red Rooster boats, which made this trip special to me—it’s one of the same boats Hobie fished on years ago. That alone made the ride worth it.

The bunks were the roomiest I’ve seen (Condor was cozy, Thunderbird was short, but Ranger takes the cake). I had a starboard-side bow bunk and got solid sleep by the final night. Food was solid, crew was awesome, and Captain Jake ran a tight ship.

Only downside: very little outdoor seating. I spent downtime in the bunk between meals and runs. Some galley chatter got a little too loud and opinionated at times, but hey—that’s life on a boat. You learn to pick your peace.

Reflections

Even with the tough bite, this trip meant a lot. I’m sticking to 3.5-day trips going forward—they’re the perfect balance between adventure and home life. Longer trips (8–10 days) will stay on the list for big milestones—40th, 50th, etc.

The fish are filleted, gear’s cleaned, and I’m back home in the Sierras, already thinking about the next run:

🦀 Farallon Islands – Crab & Cod Combo this November or December.

After that, it’s the off-season—time to regroup while the Bay Area fleet rests up. Spring will bring inshore fishing and new stories to tell.

Until then, tight lines,

—Hobie

Sept 13:  INSHORE!?!? NO OFFSHORE!!?? OK INSHORE Fishing!   Pacific Dream, Berkeley, $200

Trip was inititally listed as a repeat of Live Baitin In the Bay but when the regulations changes Aug 28th the trip changed to offshore. Weather the day of kept up inshore and coastal which was pretty sweet. Long ride south to get to the grounds. Stopped a little south of Half Moon Bay near Pacifica. Fsishing was consistant but slow. Good size rockfish and a few lings here and there. Caught some bait and moved to a trap rig and hooked into my biggest ling to date. Hell yeah. Group was good, met some cool folks in the industry and lets jsut say ill be buying a lot more things from River 2 Sea this next bass season. Thanks Andy. 

Great trip and looking forward to getting back to the bay in November. 

July 27th: Live Baitin' in the Bay, Pacific Dream, Berkeley, $200

Just got home and put the fish away from one of the most fun non-deep water trips I’ve had in the bay, aboard the Pacific Dream. Normally we hang in the bay or go just outside the Golden Gate to the north. But today? We flipped the script.

Route

We hit the bait receiver early and then shot straight out the Gate, heading south toward Half Moon Bay—a new zone for me.

Crew

Rolling three deep: myself, my usual buddy Chris, and a coworker (Kevin) who was new to the boat scene.

Big shout to Chris—he leveled up HARD today. Casting, tying, dealing with backlashes all solo. Proud of you, man.

Kevin showed up on time, pulled the heaviest bag in our trio, and held his own. Solid first outing.

Bonus highlight: Met @Funks at the rail. Always rad connecting with our people. Great vibes all around.

The Action​

Striped Bass – Just Outside the Gate

We started the day casting toward the beach maybe 200 yards from the bridge (right side exiting the gate). Not a hot bite, but enough.

• I managed a quick limit using a Hookup Baits double rig—my new favorite shallow water setup.

• Chris also limited.

• Kevin got one legal and two shakers.

• I’d guess about 10 bass boated total across the boat.

Rockfish – Half Moon Bay Area

Pulled up on a rockfish spot not far from HMB. I was skeptical—Santa Cruz trips on the Velocity rarely produce size—but this was better than expected.

• Good mix of blues, canaries, and chinas, and the blues/canaries were chunky for shallow season.

• Not Jurassic Park-level like Cordell or Rittenberg, but solid freezer fillers.

Lings – Afternoon Bite

After turning back toward Berkeley, we hit some final rocks and doubled/tripled the ling count on the boat.

• I pulled three lings, all on a bucktail + Gulp combo.

• One was legal and damn close to jackpot size… but it got away at the boat.

• Two or three shorts for me too.

• Side note: Dobyns Colt MH + Penn Battle III with 30lb braid and 30lb fluoro leader? Killer shallow setup.

Gear Notes & Lessons Learned​

• Hookup Baits double rig is pure joy to fish. Totally hooked now.

• KastKing mono (30lb Tri-something coated): absolute trash. Never again.

• Their fluoro topshot is fine for cheap stuff, but I’m done gambling with KastKing.

• Seaguar and Izorline FTW — ordered a 1/4lb spool of 30lb Izorline and too much Seaguar Inshore fluoro right after the trip.

• My metered braid is fraying—time to respool. Lost one today on what looked like a fray failure.

• Bringing the bass rod on this trip was a win. 100% doing that again.

Final Thoughts

This was hands down the best shallow water trip I’ve done in the Bay Area. Yeah, I still live for the big dinos out at the Farallones, but the fun factor today was off the charts.

No injuries (rare for me), mellow seas (nothing like the 5ft x 1sec slop from last time in SAnta Cruz), and good people all around. I’m definitely doing this trip again next year.

Until next time—tight lines, y’all.

— Hobie & Friends

Always a pleasure fishing with Captain Chris on the Pacific Dream

shut up i like the stretched arms big fish pics..

June 28th: Overnighter in LA,  Thunderbird, Los Angeles / Davey's Locker, $220

Made it there and back in one peice. Not going to do a write up for this one. Just know the landing sold me a defective rental and the boat had nothing to swap it with. i caught 2 little bass that were about a pound. yeah yeah fishing not catching but premium rentals are not supposed to have every part damaged and the fishing wasnt bad. i dont think im going back to daveys / newport.

May 11th: Inshore Coastal Groundfish, Velocity, Santa Cruz, $104

Got checked in on the legacy and it was a short ride to the fishing grounds. Spent most of the day in front of natural bridges fishing about 60-90 feet. Started with a 200 gram Shimano flutter fall, no luck. tied a few dropper loops and put on a 9/0 circle and some 6” gulp and a 6oz weight as I was set. Never tied a dropper or a double surgeons like this before and after seeing how fast and simple it was, that is my new go to for rockfish and groundfish. So simple. Very much a less is more thing. Caught about 9. A very ugly lingcod that was 6.5lb, several gopher and black, a few chilis, and a copper. Boat had 15 on board so that was great. It’s a tourist operation so its usually tangles and shoulder knocking but not today. Took my fav spot on the bow and didn’t tangle once. Really nice day and even tho it’s a tourist boat, If you are going to Santa Cruz and want a cheap half day, this is for sure the best day you will have. Stagnaros is great!

-hobie

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April 5th DEEP DROP ISLAND FISHING Happy Hooker, Berkeley, $225

Pacific Dream – Rockfish Opener at Rittenburg Banks

Me + 3 made it to the landing in good time, got checked in, loaded up, and started rigging. For my last rockfish trip I made rigs based on this video. Simple, effective, and they’ve been producing solid results. This trip was no different. Started off fishing my SPJ rod with a 500g Mustad Rip Roller which has produced my first jackpot win and PB rockfish, but the current and fast drift made that tough, so I switched over to rigs I made tipped with Gulp and a 24oz weight. That change lit things up.. fish started coming over the rail fast. Biggest rockfish I’ve ever seen, one after another. Captain said this was his Jurassic Park playground and he was on the hunt for lings and aht meant bigger rockfish. Boat had good weight early, everyone was stoked. We hit limits by 1pm, and I think we had 12 lingcod on deck by the end.

Started the day targeting sand dabs, which didn’t go great. The boat didn’t get as many as hoped.. just enough for everyone to get one bait drop for lings or trap rigs. I skipped it since I was set on throwing only jigs and Gulp and i didnt have sabikis or anything smaller than a 5/0. Felt like we lost a good 30 mins to that, but hey.. it helped the jackpot winner bag a beast of a ling.

Our group fished well.. lots of tangles, but we learned to talk through them and self-rescue most of the time. No injuries either, which is rare for me since I usually stab myself with a hook or something early on. We found our groove and used our space at the rail well.

Buddy ran into a mess of yelloweyes.. got them up, descended, and released quickly. Pretty sure we both hooked into some cow cod too, but we released them before snapping pics. Bummed, because they were monsters. Easily my pb.. his even bigger, but mine beat out any rockfish or ling I’ve landed before. Deepest I fished was about 450 ft based on color count, but we mostly hovered around 300–350, which was a nice break compared to some of the deep drops I’ve done in the past. Been doing pushups to prep for tuna in October and honestly, I felt it paying off.. between the SPJ work and hauling up from depth, I held up way better than expected. Pretty sure everyone in our crew landed a PB. Swells were mellow, ride out was super wet, but weather stayed nice all day. Big thanks to the captain and crew.. great seeing you all again.

Best trip to the islands yet. Excited for the next.

Tight Lines!

Hobie

Little dude helping me pack.

wasnt even his biggest of the day, this was our groups first fish.

buddy did pretty well.

this guy catches the biggest and smallest fish every time we go out.

(not my) jackpot ling.

My biggest of the day that werent the cow/yelloweyes.

Dec 7th: Second Annual Holiday Crab and Rockfish Combo!   Happy Hooker, Berkeley, $250

Really solid day at the Farallones. Left port on time, got to can grounds and dropped pots, under way to fishing. Fished Fanny Shoal for an hour thirty ish, 17 for my buddy and I of decent grade. Fill limits of crab. Still on the boat headed to the marina. Short report but great day. I’ll fill in more when I get back on the mountain.

EDIT: Home and the fish and tackle are put away. started the day picking up a buddy in Sacramento. made our way to the bay with good time. got to the marina and didn't see our third. had something happen and didn't make it out.

boat was full. crab pots and people. 21 on board. a few kids that were very excited to be there and were the best kids I've seen on boats other than my own nephews. fishy and well-behaved kids will be the future. leave the marina at 530 sharp, hours later we arrive at the crab grounds and drop pots. lots and lots of pots dropped. after this we sprinted to the fishing grounds for a very productive hour and a half of fishing. between 300-500ft around Fanny Shoal. mostly yellowtail rockfish and some nice sized canaries. 17 for my buddy and i together, decent size considering the earthquake. no lings on board at all, that was the only bummer. i stayed with the spj all day and enjoy the hell out of that. 500g mustad rip roller in katy perry was my only jig i dropped on em. won me a jackpot last year so why fk with that. minus a foul hooked canary feeling like a halibut on the way up, most fish got corner mouth hooked and bit on the drop. also made my first crimped rigs based on a Local Knowledge video with Ali making deep drop rigs with 12/0 offset circles and 3-way swivels and put that on the ML axis for the buddy and he pulled up two at a time on gulp (nuclear chicken and new penny 6") the entire time we were out there, corner hooked. huge success and boost of confidence in my rigging! once fishing was up, we went back to the crab pots and started pulling. i took a nap. fish and crab distributed on shore. the youngest kid on the boat won the jackpot. way to go kiddo! i cannot wait for my son to join me at the rail so i can pass that to him as grandpa hobie did for me. my guy is almost 2 now so its just a matter of time! a fast marina cook and clean of the crab, and on the way home we went.

love the happy hooker, i always go back to it, captain Jonathan is always fishy and does the work to get us on the fish. big thanks to deckhand austin/joey. always a pleasure fishing with those guys.

thats a wrap on Hobie and Friends 2024 Charter trips. next trip is still in the planning stages for my birthday in feb but i have a lot of new on the way. thinking about sharking in the delta / san pablo bay, maybe tahoe again. or just taking my little tin can out to my favorite lake, Union valley, and doing some mackinaw jigging with my buds. after that will be a July 4th spent in Newport landing for an overnight to 2 day depending on whats available then, after that is my first 4 day ideally on the ranger in september, as well as misc berkeley and santa cruz trips scattered about. if you want to follow along or join me, you know where to find me.

Thanks to so many on BD for this last year of fishing. especially mr dre! cannot thank you enough! also pacificscout and jerdog and so many others have been so helpful with my planning and gear and all things to make the decks bloody. cheers guys!

stay tuned and tight lines!

Hobie

Oct 16th: First Annual Hobie Memorial ,   Condor, San Diego $750

Just got home from my first annual San Diego multi day. Took the condor for a 2 day and had a BLAST.

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First off, HUGE THANKS to @Mr. DRE for everything. Gear, advice, great vibes. Thank you from the bottom of my cooler. I’ll see you again at the rail next year!

My cousin and his dad joined me, as did Mr dre and his buddy. We left at 11 and set off for tanner. Captain said “he’s here to tell us lies about fishing” and he sure as hell did. Seconds after getting under way he announces were no longer headed west, we’re getting Mexican fishing permits and headed Deep South. Ten hour drive. Bluefin never made a showing. Whatsoever. But yellowfin sure did.

Everyone took a nap or went inside to rest for the long night and following day of fishing. I sat on the upper deck and watched waves. A few hours in, the troll rods go off. No one is out on the deck but me. I get the crews attention and get to reeling. Over the rail comes a little football of a yellow. My first, and the boats first of this trip. Hobie would have been proud.

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The troll bite was on for a few minutes, one or two fly lined fish came over the rail. We got back under way.

That night we arrived at the spot some 2-3am. I slept 11-3ish and woke up to two on the port side watching a mako, then a rubber tail. Captain tried to gaff the mako and it went right up to the gaff.. but dodged. Mako for us. The three of us jigged about two hours until breakfast. After this the bite picked up. Some 11am fish started to join the party. Troll rotation and kite bites. I got 2 more a few hours apart. 40-60lb and 70-90lb. Great!

The boat was a very limited load of 15. Fit as big as the condor is, the boat felt empty.

Got ~90-100lb back from the processor making me think my fish were bigger than my arms could estimate. There were some very large yellowfin caught. A few liked to be well over 100 lb.

The only thing I’m going to change next time is the trip wasn't long enough. I have a 1.5 year old so I can’t go for all that long but next year will be 3-4 day. Getting there and then having to leave that night was rough.

AMAZING captain and crew. Guests on the trip were all great folks that got along and put out great vibes the entire time.

The Hobie experience was out of this world. He told me how if I’m ever on the condor, watch my head. First thing I did was climb my dome into the safety bar on the stairs leading to the upper deck. He said he liked to sit up there and watch waves pass while waiting for the bite. That’s what I did. From catching the first fish on the boat to catching a near hundred pounder, this was the trip of a lifetime and just the beginning of my adventures.

Huge thanks to those that helped me get here. All you bd folks are good people.

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I also ran into @soda pop as he was unloading for his trip on the Indy. Introduced myself and talked about Hobie and yellowfin for a moment then went our own ways.

This entire trip was surreal. After losing Hobie in April, I can’t express enough how amazing it was to follow his footsteps like this. Whether parking where he parked, sitting where he sat, or seeing things on the water he saw, it was a delight. I’m honored to be the one to carry Hobie’s torch and be with you all at the rail.

Mine wasn’t caught on ten pound line, and his looks a little fatter, but it felt amazing to catch a fish this big.

YES i ate my first tunas heart.

Tight lines,

Hobie

Aug 17th: Coastal Rockfish 1/2 Day,   Velocity, Santa Cruz $69

Hey all,

Took a trip to aptos with the family and some friends and found our way to the velocity for a half day nearshore rockfish trip. 6 caught in my bag. Mostly blues with a few vermillion (lost a few while removing the hooks...). Nothing biiiiig but still a nice day with flat seas and good company. Nothing on the slow pitch but that checks out as I’m terrible jigging in 60 feet.. phenix axis ml for the win. Fish seemed to like red today. Tipped my feathers with a red gulp bloodworm and they started biting.

Next up is my first tuna trip on the islander in October.

Tight lines yall,

Hobie

July 4th: Third Annual, Freedom Fishing on the Fourth,   Happy Hooker, Berkeley $200

Hey all,

Took the Happy Hooker out of Berkeley for my third annual freedom fishing on the fourth. Miserably slow day until the last ten minutes when the big fish started coming over the rail. I got a single shaker striper early in the morning then nothing, not a single bite, till the final ten minutes. Buddy and I doubled up and both hit a fast limit! Mix of live bait and gulp paddle tails. Captain John was fishy as always, hopping spots looking for bigger fish alllll day. Captain John works hard for us every trip. Deckhand Joey was on it as usual. Great day, great bunch of guys on a very limited load. I think 14 on board..? Looking forward to next year already. Hard to beat wide open halibut! Next up is a half day in Santa Cruz while I’m vacationing with the family and some friends next month, then the Islander for my first multi day in October. Fk yeah!

Tight lines!

Hobie.

Special thanks to @pacificscout. Got to christen that beautiful Sabre rod today!

Feb 24th: Hobie's Bday Trout Bash! 1/2 Day PM,   Hawk II, South Lake Tahoe

Just got home and the fish put away. GREAT day on lake tahoe. went on the Hawk II with captain bobby and deckhand channing, top tier guys! worked their asses off for the group and went over the time a bit to keep the bite going. nothing remarkable like the gal on the WON cover and her epic 17lb'r, but still a wonderful day with my friends on one of the most beautiful lakes ive had the pleasure to fish. PERFECT weather. 10 mackinaw on board for 6 of us. was a private boat so i got to slow pitch to my hearts content. no luck on that for me so i switched to the boats gear and started mooching and the bites started. one bigger size over the rail then some smalls, the bite was on at the end of the day for sure.

i would for sure fish this fleet again. only as a private boat with my group but thats easy to do here. ill go back in november as captain bobby said thats his favorite time of year to get on the big fish.

Big thanks to Captain Bobby, Deckhand Channing, and Tahoe Sportfishing.

Hobie.

Dec 3rd: Crab / Offshore Combo,   California Dawn II, Berkeley (moved from 12/1)

Great day at the Farallon Islands. Great quality fish. Took the spj out and won the jackpot. 500g candy Johnny jig all day. Super fishy crew. Great quality crab. Finally!

edit: just got home. weather was PERFECT which is always a huge plus. wet ride out.. we hit the crab area an hour after leaving the marina, dropped pots, hit the islands, picked up our crabs on the way back. three drifts for limits and the fish kept getting bigger. I haven't been able to use my spj combo fully until today and man was that a blast. my arms are not destroyed like I usually am fishing this depth. major win for my sore and tired dad arms. the group next to me told of their recent 1.5 day on the islander which was a treat as I am taking the islander next October. they gave some good tips on things I mostly knew, but was still a treat to get to hear these kids tell of their first tuna trip. was such a fun day, tight lines yall.

July 4th: Deep Sea Bottom Fishing / Tuna Trolling,   Pacific Dream, Berkeley

It was a good day. No tuna. No tuna bites. Limits of rockfish but not nearly as epic as I’d hoped for as they were all very small fish and not the typical farallon grade of fish. My biggest was 3lb. 13 on the boat which was nice. One guy had an electric reel and idk if he knew how to use it properly as he tangled me a dozen times and I lost gear due to it. He also caught 80% of the fish so we were done by 11. He had a hi lo rig with a Diamond bar as a weight and pulled three up at a time nonstop. Not my fav way to limit. I got a few good ones. Caught 6 fish myself total. Some chili peppers, black cod and a few petrale which I enjoy. Caught on the new axis rod. Nothing on the spj. No lings.

All in all, I and my buddy had a great day and I caught a bigger fish than he did.

It’s not alijos, but I took a nice pic like my grandpa did. I’ll get to those rocks one day!

May 18th 2023: Deep Water Turned Halibut, Pacific Dream, Berkeley CA

Headed out on the Dream with some pals for what was supposed to be our first crack at the Farallones. Big deal for us—it’s the first time in decades the area’s been open, and we were excited to finally check it out.

Unfortunately, the weather had other plans. Conditions offshore weren’t happening, so we switched gears and stayed inside the Bay. Ended up working halibut and striper inshore, and it turned into a really fun day. Plenty of action, bent rods, and good laughs with the crew.

Met some great folks on board too—one group had just come back from a tuna run on the Tomahawk and their stories have me fired up to line up my first tuna trip soon.

All in all, not the Farallones adventure we had in mind, but still a great day on the water in the Bay Area!