Quote:San Francisco: A Sunday trip returned with 225 giant squid to 42 pounds for 16 anglers, all caught on squid jigs. The waters off Half Moon Bay and Marin have been calm and productive despite a recent spate of murky weather. Emeryville Sportfishing (510) 654-6040, Berkeley Marina Sportfishing (510) 849-3333.

Quote:EMERYVILLE - Squid fishing outside the gate remains steady for those fishing aboard the fleet fishing out of Emeryville. It's the same on the Dungeness crab bite, which is still going excellent when the weather and ocean cooperate. Not much action in the bay.

Quote:Craig Stone of Emeryville Sportfishing said excellent catches are still the rule on the giant squid trips. On Sunday out of Emeryville, the New Salmon Queen reported landing 225 giant squid to 42 pounds for their 16 anglers aboard. Near the end of the trip, they also started to hook and release dozens more. The squid all ran from 15-42 pounds, with the average near 30 pounds.



Boats have either been fishing off the Marin or San Mateo County coastlines using squid jigs. Trips are booking out of Emeryville from Thursday through Sunday this week. These trips should continue for at least another month.

Quote:...Wednesday, contest over, he got back to the business of fishing and took 15 anglers to the squid water. He was 17 miles from Pillar Point, out at 37-22-122-48 on the GPS, in 376 feet of ocean, and on the second drift they had the big squid feeding in the mid-water column. Hour and a half later, they had 150 Humboldt squid on the deck and in the boxes and about everywhere else, and that's all you'd ever want to clean and about 150 more than you'd ever want to eat. On the way home, the Cat stopped at its crab pots off Moss Beach. They boxed 92 Dungeness, all commercial grade or near to it. To reach the Huli Cat: (650) 726-2926.

Quote:San Francisco: A recent trip up to Cordell Banks and areas around Bodega Bay produced 71 giant squid 20-40 pounds for 24 anglers using 20-inch glow-in-the-dark squid jigs. Inexperienced anglers would be wise to keep pressure on their lines until the squid are in the boat or run the risk of losing the catch. Another trip of four anglers in search of sturgeon returned with 10 keeper leopard sharks to 20 pounds and a 42-pound seven-gill shark. Dispersed ocean swells crest around four feet, so the water is relatively flat. Emeryville Sportfishing (510) 654-6040, Berkeley Marina Sportfishing (510) 849-3333.



Half Moon Bay: Recent skies have been crystal clear, but giant-squid action has cooled off. A Sunday trip 18-20 miles off shore returned with only eight squid around 30 pounds each for 10 anglers. According to the ship captain, the bite didn't begin until 10:30 a.m. and didn't really get going until around 2 p.m. At that point, all of the squid seemed to bite at once in the deep waters. Huck Finn Sportfishing (800) 572-2934.



Monterey: A boat carrying 12 anglers returned from a trip early this week with 80 giant Humboldt squid and several hundred Spanish mackerel. The usual jigs work for giant squid. Tom jigs are effective for mackerel. Chris' Fishing Trips (831) 375-5951, Randy's Fishing Trips (831) 372-7440.

Quote:SAN FRANCISCO BAY

Comment: Emeryville reported great giant squid fishing out of Half Moon Bay and Bodega Bay that should resume once wind and storms subside. Some moderate striper and sturgeon action. (Roger Thomas 415-674-3474, Emeryville Sportsfishing 510-654-6040).

Quote:Write it in ink: The Pillar Point boat Huli Cat, (650) 726-2926, went out for tuna Sunday, and what a wildlife trip it was. It was calm as calm gets on our piece of ocean, and the boat moved out toward the Guide through a sea of whales, dolphins, crashing birds, schools of needlefish and oh the sight of it. "But no tuna," skipper Tom Mattusch said. "I don't understand how you have all that life and not a single tuna in it." On the way in, the skip stopped over some oddly familiar marks he'd seen on the meter. He grabbed a heavy rod and dropped down a squid jig. And there it was, jetting on the end of the line, the first Humboldt of the new season. The group of eight would land a dozen ink bags to 30 pounds.

Quote:Giant squid attack off Bodega



By Bill Lynch

Thursday, December 21, 2006 6:05 PM PST

GIANT CALAMARI are prowling the waters off Sonoma County this winter. Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sportsfishing reported a very close encounter this week, with tasty results.



12.22.06 -- No, the squid didn't attack any humans, but the monster calamari wrapped their arms around baited hooks dropped into the ocean Tuesday by passengers on board the New Sea Angler, Capt. Rick Powers' party boat. Rick had several researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research team looking at rock fish counts as well as the squid.



Rick said he saw a school of them and the action was fast and furious. Rick added they were the biggest Humboldt squid he has ever seen running, from 40 to 70 pounds each. His 9-year-old daughter brought in one that outweighed her by a good 20 pounds.



The rock cod season ends Dec. 31, and Rick plans on taking out giant squid trips starting Jan. 1. Call Bodega Bay Sportsfishing at 875-3344 for reservations and more information.

Quote:Staying with the weekend, the New Salmon Queen out of Emeryville (510-654-6040) ran for Cordell Banks on Saturday and Sunday, and the combined total for 36 anglers was 310 Humboldt squid, which is a whole hell of a lot of calamari. Out of Half Moon Bay's Pillar Point, the Huli Cat (650-726-2926) found the squid about 25 miles southwest of harbor. The boat's count for Saturday was 21 squirt bags and limits of Dungeness crab, the latter collected from the boat's pot string off Montara.