Category: News Features

Gary Blasi of Full Throttle Sporfishing spent two days on the halibut grounds last week and reported a real good bite. He limited out both days with the big fish tipping the scales at 70 lbs. He was fishing in 250 ft of water straight out of the harbor.

Captains Gary Blasi or Full Throttle Sportfishing and Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing both made the run and found a steady bite. Blasi ended the day with nine albies out of 14 hookups and Klassen came home with 12 tuna, with eight weighing better than 20 lbs.

Captain Gary Blasi of Full Throttle Sportfishing has the hot halibut hand of late, putting in limits on just about every trip. According to Blasi’s, you’ve really got to put in some time in order to be successful. Sunday he spent the day fun fishing with his fiancée and it was a day they won’t soon forget, with two fish over 20lbs and one tipping the scales at a whopping 30lbs.

Captain Gary Blasi of Full Throttle Sportfishing had the hot boat for salmon last week. He scored limits Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but had to cancel his Sunday and Monday trips due to scheduling and the weather. Gary found his fish out in the deep water with the downriggers set at 300 ft. Gary has halibut trips lined up the rest of the week, but has seats open for the weekend.

California’s 2009 salmon season goes quietly
California’s only saltwater salmon fishery of the summer came and went with a whimper last week. The Klamath Management Zone Ocean Fishery, which ran for 10 days (Aug. 29 to Sept. 7), was routinely a bust for most boats fishing between the California/Oregon border and Horse Mountain.

“It was horrible for most people,” says Gary Blasi of Full Throttle Sportfishing in Eureka, Calif. “They should’ve been staging in the river mouths, but those fish weren’t where they usually are. We can usually find them in shallow water close to the beach, but we had some really warm water in close this year, so that might’ve kept them out of the spots we usually find ’em.”

Blasi found his best success in deep water off the continental shelf, fishing in 1,000 to 1,200 feet of water with 300 to 400 feet of downrigger cable out, likely working on fish migrating toward Oregon’s Rogue River.

“The first few days we got three or four fish total, so we ran straight out for 14 miles into deep water,” he says. “There’s a ton of bait out there, whales all over the place, but, man, I’ve never had to fish for them that deep and that far offshore. It was a weird deal.”

Outlook: This past week I’ve seen lots of bait in all the water columns from 180 ft and out. The birds have been out in force as well, which is a good sign the fish are there.

Tips: One of my favorite rigs is a purple haze hoochie with bait trolled behind a nine inch silver dodger flasher. That set-up always catches fish. A watermelon Apex is also a good choice.

Captain Gary Blasi on the Seaweasel (707-498-7473) has been pulling limits of rockfish and California Halibut from the bay. Highlight of the week for Blasi was a 8.5 lb black rockfish caught over the weekend by local Ken Thrift. The current state record is 9.2 lbs.

Captain Gary Blasi on the Seaweasel (707-498-7473) had some spectacular days on the water last week. Sunday he hooked 10 halibut, landing seven and all within the first three and a half hours. Tuesday he was back at it, with four fish in the boat by 8:30 a.m. A little icing on the cake — he finished off both days with limits of rockfish.

Captain Gary Blasi on the Seaweasel (fullthrottlesportfishing.com) had anglers signed up for six days straight, but cancelled due to a fierce ocean. He’s chomping at the bit to get back out there and has paying customers starting Thursday if the weather holds.

Over on the Seasweasel, captain Gary Blasi (www.fullthrottlesportfishing.com) and his clients have been mainly targeting Pacific Halibut. Sunday he put two in the boat, including a 47.5 lb. dandy. On Monday he again ran to the halibut waters 300 ft. offshore with a family of four on board. After reaching the fishing grounds, he put the boat in neutral, and then watched as three of his four anglers turned a few shades of green. Needless to say, he was back fishing in the bay where the leopard sharks and rays were “biting like crazy”. He gave it another go on Tuesday, but they got beat up pretty good by the weather, but did manage to put three Petroli in the box for his clients. “There’s bait balls the size of football fields and the krill are everywhere, but the wind and the drift is making it nearly impossible to keep your gear on the bottom. Once this wind moves off, the ocean is going to come alive,” Blasi said. Blasi’s booked for weekend, but has days available.