Tired

One long, long day today...I woke up at 4AM, and couldn't get back to sleep. The alarm was set for 5AM, and I was in the guest bedroom at the SturgeUrge Compound.

We were getting up at 0-Dark 30 because we scrubbed Thursday's trip at the last minute due to forecast winds and possible thunder and lightning. Early bird catches the worm and all aside, we wanted to hit "The Golden Hour" to troll California City for migrating King Salmon.

Why not fish the afternoon tide you ask? Because the winds really start cranking on San Francisco Bay in the afternoon. The windiest stretch of water is the last half mile, in the Richmond Harbor Channel, where we are making way abeam of the winds. It's wide open, and protected by a seawall, but it's shallow, so the groundswell is awful. Most afternoons we see a passel of  windsurfers and kite boarders in there. If we're gonna get wet on the Bay, it's usually just before we sight the launch ramp in Richmond's marina!

So we went early, and got off the water just as the Giants lost to the Dodgers...3:30ish... The forecast wasn't spot on. The wind speed was in the ballpark, but the direction was 180° off!

On the water, with baits in the water two hours before we usually start, was an excellent start! We couldn't believe how "civil" conditions were. We trolled up and down the Tiburon coastline until noon...without so much as a nibble. By the time we trolled down Raccoon Straights and around Stuart Point to drift Angel Island for halibut, Cal City has amassed a small armada of like-minded sportsmen. A couple of dozen boats at the peak...and that doesn't count the sailboat regatta that we navigated through on or way back to Cal City!

We're starting to take this personal, this was our third Cal City Salmon try, and Plan B, drifting for halibut has been humbling this year as well. There is a bright side however...we actually saw a net fly! The Six-Pack Boat, Sundancer caught a salmon around 12:30 while we were having lunch while mooching for salmon back at Cal City...so, we know it can be done!

We learned one thing...early on the Bay...more places to play!

Good night, Formula One's Italian Grand Prix at Monza starts at 0430 Forza!