Last Friday, September 7, I had the pleasure of fishing with an ultra-light load aboard the fast and beautiful Velocity out of Stagnaro's Sportfishing in Santa Cruz. Captain Kenney and skilled decky DJ ensured that the 12 of us aboard had not only a great time in the beautiful, flat-calm weather outside of Santa Cruz aboard their fine craft, but, they put us on steady rockfishing without having to travel way up or down the coast. We started the morning with an informative session from DJ who showed newbie fisherman and expert angler alike how to manage the rockfishing grounds outside of Natural Bridges. Though he advised me NOT to use glow-in-the-dark alien-like bright green plastic squid-shaped attractors on my gangion (he instead opted for everyone to use shrimp flies), his advice was otherwise right on. Everyone had fish on the first few drifts (including yours truly, who, ahem, DJ, had the most fish on the first drift or two on that ugly green rig!). The rockfish were all-too-happy to bite: we had easy boat limits for the anglers and crew after only a dozen drifts or so outside of Natural Bridges and Long Marine Lab. Kenney voiced a bit of a concern that the fish seemed to move right out from under the boat each time we'd drift over a spot; though I am a seasoned rockfisher, I couldn't really notice - I had a steady chew all day long.
At the end of the day, I held a raffle to hand out some SFR gear, and our faithful SFR friend Michael 'Zippy' Nelson of Santa Cruz landed himself a back-to-back win on the SFR t-shirts! All in all, a great day on the water was had by all, and kudos again go out to Captain Kenney and decky DJ for ensuring that our sacks were full of quality rockfish.
One thing before I sign off - Kenney and I had a chat about the much-needed campaign to support your local party boat. I know it sounds silly, but think about this: if we party boat fishermen simply fish when the counts are "off the hook!", then we're doing a disservice to the hardworking men (and sometimes women) who work these boats during all times of the year. While it may not be limits of Salmon all-around, or a potluck trip of rockfish and halibut or something, a quick 7 hour trip to score limits of quality rockfish to 4 pounds is truly a wonderful trip, and it is something we need to support as fishermen so that these guys can stay in business. If you haven't been on the water and perhaps you're waiting for another good time to go, well, now's your time. Take a look at the many SFR trips we have coming up, hop on a boat, catch some fish, and, while you're having a damn good time, know that you're also supporting your local economy and your local fishery. OK, enough of a soapbox...enjoy the pictures! Until next time, tight lines, Leigh @ SFR

ps - It goes without saying, but it is worth one more plug: fish with Captain Kenney and the Stagnaro's crew. Good people, great boat, great fisheries.... We're lucky to have these guys around!