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Hey Sportsmen,                                        3/8/10

Well it has been a rough week and a half. I had a bad case of bronchitis that almost went into pneumonia. But I still managed to do 8 trips in the last 12 days. The overall story is an average of about 4 to 5 sturgeon a trip and some bass are showing. Almost all the sturgeon were undersize. Leonel Espindola landed his first sturgeon The fish went 51 inches. It is not hard to find good numbers of sturgeon as there are a lot around. The water conditions are great with 54 degree water. The best bait still has been eel/grass combo and just grass shrimp. I am see more bass now and signs of a spring run starting. I have a lot of room this month and later this week I will be doing trips into the night looking for the BIG bass with bullheads as bait. I am putting together 2 trips this weekend. These trips are 5 foot tides ( good for the bass and also will work for the sturgeon). Fridays trip will start at 9:00 am and we will fish until about 10:00pm and Saturdays trip we will start 10:00 am and fish until about 11:00 pm. Let me know if you are interested. First come first served!

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen, 2/22/10


I had a few days off this week due to the slower tides and Toney Castro’s funeral. Monday the 15th was a shaker day with 3 sturgeon and 2 bass shakers. Friday the 19th was Captain Jeremy’s birthday trip. I had 5 captains on the boat and we did put a 58 inch sturgeon on the boat. I will not say who but there were a few good bites missed! It was a very fun trip and you have got to see the photos of Patrick and his sturgeon. Especially the photo where he is making out with the fish. Yesterday we had 2 shaker sturgeon and 4 bass. Three of the bass were a solid 8 lbs. The bass took the grass shrimp baits. One of the bass milked on the deck!
I think it is time to target bass as I think the spring run might be starting. I will be testing the waters with bullheads during the upcoming trips. I have been doing the best near Port Chicago at the end of the ebb tide. Our best bait still is eel/grass shrimp combos. I will be back on the water tomorrow and I have trips scheduled 9 of the next 10 days, GOOD TIDES ! Two of the trips are open loads and have a little room the others are charters. Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen 2/14/10

I just finished 4 trips starting Wednesday. Overall for the 4 trips in a row it was just O K. We have a lot of fish in our area and I must say the best concentration I have seen in years. We have been landing a lot of shakers( good for the future). The best areas for us have been above the Mothball fleet near buoy 9 and over by Port Chicago. In both cases I have been sticking with water between 32 feet and 55 feet. The best bite has been the last 3 hours during the large ebb tide. The best bait has been eel/grass shrimp combo but yesterday and today I have received reports of fish interested in ghost shrimp. I will have ghost shrimp on board tomorrow. Here is how the last 4 trips went, Wednesday 4 shaker sturgeon and one keeper bass, Thursday 4 shaker sturgeon, 1 keeper bass, 1 oversize sturgeon ( see photo) and we lost 2 good sturgeon, Friday we had 2 shaker sturgeon and yesterday we had 2 shaker sturgeon and 1 keeper bass. I took today of to spend with the family. I will be out tomorrow with a new plan as the water temperature is now up to 54 degrees!

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Fishermen 2/8/10

A quick report,
I had a group on Saturday and the fishing was slow. We sat on large numbers of fish at Ozol and the Benicia bridge but they would not bite. There was a lot of boat traffic which did not help. I took Sunday off due to the amount of pressure and the Super Bowl. Today I had the same plan and we even found more fish and a lot of big ones. They again were slow to bite but some did and we landed a keeper. The best bait again was eel/grass and the best bite was during the flood tide in 56 feet of water. I will be in Sacramento tomorrow and then I will be fishing Wednesday through Saturday. Every day is full except Friday, lots of room on Friday. The tides are building, water temp is up to 50.5 and the fish are due to bite. When they do in will be very good like 2 weeks ago.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey sturgeon fishermen, 2/1/10


Well the last bunch of trips has been great. We have landed sturgeon on every trip. We had keepers on every trip except Saturdays trip, just a shaker. Chili Gene landed a 55 inch sturgeon. This keeper broke his dry spell of 3 years. Jon Austin landed a 57 inch sturgeon and this was his first sturgeon ever! But the best trip of the bunch was today’s trip. I took the Martinez harbor and bait shop crew out for some fun. I wanted to treat them to a trip for doing such a great job working on the Diamond Classic Catch and Release Sturgeon Derby. We started fishing at just a little after noon. We finished the day at about 6:00 pm. This was the flood tide and the water temp was 48.5. Freddie landed his first sturgeon ever, a 57 incher. Gina landed a shaker. Amy battled a fish for over 30 minutes. But she finally beat the oversized fish and after a quick photo back it went. I have to say her fish is one of the thickest fish I have seen in a long time. Lisa also battled a brute and won the battle. After a quick photo we released her oversized sturgeon. I think her fish was landed once before and someone tried to make it legal. Check out the photo, it sure looked like the tail was clipped. Early in the week I was getting into the fish along the fleet and up at Seal Island. Today we got into the fish just outside the harbor. I have soaked ghost shrimp and salmon row but all the fish that were landed on my boat took eel and grass shrimp combo or JPS. Sturgeon fishing is great now and we have another great set of tides coming around. I do have room later in the week and on Sunday. Monday is wide open. Enjoy these DATED photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Fishermen, 1/27/10

Well it does not get much better than yesterday! Monday I had a group of 6. We fished the south side of the sand bar. I noticed a lot of fish moving up and down the shipping channel. We fished until the last 2 hours of the ebb tide. I then moved down to buoy 2 to fish deep water near the bridge. All we could land was 2 shakers. I will say this though these 6 fishermen know how to fish. The food was great and it was a fun trip. Now yesterday I had 4 fishermen and I saw fish again moving up and down the shipping channel so I had the same plan as Monday except we never left south side of the sand bar because the fish were chomping. The water temp had dropped about a 1/2 of a degree and it was a little muddier. But the fish turned on! In about a 4 hour period we hooked fish, we missed fish, we lost fish and we landed fish. We landed 10, one 75 inch oversized, a 58 inch keeper, a 48 inch keeper, 3 jumbo shakers and the rest were shakers. We had the first double hook up of 2010! When John picked up the second rod it looked like Tom’s fish was wrapped with John’s rod. I instructed John to just free spool so as not to burn Tom’s fish off. After a few minutes John’s fish goes air born and spits the hook. OOPS! The fish came all the way out of the water and it looked to be in the 60s. Ben landed the 58 incher and this was his first keeper, no more sturgeon virgin. The top bait was eel and grass combo with JPS second. I am off today due to my wife’s birthday but I will be out tomorrow at 9:00 am. Enjoy the photos it was great! Click on photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen 1/25/10

I am sorry for the late report on the derby but I had a full day charter yesterday and I was tired. So the 4th annual Diamond Classic Catch and Release Sturgeon Derby and the seminar was a grand success! I was shocked how many people came to the seminar. We rented the Event Center in Martinez thinking we would have plenty of room. The Event Center has a 297 capacity and we were scrambling for chairs to put along the walls because of the amount of people that showed up. Everyone had a great time and we gave away a ton of prizes. I want to thank all my professional captains for their honest answers to the questions. It was good for everyone to see 6 different perspectives toward sturgeon fishing. I have had a lot of positive feedback and thank yous about the seminar. Again
Thank you,
Captain Jeremy Kangas from Stickem Sport fishing.
Jeremy was also my weigh master dispatcher/coordinator.
Captain Barry Canevaro from fish hookers sport fishing
Captain Don Franklin from Soleman Sportfishing
Captain Mike Andrews from Predator Sport fishing
Captain Frank Miller from Fury Sport fishing
The Derby has many times been referred to as a class act. That is because of the quality of fishermen that participate. We had 283 entries that showed a tremendous amount of class. The radio traffic could not have been better it was kept clear for all the weigh masters and I did not hear any garbage like I have heard during other derby’s. Anchoring and boat etiquette was very good. I am very proud of these fishermen. We had many fish caught and all were released. We had 20 fish that were legal keepers and all were released. We had 3 oversized fish released also. Here is a list of the winners,
1st Ross Buller = $2,476.25
2nd Dexter Bell = $1,768.75
3rd Jeremy Prince = $1,415.00
4th Eugene Lamont = $353.75
6th Ryan Caraway = $353.75
7th David Shimamoto = $353.75
All the money we collected from the entries went back to the fishermen in these awards!!!

We had 26 kids and 12 of them caught some sort of fish. They were able to enter the derby for free and they could enter any fish what so ever to get into the drawing.
I don’t have the names of the kids that won but we had 7 places and the first place went to a 4 year old boy. He received a Vic’s custom rod with a Avet two tone SX MC cast reel. The next 5 places the kids received rod and reel combos and then a backpack full of fishing goodies. We then gave all the rest of the kids goodie bags full of fishing goodies. Then we had a raffle for the adult fishermen. We had 24 tackle boxes and 12 rod and reel combos. The concept was that if you won one of the prizes you are to take a kid fishing and give him the prize. Again I want to thank everyone involved and we already have some new ideas for next year. One more thing Jerry and I were able to go out and fish for a couple of hours before the seminar. I got lucky and had fun catching and releasing my own sturgeon !!! I will be back on the water tomorrow and will start up my regular fishing reports again. Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Fishermen , 1/16/10

Fridays trip was disappointing. We sat on fish in 3 different spots and had a few bites but no hookups. The plan for Saturday was basically the same but the fish wanted to play this time. For a long story short as I am tired, it went this way. We hooked 7 sturgeon, 3 shakers, 2 fine keepers, one was came unbuttoned before we could see it and one spit the hook on a hard run. Richard Delasarte from Pacifica landed his first sturgeon ever that went 58 inches. Dave Dorsett from Citrus Heights broke his 15-year dry streak by landing a 56 inch sturgeon. Lisa Martin from Willits landed a 24 inch bass and later battled a sturgeon for a while. The sturgeon went airborne 3 times. This crazy fish shot out of the water 5 feet from the boat and when it landed back in the fish made a strong run and then spit the hook. OUCH!!! The top bait was eel and grass shrimp combo. Two sturgeon and the bass took JPS (just plain shrimp) on a single hook. %90 of our action was during the last 3 hours of the big ebb tide near Buoy 4. I will be off for a few days due to the weather. And if we get all the rain that is predicted, the bite should really turn on! I will be pre fishing on Friday for the derby. The weather should break I hope just in time for the Catch and Release Derby. If you get a chance you should come to the seminar Friday night before the derby. There will be 6 professional fishermen on a panel that you could ask questions. You will be able to get a lot of different perspectives about sturgeon fishing that might help your success. Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen 1/12/10

Well this weekend trips reminded me how sturgeon is normally in the winter time. Very cold, and the fish were slow to bite. I had some hard-core fishermen that stuck it out for only a few shakers. If fact there were only a couple of keeper fish landed during the weekend through out the whole fleet. Yesterday the bite picked up a little. There were only 2 of us fishing and Bill’s boat hooked 4 fish and landed a good keeper. We hooked one fish and landed it. John Macallister from Clementon New Jersey landed a 58 incher. The best bait by far the last 3 days has been eel/ grass shrimp and then JPS. We have been fishing above the fleet and into the cuts. Most of the bites are coming during the flood tide. I rescheduled today’s trip due to weather but I will be back out Friday at 11:00 am. Enjoy the photo.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey sportsmen, 1/5/2010

I am sorry for the late report but we were trying to make some changes to the web site so it was down for a while. Also the report is not that exciting. Saturday we had 3 sturgeon, two were small shakers and one was oversized. Sunday we did not land a fish. It looks like the fish were biting better on the earlier tides before the big ebb tide. Or we just had some bad luck. It was frustrating for me as we were in a lot of fish. “That’s sturgeon fishing”. Still the amount of fish in the system right now is great. The tides are coming around now and after some general maintenance on the boat and refueling I will be back out by Friday.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash S[port Fishing

Hey Fishermen, 12/31/09

I had a group that fished New Years Eve. The fishing was a little tougher than earlier in the week. We fished the last couple of hours of the flood tide near Port Chicago. And most of the ebb tide between buoys 4 and 6 on the inside in 22 feet of water. We did not have any takers on the flood and on the ebb we missed 2 good bites, landed a small shaker and 5-year-old Rehan from Santa Clara, with a lot of help from his dad, landed his first sturgeon. The fish took eel and grass shrimp combo. I did test salmon roe on my rod with no success and I will continue to test roe during the next few trips. There were not as many fish near the buoys and down by the bridge as I saw earlier in the week. I will be back on the water tomorrow and fishing through the weekend with full loads. There are good tides all through next week. Enjoy the photo of Rehan.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen, 10/26/09

I just finished the live bait season this pass weekend. Saturday was Wide Open bass fishing like the prior weekend. I was surprised that the bass went off during such slow tides. They were schoolies again with the largest going 10 lbs. Check the last report for all the details. After all the reports I received and looking at the tides I decided to hunt halibut on Sunday. Well it did not go as well as I would have liked. We drifted live anchovies with light tackle.We had about 6 or so opportunities and only put 2 halibut in the box with the largest going 13lbs for 4 fishermen. We fished all over and the best action we could find was at Red Rock during the flood tide. I head back up to Idaho on Wednesday for the elk hunt. I will be back on November 10th and then I will move the boat over to Martinez for the sturgeon/bass season. My first trips are on 11/14, 6:30 am meet and I have 2 spots left. On 11/15 we meet at 8:00 am and I have 4 spots open. There are great tides to start the season this weekend. There should be a lot of bass around along with the sturgeon. Lets hope I get an elk so there can be elk burgers on the grill!!

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen 10/19/09

Well I returned Friday from the Rocky Mountains in Idaho and I believe I am finally thawed out now. I had charters Saturday and Sunday. It was WFO bass fishing; at times it was difficult to keep up with the netting and baiting. Saturday I had a group of 4 from Idaho that had never experienced any thing like this. We returned with 5 limits. At the harbor I prepared some of the catch for them and the comments were, the best fish they had ever had. Yesterday
I had a group of 6 and it was the same wide-open bite. I am glad I had Jerry aboard to help; as even with the two of us there were times it was hard to keep up. We returned to the harbor with 8 limits. We fished way up in the north bays. I used live anchovies and sardines. Both days we had somewhere between 40 and 50 keeper fish. The fish went from small schollies to 12 lbs. The larger fish took the sardines and bit the best during the last 4 hours of the flood tide. Small hooks and light leaders seemed to help. I will be fishing live bait in the bays and up the coast for one more week and then in is off to Idaho for 2 weeks. When I return from Idaho, around the 10th of November, I will move the boat up to Martinez for the bass and sturgeon season. I have room up through Sunday for the last chance at the action on the bays and coast. Check out the photos from the last two days on the photo page.

Enjoy!
Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen, 10/5/09

Well here is my weekend wrap up. The halibut bite has slowed way down. I had 4 10 year old boys and 2 dads yesterday. The dads wanted halibut and the kids wanted action ( Sharks ). We spent the morning flood tide hunting for halibut with only 2 scratched baits for our effort. We then went shark/halibut fishing and the boys had their fill of sharks. Leopard sharks up to 55 inches. They boxed one male to try on the diner table. At the turn of the tide we found some willing halibut and boxed a 12lber and a 24lber. Saturday We spent the morning tide hunting for halibut. We had 2 scratched baits, lost a striper at the boat and hooked 3 white sea bass. We did box 2 of the sea bass. One went 39 lbs and one went 29 lbs. We spent the last half of the day shark fishing and everyone had action. My crew boxed 2 male leopard sharks for the table. One of the anglers battled a ray for almost 1/2 an hour. In the process he broke my rod in 3 pieces!. But he still got the ray to the boat and I would say it was somewhere around 80 lbs. The white sea bass came from Treasure Island in 28 feet of water. The fish took sardines on light tackle, 20 lb test. The sharks and rays where all in the south bay in 45 feet of water and took chunked sardines. The halibut were found near the entrance of the Alameda Estuary and took sardines. The fish were in 26 feet of water and bit on the turn of the tide. I leave on Wednesday the 7th for my first Idaho hunt. This year is going to be a tough hunt as the weather is already very cold and snowing. We will have to set up camp in the snow and deal with the highs in the high 30s and the lows in the teens. I will be back on the 16th for 2 more weeks of live bait fishing up the coast and bay. Enjoy the photos of the White sea bass and the big halibut on the photo page.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen 9/28/09

Here is the weekend wrap up. On Saturday I had a group of 5 and we headed up the coast for some fun. We had a fair bite for rock fish in the morning until the flood tide changed and the bite got very slow. We scratched our way up the coast in the brown water and once we started the flood tide again the bite was back on. When my group had about 3/4 limits we decided to target some other species. I headed to the north bar. We did 3 short drifts before heading in and the halibut were chomping the live sardines. We hooked 12 halibut and boxed 8 to 14 lbs. We left the fish biting. We also had a big lingcod in the morning. The rock fish chomped the live anchovies and the halibut chomped the live sardines. All on light tackle using sliders and circle hooks.
Yesterday I had a full load. I headed to where I left the halibut biting the day before. I would get the last hour of the flood. Four of my crew were a little green but wanted to stay. The water was very nice, very little wind and a light swell. We fished until about 2:00 pm and then headed in for the big BBQ feast at the wharf. We fished light tackle again with most of the rods soaking live sardines. We had 2 rods soaking live anchovies. Young Cameron landed his first ever bass. The bass took a live anchovy and went 28 inches and 9 lbs. Even though they were a little green 3 of the other boys landed their first ever halibut. Rene had a large fish on for over 10 minutes when the hook pulled. Judging by the fight I think it was a large salmon as we had a large salmon a few trips ago. Over all we hooked 13 halibut and boxed 7 and the bass for a short day. The feast on the boat at the wharf was great again! I have some good photos of these trips on the photo page . I have a few days off to get things ready for my first Idaho hunt. I will be back on the water Friday.
Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen 9/25/09

Well I am down from the mountains and just did 2 trips. The first trip was great and the 2nd trip was a little tougher. The last trip I had a light load and we had to work hard for limits of rockfish. The ocean was up a little and I think it slowed the bite. I was not able to get out of the brown water on any of the trips. But the first trip when the ocean was nice we had a great day. I had the group from the Martinez bait shop and harbor office. We used mostly live anchovies and a few live sardines. We used light tackle, sliders on the sinker and circle hooks. We landed many species of fish ( limits of rockfish ). We had blacks, blues, browns, vermillion, greenling, gophers, sea star, lingcod, halibut to 24 lbs and we released a 20 to 25lb salmon in the water. I will continue to fish up the north coast as long as the ocean allows. I will be back on the water tomorrow and it looks like we will be fishing up the coast. Check out Gina’s 24lb halibut on the photo page.
Enjoy the photos. Oh and the BBQ fresh fish feast back at the dock was great!

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey everyone, 9/15/09


The halibut is slowing. The building tides are starting to take their toll. The last four trips I wanted to go outside the gate and fish. Due to the weather conditions three of the four trips we stayed in the bay. One of the trips I rescheduled because they were not interested in fishing the bay. We were getting just under a fish a rod to just over a fish a rod. You had to be patient and wait for the bite to go. The anchovies did as well as sardines. The top spots were Alcatraz and Treasure Island during the ebb tide. There was an OK late bite at Red Rock. I am leaving in the morning for a California deer and bear hunt. I will be back on the water Tuesday the 23rd. I have room on Wednesday the 24th. I expect to be fishing outside the gate. There are some new photos from the last 3 trips on the photo page.

Good Fishing

Captain Steve
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen. 9/5/09

Then last 3 trips were just ok. The first and second trips we fished in the bay for halibut as the ocean we up. We faired a fish a rod. But one of the butts went 21lbs. We are still using anchovies in the bay with light tackle. The last trip I had some fishermen from Texas. They were interested in catching some fish to cook on the boat. The ocean was down so we went up the coast. On the way out I stopped and picked up some sardines to go with the anchovies. We started up the coast in tight to shore and the rockfish started chomping. They bit the anchovies on light tackle. After we had enough for the grill we headed to the north bar for halibut. We did 2 drifts during the flood tide with no results. I tried Bonita cove with no results and then I got a call that the fish we starting to bite on the south bar. We made the run and on the first drift near the end of the flood we shook one and put in a 12lber. My crew said they had enough fish for the grill and wanted to head in. I wanted to stay as the bite was just starting but they are the boss. The halibut were chomping sardines. The feast back at the harbor was great. Seasoned rock fish off the BBQ for a starter, sauté halibut from the stove 3 different California wines, 4 types of beers, salads and so on. I was glad we returned. I am in Long Beach now and will not be back on the water until Friday for 4 charters in a row. For more reports go to http://www.wonews.com Have a great holiday.

Captain Steve Talmadge

Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen 8/25/09

The last 3 days were all very different. 8/22 I was chartered for a full day. The first half was to be a fishing trip and the second half was to be a 21st birthday party. Well with the bay bite slow and the wind howling my people decided to have an early start to the party. So that is what we did, 20 to 25 people enjoying a big party at the wharf. I did not get to bed until midnight. The next day I still wanted to go out in the ocean to find some new fish but the wind and seas were up again so we fished the bay. I did a lot of checking and we found some bass at Paradise. In fact it was a very good bite. We ended one short of limits for 6 fishermen and released and lost at leased another 10 to 15 fish. We tried some other spots around the bay but the wind was betting us up. Yesterday the ocean was down a little and we steamed up the north coast. The start of the day was a little slow because the spots I wanted to try had brown water. I moved in close to the coast and fished south and when we got into green water it was limit style fishing for rockies. We also ha d a few surprises, 2 cabozone and a 25 lb halibut. We also had one other big halibut but he spit the hook. We used all light tackle, live anchovies and circle hooks. We baged mostly blacks, some browns, vermillions and a few blues. We released quite a few smaller fish. Check out the photos on the photo page. I am taking the next few days off to cut firewood in the sierras and test rifles for the up coming hunting season. I will be back on the water Saturday.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Well Sportsmen, 8/21/09

We made the afternoon 1/2 day charter today. I steamed right up to the north bar and got some reports of a few biters. We started about 2:30 pm and fished until 5:30 pm. We landed 4 fish and dropped 2. We boxed 2 and the other 2 were shakers. We used anchovies and 20 lb test. I think the bite was a little slower than the last 2 days. The bar was a little bumpy during the ebb tide but fishable. I think it is time to search for other areas. My boat is chartered for a 21st birthday BBQ at the wharf tomorrow. We were going to fish the morning but the fishing is a little to slow so it will just be a fun day at the wharf. I have a full open load on Sunday. Stay tuned for that report.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen 8/21/09

Yesterdays trip was about the same as the day before.( See 8/19 report). Except a little better grade of rock fish. I had a lighter load of fishermen, 4 . But we did very well . A great box of rock fish and 7 halibut. I had a father and son team that did very well for their very first time halibut fishing. All the details are on the 8/19 report. Check out the photos of the box of rock fish and the father and son team at http://www.flashfishing.net. Click on photos and scroll down, all the photos are dated. I have a half day charter today and I hope to take them out halibut fishing. Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Fishermen 8/19/09

Well I could not wait to post this report. After the last report of the first skunk of the season we came back with a bang! I took my group up the coast for about a half day of rock fishing. It was a steady pick of Blacks, Blues, Browns, one red and some under sized Lings. When the tide was right we went to the bars to fish for about 3 hours. We landed 8 halibut to 32 inches, lost 3 and hooked 3 bass and landed 2 to 19 lbs. The weather was good but overcast with a light wind and a low swell. We used the small wire hooks and 20lb test with live anchovies. Check out these quality bass, click on the photo page and scroll to the bottom. Enjoy and I will be back out tomorrow with the same plan.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen 8/17/09

Well it finally happened! The bay fishing has slowed to just about a stop. I had a 1/2 day morning trip today. We fished Mel’s reef, Alcatraz, Arch Rock, Angel Island, Point Blunt, T I, Mission Rock and a few South city water front spots. The tides were good, there was a lot of bait in the area; everything was good except the bite. My first skunk of the season, OUCH! I would have expected the bass to bite with these faster tides. Maybe they will as the tides build even more. But I will start going outside to the bars and up the coast for the rest of the week. The ocean is coming down nice. Sorry I could not find a skunk to take a photo of so no photos from this report. Stay tuned for the ocean reports.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen, 8/16/09

The beginning of the last 3 days was great to just ok. 8/13 I had a great group of fishermen. We fished outside Fort Mason, Alcatraz and Angle Island. I take my hat off to this group as they choose to try some other type of fishing after they had enough halibut. There is no question in my mind that if we stayed where we were we would have had early limits. We left biting fish at 13 halibut in the box. 8/14 I had a family group, 4 young boys and their parents. Again this family decided to take the boys shark fishing and BBQ, once they had enough halibut. We fished Fort Mason, Alcatraz, Angle Island, Yellow Bluff, north tower of the Golden Gate and the south bay for sharks. We spent some time doing some family photos at the Golden Gate, great back ground. They boxed 7 halibut and one large leopard shark. They wanted to try the leopard shark on the grill. I have to say it feels good to leave some fish for the future once you have had your fill. 8/15 my group fished hard and we added South Hampton and Paradise to the spots as the bite slowed a little. My group only boxed 5 fish for a full day of fishing. All 3 trips we were fishing the small to medium anchovies with 20 lb mono leaders. I am also using a small #2 to #3 thin wire hook. My main line is equipped with a slider for the lighter dropper to the weight. This seemed to work very well for the chovies. I have a half day am trip tomorrow. We will start looking for the bass bite to pick up with the early tides starting to build. Enjoy the photos on my photo page .

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen 8/12/09

The last 4 days has been interesting. The bay bite has slowed.
We fished hard on Friday with some beginners. We fished Alcatraz, The rock pile, Angel Island and South Hampton Shoal. The bass were biting at the rock pile but we had snags and dropped fish. I could not stay there long. We did end up with 5 fish and 4 of them came from South Hampton during the tide change. Saturday was even tougher. I covered 45 miles looking for biting fish. At the end of the day on the last drift Jeremie landed a 27 inch halibut to get the skunk off the boat! Monday I had a group from out of town that wanted butts and bass. I decided to take a chance and fish outside on the North Bar. It was a little bumpy but no one was getting sick so we fished the ebb and part of the flood tide. I then checked a few spots on the way back and ended the day with 7 halibut and a 12 lb bass. Yesterday I had the same group as Monday and we started at the bar again. The bite was a little slower but they were biting. The group wanted to do something new so we went up the coast near Duxbury. The first stop we landed 6 species of fish. Ling cod to greenling. The grade of fish was very good. We just kept the good ones. We had one black that was about 4.5 lbs! I search a few other spots before heading inn. The weather up the coast was much better than the bar. I will be back out tomorrow for three more trips in a row. Not sure what the plan will be yet. I will know in the morning after checking the weather. The bay should be picking up as the tides slow. Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen, 8/3/09

Well I just returned from my 3rd annual SHOGUN / FLASH invitational 6 day long range trip. I have to say I think this one topped the 2 prior trips. The weather was great, the crew was the best yet, the food was also the best so far, the fishermen were great and the fishing was great. We landed Dorado, Albacore, Bluefin, Yellowfin, Yellowtail, Calico bass and a Pinto bass. There also was a battle between a Mako shark and a Sea lion. We had a few strikes from some Wahoo and a short hookup but 0 landed. We had Blufin up to just over 60lbs and the Yellowfin were around 55lb average with the top fish going 87lbs. The Yellows were an excellent grade up to 36lbs. There were a lot of personnel best created on this trip. One of my personnel best was a 24 lb yellowtail on 15lb test. Aaron had a P B on 30lb test. He landed an 87lb Yellowfin, the jackpot fish! Everyone on board landed fish and there was a good size group of fishermen that hooked and landed a game fish everyday for all 6 days! Rich was the most improved fishermen. This was his first time on a long range trip. He landed 9 YT, 2 BF and 7 YF. He was awarded a Vic’s custom rod for his accomplishment. We had five winners for a Vic’s custom rod and the dinners. And Zach earned the Top Sportsmen Award (Top Gun). I will have his name engraved on the plaque; and he received the top gun hat and a Vic’s custom rod with a Avet MXL MC 2 speed loaded with 50lb Tuff line spectra! Congratulations to Zach. Our final count was 148 Yellowfin, 43 Bluefin, 2 Albacore, 160 Yellowtail and 5 Dorado. I have posted a few photos that I had in my camera on the photo page at http://www.flashfishing.net. Click on the photo page and then click on Shogun 2009 album. Look at the last photo of Dave and I in front of the fish I kept. This will give you some idea of the grade we all were catching. Our media team is working on all the photos and there will be a book and movie out in about in a few months. Once I get all the photos I will ad to the on line album. Well I have to get back to work and will be back on the boat tomorrow doing a pot luck charter. We are already talking about what to do next year. Teresa, ARE WE THERE YET ! Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Fishermen 7/25/09

Yesterday was a tough bite. We fished in the bay with the bigger tides and stained water.We fished Paradise, Richmond bridge, Red rock and South Hampton Shoal. We landed many shaker halibut and some shaker bass. We did box 4 fish for 5 fishermen and had a great BBQ at lunch. I am leaving in the morning for San Diego. I will be boarding the Shogun for the third annul FLASH/SHOGUN invitational 6 day long range trip. I will post a report upon my return August 2nd. It should be a blast!


Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen, 7/19/09

Well this is the weekend rap up. Friday I went outside and fished Potato shoal and Bonita cove. The bite was slower and we ended about a fish a rod to 22 lbs. Saturday was better fishing in the bay at Treasure Island and South Hampton shoal. We ended the day with 2 fish a rod and a 53 inch Leopard shark. Today we fished at Alcatraz, Treasure Island and then the south bay, west side. The score was about 1 1/2 fish a rod. The last 3 trips we used sardines and anchovies, drifting. The big fish today was a 16 lb Striped bass. You can see the dated photos at http://www.flashfishing.net. Click on photos and look at the end of the photos. Enjoy!

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen, 7/16/09

Today we fished Alcatraz, Angle Island, Bonita Cove and the Potato Shoal. We had to work for our fish today. We ended up 1 1/2 fish a rod to 29 lbs. All halibut and the best bait was split between dead sardines and live sardines. We lost a lot of fish and landed a few sharks. Joshua Seal from Santa Rosa took top gun on the last drift of the day. He landed a 29 lb halibut. Matt Trulli from Santa Rosa took 2nd with a 23 lb halibut. Check out my dated photos at the end of the photo page.I will be back out tomorrow bright and early. Enjoy!

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Fishermen 7/15/09

Well the fishing is still getting better. Today we had limits of halibut to 32 LBS. We fished Bonita Cove and Potato Shoal. We used live sardines and 20 lb test line. We had a lot of sharks bite us off and we landed 2 large Leopards. Brandon landed a 32 lb halibut, which beat yesterdays
31 lber but his overall limit weight did not beat yesterday’s overall limit weight of 67 lbs. His overall weight was 54 lbs for his limit. I got a great photo of Brandon fighting the 32 lber. I also got photos of today’s fish. You should check them out, click on photos and look at the end of the photos. Today’s group chartered me for 2 days in a row so we will be back out tomorrow to see if we could beat today’s score. Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey sportsmen, 7/14/09

WOW! It just keeps getting better!
As the tides are getting slower I am targeting halibut more, in fact today was a halibut day. We fished Alcatraz, Mel’s Reef and Bonita cove. We used anchovies and sardines. I had 2 beginner halibut fishermen and they both got their first halibut. Daniel Peake from San Francisco not only landed his first halibut but landed a 67 lb LIMIT ! Yes a 67 lb halibut limit! William and Kelly Odum from Oakly landed 2 large limits. We also dropped about 5 fish until I went to larger stinger hooks. You have to check out the photo of the 67 lb limit and the group shot of halibut up to 31 lbs. Go the bottom of the photo page. I will be back out tomorrow for 5 more trips in a row and then I will get a few days off in Tahoe. I still have Saturday the 25th open, this is the only day I have open this month.
Enjoy the photos!

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Weekend report 7/13/09

Well all I can say is the fishing is still great but the grade is much better. We had bass to 21 lbs and halibut to 24 lbs, same areas and plans as the last few days. The highlight was Sunday I had a couple from Korea and they started preparing fish less than an hour old on the boat. I have to tell you the halibut soup was the best! This was the first time I had raw halibut and I went back for 3rds. Check out the large fish photos and the on board feast on my photo page . I will be back out tomorrow for 7 trips in a row. Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Well Fishermen, 7/9/09

The last 2 days we still had wide open bass fishing.
Tuesday we had many hookups at Mel’s reef during the flood tide. After they landed limits of bass for 6 anglers and one for the captain we went looking for halibut. We found halibut at Angel Island and we had to release a few bass. The halibut were in 65 feet of water.
Yesterday I had a group of 6, 3 adults and 3 young boys. Their ages were 6, 8 and 6 years old. The adults were there to help the boys. Again we hooked many fish at Mel’s Reef and the young boys landed 15 bass to 19 lbs. I got some great photos of the boys. Check out the photos at the end of my photo page. I will be back out tomorrow. I had a few spots open up on this coming Sunday. The halibut tides are coming on ! Other than that all I have available is a few spots on the 14th,19th and Saturday the 25 just opened up. Every thing else is booked. Enjoy the photos!

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen, 7/6/09

This is my holiday weekend update. Friday the 3rd I had a group of good local fishermen and we started at Treasure Island and then worked a lot of spots in the south bay. The best bite was near Hunters Point. We had 2 fish per rod and we had Shark Master Mike who could not stay away from the sharks. We were drifting anchovies.
On the 4th I had a group from Texas and Arkansas. I put together a special package that included a full day of fishing, BBQ lunch on the boat, I prepared their fish at the dock after fishing and then on the boat out on the water for fire works. They had a great time and they said that they had the best fish dinner ever! The bass fishing all weekend was off the hook for both trips, Wide Open! On both trips we had as many as five fish hooked up at once. While we were fishing for halibut we were releasing good size bass because of limits both days. The best areas for me was at Mel’s reef and Angel Island drifting live anchovies. I will be back out on the water tomorrow and fishing 4 out of the next 5 days. I do have room on the 14th and there are some of the best halibut tides of the month that day. I will be off on Thursday hauling hay for my horses and then I am the guest speaker at California Striped Bass Assoc in Oakley in the evening. Enjoy the photos of the Wide Open bass bite. They are at the bottom of my photo page.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Well Sportsmen, 7/1/09

Today was a work day! What I mean we had to work for our fish. My crew fished the barges, Treasure Island, Angle Island and Fort Mason. We started at 6:00 am and returned at 6:00 pm. We got bait from Berkeley and it held up a lot better than I expected. The bait is new, raw, fresh or uncured but it lasted very well and worked fine. Most of our fish came from Treasure Island on the early morning bite. The morning bite was not as good as prior days but the fish were there. After checking with the other boats we did ok , not as good as I expected of would have liked but 7 fish for 6 held our own. We did pick up 2 fish at Fort mason and the halibut had sea lice on it. So I do think we are getting more fish in from the ocean. I did get a report of some new fish in a new area at the end of the day. We will check out the new spot on Friday as I have tomorrow off. I need to catch up on everything at home. Enjoy today’s photo on my photo page.

Captain Steve Tallmadge
Flash sport Fishing

Well Fishermen, 6/30/09

The 1/2 day trip today is not what I expected. My crew of 4 jumped on board at 8:10 am. I decided to take them to Treasure Island for a short while and see if we could land a few fish before I take them to do some catch and release shark fishing. Suzanne (Mom), Dustin (Son), Ashley (Girl friend) and 3 year old Aubrey were all game for this first time experience. We started are drift near the buoy in 30 feet of water and just as I got the last rod in 3 rods go off! They landed 2 of the 3 bass and as I was netting the 2nd fish another rod goes off. Well after about 45 minutes to an hour we had boxed 3 bass and one halibut out of 9 fish. Time to go catch and release some sharks. I steamed down to the south bay and for about 2 hours I could barely keep 3 rods in the water. I think we released 8 leopards, a ton of Smooth hounds and 2 rays. I was back in the harbor at 1:00 pm. The sharks loved the chunked sardines. I will be back out tomorrow on a full day charter. No more banker’s hours! I did get a report of some larger halibut moving into the bay. We will check out that information tomorrow. Check out the dated photos of this trip Click on photos and then click on current photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Fishermen, 6/29/09

Today was a fun and a disappointing day. We lost some good fighting bass due to fishermen mistakes but on a good note we landed 13 fish on a short day. My charter wanted to go in early for a BBQ/ Party on the boat at the Wharf. So we fished until 2:00 pm. We started at Treasure Island and the morning bite did go off. At about 8:30 we had 8 fish. We then steamed to South Hampton Shoal for a pick bite. We ended with 8 bass and 5 halibut at 2:00 pm. Fishing is good as you can see from the reports and photos. I have mostly charters for the next week but I have 2 spots open for Friday. I have 4 good local fishermen booked already and you are welcome to join us. Enjoy the photos, click on photos and then click on Current photos and look at the bottom for the latest dated photos. I will be back out tomorrow at 8:00am on a kids 1/2 day charter.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport fishing

Hey Sportsmen, 6/28/09

Today was an easy trip as my charter had people coming from out of town and did not want to meet until about 9:00am. Well we did miss the early bite that was happening at Treasure Island but we still managed to get into some fish. We found fish at South Hampton Shoal. And the weather was very nice at the shoal. Ariane ( who is about 12 years old ) brought his new fishing rod. The rod is built for trout and small fish. The reel was loaded with 6 lb test. He wanted to fish it so I obliged him. He landed 4 halibut, 3 were shakers and one was a good keeper. We ended the short day with a fish a rod. We drifted small anchovies on light tackle. I will be out again tomorrow at the normal start time so we should get into that early T I bite. Check out the photos. Click on photos and then click on Current photos. Enjoy!

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey sportsmen, 6/27/09

Yesterday and today Flash still has Bassides. We have no problem finding and hooking bass. Yesterday I had a Dolphin Graphics Company fishing/party charter. I took a group of 6 out fishing for 4 and 1/2 hours. Most were beginner of first time fishermen. We hooked fish, we lost fish and we landed fish. We boxed 8 bass to 165 lbs and 2 halibut to 15 lbs.We got most of the fish at Treasure Island. We were drifting small anchovies with 20 lb test line. Then the great BBQ party on the boat at the Wharf. I had a great time. The food was outstanding. The was fish grilled that was only 3 hours old. Check out the photos.Today I had a charter and again I started at Treasure Island. After a day of fishing we ended with 6 limits of bass. We had a shot at a halibut but lost it at the boat. I will be back on the water tomorrow and I will start at TI again. All the photos can be viewed clicking on the photo page and you will find them at the end of the current photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Fishermen, 6/25/09

Well today was a strange one as I expected it to be tough fishing. This was based the pass trips and water conditions. The day started with a bang. We had limits of bass by 11:00 am. I thought this would be great as all we have to target now was halibut. The rest of the day we could not get away from the bass. We had 14 in the box and had to release another 6 or 7. Drifting small anchovies in the best green water I could find. The best bite was at T I but we also hooked fish at Southampton and Angle. I am back out on the water tomorrow. Enjoy the photos at the end of the current photo album Click on the photo button.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen, 6/24/09
Well I am back to work after the Fathers Day camping trip. I did a charter yesterday and the fishing was tougher than when I left. The bait at Berkeley was a better grade but did not last long. The big night tides muddied up the water so you had to move a lot and work for you fish. My group had a great time. They also had some good sausages that they grilled as we fished. They hooked many fish and boxed 5. The fish we boxed were a good grade. 3 halibut and 2 bass to 12 lbs. Most of the fish were hooked at the west side of Angle Island. When the tides slow down it should be on again. I will be back out tomorrow for 7 days straight. The photos are at the end of the current album. Click on photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen, 6/15/09

Here is the weekend wrap up. Saturday we had a great day drifting small live anchovies on the San Francisco bay. I had 6 fishermen that landed 19 fish, 7 halibut 12 bass. They also released a few fish and some that were small keepers. There was a good morning bite at Treasure Island and then a great bite at South Hampton Shoal. One of the guys brought a Disney Cars toy fishing rod. I made it mandatory that he fish that rod as I want to see a fish landed on it. After David landed a keeper halibut on it I said he must keep on fishing it as I want to see him hook up a bass. I think a good bass would blow the outfit up. David only hooked a larger halibut than the first one. Maybe the next time he will hook a bass. You have to check out the photos. You can find them on my photo page. You have got to see the rod that landed these halibut! Sunday I had 3 boys around 9 years old and 3 adults. No one knew anything about fishing. We fished for about a half day at Treasure Island and then went goofing around the south bay. They lost as many fish or more than they landed. But it was a very fun time and a good box of fish. They did manage to land 3 bass to 17lbs and 5 halibut to 12 lbs. The BBQ was also great. I am taking a few days of for a Fathers Day camp out in the Sierras. I will be back on the water next Tuesday for 7 trips in a row. Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Fishing

Hey Fishermen 6/12/09

Well yesterday and today were good live bait days. Yesterday I had a light load of 3 and we did some traveling. We fished light tackle and live bait. Most of are hookups were at Mel’s reef and most of the halibut came from the south bay. We lost or broke off more fish than we landed. We boxed 4 halibut and 3 bass.
Today we fished T I, South Hampton Shoal and Paradise. Seven of our fish came from T I and the rest came from South Hampton. Not much going on at Paradise. There was some big halibut taken from an area near Mel’s reef. We dropped a few fish and the bass were going good so we released some small keepers. We finished with 7 halibut to 28 inched and 13 bass to 31 inches. A great day! Enjoy the photos on the photo page I will be back out tomorrow fishing live bait in the bay.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen, 6/10/09

Yesterday I kind of had a day off so I went down to the boat to do some work. Around noon I knew the bass would be biting just outside my harbor. So I took a lunch break to run out to see if I could put some bass in the boat for dinner. The first drift I used a rod loaded with straight 30lb braid, a #4 octopus hook and a 15lb test floral carbon leader. I hooked 2 fish and they both came unbuttoned. The next drift I used a rod with 20ln test mono and the same leader. I put a 10lb bass in the box. The next drift I put a 12lb bass in the box. I then ran to the Rock and did a few drifts for a halibut but no success. So I went back to the harbor. I burned 7 gallons of fuel and used some leftover small live anchovies. Fresh bass for dinner, happy camper! Enjoy the photo on the photo page.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen 6/8/09
The weekend trips finished up great. Saturday I started with 5 new fishermen on a half day trip. We were using #4 hooks with 15lb test floral carbon leaders. Needless to say the lost a few fish but boxed a few butts. I went back out to the west side of Angel island to catch a halibut for dinner. After 7 bass to 20lbs I finally landed a 20.5 lb halibut. Then I landed 2 more bass and headed in, all the bass I released. You will see the photo of the butt on the cleaning table as I was by myself. Sunday I had a group of 6 experienced fishermen and we had a great day. They landed limits of bass to about 16lbs in about 2.5 hours and then 2 for the crew (Me) that is 14 bass and they dropped a few. We then scratched up 5 halibut before heading in. One of the fishermen is a Coast Guard chopper pilot. He called in the chopper the say hi. Check out the photos. I will be back out on Thursday. Enjoy the photos on the photo page .

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Fellow Sportsmen, 6/4/09

I am back from Long Beach and it is good to be fishing again. I had a small crew of 3 for a half day trip. My crew decided to live bait drift for halibut and bass instead of shark fishing. I got my first load of live bait that was on the small side. I used #6 octopus hooks and 15lb test leaders for the small bait. We fished F buoy and Treasure Island. We dropped a few, landed a few and boxed 2 halibut and 1 bass. The water was 59.5 degrees and the clarity good. We fished the flood and the first push of the ebb. We were back at the dock by 12:30, it was a good day. Enjoy the photos that are on my photo page. I will be back on the water Saturday.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport Fishing

Hey Sportsmen, 5/27/09

I am still getting used to the new site so I am saying sorry for the late report. I fished 5 days over the holiday weekend. Overall the fishing was slow due to large tides, wind and muddy water. We did scratch up a few halibut at the Berkeley flats and Angle Island. The best bite was at the west side of Angle during the first push of the ebb tide drifting frozen anchovies. We also had a 31 inch bass near Hunters point tolling straight bait. The last trip I did was a half day on Monday for sharks in the south bay. I have to say the action was hot starting at the first push of the flood. We had many leopards and some very large rays. My people had a blast. Check out the photos on the photo page. The photos are all dated. Live bait is now available but very small. I just picked up a pack of #6 hooks for the small bait. I am going to give the halibut fishing some time to get better and in the mean time I will fish sharks. The halibut should start picking up early next week and then I will hit it hard. Enjoy the photos.

Captain Steve Talmadge
Flash Sport fishing

Fellow Sportsmen, 5/21/09
Well the first report for the new website is not as exciting as I had hoped. Todays fishing was a little tough. We had a few shakers and landed a few. We started at the Berkeley flats and then ran south for some better weather. We did have a better bite at the south bay but it sounds like we should have stayed north. We trolled straight bait and bait with dodgers. The last 2 hours we drifted frozen bait in the deeper water. The new calendar is still under construction. Enjoy the photos. Click on photos in the websites main menu. The photos are dated.You will need to do this until I learn to insert them here.
Photo 1 is Paul Goodman from Willows with a 25 inch bass.
Photo 2 is Ken Maclean from Santa Cruz with 2 halibut.

Captain Steve

Fellow Sports Persons, 5/20/09

Welcome to the new report page. My next trip will be tomorrow, 5/21/09. Be sure to check back tomorrow for a new report complete with photos.

Good Fishing
Captain Steve Talmadge