Encouraging start to salmon season

High swells, high spirits and a tentatively promising harvest marked the opening days of the salmon sportfishing season off the Sonoma County Coast.

""It was a beautiful day," said Martin McKeay, 68, of Petaluma, who spent Monday on the Pacific aboard the New Sea Angler, a 65-foot Bodega Bay-based charter fishing boat.

"I got one," McKeay said, opening a bag to reveal a silvery chinook. "I can go home and tell my wife it wasn't a worthless trip."

The season opened Saturday after a two-year ban put in place by the Pacific Fishery Management Council due to dramatic declines in the number of chinook making their way upstream to spawn.

"It's good to see fish out there," said Rick Powers, captain of the New Sea Angler.

He spoke Monday at Porto Bodega Marina, just minutes after returning from his second charter trip of the young season.

Stiff winds on Friday scattered bait and fish, he said, making it harder to get a good haul. The seas were high on Monday too, with swells of 15 to 18 feet. Still, his clients landed about 10 salmon Saturday and five on Monday, he said.

"Just the fact that we caught fish both days bodes well if they keep the season open," he said.

The past two non-seasons aside, the salmon run in general has been limited since the 2002 massive die off in the Klamath River caused by water diversions for agriculture in Oregon. That episode continues to affect the ability of ocean fishermen to harvest the fall chinook.

But the fishery management council lifted the sportfishing ban this year after federal biologists predicted a salmon run of 245,000 fish.

Powers said he hopes that it was the right decision. As much as he wants to be out fishing and taking clients out, he wants the stock to be healthy.

"I think they should be very cautious," he said. "What we want to see is the runs returned for future generations."

The minimum run is 122,000, said Chuck Tracy, salmon staff officer with the fishery council, which is based in Portland, Ore.

The commercial ban remains in place until at least May 1, Tracy said. The council is to decide April 15 whether to allow the sportfishing season to extend beyond May 1, and whether to lift the commercial ban.

On Monday, Charlie Beck of Bodega Bay, a commercial fisherman who said over the years about 60 percent of his income has come from salmon, met Powers at the dock to see how the harvest looked.

"I like to see the recreational season open so somebody has an idea what kind of stocks are out there," Beck said, adding that he wants to see "a viable fishery" before the commercial ban is lifted.

"If it's not sustainable in the ocean, I would rather see the rivers where they can come back," he said.

Among the anglers who went out as clients of Powers on Monday were three generations of the Heon family of Petaluma and Novato. They came back empty-handed but otherwise pleased with the day.

"We were warriors but we didn't win," said Mike Heon, 76.

His twin brother, Larry Heon of Novato, said, "What do they say?" as Mike's son, Jon, of Petaluma, finished the sentence: "The worst day fishing is better than the best day working."

Jon's son, Ky, 9, said he was "a little disappointed" that he didn't catch a fish. His grand-uncle Larry said: "He tried his best though, he was very valiant."

"It's great to get out," said Jon Heon. "Of course we'd like to return with something but we'll have to come back, right?"