Mark Fong, Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Tim E. Hovey, Cal Kellogg, William “Will” Murray
SALES MANAGER
Paul Yarnold
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Janene Mukai, Gabriel Patel
DESIGNERS
Kha Miner, Gabrielle Pangilinan
WEB DEVELOPMENT/INBOUND
MARKETING
Jon Hines
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Katie Aumann
INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER
Lois Sanborn
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES
media@media-inc.com
CORRESPONDENCE
Email ccocoles@media-inc.com
X @CalSportsMan Facebook.com/californiasportsmanmagazine
ON THE COVER
Paul Boudreau had a great spring day on San Francisco Bay, catching this keeper striped bass as he and his buddies also scored some delicious halibut. June is an ideal time for potluck trips from Bay Area harbors. (MARK FONG)
MEDIA INC PUBLISHING GROUP
941 Powell Ave SW, Suite 120 Renton, WA 98057 (800) 332-1736 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com www.mediaindexpublishing.com
15 TROLLING FOR TROUT, NATURALLY
Artificial lures might be a convenient – if not a more popular – method for tempting trout and landlocked salmon, but Cal Kellogg doesn’t hesitate to go old school when they’re being finicky. He’ll break out some nightcrawlers or shad and try his luck the – as he calls it – “natural” way. Kellogg details how to fill your stringer using these meaty offerings.
21 SUMMER BASSIN’ A BLAST
Tim Hovey always looks forward to late spring and summer, when bass are cruising the shallows. He’s a big fan of “casting and cranking” for largemouth and smallies, and shares his tactics. “For me, there is no better feeling in angling than when that lure suddenly stops on the retrieve,” he admits.
35 ‘BARBARIANS’ NEAR THE GATE
Trolling for San Francisco Bay halibut and striped bass is one of the calling cards of Richmond-based Captain John Badger’s Barbarian Sportfishing. Mark Fong returned with some buddies for another adventure on the water. Find out how Badger got the boys into some outstanding fishing.
46 WILD PIGS AND PITCHFORKS
Years as a Central California hunting guide provided Will Murray with plenty of crazy stories to
In
book, he shares a tale about taking three eager hog hunters out onto a Monterey County ranch, where by accident they quite literally blew away the competition. Discover what all the fuss was about, including Murray trying to herd hogs with a pitchfork.
the digital version of California Sportsman for
When I played tennis for my high school team, twice I saved up enough money from Christmas/birthday money, my paper route checks and those falls when I worked at Candlestick Park directing traffic on San Francisco 49er football game days to buy new rackets.
At the tennis shop near my home, the rackets I bought came unstrung, so I felt like a pro player going over the stringing options with the clerk. A day or two later I’d come back to pick up my new toy. But the real joy was heading onto the court for the first time and getting a feel for the racket by banging a few balls back and forth with my teammates. Spoiler alert: I wasn’t very good – nor was our team. But we had a blast those years.
I recently thought back about this when I was preparing to test out a new piece of equipment – in this case, not a tennis racket but a special fishing rod.
Friend of the magazine Chris Wegeleben, who builds custom rods for his company, Washington State-based Prolite Rod Technology (proliterods.com), was nice enough to create a fishing pole for me. I told Chris my favorite fishing is simply dunking bait
for trout, so I’d trust his expertise.
“This rod came from a mix of personal experience and customer feedback. I wanted to build something that could handle the technical demands of the fishery but still feel effortless and fun to fish with,” Wegeleben said. “I always try to blend function with feel – whether that’s sensitivity, balance or action – so it doesn’t just perform well; it connects with the angler.”
I spent some time in May down in the Bay Area visiting family and friends, and on a Friday afternoon I started setting up my new rod in the backyard of my sister Charlene’s house in San Mateo. It was like trying out a new tennis racket back in the day. I’d already admired Chris’s creation when it arrived in the mail, but now I was attaching a reel to it, spooling line through the eyes and getting a feel for it. I attached a sinker and swivel to the line and, being sure not to hit me and my sister’s dogs running around the backyard, got in a few practice casts. I loved how effortless it was to cast!
“The blank is made from a quality graphite that gives it both strength and sensitivity while keeping weight to a minimum,” Wegeleben told me. “On top of that, I pay close attention to the
The editor was eager to try his new custom-built trout rod during an outing at the Bay Area’s Los Vaqueros Reservoir. Prolite Rod Technology’s Chris Wegeleben created a good one. (CHARLENE KING)
balance of the rod, and the guides are chosen to reduce overall weight and make casting feel smooth and natural.”
I was eager to try it for real.
TRUTH BE TOLD: I think I’m a much better writer than a fisherman. I have some great memories of catching fish, but probably far more tales of the ones that got away or, more often, the ones that never bit.
But I keep trying to change my luck. My sister joined me for an early-morning Saturday trip across San Francisco Bay to what’s becoming one of my favorite destinations when I’m back in NorCal: Livermore’s Los Vaqueros Reservoir. I enjoy fishing there, the staff is always friendly, they’re constantly planting trout and other species, and there’s always plenty of shoreline to set up for a relaxing morning.
Our day at Los Vaqueros started out chilly and blustery before the sun made it feel a lot warmer; the temperature rose to nearly 80 degrees by the time we called it a day. But first, I had a new rod that Chris built for me, and I was excited.
Fishing was slow, at least for me and the few guys who set up on a point across the way, and it felt like pressure was surprisingly light that morning. The buzz I heard as anglers came and went confirmed what I was seeing. I kept hoping for some bites, but they never came. Well, except for a young couple fishing about 100 feet away between me and the guys on the point who were also getting skunked. Three times the lucky ones down the bank landed respectable-sized stocked rainbows. I walked down to admire one of their catches and we briefly chatted. They too were soaking PowerBait, so I wondered what I was doing wrong. Maybe that’s just my legacy!
But what I couldn’t complain about was my new Prolite toy to play with. As Wegeleben promised, the rod was light. I’m eager to get back out again and hope my luck changes. But I know Chris sent me one of his great creations.
I asked him about channeling his inner artist when building rods for specific purposes.
The editor was shut out on this day, but a nearby angler had some more luck, landing at least three nice Los Vaqueros rainbows. (CHRIS COCOLES)
“Prolite is fun because it brings the artistic side into the performance of the tool. The tool is most important – but it’s gotta look right. Clean and minimalistic is definitely the Prolite way. You’ve got to build with precision because performance matters,” he said. “But at the same time, there’s an artistic side to rod building – choosing the right materials, color combinations, the way a guide wrap flows into the blank finish. It’s the details that make it personal, and I think that’s where craftsmanship becomes art.”
THE MOST ACTION CHARLENE and I had on our outing was when she walked back up the hill to the restroom and was alerted to a rattlesnake by passersby on the trail. So she checked out the mostly unbothered snake – wisely keeping her distance but getting a kick out of the brief encounter.
As for me, I realized that for a mediocre tennis player I make a pretty lousy angler. But it’s certainly not because the tennis racket and, in this instance, the rod didn’t do their jobs. Wegeleben crafted something that I hope will catch a lot of fish. Such success would make it all worthwhile for a rod builder.
“Every rod I design and build is a reflection of the individual it’s made for. I really pour my heart into these rods – making sure they match the personality and style of the angler who’ll be using them,” Chris told me. “There’s something special about building gear that becomes part of someone’s best days on the water. Seeing a photo of a fish caught on a rod I made or hearing that it made someone’s trip better – that never gets old. That’s the part that keeps me excited to go back into the shop every day.”
I hope I can send him some photos of a memorable fish with the rod that catches them. -Chris Cocoles
“I really pour my heart into these rods –making sure they match the personality and style of the angler who’ll be using them,” Wegeleben told the editor. “There’s something special about building gear that becomes part of someone’s best days on the water.” (CHARLENE
26-Aug. 3 Fort Hunter Liggett archery tule elk either-sex hunting season dates
For a list of upcoming bass tournaments, go to nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FishingContests/default.aspx.
With a limited ocean salmon fishing season back in play this summer, the Golden State Salmon Association ladies’ fishing trip returns after a two-year hiatus. The 2025 event is scheduled for June 8. Check out goldenstatesalmon.org for more information. (NANCY RODRIGUEZ)
TROLLING THE NATURAL WAY
WHEN TROUT AND SALMON GET FINICKY, IT’S TIME TO OFFER ’EM SOME REAL MEAT
By Cal Kellogg
Artificial lures have been around for a very long time, but it’s a safe bet that history’s first angler employed natural bait, and that goes for history’s first trout and salmon trollers as well.
These days, with all the high-tech gear and state-of-the-art lures that are available to us, many trollers tend to overlook natural baits, despite the fact that they work as well today as they ever have.
At times, when the going gets tough or when big fish are the objective, some of the best trollers I know reach for natural baits in the form of frozen shad, anchovies or herring, plus live baits such as nightcrawlers and minnows.
Captain Monte Smith shows off a handsome Lake Don Pedro rainbow he tempted with a trolled shad. Smith is a master shad roller. Brining and rigging shad takes a bit of effort, but the rewards in the form of big trout and king salmon can be great. (CAL KELLOGG)
FISHING
Guide Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing (goldcountryfishingguide .wpcomstaging.com) is a good example of what I’m talking about. Monte is a highly talented skipper who spends his time plying California Mother Lode lakes such as New Melones Reservoir, Lake Don Pedro and Lake McClure.
ON A ‘ROLL’
For big rainbows and browns as well as husky landlocked kings, Smith’s number one offering is frozen shad. Trolling shad – or “rolling shad,” as the technique is known among trout and salmon aficionados – closely mimics the way coastal saltwater anglers employ anchovies and
herring to tempt Chinook and coho salmon into biting.
The term rolling stems from the fact that a properly rigged shad will slowly roll through the water when trolled. Predatory fish, like trout, are often in the presence of hundreds or even thousands of baitfish. Most of the time these baitfish are ignored because they are healthy and hard for the trout to chase down. Yet, a slowmoving baitfish that shows signs of distress is gobbled up in short order. When a shad is rolled through the water, it puts off vibrations consistent with those created by an injured baitfish. From a visual standpoint, a rolling shad gives the impression of a
disoriented shad minnow that has lost its ability to remain upright. Combine this with the vibrations a rolled shad creates, plus the fact that shad are the predominant forage in the majority of reservoirs, and it presents the trout with a series of cues that add up to trigger their feeding instinct.
SOAKING UP FIRM BAITS
“I soak the fresh shad I buy for trolling in brine overnight. Once I’ve brined them, I divide them among several Ziploc bags and freeze them,” Smith says. “I add blue dye to some of the shad I brine. This way, I can do some experimenting with color throughout the day as I troll.”
Soaking baitfish such as shad, anchovies and herring in brine firms and toughens them. Some anglers brine their bait by soaking it in a solution of two-thirds water, onethird ice and 1 or 2 cups of rock salt. I employ the same basic approach to brining, but I use different ingredients. Since I don’t want my shad smelling like chlorine or fluoride, I don’t use tap water. Instead, I buy a gallon of purified water and chill it in the refrigerator. I place about a pound of baitfish in a small cooler and pour in the cold water until they are completely covered. Next, I gently mix in about a cup of Pro-Cure Brine ’N Bite. Brine ’N Bite firms and toughens the bait like rock salt does, but it also adds amino acids to the bait that excite game fish and encourages them to bite. I also add half a teaspoon of Pro-Cure Bait Brite to the brining solution.
Bait Brite is a bluing solution that adds an intense shine to your bait. After the bait and solution have been thoroughly mixed, I add several cups of small ice cubes and put the cooler in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day the baitfish will be firm and ready for fishing, or they can be separated into lots of two dozen and frozen. Freezing them in Ziploc bags works well, but you’ve got to thaw the bait out slowly in a weak brine solution with plenty of ice
This awesome Folsom Lake king salmon couldn’t lay off a shad trolled in front of the dam. (CAL KELLOGG)
before using them. If you try to pry the baitfish apart while they are still frozen, you’ll damage them.
Luckily for me I’m on good terms with the butcher at one of the markets near my house. He supplies me with Styrofoam meat trays. When it’s time to freeze the baits, I take them out of the brine, dry them off and lay them out in two neat rows in one of the trays. Next, I wrap the trays with plastic wrap and pop them into the freezer. Now, I know this sounds like a lot of work, but believe me: When you hit the water with a supply of perfectly intact baitfish, you’ll be glad you spent a little extra time in preparation. Remember, it’s small details that separate great anglers from the mediocre ones.
BEING COLOR COORDINATED
As Smith attests, there are times when adding color to baitfish can really enhance their effectiveness. The guide dyes his baits blue by adding a substantial amount of the same bait brightener that I use. If you’d like to experiment with some other colors beyond blue, Pro-Cure offers a full line of Bad Azz Bait Dyes. The chartreuse is particularly effective.
Properly preparing shad is only part of the equation. The real challenge comes in rigging them so they display the proper rolling motion when drawn through the water.
“Bait holders are simple to use and there is no doubt that they will catch fish. Overall, I think the plastic head is too prominent. The whole point of using shad is to present the trout and salmon with a natural bait. I think this goal is defeated when you add a plastic holder to the head of the bait,” Smith relates.
PLAYING HOOKY
Smith ties a simple two-hook monofilament leader that imparts rotation to the shad while allowing the bait to maintain a natural appearance. The leader consists of a 36-inch section of 8-poundtest fluorocarbon line tipped with a
No. 8 or 10 red-colored treble hook. Above the treble he slides on a small bead, then attaches a No. 8 or 10 red-colored octopus hook on a sliding snell. To tie a sliding snell, the first thing you must do is acquire a knot-tying guide or go on the internet and find an illustration of how to snell a hook.
The sliding snell uses the same knot, the only difference being the piece of line the octopus hook is snelled on is separate from the leader. As the snell knot is tied, the line is wrapped around the leader. When the knot is finished and trimmed you are left with the octopus hook attached to the leader in such a way that it can be slid up or down. If this sounds complicated, it is at first, but with a little practice it becomes pretty easy. I’ve seen some anglers simplify the process by using a pair of small rubber bobber stops to hold the
octopus hook in place on the leader.
The octopus hook’s ability to slide on the leader is very important since this is what ultimately makes the shad rotate. This is how it works. Select a shad and imbed one of the treble’s points in its vent near the base of the tail. Next, pin the octopus hook upward through the shad’s nose. With the two hooks in the bait, slide the octopus down toward the shad’s tail until a curve is created in its body. It is this curve that causes the bait to rotate. One of the nice things about using this type of leader is that it allows the angler to experiment with the intensity of the bait’s spin. The straighter the curve in the bait, the less it will roll; the sharper the curve, the more violent the spin.
“I usually troll between .75 and 1 mile per hour when using shad. As a general rule, when I’m targeting trout exclusively, I’ll start out with my
Threaded worms team well with dodgers, flashers and spinner blades. (CAL KELLOGG)
A trout troller should never hit the water without a carton of nightcrawlers. (CAL KELLOGG)
FISHING
bait rigged fairly straight and troll at the upper end of this speed range,” Smith says. “Kings tend to mouth shad without pulling the line out of the downrigger release. If kings are around, it is important to keep an eye on the rod. If you see any tugs, pop the line out of the release and start reeling. Trout usually hammer shad and have no problem pulling the line out of the clip.”
CRAVING ’CRAWLERS
Over the years, when exploring new lakes or targeting trout that are playing hard to get, I have not found anything as effective as a threaded nightcrawler.
To rig a threaded worm, I start off by snelling a No. 2 Mustad Slow Death hook on the end of a 36-inch, 8-pound-test fluorocarbon leader. Next, I take out a nightcrawler and slide it onto my worm threader. If you’ve never seen a worm threader, it is a simple wooden handle with an 8-inch section of fine-diameter metal tube embedded in it. The tip of the tube is cut off at a sharp angle. Once I have the ’crawler impaled on the threader, I slide it down to the handle.
After that I place the hook tip in the end of the tube and pull it down tight by
gripping the leader against the wooden handle. The final step is to slide the ’crawler up the threader, over the bend of the hook and down the leader.
A nightcrawler threaded like this can be fished a number of different ways. You can tie the leader to a swivel knotted to the end of your main line and pull it from .50 to 1 mile per hour. Rigged like this the worm will spin and glide through the water, making an inviting target for trout.
My all-time favorite approach is to pull a threaded ’crawler 12 to 18 inches behind a small dodger in a watermelon pattern. The only time I go with a larger dodger is when the water is discolored or if I’m working in really deep water. A threaded nightcrawler pulled 18 inches behind a set of silver or brass flashers is an old-school favorite that has been catching big numbers of trout for decades.
THE SMART PLAY
When trout are spooky or finicky, it is important to play out your bites, especially when using a plain threaded nightcrawler or one teamed with just a small
dodger. A trout that grabs a worm is not expecting to feel resistance. By playing out a bite, I’m referring to feeding the trout some slack when it hits. If the trout are being tentative, a worm strike usually begins with a few taps. When I see that, I immediately pop the line out of the downrigger clip and drop the reel into free spool, giving the trout a five- or 10-count before beginning to retrieve the line. This allows trout to eat the bait while feeling minimal resistance.
Are natural baits always the answer for trout trolling? While they will hook fish in most situations, they are not always the best choice. You are better off using artificial lures whenever possible, since they are easy to use and offer a high degree of versatility.
However, when the odds stack up against you and most anglers are struggling to hook trout, don’t hesitate to try pulling real meat. Naturals have kept me from getting skunked more times than I can count, and they’ll do the same for you. CS
Editor’s note: Cal Kellogg is a longtime Northern California outdoors writer. Subscribe to his YouTube channel Fish Hunt Shoot Productions at youtube.com/ user/KelloggOutdoors.
“These days, with all the high-tech gear and state-of-the-art lures that are available to us,” author Cal Kellogg writes, “many trollers tend to overlook natural baits, despite the fact that they work as well today as they ever have.” (CAL KELLOGG)
Summer RetreatN Reserve Your
PICK YOUR BATTLES
FISHING
temperature window, most of the smallmouth start prepping for the spawn at 55 degrees.
The peak spawning period generally occurs when the water temperature reaches the high 50s to the low 60s.
Smallies typically spawn in shallow water, with a depth from anywhere from 1 to 20 feet. They look for hard-bottomed areas with rocks, gravel and sand located nearby. Large boulders and submerged logs that serve as cover are also a plus. If the habitat in the spawning area is high quality, smallmouth will return year after year to spawn here.
LARGEMOUTH
Spawning largemouth have a
Tim Hovey says smallmouth aren’t as meticulous as largies in terms of desired water temperature to spawn in. But the upper 50s to low 60s is the optimal range.
slightly narrower water temperature preference, looking to move into the spawning area when water temperatures reach 55 to 65 degrees. Most dedicated largemouth fishermen consider water temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees as the primary spawning temperature.
Much like smallmouth, largemouth prefer shallow, protected areas, with a firm bottom of sand or gravel for spawning. Spawning and bed construction usually take place in water depths of 1 to 6 feet.
TIME TO FISH
If I’ve located good water temperatures in areas with quality cover and habitat, I’ll start fan casting for bass. It doesn’t matter if I’m
fishing from a boat or shore, I feel like casting at different angles from the same spot will tell me all I need to know about what lives there and help me eliminate fishless water.
I’ll make a half-dozen casts from one spot on shore and then move on. I’ll do the same from the bow of a boat. In my opinion, I believe casting crankbaits is aggressive fishing. If there are bass in the area and they’re angry or feeding, they’ll usually strike what I’m offering.
For the most part, I’m a baitcasting guy. I can get more distance and accuracy running a baitcast reel, and it generally fits the way I fish. Another huge benefit for me on this type of reel is how I hold it. For as long as I can remember, I’ve held the rod and reel the same way, and I believe it gives me an edge. Holding the rod in front of the reel and having the line go under my thumb and over my index finger allows me to feel absolutely everything going on with that bait.
When I’m throwing lighter baits – lures that will be tough to control with a baitcaster – I’ll pull out the spinning gear and tighten down
Author
(TIM E. HOVEY)
A spinning rod and reel work well too for bass fishing, but the author prefers a baitcaster. “Holding the rod in front of the reel and having the line go under my thumb and over my index finger allows me to feel absolutely everything going on with that bait,” he notes. (TIM E. HOVEY)
the drag for a better hookset. This setup works well for casting smaller, floating crankbaits, and during certain times of the year, it also helps me catch my biggest bass.
Looking for pre- and postspawn bass in the shallows requires a good set of polarized sunglasses. You won’t be able to identify quality habitat, underwater structure or cruising bass with sunglasses that don’t have polarized lenses. So, when you fish for anything in the shallows, leave the cheap set at home and bring the sunglasses that will allow you to see underwater.
When I’m casting these hard lures, I make a point of getting them as close to cover as possible. If I can see a submerged stump, larger boulders or even the bottom, I’ll try and bump
that lure into larger structure to kick up some sediment. Bass will key into the sound and disturbance of a lure bouncing off structure.
MATCH THE HATCH
I like to use lures that either have a distinct crayfish pattern and coloration or imitate baitfish. Nowadays you can find lures that have incredible graphics that make the lure look exactly like a bass food item. When I’m looking through my massive stash of lures, I want something with a vivid coloration and a bit of flair. It could be a sharp contrast of colors or something as simple as added glitter. I want that lure to make a statement slashing through the water.
I also want to keep the price in
FISHING
mind. I’m not into spending $12 to $15 a lure when I know cheaper will work. During a late-summer run to a local lake, my buddy Mike and I fished a red-hot postspawn smallmouth bite while tossing only one color and lure pattern. The bait in question was a smallish crankbait with a great crayfish coloration, added glitter on the dorsal surface and hand-painted yellow eyes. I remember picking up several of the lures at the last minute for a mere $3 apiece. That day we caught over 100 smallmouth combined on the cheap but effective lure.
I also like deep-diving baits. I’ve caught enough bass in deeper water near spawning areas for me to pay attention. I also like how these deeper divers perform in shallow water. Kicking up a plume of sediment
a
and
or
“Match the hatch” is a battle cry for Hovey when it comes to choosing bass tackle. “I like to use lures that either have
distinct crayfish pattern
coloration
imitate baitfish,” he writes. (TIM E. HOVEY)
FISHING
off the bottom during the retrieve will quickly get the attention of any hungry bass.
MY PERSONAL BEST
Last summer I was fishing with a buddy at a local lake. It was a quick trip, so we were essentially walking the shore and casting crankbaits. After about an hour of catching a few smaller bass, I found a nice cove with plenty of cover. I was casting an older Rapala lure that just happened to be tied to the rod I kept in the truck. It was a very light, 3-inch floating lure, so I was using a spinning outfit.
Standing at the bank, I could see that the shore contour dropped into the lake and ended at what looked like a submerged stump in about 8 feet of water. I made a cast about 15 feet beyond the stump and let the lure just sit there for 20 seconds. Beginning the retrieve, the lure dove and I felt it bounce off the stump. Almost instantly something grabbed it. I set the hook and felt solid weight, but it didn’t move. At first, I thought I had snagged the stump. Then things got interesting.
Pulling from a slightly different angle, the fish started to move, then raced for deeper water and pulled drag. Once he stopped, I started regaining the line. I could feel him shaking his head, and then I watched as the bass broke the surface and completely jumped out of the water. Luckily, he stayed hooked, and after a short battle, I had the bass in the shallows and was able to land him. The fish weighed exactly 7 pounds and was the biggest largemouth bass I had ever caught.
Crankbait fishing is exciting and aggressive. Anglers can fish from the shore or a boat with equal success. Pay attention to water temperature in shallow water and identify any structure that could hold fish. Don’t be afraid to put that lure close to cover and always be ready. There is no greater feeling in angling than when a hungry bass instantly stops your retrieve. CS
Hovey’s recent personal-best 7-pound beauty was a reward for the hard work he puts into his bass fishing intel this time of year. The largie attacked his Rapala lure. (TIM E. HOVEY)
For destinations found on a map, or ones that are simply a state of mind, trust a reliable Honda outboard to get you there. And back. Find out more at marine.honda.com or visit your Authorized Honda Marine Dealer.
WELCOME TO A SALTY POTLUCK
LIVE BAIT FISHING IN S.F. BAY MEANS MYRIAD SPECIES MAY BITE
By Cal Kellogg
Live bait in the form of frisky anchovies is what sets Bay Area ports apart from those along the Pacific Coast to the north and south.
The availability of live bait allows skippers to target the best-available action on any given day. When you lower a live anchovy into the waters in and around San Francisco Bay, you simply have no idea what sort of predator might come knocking.
It’s likely that halibut, stripers and rockfish are the most common fish that get targeted and hooked, but you could just as easily find yourself locked in battle with a big leopard shark or the prize of prizes, a hard-charging, great-eating white seabass!
Since potluck action with live bait is now underway at all major Bay Area marinas, this is a great time to take an in-depth look at how to hook up if you decide to jump aboard a charter boat in the coming weeks. And I strongly encourage you to do so, because potluck fishing is at once simple, productive and a lot of fun for newbies and old salts alike.
GEAR CHECK
Regardless of the species being targeted, live bait potluck fishing comes down to presenting baits from a drifting boat. While the technique for hooking various fish varies from species to species, the tackle used is pretty much the same whether fishing for halibut on the sand flat behind Alcatraz Island or working rocky humps for rockfish.
I generally bring along two rods, and I advise you to do the same, when embarking on a potluck adventure. Your main rod needs to be spooled with 40- to 65-pound braid and capable of handling
Cal Kellogg nailed this dandy 6-pound striper while working a reef near Alcatraz Island during a June potluck adventure. Anglers who drift live bait have a chance to catch myriad species in San Francisco Bay. (CAL KELLOGG)
FISHING
A scoop of live anchovies goes into the bait tank of a Bay Area charter boat. When these baitfish are placed on your hook, they can be irresistible to the predators you’re hoping to catch.
sinkers up to 12 ounces. Since bites can be light, you’ll want a sensitive tip, but it must have the power in its lower section to lift a husky fish off the bottom. Your second rod should be either a light baitcasting or spinning outfit to employ when
the conditions allow you to use a light 1- or 2-ounce sinker.
Whether you choose a spinning or baitcasting outfit for your finesse rig, it needs to be able to handle the aforementioned sinker sizes, and you should also be capable of casting
perfectly rigged anchovy ready to tempt a game fish.
gripping the bait lightly, take your hook and pin it up through the anchovy’s lower jaw and out through the tip of the nose,” Kellogg instructs. (CAL
it a fair distance with only a couple of large split shots or a medium-heavy, rubber-core sinker for weight. This is important when boiling stripers show up and you need to make a cast with minimal weight to get your bait to the feeding fish.
Fishing live bait is done from a drifting boat, with the terminal tackle basically the same for all the species commonly targeted. The standard setup consists of a threeway swivel with a 36-inch, 25-pound fluorocarbon leader tipped with a 1, 1/0 or 2/0 live bait hook, which gets tied on a perfection loop connected to one of the swivel’s eyes. To the second eye, attach a short dropper of 10-pound mono with either a loop or cheap snap on the other end.
Your sinker is attached to the dropper. The dropper is made of light line so that in the event you snag up it will break before your leader or main line does. That way you’ll only lose the sinker. This is especially important if the sinker ends up getting snagged while you’re fighting a fish. Sure; you’ll be out a sinker, but that fat halibut
(CAL KELLOGG)
A
“While
KELLOGG)
or striper in the fish box will more than dull the pain!
Live bait rigs are available at most ports and tackle shops that cater to saltwater anglers, but it is a simple matter to tie your own, which is what I recommend. I’ve been tying my own leaders for as long as I can remember and think it offers distinct advantages. I can make use of fresh, premium-quality, abrasion-resistant monofilament. I also use only the highest-quality hooks from Owner and Gamakatsu. Finally, tying my own leaders allows me to tweak them for special situations.
For example, I prefer to use red light wire octopus hooks over standard live bait hooks on the leaders I team with my lightweight rod. I firmly believe that the red hook results in more strikes and the light wire hook translates into a livelier and stronger swimming anchovy. And the light wire hook provides better penetration than a standard live bait hook when teamed with a light rod. You won’t find these hooks available on any commercially tied rigs.
When it’s time to fish, the deckhand will tell you how much weight to use. After the weight is in place it’s time to bait up with a live anchovy. The more healthy and lively your bait, the better your chances of hooking up, so you can hopefully select a frisky bait with a green back and perfect scales.
While gripping the bait lightly, take your hook and pin it up through the anchovy’s lower jaw and out through the tip of the nose. Don’t go too deep or you’ll hit the little guy’s brain. There are several different ways to hook live bait depending on how you want them to swim, but the way I’ve described is used most often and best for most situations.
Now let’s take a look at how to present your bait for the various game fish you might be targeting throughout the day.
HALIBUT
Halibut are the top targets on most
potluck trips, so here’s how to set yourself up. With your live bait in place, ease the rig into the water and lower it to the bottom slowly to avoid tangling the leader. When you feel the leader hit the bottom, engage the reel and get ready for action.
Typically, a bite from a halibut looks and feels a lot like a snag. One second the rig is dragging freely across the bottom, and the next thing you know the tip of your rod begins to draw down.
When halibut hit in this manner, seldom is it necessary to set the hook.
They simply gulp down the bait and the movement of the boat draws the hook into their mouth. When this happens, all you need to do is begin working the reel and focus on keeping the line tight.
There are times when halibut don’t bite as aggressively as we’d prefer and it takes some technique to hook them when they are finicky. You’ll know when they are playing hard to get because the fish will grab the bait by the tail and the movement of the boat will pull the bait away from them before they
While halibut and stripers are the primary target of potluck anglers, rockfish and big prizes like this handsome keeper lingcod are often part of the catch too. (CAL KELLOGG)
FISHING
When you drift over a nice school of hungry fish, the action can be fast and furious on charter boats. (CAL KELLOGG)
get the hook into their mouth. The result of this is baits that come back to the boat sporting tooth marks and damaged tails.
When halibut are biting aggressively, you can put your rod in a holder and wait for it to double over, signaling that a fish has been hooked. When they are tentatively grabbing the bait by the tail, you need to hold your rod and play out the bites you get.
In general, when halibut are hitting tentatively, the bite will start out with a few light taps. When you feel those taps, drop the reel into a free spool or open your spinning reel’s bail. You want to feed out
some line while thumbing the spool. You don’t want a bunch of slack to develop; you simply want to release line at the same pace the boat is drifting. This way the rig will lie on the bottom, giving the halibut time to swallow the bait. Typically, a 10-count will give them all the time they need. After you think you’ve fed out enough line, re-engage the reel, allow the line to tighten and then set the hook.
Once you hook a halibut, there is a trick to playing them for maximum success. Some guys feel the weight of the fish and really want to go to work on them by pumping up the rod and reeling down to bust them
off the bottom. This is the worst thing you can do. Halibut are extremely powerful fish and capable of wild, lightning-fast bursts of speed. If they bolt away while aside the boat, a number of things can happen, and none of them are good!
The proper technique when fighting a halibut is to keep the rod level with the boat’s rail, allowing its tip to keep the line tight and cushion any head shaking as you steadily work the reel. When using this approach, the hooked fish will almost always glide right up to the surface and the waiting net. If the deckhand is busy and doesn’t arrive next to you before the halibut
FISHING
appears, don’t allow its head to break the surface. Instead, let it hang out beside the boat. Amazingly, the fish will usually sit in the water column until the net or gaff arrives.
STRIPERS, ROCKFISH
It’s common to pick up the odd striped bass, rockfish or even a lingcod while drifting across hard sand or gravel bottoms, but when targeting bass and rockfish, you’ll almost always be working over a rocky, craggy bottom or reef. If targeting stripers, there will likely be some pretty stiff current too. Working rocks or rocky areas means the current is a lot more interactive than drifting snag-free
sand for halibut. Since rocks create snags, those snags can come up quickly when the current is surging.
The key to avoiding snags in these situations is to not drag your gear across the bottom. When working large, rocky areas for stripers or rockfish, the proper technique is to bounce your sinker along the bottom with a series of controlled lifts and drops. This approach keeps your bait moving at the same pace as the boat without allowing the sinker to drag and lodge in the rocks.
You’ll often find big schools of stripers holding on the rocky reefs to the west of Alcatraz during the month of June. To work these fish,
I like to drop my rig to the bottom, and as soon as I feel the sinker hit the rocks I’ll reel the rig steadily back toward the surface. When bass are aggressive, your bait seldom makes it far off the bottom before being inhaled. Fish on!
Schooling rockfish beyond the Golden Gate can be worked in the same way using a drop-and-reel approach; however, I tend to use the bouncing technique because the largest rockfish and lingcod tend to hold tight to the bottom. Keep your live anchovy in that near-bottom strike zone and you can stack up some very nice rocks and lings. They don’t call it potluck for nothing. CS
These anglers jumped aboard the Berkeley-based California Dawn for an early-summer potluck trip and landed a nice mix of halibut and stripers, which is what makes these trips so much fun. “You simply have no idea what sort of predator might come knocking,” the author writes. (CAL KELLOGG)
‘BARBARIANS’ INSIDE THE GATE
CHARTER FISHING FOR HALIBUT, STRIPERS
By Mark Fong
It had been almost a year since I made my last trip to the salt, so I was super excited to be returning again to fish with Captain John Badger of Richmond-based Barbarian Sportfishing for an early-season striped bass and halibut outing on beautiful San Francisco Bay. Last season I was blessed with a great day of fishing outside the Golden Gate (California Sportsman, September 2024), so I was eager to find out what new experiences this trip on the inside waters would bring.
Joining me on this late May adventure were my buddies Mike Barton and Paul Boudreau and Paul’s son Michael Boudreau. We met up early and made the drive to the Richmond Marina.
Michael Boudreau with a nice keeper San Francisco Bay halibut he scored while fishing with Richmond-based skipper John Badger. (MARK FONG)
FISHING
EARLY-MORNING LAUNCH
Our group met Captain John and his deckhand John Aviles at the guest dock. It was great to see them again and it did not take long to get reacquainted. Once we departed the marina, Captain John cruised out beyond the no-wake zone, then put the 28-foot Farallon on plane and made a short run to an area not far from the harbor.
This morning, Captain John opted to begin fishing on the troll with tray-bait herring. Trolling for halibut is something completely new to me, but Badger is perhaps the foremost expert of the technique. He is one of the early pioneers of sportfish trolling for halibut in San Francisco Bay. And he is one of the most knowledgeable charter boat skippers I have met.
BOTTOM FEEDERS
Trolling is an effective technique for covering water and locating fish.
Halibut are bottom dwellers and will strike a trolled bait as it moves just above them.
Aviles readied the gear and instructed us what to look for.
“You want to watch the tip of your rod bounce as the sinker makes contact with the bottom,” he told us. “Every third bounce of the rod will kinda tick the bottom as the sinker drags along; this tells you are at the right depth. When a halibut strikes, your rod will just bow over.”
Captain John used his GPS to methodically navigate a series of waypoints; he watched his fish finders for activity and maintained the proper trolling speed despite the effects of the wind and tide.
As we trolled south toward the Bay Bridge, we soon found ourselves among an armada. The fleet had arrived, with everything from small 12-foot jon boats to large, 30-passenger party vessels.
FISH ON
After about an hour on the troll, Mike Barton’s rod arched over, and it was fish on. Mike carefully fought the fish to the back of the boat, and with a swipe of the net, our deckhand John put the first halibut of the morning on the deck. It was a nice keeper, creating an occasion for high fives all around. As I watched commuters off in the distance make the slow drive across the Bay Bridge, I was so thankful to be on the water.
It did not take long for the action to resume; this time it was Michael Boudreau’s rod that got hit. The fish made several powerful runs and Michael fought this fish for a long time before getting it near the boat. With the net at the ready, Aviles stood at the rail waiting for Michael to get the fish close enough to the boat for him to capture. But as his prize was almost in range, it made one last strong surge and,
With the majestic Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, the guys were in good hands fishing with trolling guru Badger of Barbarian Sportfishing. (MARK FONG)
heartbreakingly, the line went slack.
“That was a big striper,” said Aviles as he examined the frayed line. “Stripers have sharp teeth and that last run cut 30-pound fluorocarbon like it was nothing.”
We were all a bit disappointed, but it was early and there were still plenty of fish to be caught.
CHANGING IT UP
We trolled for a bit longer and managed to put a small keeper striper in the boat before Captain Badger decided it was time to change things up. “All right, guys, crank ’em up,” he announced. “We’re gonna switch over to drifting live bait now.”
And with that, we were off to
another location in the central Bay. On the way, Aviles stowed the trolling gear and prepared our live bait rods. I don’t know how this deckhand does it, but Aviles is a man in constant motion, whether it is preparing the gear, untangling lines, baiting hooks or netting fish; he knows his craft and does it very well.
As we approached our next stop, I stood next to our skipper, watching as he set up on the spot, something Badger has done countless times before. Using his GPS and his graphs to get the boat into position, he performed a test drift to make sure everything was just right. As he did this he explained to me that we would be drifting over a large
shoal area, around which the fish would be positioned.
Once Captain John started the drift, I hurried out of the cabin to begin fishing, only to find Michael already hooked up with a nice fish that had engulfed his anchovy. At his side, Aviles was ready with the net. By the way the fish was fighting, Aviles could tell that this was a halibut. After a few moments of suspense, the fight was over and the flatfish was aboard. As this was Michael’s first halibut, the smile on his face said it all.
Following the tide change, the action picked up and Paul and I each landed a nice keeper halibut. Over the remainder of the afternoon
There were also some keeper stripers on the agenda on this glorious spring day on San Francisco Bay. Paul Boudreau and Mike Barton caught these beauties. (MARK FONG)
FISHING
Captain John made repeated drifts and explored some new water as well, always adjusting and searching out the best opportunities. The action occurred in brief flurries, followed by periods of waiting for bites. Our group ended up putting a few more keeper stripers in the boat. We also caught and released a number of shakers, both halibut and bass.
FILETS FOR ALL!
A short boat ride had us back at the dock in Richmond, where Captain John and deckhand John meticulously fileted our fish before our trip home. It was a fitting end to another memorable day of fishing. CS
Editor’s note: To learn more about Barbarian Sportfishing’s first-class sixpack fishing experiences, you can reach Captain John Badger directly at (510) 750-4237 or follow him on Facebook at Barbarian Sportfishing.
Deckhand John Aviles filets some halibut deliciousness for the boys to take back home. “I don’t know how this deckhand does it, but Aviles is a man in constant motion, whether it is preparing the gear, untangling lines, baiting hooks or netting fish,” author Mark Fong writes. “He knows his craft and does it very well.” (MARK FONG)
Few freshwater fishing experiences match the thrill of seeing a dinosaur-like creature launch itself into the sky when hooked in shallow water. With California’s season about to pause for the summer, sturgeon fishing on the lower Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon, can be spectacular in June. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
GO STUR-CRAZY IN THE NORTHWEST
TAKE A TRIP TO OREGON’S COLUMBIA RIVER TO FIGHT MASSIVE STURGEON
By Scott Haugen
Looking to beat the heat? Want to escape crowds and catch some of the biggest freshwater fish on the planet? Then head north to the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia River.
June marks the time for catch-and-release fishing for white sturgeon, and it’s not uncommon to fish all morning without seeing another boat. Be warned, though, that battling these dinosaurs will tucker ya out and leave your muscles aching. But it’s worth it!
Good friend and guide Jody Smith (jodysmithguideservice .com) used to target sturgeon during the spring keeper season, which has been closed in recent years. Not any more.
“Once I started targeting catch-and-release sturgeon, I didn’t look back,” Smith says.
That was 13 seasons ago. Now he’s hooked on C&R.
“People love having so much river to themselves, and this lower Columbia is massive,” he adds. “We’ll go for hours and not see another boat, and never is there competition to find a place to fish. The days are usually warm and sunny but not overly hot, and June is a great time to be on the coast doing more than just fishing. A lot of anglers call it quits before getting in their full day of fishing, simply because they’re tired of fighting so many fish and they want to take in the sights of this special place.”
HOW GOOD IS THE action on the Columbia for sturgeon?
Burgers are not just beef-based concoctions; the meat from trout caught at your local lake – or whatever is biting at the end of your line – can make your summer cookout or camp meal a hit for your tastebuds. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)
... TO FIRE THIS TROUTY BURGER WILL TEMPT YOUR TASTEBUDS
By Tiffany Haugen
The time for summer fun is finally here, and that means trout fishing! Whether you’re hitting lakes, rivers, ponds or small streams, trout fishing opportunities abound.
One of the great things about this recipe is that it works with a range of fish, and not only trout. I first tried it with salmon and loved it. At first, I thought the capers might be too overpowering for the trout, but that wasn’t so. In fact, everyone who’s tried it has loved it.
Bottomfish even turns out great with this delicious recipe.
Whether you’re cooking up a fresh catch, or looking to make room in the freezer, this recipe is sure to be a hit.
1 pound trout
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh or dried dill, chopped
2 tablespoons capers, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup panko or breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sourdough buns or rolls
Skin trout and remove meat from bones. Roughly chop trout into small chunks. In a medium bowl, mix mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, dill, capers and garlic until thoroughly combined. Fold in trout and gently stir until combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours.
Sprinkle panko or breadcrumbs on a large platter. Divide fish mixture into three or six portions (depending on how big you want your burger patties). Press both sides of trout burgers into panko/breadcrumbs.
Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Fry trout
burgers for three to four minutes on each side until they are golden brown. Serve on a bun with mustard tartar sauce (below) or sauce of choice.
MUSTARD TARTAR SAUCE
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped pickles or capers
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh or dried dill
½ teaspoon puréed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
In a small bowl, mix all sauce ingredients until thoroughly combined.
Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany’s popular book, Cooking Seafood, and other best-selling titles, visit scotthaugen.com.
FISHING
Smith fished 28 days last June, with five to six anglers in the boat each day.
They averaged 42 sturgeon a day, with a high of 131 caught and released by four anglers. Smith likes fishing in June because the water warms up and the sturgeon become more active as they search for food in the lower Columbia, near Astoria, Oregon.
Smith runs a double-anchor setup in 3 to 6 feet of water. He targets the shallows because the sturgeon fight harder, and jump and run more than those hooked in deep holes.
“We’re often casting 150 feet out into water that’s only 2 feet deep,” says Smith. “You can’t get a big boat into that shallow of water, and this is where a lot of the sturgeon are coming to feed on clams and sand shrimp. Find these places and sometimes we won’t move all day because the sturgeon just keep showing up through every tide swing.”
Smith prefers fishing moving water, but not really big tides.
“On an outgoing tide, try to get on the bottom end of a flat in a notch or on a point,” he offers. “Think of sturgeon like sheep. They herd up, and when they find a food source, they all congregate there.”
Once he finds a spot, Smith has anglers cast in all directions. When fish are found, everyone casts to that side of the boat. Sturgeon congregate where the food is this time of year, and those slots can narrow, so that’s where all lines should be.
“Sometimes sturgeon stay in the same flat, feeding through a slack tide,” Smith notes. “Sometimes they leave and you have to go find them. On an incoming tide, fish like the same features as on an outgoing tide; (they) just face the opposite direction.”
WHILE MANY STURGEON
CAUGHT in the lower Columbia weigh less than 30 pounds, Smith catches several over 8 feet long a season. These fish are big and strong, and having the right gear ensures you can get them in and safely released in a timely fashion.
Smith’s rods of choice are G. Loomis E6Xs. He likes a 10-foot,
6-inch 1265-2C and the 1266-2C in a 9-foot model because they offer enough flexibility to make long casts, yet have enough backbone to battle big, heavy, hard-fighting sturgeon.
On his Tekota reels, Smith fills them with PowerPro’s Maxcuatro 65-pound braid, a thin, strong line that affords long casts and holds up to rough-skinned, strong sturgeon.
Smith’s leader of choice is a 24-inch section of 80-pound Dacron tied to a 5/0 barbless octopus-style Gamakatsu hook. He feels these hooks are sharper and deliver better penetration than those with barbs that have to be pinched down, as this is a barbless fishery.
When he can get them, anchovies are Smith’s preferred bait. But he’s not been able to get anchovies the past two seasons, so he’ll go with his
Guide Jody Smith offers words of encouragement to a young angler locked in battle with an oversized sturgeon, one of more than a dozen she caught and released by 11 a.m. “A lot of anglers call it quits before getting in their full day of fishing, simply because they’re tired of fighting so many fish and they want to take in the sights of this special place,” he says. (SCOTT
HAUGEN)
reliable sand shrimp.
“One big sand shrimp is all you need,” says Smith. “But if you do get some small ones, just hook a couple together.” He throws a series of halfhitches around the baits – from head to tail – so they hang straight.
Smith runs anywhere from 4 to 14 ounces of weight, depending on where a given rod is fished in the boat and the tidal flow. Lighter weights are fished out the back of the boat, heavier weights up front and the intermediates in between. He runs pyramid sinkers because they don’t roll in the sand. They’re rigged on a T-slider, which is threaded directly onto the mainline with no dropper. A sliding sinker lets fish pick up and run with a bait.
In this style of fishing, it doesn’t matter if you miss a hookset or lose a fish. In fact, after fighting sturgeon for two hours straight, a lost fish offers momentary relief. Often you’re fishing in T-shirts, and if you want to
start later in the morning, you can because there’s no time limit on when you can catch and release sturgeon. Since no sturgeon are kept, the fishing is less competitive; you can also rest when you want to, unless you get into a contest of who can catch the most fish. Then you can be in for a long day – and you’ll feel it the next morning.
WITH JUNE UPON US, consider a road trip north of the California border. Astoria, Oregon, rich in history, offers sturgeon fishing that is relaxing and fun, and it’s a great way to start the summer. CS
Editor’s note: Find signed copies of Scott Haugen’s popular books at scotthaugen.com.
You’re ready to fish with these sturgeon baits wrapped in 80-pound Dacron.
A 5/0 barbless hook is ideal for this June catch-and-release fishery. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
Hunting California’s ubiquitous wild pigs may seem pretty straightforward, but for author William “Will” Murray, a longtime Central Coast guide, some hunts were crazier than others. This was one such adventure. (TIM E. HOVEY)
PIGS, A PITCHFORK, AND PULVERIZED PORK
A LONGTIME GUIDE RECALLS A WILD MONTEREY COUNTY HOG HUNT
By William “Will” Murray
In June 2000 I had booked three new clients for a day-long – and I mean long – hog hunt. These were meat hunters who didn’t care if they took a sow or boar, and they met me on the road that leads to Parkfield, an unincorporated community in Monterey County.
As always, I checked their hunting licenses and even cut my safety speech a tad short, which was still pretty long; hunting hogs is a lot of fun if everyone comes home safely. These men were all in their 40s and we hit it off right away.
We were going to hunt a ranch located about 20 miles east of Parkfield. This ranch was mostly steep and not-so-fun ground to hunt, but it always held hogs. It was made up of jack pine, oak trees and thick brush intersected by steep little draws that all held waterholes – or more accurately, mud baths; you see, the hogs loved these little ravines where they were tough to find. However, I was lucky most of the time, and if I remember correctly, all of my clients over the years at least saw one or more good hogs and most got a chance to shoot.
THE TIME OF THIS should-be-forgotten, hugely unsuccessful hunt was early summer – a day to die for. We encountered a cloudless sky and temps that never rose above 80! The day started out with some light banter before I led the way up a little, mostly brush-covered trail that led to the only meadow on the ranch that lay on top of a small mesa.
The hunter right behind me had told me about and shown me his new rifle ammunition. He carried a 7mm Remington Magnum, and according to him the plastic-tipped ammo that he’d brought along would do the job on just about anything.
We hadn’t gone more than 200 yards when a dark red hog jumped up from a dust bath in the middle of the trail and ran straight away from us. I stepped to the side and behind my hunter and told him to
HUNTING
take that hog. (My stories seem a little tall, but they are absolutely true!)
Up came this man’s rifle, and two things happened: The muzzle blast caused me to lose my hearing, and as for that poor, unlucky four-legged porker that had been running straight away at about 50 yards … when we found the body, it was no longer on the trail. No; it was at least 10 feet out into the brush. I’m not pulling your leg when I tell you that all we could find of him was from the rib cage back. The shoulders and head had literally disappeared, unless you counted the half-inch-sized pieces that were strewn all over the trail. My client was happy with his ammo and not so happy with what hog there was left to take home.
Murray is a veteran of hunting pigs dating back to his early days. He eventually settled as a cattle rancher, horse trainer and hunting guide in San Luis Obispo County. (WILLIAM MURRAY)
wide and 10 feet deep with only what looked like rabbit trails crisscrossing it in all directions.
I never found any sign that a pig had either gone in or come out. My hunters were sure that he was in there, so I made plans to crawl in and get them their hog. One of the guys had a little .38-caliber pistol, so I borrowed it and held the butt end in my mouth as I crawled in. It felt a little crazy, but then again I used to ride bulls for a living!
I must have crawled around in that patch full of poke-you-everywhere thorns for 20 minutes before I found that boar’s trail. Now I could see where he was dragging his rear two legs, and I carefully put that gnat-killing .38 in my right hand. I figured if I found him, I’d at least kill a tick or two!
I PUT THE PIG on my meat pack and we continued up that trail until we came to the only meadow on the property. I put the trio of clients on a high point to watch for tuskers and took that half a hog to the truck, where I hung him in the shade.
Before I could return, I heard gunfire coming from where I’d left them – a lot of it! I quickly stepped my way to the meadow and found them to be extremely excited; they had surrounded a brushy area that was smack dab in the middle of the meadow. When they saw me, they all sang out at once. They had shot and wounded a big trophy boar that had run into this brush pile and not come out. I walked the perimeter of what was a clump of brush about 30 feet
The author acknowledges that this story seems hard to believe. “I’m not pulling your leg when I tell you that all we could find of him was from the rib cage back,” Murray writes. “The shoulders and head had literally disappeared, unless you counted the halfinch-sized pieces that were strewn all over the trail.” (WILLIAM MURRAY)
This little story has never been told before, but it must be made public. I crawled around in that now burninghot and fly-ridden brush pile for at least another 20 minutes before I figured out that I was following my own trail. I’d been dragging my legs and feet around in circles, and all I did was cross my own path. I crawled out of that heap of dead wood but only told my hunters that I wasn’t able to find his tracks. I’d been following a big hog, alright: me!
THE DAY SHOULD HAVE been over, but oh no; not for me. It was now late and a summer shower was heading our way, so we hiked to the truck. I skinned the half pig and put it into my cooler for safekeeping. It was almost dark when we started out on that ranch road that was bordered by the neighboring ranch’s fence on the right and an open meadow on our left.
The rain had just started to pour down when from my left a group of about six big black boars attempted to cross the road and go through the neighbor’s fence from where we couldn’t hunt. I’m still to this day at a complete loss as to why I jumped out of my truck, grabbed a pitchfork out of the back and proceeded to try and herd those big black tuskers
back onto the ranch where we had permission to hunt.
I hollered at my hunters to help me, and in a driving, lightning-filled rain I ran myself half to death and almost forked one of those unhappy boys myself! Thinking back on this bit of out-of-hand behavior, I realized that had I sunk my pitchfork into the side of that now frothy-mouthed Spam maker, he’d have dragged me under that fence and to somewhere a man just shouldn’t go!
When we stopped along the highway just down the road, the guys thanked me profusely for a day that normal people just wouldn’t understand. They tipped me just before they walked away. I overheard some talk that included the words “he’s crazy!” CS
Editor’s note: Order William Murray’s book, Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather, at mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ Worn-Out-Saddles-and-Boot-Leather.
“When we stopped along the highway just down the road, the guys thanked me profusely for a day that normal people just wouldn’t understand. They tipped me just before they walked away. I overheard some talk that included the words ‘he’s crazy!’”
HUNTING
(WILLIAM MURRAY)
SUCCESS BY ‘COMPLETE ACCIDENT’
A FIREARMS ACCESSORY ENTREPRENEUR’S UNLIKELY STORY
By Chris Cocoles
The business world is full of unlikely success stories of a venture that turns into something totally and unexpectedly improbable with a happy ending.
For Jeremy Deadman, it’s not so much that he’s hit it big, as he’s always been a tireless worker and go-getter. But his early background suggested that he’d never be a mogul in the firearms industry.
You see, while many in the gun sector grew up passionate about hunting and/or shooting sports, making them natural fits to pursue a career in the field, Deadman’s path to nationally respected maker and seller of custom-made magazines, grips and other accessories was not exactly how he may have drawn it up.
“A complete accident” is how Deadman’s Tempe, Arizona-based company, XTech Tactical (480-999-0827; xtechtactical.com), turned out for him.
“One of the people I respected most was my grandfather. He was a public safety chief and he didn’t believe civilians had any reason to own guns,” Deadman says. “And I was never against guns. I just didn’t grow up with them. I think I shot skeet one time, which was the only time I shot a gun before I was 18.”
In truth, Deadman’s passion while growing up in Michigan was sports. He played hockey –“I was an athlete until I wasn’t” – and while the National Hockey League wasn’t destined to be in his future, neither was making his own gun parts. Or making anything, really.
“I had no interest in it,” Deadman says of having a creative side as a youngster.
Growing up in Michigan, Jeremy Deadman (left, with wife Carlie) and his family weren’t gun owners and he had little interest in firearms. But his creative ability to make original gun accessories as well as some good business sense allowed him to build up what’s become a nationally respected company, Tempe, Arizona-based XTech Tactical, which makes custom magazines, grips and other firearms accessories. (JEREMY DEADMAN/XTECH TACTICAL)
ARIZONA, HERE I COME
Fate would first intervene when Deadman headed west to the Phoenix area, where his career path was anything but predictable.
“Commercial real estate is something that I did in my early 20s, which is really abnormal. Most get into commercial real estate in their 40s as a second career. So being a 22-year-old in Phoenix, that’s what I did for five years, and I was really good at it,” he says. “It taught me a lot about business with hundreds of different entrepreneurs, and that’s where my attraction to making things came from.”
One such contact led to a sales job at an injection molding operation that made plastic parts.
“One of the first customers I worked with was (firearms accessory company) Ergo Grips. I provided some ideas to them,”
Deadman says. “‘Hey, what about this? What if you did it this way?’ And the owner (Steve Hines) was kind of a mentor to me and helped me grow my business.”
Hines could sense his protegee was onto something.
“He basically told me I was the smartest idiot he ever met and that I needed to stop giving him ideas and patent them, then bring them to him,” Deadman says with a laugh. “He would either buy them from me, tell me if they’re worth anything, and if he couldn’t afford them, he would introduce me to the right people.”
And with that, the creative juices suddenly started flowing. Deadman, the kid who never lived with or had an interest in guns, would create his own patent for two of the products that have become a staple of XTech Tactical, the Speedmag, a 30-round magazine for AR-15s – “It’s basically a magazine loader and magazine in one,” he says –and the ATG grip, “where you can adjust the angle of the grip.”
“Both those patents at the time were filed before I ever actually owned a gun,” he adds. “So it’s a very novel story compared to most. An unorthodox story.”
GOING IT ALONE
Hines eventually connected Deadman with another company to expand his patents, but that didn’t work out well, so he went out on his own.
“I liked the idea of making my own stuff, so I launched a company with limited resources … I had no intentions of ever being a brand. To me, it was kind of cool that I could invent something, someone could write me a check and I could say I had a patent,” Deadman says. “It was one of those things I could tell the grandkids about. No interest at the time of going into it and operating a scaling manufacturing business like we do today.”
Fast forward to 2025 and XTech is one of the industry’s most respected outlets for magazines, grips and other accessories. Among their signature product lines is what they call the Freedom Series, which includes Glock-compatible magazines, mags for AK-47s and AR-15s, as well as a p365 +0 extension.
“What the Freedom Series signals is that if you have a grip extension or magazine, when and if you move to a state without restrictions, or your laws change, you can convert to get standard capacity – meaning more rounds – for $4.95,” Deadman says.
Many of XTech Tactical’s Freedom Series products are California-compliant, which can be useful for Golden State gun owners, given rigid restrictions around firearms and magazine capacities there.
Speaking of California, Deadman says he’s proud that his company’s magazines, grips and accessories are now being sold in about 50 independent dealers in the state, and XTech equipment is also available at Turner’s Outdoorsman and Sportsman’s Warehouse stores.
“Every product that we develop starts with, ‘Does it have a reason to exist?’ And that means, are the current offerings too expensive and not accessible to people?”
WHAT’S NEXT?
For Deadman, “Becoming a father was the trigger for me to understand what gun ownership is all about. Once I went to bed at night, it’s my role as a dad to keep a heartbeat going, and there are people who are bigger, stronger and more equipped than me in the world.”
“The heartbeat of our company at XTech is to make things that you can buy today and pass on to your kids and their kids. And that’s really what we strive to do as a brand… I think a big pulse of our brand is authenticity.”
“The heartbeat of our company at XTech is to make things that you can buy today and pass on to your kids and their kids. And that’s really what we strive to do as a brand … I think a big pulse of our brand is authenticity,” says Deadman, whose Freedom Series magazine products allow gun owners who live in states with magazine restrictions to upgrade for use across state lines at a modest price. (XTECH TACTICAL)
And as for the future, Deadman wants his unlikely business to expand even further. For a hockey player, he turned out to be a pretty good maker of quality firearms swag.
“The current goal is to continue to expand the product line. We had over 30 new products that came out in 2024. We have another nine products coming out in 2025, with more likely added,” he says. “We want to be the premier pistol, rifle upgrade company and magazine company in the market that brings great value to consumers.” CS
Editor’s note: Like XTech Tactical at facebook.com/xtechtactical. Follow on Instagram (@xtechtactical).
PICKING A THAT’S RIGHT
Knowing it’s a 10- to 14-year investment of time and money, avoid the urge to buy a pup on a whim. Such decisions rarely turn out to be good for the hunting dog or the hunter. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
HUNTING DOG
FOR YOU
MORE FACTORS TO CONSIDER BEFORE BRINGING A SPORTING PUP HOME
PART II OF II
By Scott Haugen
Last month we looked at some of the important factors that hunters should think about before investing in a gun dog. Space, time and money were key points we detailed. This month we’ll finish it up, starting with your new dog’s diet.
MY NUMBER ONE PET peeve with gun dog owners is that they invest time and money into getting a good breed but then they feed their dog absolutely terrible food and unhealthy table scraps. Some of the highly popular dog foods on the market are the most detrimental to a dog’s health, but the companies have huge marketing budgets, so many folks don’t think otherwise.
The remedy to this is simple: read the labels. This requires learning what foods, vitamins and minerals are good and bad for your dog. Truth be told, many trainers and kennel owners I’ve met over the years are guilty of this, and I get it – highquality dog food isn’t cheap. They get good deals on subpar food because they feed a lot of dogs and deal with many clients who see what they feed. That’s sad misdirection and we have marketing to blame.
Think of professional athletes and the diets they are dedicated to during their careers. It should be no different for dogs, but you have to make the right choice. Poor-quality food is a leading reason behind a dog’s poor health and shortened lifespan. Signs like itchiness, oral infections, sore joints, yeasty ears and more are typically the result of poor-quality
HUNTING
dog food – nothing else. Would you rather eat processed meat and fast food your whole life, or wild game and fresh fruits and vegetables?
Good dog food appears to cost a lot more money than big-box store brands. But because the pricier foods are higher quality, you’ll feed less volume, which means it’s about the same cost in the end. For instance, one of the worst dog foods on the market suggests feeding my male dog 3 cups, twice a day. But the high-protein and nutrient-rich NutriSource food I give him calls for only 1½ cups, twice a day. While the bag of NutriSource is just over double the cost of the other brand, it’s nearly equal because of the portioning. A bit of education will allow you to provide your dog with a healthy, long life.
TWO YEARS AGO, A 72-year-old friend of mine lost his German shorthair to cancer. She was seven. He said he’d never get another hunting dog. He and his wife had recently retired. They had dogs all their married life, over 40 years. They felt a sense of relief that they could now travel the world together in their retirement.
But then my buddy bought a German shorthair pup on a whim, without consulting his wife. Soon after that, he got another pup. That ended their globetrotting dreams. In an instant their retirement plans changed, likely for the next 12 to 14 years because they won’t leave their dogs with anyone to look after. Now, the wife travels the world with friends and the man stays home with his dogs. Their choice. Well, his choice.
The kind of dog you get can greatly influence your life and that of your spouse, even your children. Consider your whole family when looking into what kind of hunting dog breed you want. A laid-back dog is easy to care for. A high-strung breed that stresses when you leave to take out the trash, let alone abandon it for a week’s vacation, is going to make it hard to leave behind.
Our dogs are now 11 and 8½ years old. When our teenage sons were at home, they looked after and helped train the dogs when my wife and I were out of town for work or vacation. Four years ago, our sons moved away. My wife and I have not gone on a trip together since then, for the simple fact we don’t trust anyone to look after our dogs. We don’t
Quality dog food, treats and toppers can add years to your dog’s life and eliminate the majority of health issues that are common with unhealthy, cheap foods. For eight years, author Scott Haugen has fed NutriSource to his dogs, and they’ve had zero health issues relating to diet. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
HUNTING
want to burden them with the daily demands of looking after, training and feeding our dogs. We knew this time would come when we got our pups, and now we’re happily living what we prepared for. But it’s not always easy.
LAST BUT FAR FROM least, be honest with yourself about the number of days a year you plan on hunting your dog. I can’t begin to tally the number of people I’ve met over the years who got a pup with intentions of hunting every weekend, only to just hunt once or twice a year.
One of my good buddies owns a number of businesses. Years ago he got a yellow Lab, saying he was going to get back into duck hunting because of that dog. He even got a lease at a fancy duck club. He hunted twice the first year, once the following year. The dog hunted ducks less than five times its whole life, and died of old age at 14. But the dog was a great pet for my
friend; he kept it in good shape, and it was a good breed to live that lifestyle. They were happy together.
On the flip side, if you’re going to hunt ducks 75 days a season, get a dog that can withstand that level of exertion. You might even want to consider getting two dogs if time, space and money are favorable. Due to injury or recoveries from long strings of hard hunting, I lose about four weeks per season at one time or another with each of my dogs. But I have a second one to fill in. They get along great, hunt well together and are exceptional when they get to hunt alone with my buddies and I.
Attaining the best bloodline possible will cost more but put you way ahead of the game in what that pup will be able to do, even how long it lives. Pups from quality bloodlines are also less likely to have health issues throughout their life. Time and time again I’ve had people go against my suggestion to avoid a particular
bloodline they’d asked about, and in nearly every case the dogs died prematurely or had to be put down for various reasons. Cheap is almost never a good deal when it comes to investing in a gun dog you want to hunt with year-round.
DECIDING ON A DOG breed that’s right for you requires serious thought and consideration. And what works for friends may not be right for you. Weigh all the factors, talk about it with family members who might be involved in the training and dogsitting responsibilities, and be honest. A breeder of an elite versatile gun dog bloodline I met put it best when he said, “Why buy a Ferrari if you’re going to drive it in first gear?” CS
Editor’s note: Scott Haugen is a full-time writer. See his basic puppy training videos and learn more about his many books at scotthaugen.com. Follow his adventures on Instagram and Facebook.
A dog from a high-quality bloodline is driven and born to hunt. If you don’t have the time and space to train them year-round, or will struggle to get them hunting dozens of times a year, it could be a long, frustrating path for both of you. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
