After we departed from the marina, Badger and deckhand, James Anderson of Concord, began putting out the trolling rods, baited with 3 foot 40 pound test Maxima leaders behind Gibbs #3 and Les Davis flashers. "We don't want people to bring their own rods because we have special rods set up specifically for trolling," he noted. Badger uses 7 to 8 foot Seeker rods teamed up with Pro Gear 3500 reels spooled up with 30 pound test Suffix line.

Whereas most trolling I have done means that the captain sits leisurely in the boat as the lures and bait troll along the bottom or suspended in the water column, Badger's approach is much more aggressive. During the entire trip, Badger and his deckhand and second skipper, James Anderson of Concord, were constantly checking the baits and lines as they trolled along the bottom.

"You have to have a perfect bait to catch perfect fish," said Badger. "That's why we constantly are checking the bait. There's a lot of grass and debris that you pick up as you troll the bottom of San Francisco Bay. If your gear is working 100 percent of the time, you're not fishing effectively."

On the previous trip, Badger had fished during a day of big minus tides, probably the worst conditions for halibut trolling. "We didn't have a fish in the boat before 1 p.m. then in the next two hours the 4 anglers landed full limits of halibut - 12 fish - ranging from 6 to 15 pounds," he explained.

However, a storm was scheduled for the day we had to fish. Badger gave us the option of canceling out, but we decided to anyway. I hadn't been on a halibut or striper trip on the main bay since last year and I was eager to catch a halibut, even if the weather was adverse.

We started off fishing the flats of the Point Richmond Area on the outgoing tide. The rain was pouring down hard, forcing us to the warmth and comfort of the cabin. After about an hour of fishing, Allen was the first one to hook up. The rod took a deep dive, line began screaming off the reel, and Allen grabbed the rod. Badger soon had the fish, a 10 pound halibut in the boat.

"I have halibut for dinner tonight," a very pleased Allen told me after the fish was put in the boat.

However, the bite that we were hoping for in the flats off Point Richmond didn't ever materialize. We trolled and we trolled and we trolled, but the fish didn't want to bite. Badger speculated that the unusually cold and wet storm had turned the fish off.

"We're going to troll over by the Berkeley Flats and see if the fish bite there," said Badger. We pulled in the gear and went over to the Berkeley Flats. The rain had stopped and the sun made a brief appearance.

After arriving off the pier, Badger and the deckhand put the lines back in. As soon as we went by one of the pilings in the pier, one of the rods bent over double and line began screaming off the reef. I grabbed the rod and fish began taking line and I walked to the stern. "It feels like a big striper," I told Badger.

However, when I began making headway on the fish and got it near the surface of the water, I saw the telltale shape of a big flattie. Badger quickly gaffed the fish and we had halibut number two in the boat. Just as we got the second fish in the boat, a fish grabbed another bait. Chuck Dunham reeled the fish in and we had our third halibut, about the same size as the first two in the boat.

We trolled for another hour and didn't get any more bites. We decided to call it a day early at 1:00 p.m. Three quality halibut in the box - not bad at all on a cold, rainy late April day.

Badger concentrates on trolling trips when the halibut are holding in the flats of the bay, where the contour of the bottom is relatively level and clean. "I go live bait fishing when the fish are holding on the bottom where the contour is too steep and the water is too deep, such as in front of Angel Island or off Seal Rock," he stated.

On his next trip after we fished with Badger, the four anglers landed 9 halibut ranging from 6 to 15 pounds in the flats of San Francisco Bay.

"Aside from the bad weather we have experienced this spring," he noted, "this has been a good season so far for halibut, better than last year."

Badger has been trolling for halibut for 15 years and has been skippering a charter boat for four years. He got his introduction to halibut trolling as a commercial fishermen in the bay after he found out that the trollers were doing much better than the commercial boats. Badger landed his largest-ever halibut - a monster 57 pounder - while trolling an anchovy off the Richmond Rockwall in 1995.

Badger fishes for halibut from March through September, taking a break for salmon fishing during July when the fish are running in good numbers off Stinson Beach and other areas on the Marin coast. Although he concentrates on halibut while trolling, he also hooks stripers, particularly when he runs into striper schools in the south bay.

The good halibut fishing that sport anglers - and hook and line commercials - have experienced since 1993 is a direct result of legislation, authored by former State Senator Henry Mello, that kicked the destructive halibut trawls off the inshore waters of the Golden Gate and the coast. A limit of three halibut, initiated by United Anglers of California, has also helped to preserve halibut populations.

For more information about booking trips with Barbarian Sportfishing, call John Badger at (707) 469-7585. Other boats doing halibut trolling adventures on the bay include Dreamcatcher Sportfishing, (707) 422-7166, and 4-Play Sportfishing, (707) 642-0310.

Halibut Bay Trolling Seminar
Outdoor Pro Shop in Oakland is putting on a free halibut trolling seminar on May 17th, 2003 at 11:00am in the rear parking lot. The seminar will be hosted by John Paxson of Dreamcatcher Sportfishing and John Badger of Barbarian Sportfishing. The two speakers have extensive knowledge and passion for trolling for halibut in the bay. Their presentation will include: optimal water conditions, locations, how to assemble a trolling rig, boat set-up, fishing techniques and the art of landing a large halibut. The hour-long seminar will be followed with a question and answer period. There will also be time for individual one on one help from the speakers and the staff of Outdoor Pro Shop. Attendees are encouraged to bring their maps and questions to the seminar.

Please call the Outdoor Pro Shop (1822 Embarcadero) in Oakland at 510-532-2824 for directions or questions. Or call Dreamcatcher at 707-422-7166 or Barbarian Sportfishing at 707-469-7585.