This year’s Battle of the Bay took place on June 28 and pitted San Francisco’s Bass Tub, skippered by captain Erik Anfinson, against San Rafael’s Morning Star piloted by captain Gordon Hough. The Morning Star operates out of the Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael, while arrangements were made for the Bass Tub to run across the bay to pick up their anglers at Loch Lomond too.

The Sniffer’s Publisher Allen Bonslett, his son Derek and Managing editor Dan Bacher would be fishing aboard the Morning Star. Alexandra Firth and I would be representing the Sniffer staff aboard the Bass Tub. By 7 o’clock in the morning on the 28th the dock at Loch Lomond was bustling with activity as anglers boarded the boats and prepared their gear for battle. As I boarded the Bass Tub, a number of anglers aboard the Morning Star started peppering me with “smack talk.”

“How does it feel to be a loser,” one angler asked.

Looking up at her I saw a big yellow banana hanging from the rod holder right in front of her. “You’ve got a banana hanging off your boat and you’ll be fishing with Dan Bacher. If I were you, I’d put on my life jacket before the boat ever leaves the marina,” I laughed.

A few minutes after 7 o’clock, both boat slid out of the marina and we were immediately confronted by a stiff breeze. It only took us a few minutes to reach the first fishing spot near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. After an unproductive first drift, Erik told us to reel up our lines and settle in for a run out to the flats. When a long drift in the Paradise area didn’t produce, Erik moved the Bass Tub over to the Berkeley Pier. About that time we learned that the anglers aboard the Morning Star had a sprinkling of halibut and stripers in the box.

When we drew a blank after several drifts around the pier things were looking pretty bleak aboard the Bass Tub. We pulled up to Alcatraz at about noon. As Erik positioned the boat over the reefs to the west of the island, he commented over the loud speaker that there were big schools of bait and quite a few larger fish holding just off the bottom. Seconds later an angler yelled, “fish on” and proceeded to reel up a quality striper.

With our first fish finally aboard we were ready for more and we didn’t have to wait long. The first bass was quickly followed by two more and then as quickly as it started the bite shut off. Once it was clear that Alcatraz wasn’t going to give up any more bass, we pulled up our lines and headed for the west end of Angel Island with a trio of stripers between 7 and 9 pounds in the box.

The wind had been plaguing us all day, but when we arrived at Angel Island it seemed to get even stronger and we found ourselves rocking and rolling in a ferocious chop. Deckhands Erik Sandquist and Aaron Anfinson changed out our 6 ounce sinkers with 16 ouncers so we could keep contact with the bottom in the wind and waves.

After a painfully slow morning, I think we were all hoping for the best, but expecting the worst at Angel Island. Well, for whatever reason the halibut gods decided to smile on us and almost as soon as we dropped our lines in the water quality halibut started coming over the rail. The action wasn’t wide open but it was steady for fish in the 10 to 18 pound range. My dad boated our smallest keeper halibut of the day and it went 10 pounds, while mine was the second smallest at 11.6 pounds.

The highlight of the trip came when long time subscriber Alex Upper hooked a heavy fish while drifting a dead anchovy teamed with a P-Line Hoochie. After a long fight that took him from the middle of the boat up to the bow he coaxed a massive 29.50 pound halibut to the surface!

After arriving back at the calm waters of Loch Lomond I weighed the fish on my Berkley digital scale with the help of the deckhands. Alex Upper took the top prize and the jackpot with his massive halibut. Richard Cummings nailed down second place with 26. 8 pounds. Mike Baum came in third with 22 pounds and Brian Switzer filled out the top four with 18.5 pounds.

As luck would have it, the halibut we boated aboard the Bass Tub were of far larger than those brought aboard the Morning Star, despite the fact that both boats were fishing very near each other. Our top 10 fish consisted of 9 halibut and 1 striper with a combined weight of 146.47 pounds propelling us to an easy come from behind victory!

Meanwhile, Captain Gordon Hough started the morning off aboard the Morning Star on a humorous note as he advised the 25 passengers as to the protocol for using the head.

“Don’t put anything in the toilet that hasn’t been already been eaten,” said Hough. “Otherwise, the toilet will plug up. If that happens, one of the passengers, Dan Bacher, has generously volunteered to unplug the toilet.”

Hough and deckhand Mike Shimel, also known as “Deck Dog,” “Deck Princess,” “Deck Zombie,” and “Deck Convict,” reviewed the plan for the day as we got ready to go out of the harbor.

However, the Bass Tub left the Loch Lomond Marina first. “I perceived that was a scheme by the Bass Tub to get the advantage on us,” said Hough.

We started fishing in shallow water at the Berkeley Flats as the persistent morning wind rocked the boat. The action started off quickly, with Luke Edwards catching the first fish of the day, our one and only striped bass. Sharon Werbe of El Sobrante followed up with the day’s first halibut, while Larry landed a keeper halibut also. Other anglers board the boat caught several undersized halibut.

Gordon moved the boat to Alcatraz where it was reported that the Bass Tub, after a slow morning, had hooked a couple of fish. Howard Philipps landed a halibut, followed by a big flattie taken by Don Schaefer. David Johnson of Sonoma and Billy Yee of Turlock also bagged quality halibut. Dan Bacher also lost a halibut right at the boat - a result of tangled lines - that Captain Hough estimated to be around 18 pounds.

Finally, Dandy Edwards nailed a hefty halibut on the last drift of the day as she was reeling her line in. When we got back to the dock, it was clear that the Bass Tub had got into a larger class of fish. Our fish ranged from 4.5 to 10. 5 pounds, with a total tally of 10 fish, just like the Bass Tub, consisting of one striper and 9 halibut. However, our total weight ended up at 75.52 pounds.

Don Schaefer of Walnut Creek caught the largest fish aboard the Morning Star, the 10.5 lb. halibut, taking home the jackpot.

The first through third place winners in total pounds on both boats took home “prize packages” of a Shakespeare Agility spinning rod, Kershaw filet knife, Pautzke’s Gel Krill, a spool of P-Line and a selection of Eagle Claw hooks.

Everybody had great time fishing aboard both boats in friendly competition and I look forward to next year’s “Battle of the Bay.” For more information about live bait trips on the San Francisco Bay, call Erik Anfinson on the Bass Tub, (415) 456-9055, or Gordon Hough on the Morning Star, (707) 745-1431.