Pre-Trip Information
If purchasing a one-day fishing license, we highly recommend you contact us before purchasing so we can verify the ocean conditions are adequate and that the trip won’t be canceled. If you have a hotel room/Airbnb/VRBO, please contact us before your cancellation period and we can discuss weather forecasts and trip probability. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND BOOKING HOTELS WITH A 48 HOUR OR LESS CANCELLATION PERIOD. MANY AIRBNBS HAVE 7 DAY OR LONGER CANCELLATION PERIODS, THE FORECAST IS OFTEN LIKELY TO CHANGE WITHIN A 7 DAY PERIOD AND MAY RESULT IN YOU PAYING FOR AN AIRBNB FOR A CANCELED TRIP. We do not provide any compensation outside of the deposit amount you have paid due to canceled trips! Unfortunately, the weather can be unpredictable and does not always follow the forecast. We will not put our clients, crew, or boats in jeopardy to run a trip in poor weather and all of our captains hold the right to cancel trips at any time due to poor weather conditions or forecast.
General Trip Information
YOU WILL NEED A VALID CA FISHING LICENSE FOR EVERYONE OVER 16 YEARS OF AGE!
You can purchase one online at the CDFW Online License Sales and Services or at your local bait and tackle shop. With the new CDFW mobile app, you no longer need to print the license, you can simply purchase from CDFW and use your phone app as proof of license.
More info can be found out with purchasing the mobile license at the following link below. Make sure your phone is charged if you go this route! You can purchase a 1 day license for the day we are fishing if are only planning that day.
Gratuities
We often get asked “How much should I tip the deckhands?” And to answer this question ahead of time, we ask that you tip based on how you feel our service is. We work very hard long before you arrive and long after you leave the boat to make sure you will enjoy your day and everything goes smoothly. Our deckhands rely on tips in a similar fashion as most waiter/waitresses at restaurants, and typically 15% to 25% of your reservation cost is customary, but please adjust as you feel necessary based on the quality of customer service provided by your deckhand.
Gear/Filleting
All bait, fishing rods and terminal tackle is supplied for all fishing excursions. Anglers are more than welcome to bring their own tackle if they wish. Most trips include fish filleting and bagging of fish. Please note while we don’t charge for filleting, we encourage you to tip the deckhands who do a very good job at taking care of your catch. For Fort Bragg tuna trips, please read the entire description after the directions as there is critical information about those trips. Crab trips do not include cooking cost.
Early Returns
Full fare applies after the boat has left the dock. If you request an early return, due to seasickness or any other reason, you will still be responsible for the full fare. The only exception is when sea conditions or other safety concerns require an early return. In such cases a prorated fare applies depending on length of time spent out. We do not offer half day fishing trips with the exception of crab only trips. If limits of your target species are caught before 8 hours, full rate still applies.
Clothes and Personal Items
Please dress in layers to stay warm. For any offshore trips we highly recommend bringing rain jackets and pants, as wind chop and heavy fog will quickly ruin your day if you don’t have water proof clothes. Waterproof rubber boots or shoes are highly recommended for all trips, please try and clean any excess mud off them before getting onto the boats. Some other items that are recommended are sunscreen, sun glasses, lunch, drinks and a cooler with ice to store in your car for bringing your fish fillets home. We have room for small coolers on the boat and bags to store your personal items and food. We highly discourage any heavy alcohol consumption (you are more than welcome to bring alcohol, we only ask that you drink responsibly, please note we reserve the right to cancel the trip without refund if people in your group are dangerously intoxicated).
Sea Sickness
We recommend if you have not been ocean fishing before to consider seasickness meds, please take the night before and again in the morning. Try and eat a small dry snack in the morning and avoid drinking excess liquid like coffee on a empty stomach. Do not wait to take sea sickness meds while underway as they require several hours to become effective and are useless once you are already sick. If you are extra prone to sea sickness ( or commonly experience car sickness), the most effective method to avoid sickness is to get a Scopolamine patch prescription from a doctor. Only the prescription patches are effective, the non prescription patches will not help. Many pharmacies and even Amazon allow for online prescriptions, or you can ask your doctor ahead of time. One quick note is to make sure your patch stays on all night, a small piece tape or bandaid helps make sure that happens. The patches are highly effective at preventing sickness, but we still recommend having a small dry snack like a muffin or pastry before getting on board.
Dock Directions for Bodega Bay Fishing Trips
Rockfish trips typically depart at 6am-7am depending on trip type and daylight hours, but your captain will contact you an exact time the night before (Via text or phone call). Tuna trips often vary with departure time but 5am to 6am is typical.
Select the google pin drop below of our exact dock location. You may not have cellular service in Bodega Bay with certain carriers, so enter this into your phone before you loose reception. Verizon and AT&T typically have some service in the area.
The exact dock Location is pictured below. At the both 4 way intersections drive straight until you get to the dirt lot. Park within the dirt lot (there will be other vehicles parked) within the green polygon. Then walk down the dock ramp (red path). Make one right turn at the end of the ramp, then walk all the way down to the end of the dock. The F/V Bigeye resides in the last slip at the very end of the dock, behind the large white boat named Surf Scooter.
Written Directions Incase You Don’t have Service:
Your group will meet your captain at the Bodega Bay Sportfishing Center @ 1500 Bay Flat road. This is directly across from Porto Bodega campground, park in the large dirt parking lot on the peninsula. To get there when your heading north through bodega bay, take a left on east shore road and wind down to the first stop sign. From there go straight past Porto bodega marina and RV park sign and One with a salmon on it that says charter boats. Once you reach a 3 way fork and see boats in the marina, take middle road between pine tree and small utility shed with a light drive out into the the big dirt parking lot and park. Go down the ramp, turn right and walk to the end of the dock. Your Captain will call or text you the afternoon before your trip to discuss any last minute details or answer any questions. Call or text them if you have any questions about getting to boat, they will likely be able to answer your questions and get you there quickly.
Dock Directions for SF Bay Fishing Trips ( Port Richmond )
The Sorta Salty typically departs at 7am, but your captain will contact you with a different time the night before if there is a change as we often try to line up your trip with the best fishing tides.
Select the google pin drop of our exact dock location. The parking lot at the dock has a fee of $15 dollars per day. It is very expensive but heavily secured compared to the rest of the east bay docks and very much worth the peace of mind.
The sorta salty will pick your group up from the charter dock to the right of the launch ramps. The dock is pictured with a massive red dot in the picture below.
Dock Directions/Information for Fort Bragg Tuna Fishing Trips
Tuna Trip Information
Most tuna trips depart at 5:30am and we recommend you getting to the boat around 5:15. Your captain will contact you to verify the departure time the day before, please try and arrive on time or 5 to 10 minutes ahead of time for these trips as running offshore can take a lot of time. Please note we often we don’t have service while fishing offshore so you may not receive a immediate response if you reach out the day before, also our day before confirmation text or calls may be later in the afternoon if we are fishing late. We always recommend raingear/waterproof clothing and boots for offshore trips. We also encourage everyone to bring large coolers and leave them in their vehicles for tuna trips, we often have large landings and it can be hard to find coolers after the trip. In the event of a very successful day, you will will get 5 albacore per person filleted and placed in bags for free (30 fish for private charters), in the event we land more than 5 tuna per person we try and recommend you to try to bring some fish home whole or have them processed to allow us more time fishing and less time cleaning fish, it will allow us to have higher landings overall and more time on the water. If you are looking to have your tuna fully processed and vacuum sealed, Princess Seafood right next to the dock can do so for $15 per albacore. The ladies there do a very good job and the product is far beyond anything in stores that is considered “sushi grade”. Typically our boat fillets are considered “rough cut”, with bloodline attached and will require some trimming before freezing/consumption, while their product is ready for freezing and consumption. If you have a lot of freezer space, albacore also freeze very well whole (taste nearly as good as fresh after a year in the freezer) so let us know and we can gut the smaller fish on the water for you to set whole into your freezer. In the event of very good weather we often troll home while filleting so it allows us more fishing time.
Dock Directions
Charters are run off the Dock at the Warf Lodge and Restaurant. Lodging is also available through them by clicking this link. They have a very good cancelation period and in the event of bad weather your captain will try and contact you about 5 to 7 days before the trip, but we always recommend for you to contact us well before your cancelation period to verify weather conditions, as they forecast change rapidly. Please keep in mind that you will be responsible for calling and cancelling/rescheduling your lodging. You will have a very short walk to the boat in the morning if you stay at the Anchor Lodge at the Warf. There is plenty of parking in the lot as well See the Big orange circle in the picture below, you can park anywhere in the lot you’d like to. You can select the pin below to get exact directions to the parking lot. The dock is on the left side of the building (opposite of the bridge). There is a small gate and a steep walkway down to the water. You will see the tuna tower on the F/V Bigeye from the gravel side of the parking lot.
Deposits & Cancellations
Deposits are required for all excursions. Cancellation must be received at least 7 days in advance or a 50% cancellation fee will be charged. Those received 48 hours before departure date with be charged the full cost of the excursion. Weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstances may warrant cancellation on our part and your deposit will be fully refunded or you will have your trip rescheduled to a later date of your choosing.
Most Importantly…
Enjoy Your trip! Our goal is to make your day as stress free as possible on the water. And as mentioned CONTACT US WITH ANY QUESTIONS as soon as possible. We are a small business and all of our crew talks on a daily basis, if one of us is unable to answer your question, we will refer your to the crew member who will.