We moved the boat up to Ft Bragg, and it’s a hell of a start. 165 Albacore for the first 4 days. Capt Josh reported solid Lingcod action off of Bodega with close to limits or limits of lings, and rockfish plus a few salmon below the lighthouse.

Fort Bragg – 9/1/26

Capt Ryan- Bigeye

We headed out with a two-client private charter. Stared at 25 by 20 area and headed west. The fishing was a little slower, but we found some fish and worked an area and picked up 15 fish on the troll and maybe five or so on the jigs. The grade was really good, about a 22lb average. Most fish at the 27 by 35 zone. Few birds to chase made things a little trickier.

Fort Bragg- 9/3/26

Capt Ryan- Bigeye

We headed out and found a few shearwaters working over fish. Significantly more birds moved in overnight and completely gave away the location of the fish. Started at 25 by 25 and tacked north chasing jumpers up the 32 N line, only turned around a couple times as there was steady jumpers going in front of us every time we got back on the troll. Birds and fish were jumping for miles the entire time. Smaller fish, but wide open as it gets. We got 50 in the boat, then put the troll rods away and focused on jigs, ending with 70 fish, and about 40+ of them coming on jigs. 8lb average; we were back to the dock by 3.

Fort Bragg- 9/4/26

Capt Ryan- Bigeye

Went to the same area. No birds, green water at 35 by 25. There was blue water inside and outside, so we headed west. Got some big fish in the green water, but action overall was slow and not worth the effort for us. It took a few hours, but we found some terns working on fish at 24 by 37, then all hell broke loose. Got 35 fish in two hours, and the clients were happy with that amount of fish by 2pm. so we headed in with 45 total. The first 10 fish were 20 lbs. the last 35 were mostly 10lbs. We made some really good slide stops with probably 20 jig fish. Was a little tough chasing terns as there were only a few of them and it really required some finesse and super attentive bird watching and getting on the fish quickly as the turns were not staying focus on a school for more than 60 seconds then would move on. Water temps on the outside were HOT, saw 66 degrees at 10am, likely a degree or two added from the sunlight but still scorching hot for this early.

Fort Bragg- 9/5/26

Capt Ryan- Bigeye

We had a private charter of three. The weather was bad. The forecast showed 5 to 10 knots offshore, the wind was more like 15+. Ocean was nearly unfishable past the 25 west line, even with rain gear it was soaking wet. I decided to turn back and fish the temp break closer to shore. I was getting tossed in my tuna tower, but still spotted some mixed birds struggling in the wind in the 20X20 area. We rolled through them and had every rod on the boat going. Repeated 9 ways quickly stacked us up to 31 fish. The best part was the size; all jumbos. Our smallest was 25 lbs on the scale, and the biggest was 37 lbs and the average was 30. The fish were the biggest I’ve ever seen in September. Massive hookups with giant fish in rough weather kicked all of our butts, but it was by far the best day and honestly, one of the top days for me personally. I was getting absolutely tossed in the tuna tower and 2 days later my core is still sore but 90% of the fish we got came under the birds so it was worth it.