Tom Mattusch

I got a call from a gal, Lisa, who wanted to go catch a squid on her 50th Birthday. I told her in the winter the weather is often not very nice, call me when you get in town. Yesterday morning the phone rings with a "let's go for Squid!" Weatherman called for 15 to 25 locally yesterday, but realtime wind said less than 5 kts. Offshore forecast was for 21 gusting to 26kts, HMB Buoy was 11 gusting to 17. I said it looked doubtful but we could meet at the boat for a final decision. Her Noon meeting time turned out to be 1PM. I still said it didn't look too good, but would she be happy just going out to see if we could find a dolfin or whale? We pushed on out, after assessing her Visa card, to see what the day would bring. About 8 miles, a cow/calf pair of whales, shortly after that dolfins swam to the boat. A little lump, but wind never got over 10 knots. We hit the squid grounds, I dropped in at 758 feet of water for naught. Moved to 800 and Game On! Her boyfriend hooked three Humboldts. Gary, the Eskimo Deckhand on Huli Cat, brought a deckhand from the crab boat and they got 3 other Humboldts. Six squid with a 1:15PM departure! Slid into the harbor just about dark. The boyfriend was a freshwater bass fisherman from Lake Erie. Just a little difference pulling in a 35 pound Humboldt from a six pound bass! All the weather reports were wrong and alls well that ends well. What a 50th Birthday trip.

Fish Species: Humboldt Squid
Bait Used: None
Tackle Used: Ahi Promar SJ-1000 jigs
Method Used: Hit the bottom and crank up
Water Depth: 800 ft
Water Temperature: 52.7 F
Wind Direction: W
Wind Speed: 7 - 8 kts

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Tom Mattusch

About The Author: Captain Tom Mattusch

Company: Huli Cat Sportfishing

Area Reporting: Central California, San Francisco Bay area

Bio: Tom Mattusch is currently the owner/operator of the Huli Cat, a 53 foot charter boat operating out of Pillar Point Harbor and has fished the West Coast since 1967. Tom holds positions on the Salmon Stamp Committee for California, the California Department of Fish and Game License Agent Advisory Committee and NOAA's California Sportfishing Action Team. He's an IGFA Certified Captain. In an effort to contribute to research, Tom works with NOAA's PFEL tagging chinook salmon. He also worked with NOAA's Santa Cruz field office gathering stomachs and beaks of Humboldt squid. He recently completed a study with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory collecting lingcod, salmon and halibut stomachs and is currently involved in a study with Scripps to gather albacore stomachs. Tom holds Board of Director positions with the Golden Gate Fishermens Association, Coastside Fishing Club and Fishery Enhancement and Research Foundation. He can be heard on four radio stations giving fish reports or discussing fishing politics. He has worked closely with the Recreational Fishing Alliance, PCFFA, the Half Moon Bay Fishermans Marketing Association, United Anglers of Southern California and United Anglers. Tom ran the first trip out of Half Moon Bay to take anglers to catch Humboldt squid and the first white shark viewing trip to the Farallon Islands. He is the first charter boat Captain out of Half Moon Bay to get certified to marry people and has married people on the Huli Cat. Tom ran the first albacore trip out of Half Moon Bay to demonstrate the albacore were again reachable by boat off the Central California coast in the mid 1990's. Tom held a seat on the California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative as a Central Coast Regional Stakeholder group Member.

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