Jerry Lee from All Area Electric invited me to come fishing with his whole crew this week. What better way to spend a Monday that I was supposed to be working? I arrived at the Berkeley Marina at 5am and a more beautiful morning would be hard to imagine.

After a cup of really bad coffee from the bait shop we got on the boat. It was a catamaran named Golden Eye 2000, and what a boat it was: roomy and stable with twin 575hp Caterpillar diesels. It really moves well.

Jerry Lee (right) and his foreman were set to go.

With a pole and a 1 day fishing license. I was ready too.

With Captain Vo at the helm…

...we headed out…

..and under the Richmond Bridge.

Everyone was anxious as Jerry was offering $50 for the first fish caught and we all chipped in $5 plus another $50 from Jerry to a pool for the largest fish caught.

We were using live anchovies for bait but that wasn’t enticing any fish and for a couple hours we had nothing biting.

We found out our cell phones still worked though…

A little galley had been set up with all the necessary accoutrements for raw fish consumption: Soy with wasabe, garlic chunks, bean paste and a killer chile sauce Jerry’s wife had made.

Then someone had a hit and when it was pulled in we saw a Halibut. I heard the shout of “sashimi!” go out and the fish was brought to the galley.

Everyone was waiting for that fresh snack. It was good (although I am not fond of eating bottom fish from the Bay on a regular basis)! I’m sure I have gotten my dose of PCBs and other chemicals for the year.

As the day progressed we caught quite a number of Halibut, Striped Bass and a Skate…

I caught a shark that I threw back and a Striper which became my dinner. Yum!