California Dawn Sport Fishing

I went on California Dawn for their Lingcod and Rock Fish combo trip as the dungenous crab is still closed due to the toxic algae with domoic acid being found in the crabs at «unsafe» levels. So the captain is doing everything he can to get boat limits and doing a killer job at it.
I brought my light tackle (bait casters) thinking it wasn’t going to be much and boy did I wish I had brought my 2 speed reel. I ended up limiting out catching well above my legal numbers and giving away virtually half of my fish stash. It was a great day, we caught boat limits off of the farallon islands by noon! The next day I was sore all over my arms and armpits from all the cranking I had to do lol. I’ll be going out again with them soon.

Great boat nothing is perfect anywhere but captain james is awesome. If your thinking of a charter to get on i highly recommend these guys

These guy’s kill everything they catch! I was on the boat last year, and I watched so many small fish killed. If you wonder why our SF Bay fishing is going to shit, well the morning dawn is part of the problem. Most customers don’t know what’s up, and what kind of shape our fisheries are in. The Morning dawn does, but they could care less! I realize everyone needs to make a living. Read some history on SF Bay and you’ll see how bad it really is. And they are full of it, as far as their «full galley» goes. Bring food and drinks, or your screwed!

Went out with captain James on October 16^th. He got us on the fish quick and we killed the lingcods and rockfish. All 20 anglers aboard had full limits by 1130 in the morning. Lingcods were biting like crazy and we put limits in the box very quickly with big ones. Using bigger bait, Captain James and his deck hand got us some big fish. Great day on the water, worth every penny. Just 4 stars because I had some issues with their rod reel I rented from them. Other than that, no complaints. A++

Went out for Rock and Ling Cod again and it was great! Limits on Rock and Ling! This time I brought my wifee with me and the crew helped out alot. She smashed me in Rock Fish and was catching some Huge Rocks and Snapper! That’s a great Crew you got there Captain James…

My son and I were on the California Dawn July 2,2013. The Halibut fishing wasn’t happening so we went rock fishing. This is the second trip on the dawn for me and let me tell you both trips were wonderful. The food was great, and deck hand Darren was amazing, we had what I thought was a full boat and this guy took great care of us. We always had bait next to us and he made sure our tackle was in good shape, and fixed it if it was needed. My son got a hook deeply embedded in his thumb and Darren knew exactly how to handle it painlessly.
The fishing was great, every one caught limits of Lings and Rock Cod. This would not have been the case except for the skill and knowledge of Captain James of the best fishing spots. He moved the boat when ever necessary to keep us on top of the fish. I have been on many charter boats in the past and I feel that the last two trips on the California Dawn rank as two of the best fishing trips I have ever experienced.
I would recommend Captain James Smith, his boat, and his excellent crew to all my friends. I hope to take many more fishing trips on the California Dawn.

I just did my third fishing trip aboard the Cali Dawn and anyone who gives them a low rating has unrealistic expectations. The Cali Dawn is for REAL fishers but also caters to the likes of me, a girlie girl who likes to be on the water and who has a mom who is obsessed with fishing!
My mom has been fishing with Jim since he was a deckhand on his Dad’s boat and he is just the nicest guy you will ever meet. Yesterday was Mother’s Day and we begged him to take us out and he did, even though there were only nine of us on the boat and he probablly only broke even after fuel and bait. We went out at the crack of dawn and started fishing, Darren is not only the most knowledgeable deck hand, but he’s super down to earth and can carry on a conversation with anyone about anything. Note* he’s also a duck hunter and takes people out in the Fall.
Mark, the cook, made me the best hotlink I’ve had outside of a ball park and he ages all of his steaks with skill! Not to mention he let us use his knives, condiments, etc. without expecting anything although we definitely tipped him!
If you’re complaining about the bathrooms, I’m A GIRL and I can tell you that I have expereinced some pretty terrible bathroom experiences (Delores Park and any port-​o-​potty) and their bathroom is not even on that list. There’s running water and a working toilet and it’s super clean! Man UP especially since you only have to aim and drain!!!
For those of you who were frustrated by the fact that you didn’t catch anything, it’s called fishing, not catching and its by chance. James always moves the boat around to try to make sure that everyone has the best opportunity to catch. I’ve been on the boat when all of the tags were used and another time where only a few. We didn’t catch anything yesterday but since we were a small boat, the cook was able to fish and donated his fish to my mom! Talk about above and beyond!!! I don’t ever plan on going on another boat out of Berkely and neither should you!
I’m signing up for my shark fishing excursion in September in the upcomming weeks and can’t wait to see these guys again!

I went out 8÷02÷2012.
This was first time fishing aboard the California Dawn, but not my first time out.
This trip a was privately booked trip of friends and friends of friends.
I arrived at the boat 0445 and immediately boarded so we could shove off.
*Parking was FREE!
I boarded and noticed that everybody was lolly-​gagging around and I didn’t understand why the boat wasn’t started. I got to a spot on the boat and claimed it «my» area for the duration of the trip.
My friend who organized this trip asked if I want the «galley package».
«Heck No», I replied! I’m not going to load up with food while under way! I brought simple snacks and some bottle water. I can function well with little in my stomach! The «chef» from my understand had a tantrum due to the lack of people wanting to eat and stormed off.
The boat didn’t shove off until 0535ish! Light was already breaking! A lot of WTF’s was going on in my head!
Fishing is all about getting up and going out early before first light!
Darren is the name of the deck hand. He gets 5-​Stars!
He really impressed me! As we were underway, Darren inspected everybody’s gear and made sure that they had the correct type of rods. People that didn’t were given a rental FREE of charge! The rentals were newer and in great shape! Most of them were Ugly Sticks with decent reels! Some boats that I’ve been on, the rentals were crap!
So then, Darren made sure everybody was ready to go, and gave quick speeches from time to time on safety, how to’s, when it came to baiting, ncasting and just helped us in gerenal advise. While we were underway… Darren got us rigged and baited ready for all of us to drop in our lines!
This started out to be a Salmon trip.
We trolled for hours! Nothing!
There was just 2 nights of full moons and no bites!!!
So we all voted to change it up and went out further for some Rock Cod.
Darren help those who needed the help in changeing their rigs.
We all killed and limited out on Rock Cods, and caught several Ling Cods too!!!
Darren did offer to clean and filet your fish for a small price. He did that while heading back.
I would recommend the California Dawn for large groups.
Good Luck and Happy Fishing.

I’d probably give them 2 ½ stars if there was a ½ option on here. The guys were cool, and tried like heck to put us on some fish, but NO luck. I realize there are no guarantees, and I’m fine with that. After all, it’s called FISHING, not CATCHING.
The main reason for the poor rating is because the boat had NO food on board. Here is a quote from their website…
«Fortunately the California Dawn has a full galley with a large menu to choose from. Along with that, we offer soft drinks and water as well and free coffee on board. You may bring a lunch if you choose to do so. Packed lunches usually get thrown away, the California Dawn chef (Tawny) makes sure you have a great meal every time. «
After reading that we all decided NOT to pack a lunch. Bad move. The boat had absolutely nothing on board. Just overpriced rental fishing rods and tackle.
Had there been food, this would have been an easy four star rating. Hopefully you all will have better luck on the water.

been on this boat 2 times and this is my favorite boat to go on. the captains are great and put us on the fish everytime! i would def. recommend this boat charter.

I went on the Cal Dawn last Friday. I’ve been on quite a few of party boats throughout the country. Florida, San Diego, Long Beach, Maryland, Hawaii, etc… I’ve been a salt water fisherman for well over 20 years. This was by far the best captain and crew I’ve ever fished with. Captain Smith is a really nice guy. Very approachable. He doesn’t play around. This is not a «tourist» fishing boat. Everyone on our boat was a local (which tells you something). Captain Smith finds a spot where the fish are biting and keeps you on top of them. If the bite’s not on, he’ll pick up and move. If the bite is on, he’s not one to pick up early and leave. He’ll stay until boat limit is reached. The deck hand was extremely knowledgeable and in all honesty made the experience for me. He was always upbeat and happy. Cracking jokes, and having fun with everyone on the boat. Fun to be around, and really knew his stuff. In the morning we targeted Ling’s in the ocean. We brought in over 20 fish and threw back many more. Afternoon we headed to the bay and drifted over the flats in front of fishermans wharf for some Halibut. Using live sardines, we hooked at least 3 to 4 fish per pass. By the end of the day we had over 20 Halibut and 20 Ling. Not a bad day fishing. I think we had about 14 fisherman on the boat.
3 reasons this boat is great.
#1. The Captain.
#2. The deck hand. (i think his name is Brandon)
#3. Tawni and her magical galley. I brought my lunch, but once i smelled and saw Tawni’s burger i had to order it for lunch. It was awesome! Although i didn’t have the breakfast burrito, i hear it’s a winner as well.
I would recommend this boat to anyone who’s looking to have a good time and catch some fish.
And finally… the toilet … It’s a boat folks. Remember that! It’s not bad. Sure beats going over the side! :)

I’ve been aboard the California Dawn twice. Both were very satisfying adventures. The second was last week and with 23 anglers, we took 61 fish (halibut and striper). We moved around frequently to ensure lots of action. The deck hand was very active. We also had the hired chef. We started with breakfast burritos in the morning. The full menu was prepped for lunch. We also had snacks in the late morning and afternoon.
Everyone left the boat with smiles and stories.
The previous reviewer had a couple of bad experiences. The bathroom issue is true. In spite of that, I would have no hesitation of paying to be aboard the California Dawn.

Second corporate outing in 6 months with Captain Smith last Saturday. the boat had no generator, so the single tiny bathroom had no water to flush or wash. No paper or soap at all by the way and we had ladies on board. The cook we paid for didn’t show up, so we got sandwiches. There was no live bait because there hasn’t been any anchovy fish in the bay for months. And it wasn’t any fishing season in the ocean. So, 36 of us spent 10 hours in the bay fishing for halibut with frozen anchovies as bait. We caught three fish with 36 rods in the water and none were keepers.
Okay, I understand the nature of fishing — you win some and you lose some.
But for the money we spent to charter an entire boat with cook, for the second time in 6 months, you would think a good businessman would cut us some slack just to keep us a customer, but nooooooooo.
First, the girl who booked is a non-​fishing person. Perhaps he should have told her to delay the charter for 2 weeks until fishing season in the ocean starts like the last time, but noooooo. You would think we would refund us for not having the cook on hand that we paid for, but noooooo. You would think we would make some concession just to keep our business, but after much wrangling, but ok’ed a mere 10% discount for next time. Well, so long Captain Smith and hello to your competition Golden Eye, and good luck in this economy for a hospitality business like yours.