Gage and I hit the water at 6:00 AM today to catch the low tide at Hog and hopefully find a few halibut biting in the warmer water from the further back bay. The wind was also up early, or really, it never quit last night. Over a choppy and windblown 3.5 hours we caught four halibut to 21 pounds and an eight pound striper. We also released four leopard sharks and missed more bites than I care to think about. Most of the time one or both motors were in reverse to slow the drift and follow the channel. All bites and fish were on live sardines caught near the yellow buoy, except for a halibut on our one live anchovy and the striper bit a small jacksmelt. The nearest boat was probably a half mile away and only one other boat was fishing. With the good weather forecast for this weekend I will guess that if you go fishing at Hog you will see many, many more boats than I did. Just keep the drift slow and the bait active and you have a chance. And if you figure out how to get them fish to stick to the hooks better, Gage and I are very interested because the stinger treble hooks were sure underperforming for us today.

 

   Gage found a couple of stripers to 21 pounds on the bar today. The big one really loved the surf and spent most of his time there. Getting it in the net without rolling the boat was not easy. Exciting, yes. Hog Island also has stripers as well as halibut and amost no surf (pretty much just wakes). I heard of a striper and halibut yesterday and the same boat had at least two halibut and a striper this morning. There's been a few halibut caught near Inverness as well. Crabbing is okay even with the tides, but I expect the Dungeness to go crazy in about a week when the season closes. They're always easier to catch them when you can't keep them.

   Here's the fish I heard about. Ezra and the Carters put the hurt on them. Tom Carter sent over this report: "We have our grandson for a few days and Tuesday the wind was calmer than it has been in a while and Ezra caught an 8 pound halibut and Jerrie caught a 14 pound striper , and this morning the weather was even better and we all caught! 22 inch striper , 17 pound halibut, and 11 pound halibut ! Ezra brought us some good luck"  Nice report Tom. I think you need to take Ezra fishing more often.

    You may recall that two weeks ago I said that our next salmon opportunity would be in September. It is now official: "Ocean Salmon Fishery Achieves Summer Catch Limit; Will Reopen in September

California’s June 7-8 Ocean salmon season offered some of the best fishing many longtime anglers can remember. Fast action, quick limits and bustling harbors characterized the weekend along much of the coast with a hot salmon bite reported as far south as San Luis Obispo County. Excellent ocean conditions from Crescent City all the way down to Avila Beach allowed anglers to get out both days and try to catch the iconic sport fish in ocean waters for the first time since 2022.

“We’ve seen so many pictures and heard many stories of people enjoying their time on the water with family and friends,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham. “By all accounts, the weekend was a huge success.”

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) estimates 9,165 Chinook salmon were taken statewide by 10,505 anglers aboard both charter vessels and private skiffs, achieving the summer fishery harvest guideline of 7,000 Chinook. On recommendation from CDFW and industry, the National Marine Fisheries Service took in-season action today to close the remaining summer dates of July 5-6, July 31-August 3, and August 25-31.

Like most salmon seasons, the majority of catch and the greatest number of anglers originated from ports in the greater San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas.

Nearly 100 CDFW and partner-agency staff participated in dockside data collection activities over the opening weekend at major boat launches and sport fishing centers statewide, counting anglers and their fish and collecting heads of hatchery-origin fish to recover coded wire tags containing life history information.

“CDFW appreciates the ongoing participation and cooperation of the recreational fishing community in our dockside surveys, which generate data vital to planning California’s ocean salmon seasons every year,” said CDFW’s Senior Ocean Salmon Project Supervisor Kandice Morgenstern. “Anglers are also very interested in learning about our hatchery programs and to participate in our courtesy program where they can learn about the hatchery of origin, age, and release location of their fish after the information is recovered from the Coded Wire Tag.”

The recreational ocean salmon fishery is set to reopen September 4-7 under a separate fall harvest guideline of 7,500 Chinook in waters between Point Reyes and Point Sur. If the harvest guideline isn’t reached, the season will continue September 29-30. If any fish remain after this date, the fishery will continue in waters between Pt. Reyes to Pigeon Point on October 1-5 and October 27-31.

The use of harvest guidelines and in-season management in California’s ocean sport fishery management is new this year. The guidelines were developed as part of the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s pre-season process using catch and effort information from prior years along with expected performance this year. The guidelines serve to ensure that impacts from the fishery to stocks of particular concern - namely Klamath River fall Chinook and Central Valley Spring and Sacramento River Winter Chinook, are minimized. In-season management, including use of in-season monitoring and harvest guidelines, is a new objective identified in  California’s Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future released in January 2024."

  So, 9165 salmon in two days? I guess it's a good thing for the salmon that they cut the originally suggested four day opening to only two, as we weren't supposed to catch more than 7000. Oopsie! It's pretty hard to stop when the fish are throwing themselves at you. Let's hope they're still in suicide mode come September.

 FYI 

CDPH Warns Public Not to Consume Sport-Harvested Bivalve Shellfish from Marin County

June 19, 2025  

SN25-014​

What You Need to Know: CDPH warns consumers not to eat recreationally harvested mussels, clams, scallops or oysters from Marin County due to dangerous levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins detected in mussels from Marin County

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is advising consumers not to eat sport-harvested mussels, clams, scallops, or oysters from Marin County.   

Dangerous levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins have been detected in mussels from Marin County. The naturally occurring PSP toxins can cause illness or death in humans. Cooking does not destroy the toxin. 

This shellfish safety notification is in addition to the warnings against eating sport-harvested bivalve shellfish in Santa Cruz County,  Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange counties due to marine biotoxins. Consumers should also be advised that the annual mussel quarantine remains in effect. The annual mussel quarantine prohibits the sport-harvest of mussels for human consumption and applies to all species of mussels harvested for human consumption along the California coast, as well as all bays and estuaries, and will continue through at least October 31. 

Paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins affect the nervous system, producing a tingling around the mouth and fingertips within a few minutes to a few hours after eating toxic shellfish. These symptoms are typically followed by loss of balance, lack of muscular coordination, slurred speech and difficulty swallowing. In severe poisonings, complete muscular paralysis and death from asphyxiation can occur. 

This warning does not apply to commercially sold mussels, clams, scallops, and oysters from approved sources. State law permits only state-certified commercial shellfish harvesters or dealers to sell these products. Shellfish sold by certified harvesters and dealers are subjec​t to frequent mandatory testing to monitor for toxins. 

You can get the most current information on shellfish advisories and quarantines by calling CDPH’​​​s toll-free Shellfish Information Line at (800) 553-4133 or viewing the recreational​ bivalve shellfish advisory interactive map. For additional information, please visit the CDPH Marine Biotoxin Monitoring web page.  ​​

 

     Nick Donnelly sent over a report from earlier in the week: "Willy,

Sup bro it's lake county Nick, was just shooting ya a pic of the lip I ripped last Wednesday in that wind squall " I believe this fish weighed 17 pounds and it bit a bullhead by Hog. Yes, a bullhead. It has been very windy and the water has been cold, so the halibut catching from Hog to the mouth has varied from slow to very slow. Good job Nick on catching one in tough conditions.

    Scott Simpson sent a report from this weekend: "Hey Willy, I was worried the wind was going to scratch fishing for the Wet Dream this weekend. We took a chance and launched at 7 am while the wind was manageable.  It turned out being  a rough 5 hours, with 3 foot waves south of Hog, but we kept pushing and made it a day of long drifts. The bait was easy,  caught about 40 smelt.  Finally about noon we reset for another drift and  first drop this 28 incher decided to join us.  Considering we were surrounded  by  nothing but white caps, we called it a day. It was a white knuckle ride back to the Landing.  There are good days and not so good days of fishing. Today was a good day!"  All the returning boats had lots of salt crusted on their windshields but not many had fish. There were a few halibut caught and a few more stripers but mostly fishermen just got a beating from the weather. 

       Crabbing has been mixed with a few coming on snares from shore but better numbers from boats in the bay. At least one boat got limits of Dungeness on both Saturday and Sunday.