Another overturned boat off of Salmon Creek this morning. One of two people in the boat recovered, condition unknown.  One missing. The seas are 11 feet at the weather buoy. The crabbing isn't very good and better weather is coming. Maybe wait.

    Today's crab report was more of the same. Really slow inside the bay. The best place in Tomales Bay for catching crab sounds like the spot north of Marker 5 alongside the sand bar. It is also the worst place to crab because half of the crabbers on the bay are working the quarter acre sweet spot. It is a Charlie Foxtrot. The buoys are thick and close enough to walk on and the boats either have their fenders out or they should, because even though you aren't at Scandia there's a good chance that you'll still be playing Bumperboats. Good luck. You'll need it. The rest of the bay has a few crab, but a very few. It's a bad Dungeness season to be a red crab in Tomales Bay, as they're the fallback plan. The fast current in the afternoon has made catching even harder and gear loss a near certainty. Good luck. You'll need it. 

   Outside has been better, as it usually is. Good? No, but better is good enough. The outer bay has crab, but like money, they aren't distributed equally. There's a lot of shuffling gear, and drop more gear on top of your rings that caught, and then be surprised that the none of the rings you dropped on the "hot spot" caught any crab on the second drop. The crab are sparse there, too, just less sparse than inside Tomales Bay. Ten Mile usually has a few good spots but I'm still waiting for someone to tell me about one. Again, there's some crab, but good luck. There's more places without crab than with. I haven't heard many reports from up north, above Bodega by Salmon Creek or further. I guess that it's possible that there's some good crab up there and that a whispered message has gone out to a select few that are running up there and smacking them. There's definitely some boats that have headed there in the last few days, whether it was a good idea to go or not. The weather is supposed to be good on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and if it holds I hope someone gets a chance to go there safely and report on it. Safely is the watchword. The crabbing is poor. Let's not push it. 

   Sunday night there was a kayaker that overturned after 5:00 PM and was rescued by a boater. Saturday another kayaker got sucked out of the bay and went through the washing machine of the breaking bar from the mouth to the beach in front of the Dillon Beach parking lot. In the dark. Hard pass. Glad he made it though. Kayakers: Wear a wetsuit. Don't go when the tide is ripping out. Have a buddy. If it's windy, drink beer on the beach. Other boaters: Have an anchor ready. Don't go when it's crappy. Everyone: Sometimes it's good enough to sit on the beach and drink a beer while looking at the water. Sometimes it's the best choice. Let's all make better choices.

    As I write this there are planes, boats and helicopters searching for perhaps as many as five people that are missing after their boat flipped by Bodega Head yesterday. I know no details but just want everyone to be thinking safety. No crab is worth your life.

 

The crabbing is only okay at best. Outside the bay was better with the best reports from here running 20 to 25 crab to a boat. Inside the numbers plummeted with a lot of zeroes. The ripping outgoing tide in the afternoon didn't help in the catching but did lose a lot of gear. That outgoing tide also had the bar breaking pretty steady. A kayaker got swept out of the bay after dark and lost all of his gear in the surf but was able to swim in to Dillon Beach and at least keep his life. 

   So, tomorrow deep water rockfish (300"+ by the waypoints...) ends and shallow (120' or less, as defined by other waypoints...) starts, again, until the end of the month, when deep water rockfish prevails again and the deep runs out the year. Good for them. Dungeness will open at 12:01 AM on Saturday morning. If history is any indicator, actual catching of Dungeness in Tomales Bay will start slightly earlier, not legally, but it seems like those guys paddling or motoring around at 9:00 PM on Friday may not be waiting. I don't know, but I haven't seen the CDFW out checking, either, so... Maybe everybody is just getting ready out there? Or maybe, even if you're being good, don't go early and look like you're breaking the rules. Sometimes perception is reality. If you don't act act like a douchebag, it is less likely that you'll be perceived as a douchebag. Probably. Honestly, I'd be more concerned about the perceptions on other crabbers that are waiting to go. Ever watch any road rage videos? Just saying....Be good, and look good.

     For the record, Dungeness crab opens, as said, at 12:01 AM on Saturday morning. No traps, as there are too many whales, somewhere. The commercial guys are screwed, again, but good for you, sporties! This may be the last year you get that exemption, as next year new rules will apply for rings, as they will be interpreted differently in fall of 2025. It ain't then, yet, so go crabbing this year. The very little scoop that I've heard has been bad. It sounds like there isn't many crab out there. That sucks, but waiting for next year may be worse. Probably it will be fine, but...who knows? The weather this weekend looks less than optimal, but good enough for a damp time on the bay. Outside, maybe on Saturday, but Sunday looks less safe. Both days, be careful in  the afternoon inside Tomales Bay, as the tide will be going out pretty fast, carrying the unprepared out to sea and some big surf. Let's not do that. Be safe, be careful, and think twice at least. Please. Also, no traps, hoops (rings and conicals) and snares only, until the whales leave and commercials get the okay. Maybe New Year's. 

     "Wow! The halibut went back on the bite!", is what everyone fishing this weekend hoped I'd be reporting today. Instead, I can say that it seems the halibut bite may be over. Having said that, I look forward to the halibut reports coming in over the next few weeks in order to make me wrong. I shall revel in my incorrectness. Over this weekend the only catching in the bay was of thresher sharks and silver salmon. Good fun, but not the halibut we were looking for. The threshers and salmon were caught near Pelican Point, but targeting coho is probably not a good idea, legally. Officially, don't do it. But if you're fishing in the bay in October or November, don't keep the salmon.  Wrong kind, even if salmon was open.

    Saturday, Dungeness opens here. No traps, as expected and as has happened in recent memory. Same as it ever was...  The commercial guys and the trap guys will have their chance, probably in late December or January, but for the moment the sporties with hoops should live it up. Changes are in the works for next season. Changes are rarely good. And they won't be.