You can tell that we are entering the time of year that has the really good clam tides, as the California Department of Public Health has issued a press release, repeated here by CDFW: 

"CDPH Warns Consumers Not to Eat Sport-Harvested Bivalve Shellfish from Marin and San Mateo Counties

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is advising consumers not to eat sport-harvested mussels, clams, scallops, or oysters from Marin and San Mateo counties.

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

PSP 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 subject 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. "   

    So you can still dig clams here. You just can't eat them. Apparently, across Bodega Bay in Bodega Harbor it is in Sonoma County and the PSP neurotoxin stops at the county line, so good to go for digestion. According to the press release, clams have not actually been tested. I may dig some up for testing if the State wishes and if a good test would clear the clams. To be determined. But for now, don't eat the clams from here.

     Here it is! Halibut time in Tomales is here! Well,.....no. San Francisco Bay has started in the last couple of weeks and we're generally 4 to 6 weeks behind them.  We're coming. This 16 pound halibut was caught today in the ocean, where they always are. This fish required around five hours to catch it. That ain't good, and this was Gage, and most of us aren't Gage (Thank Jesus. One is insufferable). So, they're coming, but it ain't time yet. This is a sneak peek. Soon, my friends. 

     

   Maybe not the best picture, but it's a picture of a surf-caught steelhead from Dillon Beach, so it really doesn't need to be the best. Statistically, this is lightning striking someone twice in two days in different locations. More people die every year from lightning strikes in the US than people catch steelhead here. Way, way more. Thanks for the picture, Doug, and man in the picture, well, should have bought a lottery ticket. I mean, good work and all, but I'd take the money and blow it on fishing, you unicorn-grasping fellow. Finally a fish picture without Gage! There are a few surfperch being caught now and some jacksmelt inside the bay but we're still waiting for the good stuff to start later on this season. They're coming. I'm already tying up leaders. 

     On the crabbing front, things may be turning, as they should by the calendar. Outside, the few commercial guys still fishing (the ones I know have already stacked their gear as the crab versus diesel math didn't work out in their favor, but they still talk to the other guys, and luckily, me too) have started picking up enough crab to actually pay the diesel bill, plus some. Part of that is that Dungeness got so hard to catch that the price went up on them, but that happened several weeks ago. Now there's a few more crab in the pots, not a lot but enough to pay the diesel bill, and a true fisherman needs only that. Well, that and an income enough to pay the bills in California, so maybe its a lot of crab. They aren't in the bay yet, but a few guys did okay inside the bay today. Not a lot, but dinner of Dungeness, and that's pretty good. 

     Rockfish, all depths, opens on April 1st. I lead with this, as I heard you should start with the good news first. Crabbing has been bad and would only be worse if you had to make a living off catching crab. Even the sneaky spot for crab, "danger close" to the surf off of Dillon Beach has been drained of any reason to be that close to breakers. Good place to lose gear to sanding in, still, as hydrodynamics and sand movement don't change. The last report I had from there was ten pots soaking for five days with eight Dungeness. Better than nothing but that's less than 1 crab per 6 pot/days. No bueno. There's supposedly a wave of hot water working its way here from Southern California, as their water is 5+ degrees warmer than usual for the time of year, and our had been too, but spring upwelling winds had dropped our temps to close to normal, or what scientists call "cold." They could warm pretty quickly if the wind quits, but for now the water is closer to normal than Niño. The wind-driven upwelling and cold water does bring up the mineral-rich water from the very bottom of the sea and allow a bloom of life. It's good to remember that, when it also means that the water is cold and potentially fatal if you spend to many unprotected minutes in it. Last weekend a couple of kayakers near Marshall rolled over in the wind and one of them died. The water is cold. Please dress appropriately. I don't know the specifics of the sad event but it seems that wetsuits (or dry suits) and properly fitted life jackets would have helped. They almost never hurt. We had a kayaker roll over here a little before four in the afternoon the same day but somebody saw him do it and came in to the office. Luckily, John Daleuski has just returned from town with his now fully-fueled Whaler, and Gage dispatched him to the scene. Our kayaker lived, grudgingly, as he didn't think he needed rescue (Counterpoint: clinging to your boat while it drifts is not self-rescue. It's not dying as quick. If you're not making for shore you're dying, eventually. FYI). Good work, Johnny-on-the-Spot. Our Mr. Daleuski has another nickname here but he's working hard on the Johnny-on-the-Spot one taking over the other one. A few more rescues might do it. Fingers crossed, Johnny.

     Crabbing? Not awesome, Fishing? Mostly similar, although there are a few surfperch and jacksmelt being caught. Halibut? Not for our Gage at McClure's or Inverness, but there's a separate report from Hunter Smith.: "Went Tuesday for two limits in twenty five and thirty five feet at mcClures . 28” to 31” all fine fish. Great conditions and the Solunar tables were dead on.   Hunter" So there's fish, but not all the time. Those same solunar tables let Gage down the next day. There's fish, but they aren't easy. Luckily rockfish opens in April. 

     Crabbing is still slow but not dead. The Dungeness have been clutching, as they tend to around this time of year, but that should be ending and they can go back to eating. Luckily, not all the crab are interested in making little crabs, so there's still been some Dungeness getting caught. Crab snares are catching some but not as many as the boats, as usual. The whales are on their way back and traps will probably close here next month, as they're already closing traps below Pigeon Point on March 27th at 6:00 PM. If you haven't used your traps yet this year I'd plan on doing it before tax day. 

    There will be salmon season this year. It will open on April 11 and close on May 15 below Pigeon Point. The season post-May 15 is to be determined. In the San Francisco sub-area, Point Arena to Pigeon Point, it appears that our season will start in either May or June with a few weeks on and a few weeks off until the quota of 31,200 to 34,000 salmon are close to being caught, in which case the season will end. We may even get a second chance at them in September for a second quota of 20,000 fish. Of course, all this can change.