Gage and I tried for halibut yesterday, trolling 40 to 60 feet of water on McClure's and the Keyholes for four hours for no bites. We left and went rockfishing off of Ten Mile. First stop we found schooling fish and limited on nice canaries within five minutes. Vermilion limits took another ten minutes. Then we moved around a bunch looking for schoolies as we are picky and school fish clean easier than the spiky devils. Another hour and we quit with seven black rockfish and three lingcod to join the orange fish and returned more than we kept, mostly browns, coppers, canaries and vermilion. We stopped by the sand point (what's left of it) and tried for stripers for no bites but heard later that one was caught from shore there just before we arrived.  

 

I didn't check my email before I posted last night and missed this report from Danielle Magenheimer: "21 inch Striper caught by swim bait over the weekend ".  Finally a surf striper. That's two fish pictures in two weeks. It's busting wide open! Or something.  Good work on the fish. There aren't many of them, yet.

   So there were some more halibut caught in the bay this weekend. I've learned a bit, and it turns out, whatever I say is probably crap, as it seems my prediction model has failed this year, but failed in the way you want it to fail, as in it under-predicts. There are halibut being caught now in Tomales Bay, not many, and not good, but fish, and some of them legal. So it's not that there's no fish, it's just mostly bad. Longer days will will bring better odds and success. Ocean rockfish is open and they're biting, deep and shallow. Shallow are fun, and deep are more numerous and more expensive to get to (gas prices) so good for them. 

   In the halibut realm, I heard of a keeper by Inverness and a witnessed lost jumbo by a kayaker at Hog in the last few days. I don't think that, makes halibut "Game on!" in Tomales but it bodes well. The good times are coming, although I don't think that three years of no salmon and all halibut bode well for an awesome halibut year. All halibut and no salmon make Jack a dull boy, and makes a fish that reproduces and grows very slowly a punching bag for sport fishermen eager to catch something. I'm totally guilty of that, and three years of laser focus on halibut have made us pretty good halibut fishermen, way better than before when we had other distractions. We still caught pretty regular last year, but that's because we fished for halibut. Every. Day. Or pretty much that much. And at a certain point, we left the bay as the easy water had been played out. It will be worse this year, probably. Or not, it's fishing, but it seems to me that too much pressure on one fish leads to, well, less fish. That sucks for all of us. I hope that we get a relatively decent salmon season, both for my sake and for the poor halibut. Because I learned some things last year, and I can't share them, nor should I, as if they're good for me they'd be bad for halibut in general if the word got out. Okay, here's the biggest thing I learned last year: If you've ever seen rockcod suspended over a rock in shallow water, you can use the same knowledge to see suspended halibut feeding actively over a sand bottom. Who knew that dropping in an actively feeding, out of the sand halibut would result in multiple hookups? I've only seen it a few times. but holy crap, they bite. Don't tell Gage I said this.

 

Zachary caught the first Hog Island halibut I've heard of this season. It was 23 inches long. Happy Birthday, Zachary. Being a year older today probably made the difference and got that halibut to bite. Nice job Zachary! And good work for your support group. 

     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.