Gage found a keeper in the surf on his lunch break. It bit a Kastmaster. There's a few around. 

Cameron and I went out fishing after work and caught one keeper and released a dozen shorts by Inverness. Not awesome but dinner tomorrow for my mother-in-law, so not nothing for sure. Also, Cameron had forgotten about early season halibut action and sullen went to smiling pretty quick with four bites in five minutes. It was never as good again, but when is it, ever. There's fish, and there's keepers,  but they're not awesome unless you're fishing here when they are. We hit a awesome patch. Good times.

 

     I may have to change the name of this blog to the Branden Mendoza Report. His report from yesterday: "Hey Willy we made a late run today. Got out on the water at about noon. Trolled from hog Island down to Marshall. We hooked 3 shorties and one keeper 28". We ran our usual flashers and hootchies." Very nice job, sir. I haven't heard of a ton of fish in the bay but there are fish being caught and some of them are actually big enough. It's still early and it should improve.

      This boat was spotted off of Tomales Point today. Does this mean the squid are here? Well, somebody who has a job chasing squid thinks it's a possibility. And, sooner or later, there probably will be some squid. 

       Commercial salmon season has opened as of May 1. Catching, so far, has been slow, been the weather has limited their options. Tomorrow the weather looks good so hopefully the commercials can figure out where the fish are, if there are any in concentrations above a handful. It may be that we all have to wait for the late season for the fish to really come in, or maybe the late season will have water too warm for salmon. Or maybe the water will be warm and the salmon are okay with it but we're all distracted with other fish that warm water provides. Or maybe we just wait and see. 

 

    Gage isn't the only one catching some halibut in Tomales Bay. Branden Mendoza sent over this report: "Hey Willy. Went out for our first troll of the season today. Trolled from hog Island to Inverness for two shorts and one 24 1/2in halibut. We ran dodgers with hootches trailing. We called it a successful first trip." As you should. Catching is success. Nice work. I heard of no other fish over the weekend, but i also saw very very fee boats out trying for halibut. Crab was king again, at least as far as effort. Catching? Maybe shoulda been halibut fishing. Dungeness is still very slow in the bay. Halibut ain't on fire, but.... I guess that in my mind a halibut skunk is easier to take than a crab skunk, and right now both are possible so my ego wants the easier one. 

     Also, there's some bait entering the bay. Not as much as one would want (it almost never is) but there's small critters, if the birds don't eat them all. Check out this video from a drone yesterday. You've seen birds working before, I'm sure, but this was off of Dillon Beach, and as the tide ran out the birds followed the fish into the bay. Where we want them.  Link: https://youtu.be/1zES8uA8DD4?si=P8rBhpjMEbww8Xon

     Gage is declaring halibut season a go on Tomales Bay. I guess it only takes one him catching one to make it official in his mind, but he did catch a keeper in the bay this morning. There were several other halibut caught, one close to legal, the rest so small as to be clearly short and not boated. The "close-to-legal" is a guess, as he was an attempted boat flip and unintentional release. Still, not a bad day on the bay, and fish are present. We didn't get bit until we hit 60º surface temp water which had made its way as far as Hog by low tide today. We had a sabiki out while we trolled and ended up with a half-dozen jacksmelt and three sardines. Sardines are......interesting. We only saw a few little clumps of bait, so it ain't thick, but maybe it will be? It's nice to dream. I think that the one-acre school of bait we saw coming in last Thursday was partially sardines and they have spread through the bay in a layer so thin as to be unremarkable. Yet I remark. I love live sardines for bait. Best. Bait. Ever. Cross your fingers, consult your God, whatever, but hope for more. Putting a live sardine on your hook on the bay is like putting a quarter in a vending machine in the store lobby in 1985. You're gonna catch something. 

     Dungeness crabbing has started to slowly pick up, so that's why the commercial season is being closed. Or, it just seems like that to the commercial guys with traps. They have to have their gear retrieved by 6 PM April 30. Sport traps will remain acceptable in our area until we told otherwise, but probably in May. The strange reason why we are allowed to use traps and the commercials aren't is because some of the commercial guys went ahead and purchased so-called "ropeless" gear that they could theoretically use when whales were around without entangling a cetacean. Theoretically because they haven't had many opportunities to use this gear yet, and considering what they paid for it, they're a bit anxious. So, the whales aren't really here, but they could show up soon, and these guys paid a bunch of money and were promised an opportunity, they get to go and we get to go, until whales are actually here, and then it'll be just them and us with hoops. Clear as mud.

    On the subject of simple regulations, salmon will be open here from June 27 through July 22, and then reopen again on August 1 through August 31, unless the quota of 34,900 salmon are caught or are close to being caught. The quota is for the area between Gualala and Pigeon Point, so it includes the San Francisco Bay area, Half Moon Bay, and Bodega and Tomales Bays. Last year, 14,000 salmon were caught in four days. If fishing is good, the season will not make it to the end. On the other hand, the Great Blob of 2026 is happening, creating a marine heat wave that is, well, precedented, but certainly alarming. It looks a lot like 2015. That year was tough fishing in the shallows as the water surface temps hit 65º by late July. Bad for salmon but good for yellowtail, bluefin, bonito, and white sea bass. So maybe we'll get a full season for salmon because we can't catch them. Seems about right. They're catching more bonito in Santa Cruz right now than salmon, so.... Also, San Diego boats are catching yellowfin and dorado like it's late August. Things are messed up. Welcome to California.