Two boats fished the Day Beach today.One boat just returned with 2 limits of halibut, the other boat has 2 fish. Maybe halibut isn't over yet. Live jacksmelt, by the way.

Larry Anderson, the Tuna Chaser, had 1 albacore yesterday. Mike Gibson caught 3 halibut off the Day Beach Wednesday and 3 yesterday. Yesterday's fish went 15#, 20.5# and 26.5#. The bar didn't give up any to divers or fishermen, so if you want halibut bring live smelt to the beach.

Wednesday update: The Due Regard, with Lance Seppi, Tom Gerbi and Steve Towne, landed 5 albacore to get high boat for Wednesday. Tad Vogler and Jason Downing had an 18# lingcod caught on live smelt at Elephant along with a 10# ling and some rockcod.

Albacore boats totals: 0, 1, 2, and ?. Fourth boat returned later than I was willing to wait for info. Rockfish are flaky, not biting well in many places but biting very well in others. Personally, I spent a few hours trying different spots until we found a place where the fish didn't care what we threw at threw at them and just bit. 75 minutes, 36 fish. Biggest, an 8-10# vermillion landed by John Davis. Four days to catch rockcod, get 'em while you can!

Unfortunately the weekend's halibut bite died with the weekend. One halibut from the bar in the last two days. Rockfish have been biting, limits for those who tried, although some fishermen had to work harder than others, probably due to the full moon, clear water and fishing shallow. Five more days for rockfish and lingcod. Do it now or do it next year, if they let you.

Rockfish, halibut. Same story, different day. Tom Carter and family scored one halibut on the bar and fed a few others, Mike Gibson of Lodi guided his friend to two halibut, lost one, fed a few others. Other folks who I don't know their names caught fish on the bar today as well, 0-3 fish per boat. Live jacksmelt was the ticket, alhough at least one 24# halibut came on a bucktail this weekend. Rockfish are biting, get 'em while you can. Heard a rumor of salmon being caught here but can't confirm it. Heard a rumor of salmon north moving this way, hope to confirm it, personally if possible. For sure, though, if you want some white meat for the dinner table, now is the time.

Rockfish outside, halibut inside. Not many boats fished today, but those that did caught fish. The bar was good to those that braved the rain. Not sure on exact numbers, but there were several halibut being cleaned in the campground. Cameron and Gage Vogler talked me into taking them fishing after work again today and we caught 22 rockfish between 5:45 and 6:50, not big ones but with only an hour to fish we didn't care about size. Cameron tells me he has to catch two months of rockfish in the next 8 days. Not bad math for a seven-year-old. Probably better math skills than the fish counters at Fish and Game.

Yesterday the halibut were on the bar. One boat had 2, one had 0 and a gentleman from further back in the bay, after catching one fish, had a triple-header. No salmon. Rockfish were biting, I went after work and three of us put 25 fish in the boat in an hour at Elephant Rock. Also, the Tomales Bay Boater's Association has a new web site, www.tomalesbayboat.org , and email mail@tomalesbayboat.org . Check it out, information is being added all the time.

Unfortunately the weather guys were right and the wind reaaly blew hard. Water temp on the bar was 52 today but I hear that a couple of halibut were caught there. No boats have been out since Monday so nothing else to report until today's 3 boats come in.

Sunday saw a few fish, halibut and rockfish, but I heard of a salmon taken in 160' of water on the mooch. Interesting, especially considering that the weather forecast is grim for albacore. Yes, I've got tuna on the brain, but it is a common ailment around here. Let's all hope the weather guys are no better at predicting this week's weather than any other.

No salmon yesterday, a few halibut from Hog Island and very slow rockfish. Of the 5 tuna boats the totals were 0, 2, 4, 7, and 12. Offshore waters were in the mid-60's and blue. Of course, the wind is forecast to blow this week and by the time it ends the water will be different, and not in a good way.

Those of you who clam in Tomales Bay need to know that the Vessel Management Plan proposal includes this wording: "In particular, boaters should be instructed to avoid Hog Island, Pelican Point and tidal sand bars north of Toms Point." (emphasis added) This is to avoid disturbing the seals. If allowed, the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and affiliated agencies will be writing regulations to this end. Since the other clamming islands in the bay are covered by eelgrass that can't be disturbed Clam and Seal Islands will be your only places to dig, only you won't be able to if that gets restricted as well. Please send your comments to:
Miriam Gordon
NOAA Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
991 Marine Drive, The Presidio
San Francisco, CA 94129
(415)561-6622, ext. 333
miriam.f.gordon@noaa.gov

Thursday afternoon saw a 25# salmon come in from 200' of water off Elephant Rock, 130' down. Three halibut from the day beach. Friday saw a few more halibut from the usual locations, a 23# striper from the day beach, a slow rockfish bite and two boats with tuna, one with 2, one with 9, from east of the Gumdrop (60 miles). Six boats went looking for tuna today as the water has pushed up to Cordell Bank. If you want to go for tuna from here better do it tomorrow as the forecast calls for wind starting Monday. If you want to catch rockfish you've got 2 weeks as DFG is going to close it early since too many "endangered" canary rockfish have been caught. Apparently high numbers of fish caught don't mean there are high numbers of fish, it means there are very few according to DFG. Subsequently, there must be millions of salmon since so few are being caught. Gotta love the new math.

Halibut is the game right now. Halibut from Ten Mile, McLure's and the day beach the last few days, 0-3 per boat, mostly live bait trolled or drifted. The salmon are out in 200' of water 50-100' down and there aren't many coming in. Rockfish are finicky right now, if they aren't biting well change tackle or even better, change location. I tried three rocks yesterday before I found one that had hungry fish, finished 14 rocks, 2 ling, 1 halibut from just south of Abbott's.

Those of you who use a boat on Tomales Bay need to be aware that the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is developing a "Vessel Usage Plan" for the bay. Its goals are to reduce impacts to the environment, the eelgrass beds and the bay bottom from boaters. A public meeting will be held on Sept. 25 at the Red Barn in Point Reyes Station at 6:00 PM to hear public comments on their plan (a copy of the plan will be in the boathouse, also available online at http://farallones.noaa.gov/ecosystemprotection/protect_tomalesbay.html). A group is forming to represent boaters, the Tomales Bay Boaters Association. Anyone interested in protecting their rights to boat on the bay should email Mark at TBBAMAIL@gmail.com . There is a meeting of the TBBA tomorrow, 9/11 at 7:30 at the Dance Palace Church in Point Reyes Station, but even if you can't come please email Mark. Numbers are important. Thanks.

Stuart Shockley with his 35# halibut from Ten Mile. Stuart is still smiling even after fishing with Gerard Fitzgerald all day. They also landed two other halibut making an 83# limit. Halibut was the ticket today with most boats catching 1-3 fish. There was one salmon released at the boat on the bar. Rockfish OK, depending on location.

I didn't even hear about a salmon yesterday but halibut came from Ten Mile, McLures, the day beach, the bar and by Hog. Not loads of halibut but 1-4 per boat, all on live bait, smelt or sardines, except one boat had 3 on bucktails. Rockfishing was slow, especially at Point Reyes. Best bet was Elephant. Fish of note: Dave Alexander and crew hooked a thresher shark in 30' of water at the first parking lot and landed it over two hours later 5 miles west of Point Reyes. It was over 12' long and didn't get weighed in as they didn't get back until after 5:00 and we had closed. Landing a fish too big to get in your boat makes for a good fish story and a long day.

Three salmon came in today. Some halibut from the bar and off the day beach. Rockfishing was better closer to Point Reyes. One gentleman had six vermillion in his limit to 8# using metal jigs. Yesterday we had a bad south wind squall blow through at midday and most people quit early but today the weather was nice with a high overcast. The forecast is for some south breezes, if the clouds stay the weather should stay good for fishing.

The water is 10 degrees colder than last week (54 instead of 64) and no bait in the area I passed over in the 40 minutes I looked. Got one halibut on the bar, missed two others. Heard of one other. So, basically, both boats that went out caught.

Pretty windy the last few days. Today I didn't see a fish landed but I left work before the last two hard-core fisherman came in. Yesterday halibut were caught, at Hog Island and at the bar. Tomorrow the forecast is for more wind so I'm going to try the bar. Report later. Or, if I don't say anything about my day fishing, it means I don't want to talk about it.

The wind and sloppy water conditions today didn't stop A.J. Masters from catching this 23# salmon in front of Bird Rock. A.J. says he'll have a halibut for an afternoon photo. Some are being caught, so it could happen.

Aldo Freggario again, this time with a 32# halibut from Ten Mile caught on a smelt. No new fishing news, salmon still coming from Abbott's to Bird, halibut on the beaches, less so in the bay. Rockfish good but not great.