Nothing much to report as far as landings of fish or crabs go, just the usual red crab in the bay and off the pier and a very few dungeness from outside, mostly down off Ten Mile, and only one boat is going there when the weather occasionally allows. On the MLPA front there are public meetings for comments on the closure areas coming in February. They are tentatively scheduled for evenings on the 4th, 5th, and 6th in Gualala, Bodega Bay and Half Moon Bay. If you can't make it or just need to vent some frustration you can write a note here : http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/publiccomments.asp There is a link near the top of the page. NOTE: Questionable language will not get posted and probably won't get the results you want. Beyond that, let 'em know how you feel. Otherwise, happy holidays and may tackle comprise a significant portion of your presents.

Beautiful weather this weekend, some swell yesterday but flat today, east breeze and high 60's temps. The red crab are biting but the dungeness are still few and far between. Some sharks being caught near Hog Island, not much else going on. At least it's pleasant sitting on the beach.

The oil has not come here and is not expected to reach Tomales Bay in any sizable quantity, so Fish and Game has allowed fishing and crabbing in the area north of Point Reyes, including Dillon Beach and Lawson's Landing. Early reports of Dillon Beach being closed due to oil were plain wrong. That being said, if you visit us in the next few weeks please be aware that a few oiled birds have flown here from the spill area and if you see on oiled bird please report it to the gatehouse workers or the at the store by the pier so help can be arranged. As far as numbers of dungeness crab being caught, those numbers are very few. The commercial crabbing effort will be more concentrated in this area due to the closures to the south, so the few dungeness being caught will likely get fewer. Red crab numbers are OK, especially if you have a boat and work the other side of the bay or along the edge of the eelgrass beds.

There are some crabs out there but not alot of them. Guys who got limits on the opener are down to 2-3 crabs for a 24 hour soak with 8 pots. I don't know if they're still loading up on them off of Carmet but if they are catching any it's probably better than 10-Mile. I personally caught 2 dungeness at Abbott's on Wednesday. I had more weight in shrimp from 3 shrimp pots than from the crab in 9 crab pots. I think I may stick to shrimping for a while.
On another note, the first draft MLPA maps are out at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/nccrsg-options.asp . The first 6 are from the stakeholders group and probably have more weight. Look at all of them and you'll see a pattern. Bye-bye Point Reyes.

Another salmon today, not as big as yesterday's salmon, but any salmon this year is a damn fine fish. Yesterday also saw a pair of 5' leopard sharks landed. Other than that the crabbing was slow on 10 Mile, 0-5 crabs per pot, the average being closer to 0. Supposedly the Bodega boats are doing well off of Salmon Creek and Carmet if you can find room between the buoys. The weather is beautiful at least, warm air and flat water, so at least the trip out and back is pleasant.

Most boats who crabbed at 10 Mile caught 3-5 crab per pot and did better in 60-120' of water south of Abbotts. Several boats reported seeing a lot of bait out deeper and one boat landed an 18# salmon while waiting for his pots to fill. Larry Anderson filled a 5 gallon bucket halfway up with coonstripe shrimp as well as catching a few dungeness crab. Not too bad a day if you could get across the bar.

The bar is breaking off and on but one boat has already returned with crab. Two day soak, 40' of water, no crab. 120' of water, 5 crab per pot average. Not great for the opener but it probably won't get better as we get further into the season. More reports to follow.

No fishing to report, just a heads up that the ocean may be rougher than we'd like. 8-10' swells predicted for Friday and Saturday which could mean breaking waves on the bar which would mean bad things indeed if you caught one any way but exactly right. I don't know what exactly right is, so I'm not going if the bar is breaking and I'd suggest the same to everyone else. Check the conditions before you launch, and if it's bad, go to Bodega Bay.

Mike Gibson caught another halibut off the Day Beach on Saturday. Size in the teens. Even though it was Mike's only bite he's out trying again today. Also on Saturday two men out for a camping trip on the National Seashore ended up in the water after their canoe tipped over in the mouth of the bay. People on the beach heard their yells for help and Nate Porter and Bill George of Lawson's Landing launched the rescue boat and pulled the men from the water. The two men were transported to the hospital for hypothermia but returned later in the evening to collect their canoe.

No fish this weekend that I've heard of. 13 days until dungeness season and I've noticed a few legal sized crabs in the nets on the pier. Most importantly, Jerrie Carter caught last weekend's halibut, Tom was a good netter, not catcher. Other news, Lawson's Landing beach was listed as one of the cleanest in the state by the Natural Resources Defense Council and as written in the San Francisco Chronicle on Oct. 19.

In the past 11 days one halibut was caught on the bar by Tom Carter, or at least that's what I heard. Someone else caught and released a steelhead while fishing for halibut. Larry Anderson caught a few coonstripe shrimp out off Bird. White shark researchers are tagging/filming just off Tomales Point. That's the fishing report. 16 days until dungeness season. Yes, I'm counting down.

Not too many fishermen going out now and even less fish coming in. Saturday, 6 boats, no fish. Sunday, 5 boats, one 23# halibut on the bar. Congrats again Mike Gibson. Forecast for this week: rain, wind, big seas. I may actually have to work on my house instead of fish.

The fishing report is....wind. Tuesday Dale Fortner caught a salmon off the Russian River and released a shorty. Wednesday I tried for halibut in the bay until the wind blew me back in. It did't take too long. Yesterday and today, wind. The weekend may not be as windy if the forecast is correct. There could still be a few halibut around and, weather permitting, I want to see if those sanddabs are as tasty as I hear.

The wind blew on Friday night and Saturday making the water colder and slowing the halibut bite, but Frank Green still caught 3 on Saturday, 1 on Sunday, from the Day Beach. Then Frank towed his boat home for the season, claiming he caught the last one. I think there might be a few more out there and, weather permitting, I'll try to prove it. The rockfish season is now over so the counts from the weekend don't really matter, but most boats caught their limits. On that note, when a fish counter asks how many canary rockfish you threw back the numbers you give them are used not to tell the PFMC how plentiful canary rockfish are but to estimate the number that die after release so the season can be closed early to save them. Knowing this now I think I know what my future answers will be.
Also, some salmon being taken up off the Russian River. Maybe moving this way? Even if they're not the River isn't too far.

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.

Very nice salmon from Abbot's Lagoon to Bird Rock, just not a lot of them. Marginally better bite at the Abbot's end, 40-60' of water. Many boats without salmon but those that caught had a good grade of fish. Halibut on Ten Mile beach, McLures and a few back by Hog. Rockfish, non-existant to good depending on who you asked.

More salmon have been landed the last few days. The Alley Cat brought in four today. Dan Crosby limited out by 10:00 AM yesterday. More boats went without salmon than caught salmon, but it's still far better fishing than it was a few weeks ago when there were none. Brown water, 60-65 degrees, bait everywhere, birds working, etc. Just not many hungry fish. Some halibut coming in from everywhere but in the bay. McLure's, Ten Mile, the Keys, etc. have had a few halibut. Wind forecast for the weekend, if it happens and the water cools off we could see a spot of fish on the bar. Rockfishing has been pretty good with some larger lings starting to move in.

John Rosasco with a 24# salmon. John and Tom Gerbi caught 3 salmon, lost a 4th, on monday in 60' of water at the north end of Driftwood beach. Watermelon Krippled Anchovy near the bottom. Again, some boats caught, some not, these gentlemen doing better than most.

Aldo Freggario proving that there's still a few salmon out there. 30#, south of the Trees, anchovie in a clear FBR.

Sunday totals: about half of the boats trying for salmon caught fish. The bite has been early and late, 80 to 140 feet on water, 20 to 100 feet down. I finally caught two last night on my third night of fishing. Three halibut on live sardines at the Keyholes. One on the bar. Rockfish, slow to limits depending on which boat I talked to.

Thankfully, John Kuhlman is a better fisherman than I am a photographer. That's a 40# salmon in his hands. Nice work Mr. Kuhlman.

Terry Brodsky and her 35# salmon. Tom Brodsky (unpictured) caught a 24 pounder. Trees area again.

Vern Sasaki with a 31# dressed salmon. Vern landed this one and another over 20# this morning just below the Trees in 80' of water. At least three boats caught limits of salmon there yesterday and a fair number were caught by some other boats. It's not red hot but the fish are big and biting and it's a lot closer than Eureka. I only heard of two halibut caught yesterday and the rockfish bite was slow for the guys I talked to. If you want a salmon before they hit the river, nows the time.

Bruce Hopperstad of Lodi with a 22 and 30 mooched up in 200' of water. Bruce saw birds working and ran to them, putting his baits 35' down below the boiling baitfish.

Collin Cornett and his first fish, a 30# king from 80' of water, 3 miles from Tomales Point.

Mike Garello with his 44# salmon. Mike was fishing between McLures and the Trees in 65' of water, 50' down on the wire, chartruese Krippled Anchovie loaded with small herring, and also caught a 35# salmon. Looks like there's a few fish around.

Friday saw a strong south wind that made the fishing difficult. One halibut on the bar. Some salmon, 300'-360' of water, down deep. Strong rumors of other, larger salmon from much closer. Brown water inshore and many schools of bait. Good forecast through Wednesday. It's the right time for the salmon to start moving through on their way to the river. Returning boats this afternoon will tell.

Most of the boats are in already (not that many went out) and nobody had a fish. The wind kept everyone in the bay and cooled the water off. Good forecast for the next few days, if it holds we'll see more fish come in.

The water finally browned up today. Too bad the wind is rapidly turning it back to clear and cold. The wind also prevented anyone from getting out today, but a few boats got halibut on the bar. Joe King and Scott McHale had 4 halibut between 8 and 15 pounds. They said they missed a few other bites. All fish on live jacksmelt and lightweight gear. The tides are good for fishing the bar this week even if the water may not be as good. No salmon or rockcod today.

One boat limited on salmon (that's more than one, Got One) in 315' water. Boats on the bar averaged one flatfish per. Rumored halibut off of the front beach. Rockfish bite slow. Shark bite in bay good if you know what you're doing, many leopards, way to many dogfish.

Monday update: Nate Porter caught two albacore, not one. Sorry Mr. Porter.

Sunday report: Heard of a salmon taken at Point Reyes on rockfish gear. One boat limited on salmon at 350' of water, 200' down on the wire (he was fishing alone). Tuna trips: no fish.
Monday report: One boat had two halibut on the bar ( nice work Tom Carter) another had one. Four boats went for albacore today, I spoke with first one back. Congratulations Gerard Fitzgerald, high boat with 6. Gerard claims to have had a quad and two doubles, landing two of four by himself. Nate Porter 1, Tom Gerbi and crew 3, John Brezina, maybe next time. These numbers from Gerard who left early, if they change I will correct the record tomorrow.

Saturday report: One boat had two halibut trolling 10 Mile. Divers shot a few others on the bar. No salmon. Some rockfish. Beautiful weather today, several boats went to Point Reyes for rockfish, two boats went out for albacore, one off the canyon, one towards the Gumdrop. Forecast good for tomorrow as well, other boats talking tuna trip. Report later.

Wind. Cold, clear water. No bait. One halibut from the bar. Less wind forecast for the weekend. No worries, fishing can't get much worse.

Windy today. Six boats went out. The lucky ones caught rockfish. The others, not so much. Please, Mr. Wind, stop. Stop!

Sorry about the wait, I've been waiting for something to report. Here's all I've got: one commercial boat had 3 nice salmon at the Keyholes on Tuesday. That's it. Cold, clear water, no bait, no fish. More wind forecast until Sunday. How about those surfperch?

Sunday totals: 3 halibut on one boat from "the beach", a couple other halibut taken, mostly speared. Some rockfish. No salmon.
Monday totals: a little halibut bite on the bar at the turn of the tide, a white sea bass from Pelican Point, slow rockfish bite, no salmon.

No salmon today. Very few halibut. Probably 30+ divers tried the bar today for a handful of halibut. One boat with 3 halibut from Ten Mile beach and a slow, wet ride home. Windy. A few rockfish caught due to a fast drift. Supposedly better weather tomorrow.

Friday's report: a few salmon, a few halibut, some rockfish. Salmon from the Keyholes and Abbot's Lagoon area, 50' of water, lots of bait and brown water, not to many salmon but more than anywhere else. Halibut caught on both sides of Hog, mostly the south side, live smelt preferred. Rockfish were better in the deeper water if you could slow your drift. Wind forecasted for Saturday, less for Sunday (10-20 knots).

Thursday's fishing was slow for most. Most boats, myself included, went out for salmon and felt fortunate to come home with some rockfish for dinner. Marty Medin landed a 44# salmon at the north parking lot on Ten Mile and a few other salmon were caught but those were the exceptions. A few halibut from the north end of Ten Mile. Slow on the bar and by Hog Island. Thank god for rockfish.

I left work early so I don't know the final totals, but as of 4PM, some salmon were caught, more than on Tuesday, probably from near Point Reyes but I'm not sure. Very slow on halibut. Rockfish, OK. Lings showing up now, especially near Point Reyes. Nathan had 3 albacore caught as close as 31 miles out off of Fanny Shoals. The weather on the outside was choppy enough that raingear had to be worn due to constant spray. Still, first tuna landed at Lawson's Landing in two years.

If there are waves of salmon moving through then this must be the trough. Three salmon that I heard of, a 12# caught just off Tomales Point and two just legal from the Keyholes. Halibut were caught at the turn of the low tide, 2:00-3:30 PM, two boats had 3 fish each. Nathan Porter went out for tuna today, let's hope for some action there. The most consistent action yesterday was surfperch.

A few salmon today, very few halibut. Most boats that didn't include rockfish in their fishing got nothing. One commercial boat had 4 salmon, all big (30+) and said he broke off a few others. Popular opinion here is that, even though it is early August, it is classic late-season salmon fishing. Fish come through in waves, mostly in the shallow water (20-50'), moving north to south, usually near the bottom. Work the reefs, especially the drop-offs. Probably you won't catch, but if you are lucky (always important when fishing) you'll get a big'un. I personally like the late-season bite. If you don't catch, nobody blames you, you're not expected to catch. If you do catch, you're a hero. Who doesn't want to be a hero?

Far less fisherman today, some folks had a hard day yesterday (and some had a harder night). Those few that got lines in the water early caught a salmon or two. The others, not so much. I heard of a few halibut on the bar but didn't see them. Other than that, the only other thing to report is that some people had some gear stolen from their camps last night. The thieves were found by some of the people summering here and most of the property was returned. The rest is in the possession of the Marin County Sheriff's Department, reachable at (415)499-7284. If you had something stolen call them with a description. No guessing.

More Saturday photos

Saturday photos

P. M. Huston with his 43.5 pound salmon from near the Tomales whistle.

I only saw one halibut today. Salmon were much more plentiful, even though a third to half of the boats salmon fishing didn't catch. Those that did catch caught large fish, high teens to mid-forties. At least 3 salmon over 40# came in today, one boat having a 41# and 43# plus two fish in the 30# range. P. M. Huston weighed in a 43.5# king. The water was on the rough side but since the fish were close many people stuck it out. One boat went south of Point Reyes, then discovered that the morning's sloppy weather got worse, preventing his return past the Point. Friends were dispatched to retrieve him. Lesson: don't do that.

Yesterday's final totals were not as good as the early boat's scores. Most boats that fished the 50 foot line had salmon but only a few limited out. The bite was early, slowing after 10:00 AM. Anchovies and watermelon Apex. Halibut was very slow, only one weighed in from the bar (22#) and some divers reported that after 4 hours on the bar they had seen nothing to spear. Rockfish was good at Point Reyes, slower elsewhere. 75+ boats launched today so if there's a good bite somewhere we'll know by this afternoon.

The salmon are biting in 50-90 feet of water, Elephant Rock to Bodega Head, 25' down, anchovies and watermelon Apex. Marsha Engelbrecht shows off her fish up to 33# from off Tomales Point while John Brezina, her netter, shows off his fish.

Salmon returning to the beach?

The best place to fish today was on Don Meier's boat. Four salmon to 42# and limited out before noon. Mr. Meier was in 50' of water off of McLures Beach. So were several other boats, but nobody else came close. Next best that I heard of was two salmon to 33# from the outer bell buoy. Some other salmon came from 50-ish feet of water at Elephant Rock. It's not red hot but the feeling around here is if the wind lays off we should see a good inshore bite by late this weekend or maybe early next week. A few halibut on the bar today and a few others from past Pt. Reyes. Rockfish, slow but steady. Rockfish of note: Stacy Barton's boat brought back a tiger rockfish yesterday and a treefish today. We're interested in seeing what he brings in tomorrow.

The salmon are still out in 300+ feet of water but the fishing is spotty. Some good fisherman limited out ( while sorting through shorties and silvers to get 4 decent fish )while other good fisherman got skunked. Slow halibut fishing by Hog Island but fair fishing on the bar at the turn of the tides. Nathan Porter used a fly rod to land a 29.5# slab in 35' of water in front of the bar. Cameron Vogler reeled in a limit of flatties from the shallows on top of the bar. All halibut caught on jacksmelt. Rockfish is OK, slow steady bite with many short lings and supposedly "endangered" canaries being tossed back.

The ocean still had a bit of a lump today so only a few boats went out. No salmon that I heard about. A few halibut, the keepers from around Hog Island, shorties from Marshall. The forecast is good for Wed-Thurs if you can believe the weatherman. The water temp has cooled down to 51 degrees but given a few days without wind (we should be so lucky) the feeling is the salmon should make another appearance. It probably wouldn't hurt the halibut fishing either.

The wind blew offshore today, making it unpleasant at best on the ocean. Most boats stayed in the bay for a few halibut. Cold water made for slow fishing. By this evening the weather was beautiful, so even though the weatherman is calling for wind maybe we'll get lucky and still get some inshore fishing in.

Wind again today and it's predicted to blow through Tuesday. One salmon from 300' and he earned it (gusts to 30 knots, seas 9' at 7 seconds). Halibut still coming in, bar and Hog Island, nice fish but not alot of them. Way less sharks at least. Rockfish was ok Saturday but few boats ventured out today.

Attention salmon fans: boats are returning with limits from 300' of water due west of Tomales Point (that's in the area of 13 and 10 ). Many small fish with some better ones mixed in.

The salmon are back, not biting like pirahna, but back. The average was probably around a fish per boat. Mr. King and Mr. Gerbi had 3 fish from the deep water (lots of bait out there) and lesser numbers came from the beach. Halibut slowed a bit, but so did the sharks, so it kind of evened out. Rockfish was good today but some fisherman had to switch from jigs to bait to make it happen.

The wind eased up today and a few boats went out for salmon but no luck.Halibut on the bar and biting jacksmelt.Dogfish sharks are thick. Bring lots of bait and rigs, you'll need them. We sifted through 25+ sharks to get 3 halibut totalling 65#.

A few more halibut today despite the wind. More wind for the forecast period, that is, through Saturday, if the meteorologists are right. Too much of this wind could slow down the halibut bite. Nathan and Willy will be trying for flatfish tomorrow and hoping the bite lasts a bit longer. Report tomorrow.

Very few salmon landed last weekend, heard of a small bite at the north end of Ten Mile but that's it. Halibut on the bar. Mike Gibson of Lodi caught a 64# limit of halibut on Sunday. Today it's windy and the bar looks like it wants to break but there are boats out fishing it.

Let's talk halibut since there were so few salmon the last two days. Halibut made a good showing on the bar the last few days, mostly live bait, some jigging. Be there and ready for the turn of the tide or don't bother going. Congratulations to Rich Sheldon who caught a 34# salmon on 10-Mile when no one else could. The rest of the salmon (what few there were) came out deep, 180-360' of water, 100-250' down. Decent lingcod from the Point Reyes area, none weighed over 20# but quite a few 8-14# fish. Dogfish shark ruining the fishing on the beach and, for those interested, I saw a Lawson's rental boat loaded with leopard shark today.

The wind chased most of the boats off of the water early yesterday with most boats getiing 0-1 salmon on the beach. There was less bait in the shallows, no birds, just sharks. There are reports of salmon out at 300'and the New Sea Angler limiting in 120' of water off Abbots Lagoon. The forecast for Saturday is for 5-15 knots of wind so there should be a good fleet to find them.

Sorry I'm late but I had fish to clean, 7 salmon, 14 rockcod. Salmon, legal to 41# halfway down 10-mile beach. Today the bait was not in the shallows and the poats were blown off the water by noon but yesterday most boats had fish with many fish lost due to their size. I personally almost ran out of lures to throw at them, I guess my knots need work, but I only caught sharks on bait. Lots of bait out in 100-150' of water, let's hope it moves in again.

Salmon at the Keyholes, 70' of water, 35' down. So far today we've weighed a 35#, a 37# and a 44# king along with some in the 20's all caught there. Those of you who get the day off, I'll see you on the water tomorrow.

Monday was windy and no one left the bay, so no salmon report. A sevengill (or cow)shark weighing over 150# was caught in the bay. Today the wind is down so boats are heading out. Report later.

Monday was windy so no one went outside the bay. The only fish weighed in was a 150+# sevengill (or cow)shark caught in the bay on a salmon belly. Boats are heading out today so we should have a report later.

Congratulations to Lance Seppi. Quite a few large salmon were brought in yesterday but Lance's 42# king topped them all. A gentleman on Saturday came in with a fish he said weighed 45.7# on his scale but it was to late to go on our scale, so Lance holds title to largest weighed in by Lawson's Landing this season. Watch out Lance, the season is still young. While the 45# fish came from 100' down in 300' of water most of the fish landed Sunday were caught inshore, from 25' to 120' of water, from Tomales Point to just below the Keyholes. Halibut fishing was slow in the bay but now that the water is warming up they should really start moving in. Shiner perch for halibut bait are being caught on the pier so halibut should be showing on the bar as well.

Well, the final numbers for today weren't as good as they had seemed earlier. A few guys limited out early but most folks were lucky to scratch up a couple. There was a good morning bite at the Keyholes in 60 to 100 feet of water (depending on who was telling the story) but the bite didn't last. A few halibut came off of the north end of Ten Mile and some others from around Hog. Rockfishing was tough due to a strong current.

Morning update

Friday's fishing was OK with a few boats limiting out but most people getting a few. The salmon bit is still best around 300' of water but nice fish were caught in as close as 100'. At 300' the fish are coming at 100' down, they're feeding on large sardines and are biting anchovies, sardines and, of course, watermelon Apex. Dogfish shark are a nuisance but aren't hitting lures as much as they like the bait. A 30# halibut was caught at the Keyholes on a live sardine and there were some taken by Hog Island. In the last half-hour three boats have already returned with limits of salmon, so the bite is still on.

The salmon bite is on!

The water finally laid down and the salmon started biting! The most consistent bite has been around the 50 fathom (300 foot) line. On Wednesday the 11th the fleet extended from below Point Reyes to off of Bodega Head, easily 20 miles long, and four miles wide where I ran through it. Almost everybody caught fish and many boats were throwing back legal fish trying to find a trophy. Today the bite slowed a bit, but everyone who went out past 200' of water had fish. The fish seem to have spread out from the area where they were found on Monday and it may indicate the school is spreading out. A salmon was caught in the mouth of the bay (along with a halibut) and Tom McHale of Dillon Beach caught a 37# salmon in 30' of water on 10 Mile Beach. Tom won't say exactly where he caught it, but it bit a watermelon Krippled Anchovie. Some halibut are being caught in Tomales Bay, mostly around Hog Island and a few on the bar. Nobody's limiting out on halibut yet but the average size is good and it only takes one 20# flatty to make your day.