Rejoice, for at last a halibut, a real halibut, has been brought in to Lawson's Landing. It wasn't big but it was big enough and it came from way back in the bay, almost where the bay runs out of water. Water temp back there was in the mid-50's. A few sand sole were landed on the bar. Water temp in the mouth was 49-50. It might be a little while until the halibut bite there. Some dungeness were caught on the pier and lots of reds taken from the other side of the bay. There is a rumor circulating that a boat fishing for halibut on Ten Mile last week caught no flatfish but released two salmon that didn't know they were extinct. Rockfish starts Sunday, rules are the same as last year except it's a maximum depth of 120', not 180'. Remember, fish early and often because we will be lucky if the season lasts through the summer.

In honor of the upcoming rockfish season I give you a link: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/pdfs/ipa_submaps.pdf
These are the probable MPA maps of closures but they also show hard bottom and rocks. The red blobby spots are the places rockfish live. My secret spots are on here. Remember that I'm a giver and good luck fishing.

The dock is in the water, the weather is good, boats are out fishing. What's missing? Only the fish. That shouldn't last too much longer though, as this warm weather is letting the water finally start to get warm. There has been a pretty decent surfperch bite this week, mainly up toward the rocks. The dungeness are active on the pier again. I saw one bucket with four legal dungies in it by noon on Friday.

Those of you planning on boating here this year should remember to check your safety gear. Proper signalling devices (ie., flares) are necessary on boats 16' and over venturing past Sand Point. Life jackets, one for each person on the vessel, and a throwable floatation device need to be on the boat and accessable. The Coast Guard and Park Service have already been inspecting boats this year and will write very expensive tickets for life jacket violations. I heard of a recent $1500.00 ticket. Save money and be safe.

I still haven't seen a halibut here. I probably won't see one this week either if the weather forecast holds. Wind for most of the week, then it gets windier. The wind seems to blow harder when the tides are low and the tides are very low this week, peaking at -1.9 feet on Wednesday. These are great tides for clamming, rockpicking for abalone and pokepoling. The dungeness crabs have gone from slow to slower but there are still some red crabs coming in, especially from boaters trying the other side of the bay.