It is very windy today and is forecast to continue tonight, but tomorrow and Friday are supposed to be really nice days. The pier will probably be fairly crowded over the weekend with the weekend regulars (who have been catching pretty steadily) having to share the rails with the holiday campers. Casting snares from the beach may be a better way to catch your Dungeness crab. Also, keep an eye out for the California Gray Whale that has been feeding inside the bay for the last month or so. It passed by the pier around noon yesterday and can be spotted from the beach about every other day. By boat you are sure to see it.

The Dungeness crabbing from the pier is still pretty good for those in the know. A few of those "knowers" caught limits last week. For the rest of us it is spotty. The bay slowed down with a lot more red crab showing up where there were only Dungeness a few weeks before. The outer bay is still producing crabs but the quality and numbers have dropped off. If your expectations aren't too high you should leave satisfied.

Not too much different to report. The Dungeness catch numbers have dipped a bit more but are still better than average. The outer bay has slowed down quite a bit and some of the guys are talking about heading back down to Ten Mile. The pier is pretty consistent, slow and relatively steady. The size of the crabs is a bit smaller than earlier in the season. For next year, there will be changes to the regulations regarding groundfish (rockfish and lingcod) but the new rules won't go into effect on January 1st. Fish and Game will let us know when they will apply. Stay tuned.

Not too much to report except that yesterday a couple braved the rain to catch 16 Dungeness off the pier in a few hours time. Not too much competition on the pier now. Still lots of crab in the outer bay.

You would think that the bay would be out of Dungeness crabs by now. The crabbing is definitely slower but the Dungeness are still there, despite the hundreds of traps and nets that have been dropped on them in the last month. The crab that are left are a bit finicky. Fresh bait is important. The bait shop here will be open on the weekends in December and January from 8AM to 4PM for bait, tackle, snacks and boat launching. If the ocean lays down (tomorrow looks good) the outer bay still has a lot of crab, especially in 60 to 70 feet of water.

The Dungeness crabbing slowed a little more but there were still quite a few caught, mostly by boaters. The pier is still kicking out about a limit of Dungeness a day, but most of the catching is done by a select few. The outer bay and Ten Mile are still the most consistent producers when the weather is good enough.

Even after all the effort of the last 12 days there are still a bunch of nice Dungeness crab in the bay. You've got to hit the right spot to get them, and there are a lot more wrong spots than there were, but you'll know the right spot when you check your gear. Two people in a boat this morning caught two limits of jumbos and threw back almost another two limits using four traps in about two hours. There are still some nice Dungeness coming from the pier as well.

There was a lot of effort for Dungeness this weekend. Some places on the bay had more crab pots than water. You could almost walk on the buoys near channel marker 5. Not everyone caught, but quite a few did, mostly by marker 5 and in the channels around Hog Island. Only a few boats were able to sneak across the bar but they were rewarded with limits of crab. The pier was full, with easily over a hundred nets and pots tied to it, and still a few experienced crabbers were able to catch limits. Most of the rest just watched it happen. With luck and some good weather, more Dungeness will come in the bay this week.

The crab numbers have dropped a bit but are still pretty good. The pier has been crowded but the guys that know how to work it are still doing well. For the rest it can be difficult. In the bay there are a few hot spots; you can find them by looking for all the crab pot floats. There are quite a few Dungeness around Hog Island in particular. In the ocean, the outer bay is still really good and Ten Mile has been excellent but, so far, kind of unnecessary to run so far. Commercial season starts on Monday so the numbers of jumbo crabs will likely start to drop. Too bad, since the average size this year has been pretty big. At least with the commercial season open, if you don't catch, there's always the market.

It was a bit wet yesterday but there were still quite a few crabbers. It was tough on the pier but one family still ended up with 14 Dungeness. The outer bay and Ten Mile kicked out limits for most of the boats that tried outside. For the guys who didn't catch good numbers of crab: check your gear more often and don't be afraid to move if you aren't catching. You can't catch what isn't there.

There was a halibut caught in the bay on Saturday, so it's no too late. So far today on the pier one group has caught 12 Dungeness and Kerry in the store has caught 4 in one pot after a one hour soak.

There were a few folks who did well on the pier and a lot more that didn't. Unfortunately, you're not just trying to attract a few crabs, you're also competing with everyone else's bait. One fisherman toward the end of the pier had 8 Dungeness that nearly filled his 5-gallon bucket by noon, but the people next to him had nothing. The folks with boats did much better with quite a few reporting limits, even in the bay. The trick to the bay is to tend your gear, try different spots until you find the crab, and watch that the current doesn't drag your gear away. The outer bay was better and Ten Mile had lots of crab, mostly shallow in 40 to 60 feet.

Tomorrow's the day for dungeness. Yesterday a crabber on the pier caught 8 red crabs and a legal-sized dungeness after a 25 minute soak during slack tide. 45 minutes later, after the tide was running a bit faster, a second pull of the pot had 11 legal-sized dungeness crabs and no reds. Two of the dungeness were 7.5" wide. The first pull tomorrow should be good. After that...? Word is that there's a lot of crab in the outer bay as well. The forecast still calls for some swell tomorrow but it should still be passable over the bar. No guarantees, though. If you are planning on heading out to sea tomorrow please use caution.

The forecast looks pretty good for the dungeness opener. Northwest wind 5 to 15 knots and 6 to 8 foot swell. The bay should be fine and the bar probably passable with caution. Outside, the crabs may be in deeper water than usual due to today's 16'+ swell. The water is warm enough for halibut to be a possible option while you are waiting for the crabs to fill your pots.

The ocean laid down yesterday long enough to run out and get a couple limits of rockfish. Steve Towne of Dillon Beach caught these three Tiger Rockfish in 160' of water off of Tomales Point. I've only ever seen 6 of these fish before, so three on one drift was pretty surprising. Last chance for rockfish this weekend. For those of you thinking about trying for some dungeness, this is your last chance to get some hanging bait. The weather looks fishable with a raincoat.

Our friend, Larry Stevens, passed on last week. Here's a picture of Larry with his 301# yellowfin tuna, the biggest fish on a boat full of big fish. He will be missed.

On the home front the rockfish are biting. I took three 8-to-11 year-old boys out fishing for three hours yesterday and they caught their limits. Nathan Porter did better than that with his trip down to Ten Mile Beach. He caught his three halibut and returned four others in about three hours of trolling between Abbott's Lagoon and the north parking lot in 40'of water. The halibut were full of pinhead anchovies. Perhaps there will be something to fish for during the crab opener after all. This weekend the forecast calls for rain and big swell.

No fish to report this past weekend, at least no fish that I heard about. Three weeks to the dungeness opener and things are looking pretty good for this season. Fishermen and divers on the bar are reporting lots of big crabs there which should translate into good numbers in and out of the bay. Two weeks left for rockfish season.

Three boats fished the bar yesterday for a halibut each, one on a jig, two on live bait. One halibut speared there as well. A few rockfish from outside but a slow bite. There is still a pretty large swell so be careful on the bar or fishing shallow outside.

Rough today, but the one boat that went out caught two halibut just inside the bar, where it was safe. Going outside the bay was not doable today.

Two halibut speared on the bar, two halibut caught on the bar, and one taken near Hog Island. Possibly two halibut from off of Dillon Beach. Rockfishing was slow.

Today's totals: Two halibut from McLure's, two halibut from Ten Mile, and halibut bites but none hooked on the bar. No rockfishermen today.

Rockfishing was a bit slow yesterday, especially in the shallower water, but at least one boat limited out. Two halibut were caught, one on live bait off of Dillon Beach and one on a dead herring on the bar.

The rockfish are biting again, and good thing because the season closes after Halloween. I caught these 7-pound vermillion on a 7" glow-in-the-dark rubber shad in 150 feet of water off the towers. The ocean was beautiful yesterday and is supposed to stay that way through Saturday.

The big swell stirred up the water and cut the visibility to 2-3 feet but Steve Werlin was able to spear this 32# halibut as it swam by. He didn't see any others, but then again, he hardly needed to. The bite slowed yesterday with more boats catching less fish. Numbers ran about 0-4 fish. Jigging has been pretty effective, accounting for at least 9 halibut in the last two days.

First off, the bar is breaking and potentially fatal to anyone trying to cross it. The forecast is for a smaller swell tomorrow, so perhaps less break. That said, the halibut were on the bite today just inside the deadly part of the bar. Only a few boats fished it but numbers ran from 4 to 7 fish. They were biting dead bait as well as live. Anyone thinking of trying it tomorrow should plan it around the incoming tide when the current will move you away from the breakers.

There were a couple of halibut and some rockfish landed this past weekend but for the most part the big ocean swells kept the best fishing holes safe from fishermen. More big swells forecast through at least Wednesday.

Some nice halibut off of Dillon Beach yesterday, and a few others from McLure's Beach. Some good fishermen got shut out on Ten Mile. The rockfish were demonstrating the effects of the full moon by not biting well at all. One boat had three; another had 15 fish for two fishermen for five hours of fishing. A great white shark was spotted by a few of the fishermen off of Dillon Beach. It was cruising around with its dorsal fin out for an hour or so. Maybe it isn't the best weekend for spearfishing the bar.

There was a good bite on the bar until the wind dropped the water temp from 60 to 53 degrees. Fish up to 34 pounds were caught on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday the wind worked its magic. The forecast calls for warm weather so they could be biting again by this weekend. Another seabass hooked and lost off of Ten Mile beach on Monday.

One of the better halibut bites of this year on the bar right now. I hope it lasts past this bit of wind they have predicted for the next couple of days. The divers and the fishermen with live smelt are doing as well as you legally can. Sardines on Ten Mile beach as well.

Quick update: Dr. Steve Werlin freedove the bar and speared three halibut weighing 25, 19 and 17 pounds. He was back by 10:00 AM. The fishermen are catching them as well, with fish up to 28 pounds weighed in so far today.

Not too many fishermen venturing out in the thick fog yesterday, but at least one of them that did go out caught a 39 pound white sea bass while trolling on Ten Mile. He thinks he caught it somewhere between Abbot's Lagoon and the towers. Brown water and balls of baitfish there in 30 feet.

The rockfish bite has been on the slow side but still catchable. The average take has been half to full limits. There's been some halibut off of Dillon Beach, the bar and Ten Mile. Some dogfish shark pestering the fishermen off of Dillon Beach, as well as a few thresher sharks.

A few halibut and some limits of rockfish over the weekend. The halibut came from the bar and off of Dillon Beach, the rockfish from reefs off of Ten Mile and 150'+ of water in front of Bird. Good weather forecast for the next few days which hopefully will warm the water by another degree or two. Lots of what will be sport legal dungeness crab being caught and returned. Let's hope they stick around for the opener.

Yesterday there were two halibut caught on the troll near Millerton Point and two caught off of Dillon Beach on live bait. Nothing for the divers on the bar.

There were a few salmon caught over Labor Day weekend but most fishermen went without. Halibut fishing was good until the cold, clear water moved in on the bar. The divers are still seeing and shooting some but the fish are buried in. The forecast calls for some better weather this week which should warm up the water and hopefully the bite as well. Rockfishing is good if you can find a rock that hasn't been hit repeatedly in the last few months. For success, go farther. A school of white seabass was reported near Marshall but none have been caught that I'm aware of.

Steve Nordall of Vacaville caught this 25 pound salmon yesterday. His was not the only fish, as there were a few caught off Tomales Point (50 feet of water near the bottom and 210 feet of water 100 feet down) and some caught on Ten Mile. The Ten Mile fish were accompanied by a few halibut as well. There was an 8+ foot thresher shark caught near the north parking lot. Rockfishing was slow for most people but good if you could find an overlooked rockpile that hadn't been fished for a while.

There's been a few halibut just south of Hog Island off Pelican Point. Live bait has been the key to catching. The weather has been bad offshore since last weekend so there's not much else to report. Five more days to fish for salmon. With luck, the offshore winds have messed up the easy eating offshore and sent a few of the salmon in to the beach. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

Dale Fortner of Sacramento caught this 25 pound halibut off of Dillon Beach on Wednesday. There were a few other halibut from there and the bar but the bite slowed yesterday. I only heard of three salmon and two halibut landed yesterday. There were saury jumping in 100 feet of water and schools of them in starting in 140 feet. The wind is forecast to cool things down this weekend but hopefully it will stay far offshore. Ten more days for salmon.

Ari and Mayer Goldberg of Oakland with their first fish, two halibut weighing a combined 23 pounds.
Ed Parsons of Lodi with this year's only landed white seabass, a 38 pounder he caught on a jig off of Dillon Beach. Ed also had two halibut in the box. Bob Lapp of Rio Vista caught two salmon to 26 pounds out in front of the outer red "2" buoy.

It turns out that there were some fish down on Ten Mile. One boat had six salmon, all caught on a 100 yard long tack that they fished so much they got dizzy from the turns. Another boat had a salmon and a halibut from the beach. Their ride home was not as pleasant as the ride down and the forecast for today doesn't sound too good for Ten Mile runs.

I heard of a grand total of 7 salmon landed here yesterday out of 28 launches. Even less halibut. I would suggest abalone diving except for the "bigger than the boat" shark that chased a couple boatloads of divers in from behind Bird. The rockfishing has been pretty good at least.

Colder, clearer water has pushed in, slowing down the salmon bite and nearly stopping the halibut. The Keyholes and the north end of Ten Mile had a few salmon today. The rockfish bite was good even though the current was strong and it was hard to keep the lines near the bottom. Maybe a halibut story tomorrow.

Gordon Rogers of Sacramento shows off today's largest salmon so far which weighed 25 pounds on our scale.
This 33 pound halibut was 47" long. We thought it would be heavier. Aldo Freggario of Stockton caught it on a jig. It was breezy today giving long trips to the south a longer ride home but there were a few who went down to Ten Mile and caught a few halibut and salmon. There were some nice salmon caught off Bird Rock as well.

Terry Fogal of Sacramento caught this 34 pound king and put himself at the top of the big fish board. Terry and most of the other successful boats were working the length of Ten Mile Beach. Listening to the radio, there were fish caught from Jenner to Point Reyes. The bite off of Bodega Head slowed but Bird Rock stayed productive. Halibut were caught and speared in good numbers on the bar. Ten Mile also had a good halibut bite.

Bailey Johnson of Sacramento caught this 29.5 pound halibut. Quite a few others were taken from the bar the past few days, although it slowed today for the fishermen. The divers got their fish, so the fish are still there. A few salmon from Bird again, a few more from Ten Mile, but word today is that the best bite is off of Bodega Head. Unfortunately, so is an MPA, so know your location relative to it. I hear that there is more than a few boats over the line. I recommend not going there. For those not in the know I've included a map. Red means no fishing and blue means you can fish for salmon. The closed waypoints are:

Boundary: This area is bounded by the mean high tide line and straight lines connecting the following points in the order listed except where noted:

38° 20.10' N. lat. 123° 04.04' W. long.;
38° 20.10' N. lat. 123° 08.38' W. long.; thence southward along the three nautical mile offshore boundary to
38° 18.00' N. lat. 123° 08.08' W. long.; and
38° 18.00' N. lat. 123° 03.64' W. long.

Permitted/Prohibited Uses: Take of all living marine resources is prohibited.

Since the salmon bite slowed the halibut bite has picked up to take up the slack. No monsters but decent fish and good numbers of them on the bar. Spiny dogfish sharks aplenty off of Dillon Beach, if that's what you like. The best salmon catching was on the mooch off of Bird in 35 to 55 feet of water.

The salmon bite slowed a bit more but didn't stop. About half the boats trying for salmon caught one and a few had more. Success came from Tomales Point down to the towers on Ten Mile with Bird and Elephant being the slightly better spots. An abalone diver reported seeing four salmon while he was diving behind Bird Rock. A few halibut on the bar again.

Well, the excellent halibut bite died overnight. The warm water and limits of Tuesday turned to cold water and no fish on Wednesday. Even on Ten Mile Beach where the water is still brownish and 57 degrees the halibut are no hungry. The winds have dropped offshore so maybe the water and the fishing will warm back up. Salmon fishing was just OK. There were fish caught at the Keyholes in 30 to 80 feet of water. The more consistent bite was still at Bird Rock where fish were caught slowly all day. Those that stuck it out and fought the jellyfish to keep their gear fishing near the bottom in 80 feet had the best chance for success. I heard a rumor of good fish and no boats at Duncan's Landing but I can't verify it. On the plus side, the rockfishing was good.

There are halibut on the bar and quite a few of them. In fact, this one, a 30 pounder caught by Fred Meyer of Fair Oaks, was caught there yesterday. Many others were caught as well but none as large. Live bait and jigs were putting the flatties in the box.

The water was lumpy outside yesterday but there was still salmon in it. One boat limited out just around the corner between Tomales Point and Bird Rock. I didn't hear about any halibut yesterday but I did hear about a few white seabass landed just south of Elephant Rock, some more thresher sharks caught off of Dillon Beach and some nice salmon landed from in front of the southern estero.

Doug Koinzan of Lodi put his boat over the fish back by Hog Island today, enabling him to catch a 21 pound halibut and Ken Morgan to catch this 49 pound, 62" sturgeon. They had two other halibut as well. The halibut were caught on bucktail jigs, the sturgeon on a live shiner perch.

Lou Zanardi, with a 27# salmon, and Larry Hoberg, with a 22.5 pound salmon, limited out before 11AM yesterday. The were trolling in 70' of water just off the bottom.
Paul Page of Sacramento was back with an early limit yesterday as well, including this 30 pounder. Paul mooched them up just south of Bird reef.
Robert Pfeifle of Lodi caught this 27 pound salmon while trolling yesterday.

Apparently there's a few halibut on the bar. Bill Adams of Oakdale speared this 25 pound halibut yesterday. The salmon fishing was spotty with some scattered boats limiting out and the guys fishing next to them skunked. The average was still over one per boat. No real hot spots to speak of, just the general area around Bird Rock still being the best bet.

Hiding among the thresher sharks yesterday was this 32 pound halibut caught by Jerry Carter and at least one salmon . The salmon mooching bite was good for the folks that found bait in 40 feet of water south of Bird. Trolling produced some fish as well but the weeds in the shallower water made it difficult to troll there. Some small schools of squid in the shallows.

Finally a picture of one of the thresher sharks. This one, caught by Mike Nursement of Weimar, weighed 47 pounds and took over a half hour to land. There were bigger ones hooked today but very few landed that I'm aware of. If you don't want to hook one then avoid the bar and off of Dillon Beach because there are enough of them there now to be a real nuisance.

One more picture from yesterday. Cameron Vogler caught this 20 pound halibut and a 20 pound salmon. He and his brother Gage fished with Steve Towne off of Ten Mile Beach yesterday. Cameron's fish all bit on purple haze hoochies.

Tom and Terry Brodsky of Newcastle showing off the new biggest fish on the big fish board, a 33 pound salmon.
Steve Martin of Rohnert Park with the number 2 ranked salmon, a 32 pounder.
Steve Towne of Dillon Beach with his 22# halibut. Steve's boat returned with 3 salmon , 16 to 20 pounds, and 6 halibut, 10 to 22 pounds, all from Ten Mile. Mr. Towne trolled the length of the beach yesterday after the Bird Rock bite fizzled. There were salmon caught around Bird yesterday but not nearly as many as last weekend. Some salmon were caught on the bar yesterday but be forewarned, there are more thresher sharks there than salmon. One boat hooked four there yesterday and another had two on and off. At least one fisherman will be returning with "wire leaders and a 50-wide." Some wind forecast for the weekend but with luck it will stay offshore and let us fish.

The halibut bite has slowed a bit, even on Ten Mile. Ten Mile is still the best place to catch, with a few coming from off Dillon Beach and a couple from Hog. Four thresher sharks hooked and lost yesterday, three by one boat off Dillon Beach. Another boat had to return six salmon while keeping four halibut on the beach. Best salmon bet for tomorrow is still the waters off Bird and to the south. The fish have been there for over a week now. Maybe a little wind this weekend but the last wind blew these salmon in. Maybe this wind will blow in some more.

Cindy Whitley with her 21# salmon. Many salmon today with the moochers doing better than the trollers on average. A wide variety of tackle was successful, but the common theme was keeping your gear close to the bottom in 50 to 90 feet of water. The fish are being caught over a much wider area now. Ten Mile was good for halibut and a few salmon today and at least one boat unintentionally released a white seabass.

One salmon each for this crew. Johnnie Paiva's weighed 24 pounds, Paris Paiva's weighed 20 pounds, and Joe Morrow's weighed 23 pounds. All fishermen were from Sacramento.
Jerrie Carter of Corte Madera caught this 23 pound halibut on the bar. There's talk that she may let her husband, Tom, catch a fish this year. The best halibut bite was on Ten Mile with at least one boat with 9 halibut aboard. The rockfish even bit well yesterday. As I write there are boats heading in with salmon limits.

Misters Harper and DaCruz with a 25 pound salmon apiece. They also had 21 and 22 pound salmon to round out their limits. Rotary salmon killers and green dodgers were the ticket for them today.

Wyatt Zanardi of Penngrove caught this 29# salmon today while trolling in the middle of the fleet off Bird Rock. He and his dad lost another big fish when a boat trolled over their line. People, please give the boats with fish on some room. Nobody needs to get hurt. Mooching is also working well for salmon. Like yesterday, not everyone is catching fish but some people are limiting out. There's some halibut coming in from Ten Mile as well.

Not all the boats have returned as of yet, but so far it sounds like the hot bite has cooled. A lot. Best description: "More boats, less fish." This said from the guy who caught his limit and was back by noon. There were a few nice halibut caught by Hog in the last few days. Rockfishing has been difficult for many, possibly dues to a strong southerly current running down the coast. If I was going fishing tomorrow I would go deep, 200'+. There was lots of krill out there last week.

Cameron, 10, and Gage, 8, Vogler, with Cameron's 21 pound salmon.
Greg Gartrell of Sacramento shows off his 26 pound salmon caught off Bird.
Bob Weeks of Woodland with his 26 pound salmon. Many salmon were caught in a pretty small area yesterday and it makes one wonder if perhaps there aren't a few in other areas. Initial radio reports this morning makes it sound a bit slower out there today, so maybe someone will go looking. The halibut bite was off yesterday but so was the number of fishermen trying for halibut. More to report later.

Very good salmon bite from Bird Rock to the north end of McLure's Beach. Fish were caught in water from 40 to 90 feet deep, from 20 feet to 60 feet down. Not everyone caught but many boats limited out. Best bets were watermelon Apex, straight bait and bait behind a dodger. Five of our six were caught on a green hoochy but I didn't hear of anyone else doing the same. Best salmon bite in three years!

Monday's rough water gave up this 20# salmon for Bob King.
Mr. King was kind enough to allow Tom Gerbi to catch the big fish of the day, this 27 pounder. The wind dropped during the day yesterday, so by late afternoon it was only really uncomfortable water conditions, down from kidney-damaging, waves rolling over the boat water conditions. Well, whatever makes the fish bite, I guess.

It is rough outside but the salmon are biting. The boats that toughed it out caught limits or near limits in front of Bird Rock. Not too many boats toughed it out. Nine foot seas and 20 to 30 knot winds outside made the water more than a little uncomfortable. Let's hope the salmon stick around.

A late report from Saturday: more salmon were caught than first reported. The waters around Bird Rock had fish up to 32 pounds. The water has a brown tint to it, about 59 degrees, and the salmon had bellies full of anchovies. Now the wind is forecast to blow for four days. This would be a good time for the forecasters to be wrong.

Halibut and salmon were slow today. A few salmon off of Bird. Halibut were scattered with many boats fishless. An eight foot long thresher shark "released itself" off of Dillon Beach after a 40 minute fight. For the shore casters, leopard shark in the shallows in the cove a quarter mile south of the seawall. Rockfishing was slow and a little painful from all the jellyfish.

Haley Porter of Dillon Beach caught this 29# halibut on a live jacksmelt on the bar yesterday. There were a few other halibut caught on the far end of Ten Mile Beach, but none nearly as big. Tom Brodski and Ron Johnson lost a white seabass that someone else had already lost. They snagged a line that tangled their gear and discovered that a WSB was on the end before it broke off. Losing a fish once is bad enough... Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the fishermen lost on Ten Mile on Wednesday. Let's all remember that it is a dangerous place out there no matter your level of experience.

Marty Medin of Inverness shows off the halibut that he and his buddy Bob caught. The 25.5 pounder had both of their baits and hooks in her mouth. Luckily there's plenty to share. They had one other halibut and caught them all near Abbot's Lagoon while drifting live jacksmelt.

For the halibut divers, I hear that the halibut were on the bar on Sunday. The fishermen couldn't get them to bite though. No brown water yet. Some halibut were still biting on Ten Mile and McLures Beach, the biggest weighed here being a 23 pounder caught by Tom Treadway of Sacramento. The fish counter said that on Friday he checked 48 boats at Bodega Bay and counted 36 salmon. No white seabass yet but I heard a two more "I got spooled!" stories today. The spooling seems to be happening on the north part of Ten Mile. A 5 foot thresher shark was caught and released near Hog Island on Sunday.

John Rosasco of Stockton with a nice 25# halibut he jigged up off of Ten Mile.
Blair Farnham of Woodland with his first salmon. It weighed 22.5 pounds and was caught just below Bird. A 23# salmon was caught there yesterday by Don Dailey of Elk Grove. The salmon fishing isn't great but there's enough out there to make it interesting. Halibut is the better bet. For every salmon brought in there has been around ten halibut. Rockfishing is slow, especially with strong current and lots of jellyfish in the deeper water.

Thursday was a bad day to be a halibut but a good day to fish for them. Many halibut limits from Ten Mile and a few salmon thrown in besides. Friday saw more boats on the beach fishing but a lot less catching. High boats had around four 'buts. Salmon from the beach, McLure's and off of Bird Rock, not many but enough to keep the boats from leaving. Rumors of white sea bass on the beach. No sardines yet.

Jerry Knedel caught this 23# halibut at McLure's Beach yesterday on a live jacksmelt. A few other halibut were caught there yesterday, but the best halibut bite was off the towers on Ten Mile. One salmon was released from there as well.

Mike Garello of Riverbank shows off two of his three halibut he caught while trolling on Ten Mile beach today. The biggest went 21# and they all bit herring. He lost two others. The water was 54 degrees.

Kari Munson with her first salmon limit, plus Ron Johnson's fish. These fish were caught last Saturday in front of Bird Rock. Yesterday saw some nice rockfish come in and a 54" leopard shark.

About 12 boats went out from here for salmon yesterday. Six salmon were caught on three of the boats and most of the rest lost fish. The weather was better than it has been but still breezy and cold. The rockfish bite was OK when you could get your line to the bottom (fast drift). The forecast shows no wind, so let the water warming begin.

Kelsey Perceval of Fremont shows off her 25# king salmon. She caught it south of Bird Rock in about 50 to 60 feet of water on a lure (she won't say which) and barefoot. I'm going to have to try barefoot fishing if it will put fish like this one in the boat. Several other salmon were caught in the same area and there was even a double-header. It doesn't take that long for the fish to bite once the wind eases. Halibut in the bay, from Hog Island to near Inverness, not red hot but some people were lucky. Many sharks near Marshall. Good forecast for the week.

Really windy the last two days, just windy today. No ocean report, but some halibut from the bay. Two halibut came from Marshall on the troll. Quite a few people trying for sharks and rays but so far no one is coming by to brag afterward. Dungeness season is closed now, so the red crabs had better watch out.

Two boats from here caught halibut yesterday, one fish apiece, on live jacksmelt, at Hog Island. The marine forecast is bad for the next few days but hopefully the bay will stay fishable.

The low tides for clamming are almost over for the year, but if you haven't clammed before, check out this blog: http://georgiapellegrini.com/2010/06/21/blog/clamming-for-horsenecks-part-1/ . There are a lot of pictures and information.

I heard that a nice halibut was caught by Hog Island this weekend and luckily Mike Riker was kind enough to send a picture of his 25 pounder, caught on live jacksmelt. Jacksmelt aren't sold here but can be caught in most tide rips, especially if you use some chum. There were a few others caught (none as big, that I'm aware of) as far North as across from the Landing. There were stories of a few salmon caught out front by moochers but no firsthand report. The rockfishing was OK, no limits but about 7 or 8 fish apiece. The dungeness are still being caught for a couple more days. Surfperch still aren't biting.

Joseph Rodriguez, age 13, caught this halibut, his first, by Hog Island on Friday. Joseph was using live jacksmelt for bait. A sixteen pound salmon and a couple of trolled rockfish were caught on McLure's Beach in 60 feet of water. The salmon liked the blue hoochy. Three lingcod landed off of Tomales Point as well. Better weather today so hopefully more fish to report later.

I've been waiting for something to report and it has finally happened. A 37 pound salmon was landed on the bar at the turn of the tide yesterday. No other bites, but it only takes one like that to make your day. On Wednesday a boat landed a limit of halibut by Hog Island, all on live jacksmelt and all between 10 and 20 pounds. The dungeness are still coming in from the pier and I heard of a couple leopard sharks from Pelican Point. Many angel sharks back by Marshall.

Kristen Hutson sent these pictures of two of the Memorial Day salmon and the men that caught them. If you have pictures of fish and fishermen you'd like to see here, send them to lawsonslanding@gmail.com and I'll try to get them posted.

Great weather on the beach last weekend but the fishing wasn't as good. No keeper salmon landed here and only a couple halibut from the bay. The rockfish bite was slow on Sunday except for one boat who went to Fort Ross and did well. The crabbing was pretty good when the current was slow. More wind predicted for this week so there probably won't be any fish reports.

A few salmon yesterday in 180 to 240 feet of water, 0 to 4 fish per boat, and best numbers north (Salmon Creek/Carmet area) and deep (240 feet of water, 100 feet down). Biggest salmon landed by Ron Johnson at 21 pounds. One halibut caught and two lost by fishermen jigging at Hog Island yesterday. The best numbers of dungeness crab are coming from right around the pier now. On Friday a boater soaked four pots for five hours in the outer bay for five crab, then soaked four pots for a half hour just off the pier for ten crab. Some people are limiting out on the pier during the week. One gentleman even landed a 15# bat ray that bit his crab snare. 24 more days until dungeness crab closes and a week until rockfish opens.

One salmon landed today and quite a few crabs from the outer bay. A little slower crabbing on the pier due to the fast currents with the low tides. Yesterday a halibut came in, probably from McClure's Beach but I can't confirm. The divers said the water was clear today but the surge made the diving difficult. The forecast is for some wind this weekend but hopefully the mornings will be good like today was.

The dungeness have moved in to the bay today. Two limits of nice, clean, sport-legal crab were caught off the pier before noon. One crabber dropped his gear in the water at 7:00 AM and had 9 dungeness by 8:00 AM. That's my kind of crabbing. Too bad it won't last long.

Even though the water isn't very nice Terry Fogal was able to put this 25# king in the boat. He was fishing close to Bird Rock and lost a second salmon in the same area. No halibut or surfperch landed this week but the dungeness crab bite has been pretty steady from the pier. Just remember, you measure the dungeness in front of the spines. The spines don't count toward the 5.75" minimum. That little bit can cost you quite a bit of money.

A few more salmon this weekend. Not everyone caught, but those that did were out in 250 feet of water. A couple of halibut from the warm end of the bay, another from the frigid water of McLure's Beach. The clamming was good with the low tides this weekend, as well as the rockpicking for abalone. The abalone divers had a good time as well with the relatively flat and clear water. Crabbing was, again, not great but still pretty darn good.

One 15 pound salmon landed here yesterday. Apparently the bite at Bird is over. Two guys shore fishing had a 5' leopard shark from Tom's Point. The water is cold and clear, not the best for fishing but very good for the divers. Ab divers on Sunday reported great visibility but ice cream headaches. The crabbing is still not great but OK.

Clay Englebrecht and John Brezina with two kings. John's went 25#.
Dan Wong put his daughter's boyfriend, Shane, on this 20 pounder, first fish on the board. The boats were fishing in 40' to 50' down in 75' to 80' of water off of Bird Rock. Yesterday I said there were no fish to be caught out there. Please ignore that.