There are still a few Dungeness around. A boater yesterday caught six with three pots on a half-hour soak across the bay. The pier has had about two to six a day getting landed. The outer bay is a bit better in spots. The most consistent reports are from Ten Mile Beach where there are limits coming in from strings of pots soaking for a week or more. No surfperch or leopard shark reports. Abalone season is just over a month away, but some people can't wait. Fish and Game has busted Qiong Wang of San Francisco for taking abalone three time in 17 days. While out on bail he was arrested with 55 abalone. I'm not sure if this is a testament to Mr. Wang's persistence or his (seemingly justified) belief that he'll get away with it.

Two weeks ago I wrote here that lingcod would only need to be 22" long this year. While that may eventually be the case there is a delay in Fish and Game's ability to put the new regulations into effect. So, until further notice, last year's regulations apply. The lingcod have more time to trim down 2" off their lengths.

It has been pretty wet out here, so we haven't had too many people trying for crabs. Those that have tried had to fight the rain, wind, and strong currents, for not much success. This weekend looks like the weather should be better and the currents shouldn't be too bad in the mornings. The clamming and cockling have been pretty good. No reports of surfperch or leopard sharks.

The crabbing is the slowest it has been all season. In all fairness, it has been a really good season, so slow for this year is still not bad. It usually slows down for a few weeks this time of year, then a new surge of fresh crabs will come in. My guess is that we'll see those crabs before the end of the month. On another note, Fish and Game's preliminary Sacramento River salmon count numbers are 125,300 adult fall Chinook and 27,500 jacks. 2009 only had 39,500 adult Kings and we got to fish. The season decision process will begin on March 1st from 11:00 to 2:30 when Fish and Game will host the 2011 Salmon Information Meeting at the Sonoma County Water Agency Building at 404 Aviation Boulevard in Santa Rosa. Input from this meeting will help California representatives negotiate season alternatives at the PFMC meeting March 5-10 in Vancouver. It seems like having some pro-fishing voices there might be a good idea. The whole process will take two months.

Jesse Cassotta shows off a nice lingcod from last year. This year they won't have to be as nice to keep them, as the size limit is slated to drop from 24" to 22". Remember all those 23" lings you caught last year? This year those same fish will measure 21".

No catch update, but some salmon news. The Dept. of Fish and Game sent out a press release about salmon. "An Encouraging Salmon Forecast. The resurgence of the Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon is positive news for recreational and commercial salmon anglers. Initial hatchery and in-river counts confirm a substantial increase in the number of returning adult salmon in the fall and winter of 2010. Following two years of record low returns and closed salmon seasons, this was excellent news and provides for the potential for the reintroduction of recreational and commercial seasons. Adaptive planting strategies, regulation reviews and dedicated work by hatcheries to produce 20 million young salmon annually are keys to the DFG’s efforts to restore salmon populations. " There is also a report that the commercial crabbers are seeing lots of bait and krill out in the deep. Salmon season won't be decided until April, but things are looking better than they have in quite a while.

The dungeness crabbing has slowed a little more but hasn't given up. The crabs that are still coming in aren't all as pretty as the crabs from earlier in the season, but they still taste good. No further word on the surfperch, and the whale hasn't been seen in a couple of weeks and has probably left the bay.