Here's some fresh info on the crab in the bay from the Tomales Outlaw: Managed 15 ok crab from the bay. Most of the crab were skip-molts with barnacles and lots of females, but we gleaned out a few. Bringing in a pot I knocked the fitting off the fuel actuator going into the fuel tank. Had to make for the ramp with the fuel hose sticking straight into the tank. We made it in. Looks like maybe some crab are coming back in.

Robbie Schneider of Dillon Beach caught this nice 13 pound lingcod from the rocks north of Dillon Beach.  He also landed a cabezon and a sea trout. Robbie proves that you don't need a boat to get fish, and this time of year, it's actually better. In other news, some of the commercial crabbers have had halibut in their pots down off Ten Mile Beach. I as much as anyone hope that those fish now mean many more later.

Today the Fish and Game Commission voted to open salmon season in our area on April 5 with a 24" minimum size limit and two fish daily bag limit. Two daily bag limits may be in your possession on land this year but don't try for a multi-day fishing permit- you can only come ashore with two fish. The fish won't be on the beach but, as of a few weeks ago, there was some pretty good signs with krill and birds showing out in 40 to 50 fathoms. There are still some Dungeness in the outer bay so it would probably be worth dropping a few pots on the way out. For those that would rather wait for the salmon to come to them, there's a few surfperch around to catch while you wait.

The surfperch were biting pretty well last weekend. At least one fisherman had a pretty steady pick right off of Sand Point on both the incoming and outgoing tides. The fish weren't large but I'm told they were tasty. The pier had a few Dungeness landed in the last few days, mostly barnacled ones but there were a couple of clean ones.

    The outer bay still has some Dungeness when the weather allows a trip. Inside Tomales Bay it's pretty slow on the Dungeness with catches ranging from 0 to 6. The pier has mostly reds to offer. For the record, it is illegal to remove the claws from a crab and toss it back. They eat with those, you know. It would be like having your hands and jaw removed. It's also illegal to dump the still-living amputees into the dumpster. Someone was witnessed dumping three buckets of crab in that condition this past week and the Department of Fish and Wildlife have been notified.
    The Fish and Game Commission will vote on March 19 to determine the April salmon season. It sounds like it will probably open on the 5th and at least be open on the weekends. In mid-April the Commission will vote to determine the season from May on. They may also decide to raise the possession limit of salmon to two daily bag limits, so you could fish for a weekend and limit both days and not be breaking laws on the way home. Not that anyone ever did in the past, of course.