The Pile brothers found three limits of nice salmon on Ten Mile today, not counting the five other salmon that broke off. They were trolling near the Towers and caught their fish before the wind finally came up and blew them off the water. There were some nice rockfish caught today as well.

Randy Hanks mooched up this 17.5 pound salmon on Sunday while fishing on the Bananas and Change with Stacy Hanks and Tom Brodsky. They had near limits of rockfish as well. The fish came from Elephant Rock. Divers speared a few halibut on Saturday but yesterday they saw nothing but a few angel sharks and lots of large Dungeness. Fishermen had worse luck on halibut than the divers. 

Today's sea bass of the day is brought to you by Jake Showaker. Jake's 44 pound croaker was caught on the troll near the Keyholes. Jake modestly wants to confirm that, although chasing a fish in a boat that must be operated from the cabin while still fighting the fish alone is very difficult, he's up to the task. There were a few salmon picked up today too before the wind chased everyone in. The current forecast is for more wind for the next few days.

Yesterday three boats limited on salmon at McClure's and a couple of others caught nothing. Mooching was the technique used by all. Steve Towne was one of the limiters and apparently hooked Tuesday's sea bass but couldn't keep it attached. So, there's at least one out there. Today the weather was a bit less pleasant with only one salmon fisherman heading out. He did catch one nice one and returned before the bar shut down with 11 foot waves breaking all the way across this afternoon. Apparently, fall is here.

Vern Sasaki caught a 27.5 pound white sea bass yesterday, plus he and his buddy boated three salmon as well. They were mooching off of McClure's in 90-100 feet of water. There were a couple of other salmon trolled up there as well. Ten Mile has had a few salmon in 40 to 100 feet (the commercial fleet seems to be working the 80-100' area pretty consistently). There were a few halibut speared on the bar on Sunday but yesterday's divers and fishermen came up empty. Hog Island had one halibut for Scott from Auburn. The halibut bit his one and only live jacksmelt.

  

Two white sea bass were brought in today, a 27 pounder by Gerald Bunch and a 31 pounder by Mike Stahl. Gerald caught his on a jig off of McClure's, along with a halibut.  Mike's bit a drifted herring at Elephant Rock. I am jealous of both of them. The halibut in the picture was caught from a kayak in the bay.
Salmon were caught from Bird Rock down to Point Reyes, with most of them coming from Ten Mile Beach. The beach also had a few halibut. I didn't hear of any particular spot that was better than any other. It was slow enough that the rockcod took a beating today. The Due Regard went on an albacore scouting run and found green water and lots of birds but no tuna outside of Cordell to at least the 123°40' line.

Dvir Brakha caught this 20 pound lingcod on Sunday.

Ron Johnson caught his limit of halibut and one salmon on the south end of Ten Mile yesterday. Ron's halibut liked blue label herring but the salmon took an anchovy.  A couple of other boats caught a few salmon down that way as well. I heard of one other halibut taken in the bay yesterday. It was caught on a 6" live jacksmelt.  

Stacy Barton caught this 20 pound ling on his first drop at Point Reyes today. His boat ended up with four limits of rockfish and lingcod and they were back in time for his Seahawks game. Too bad for him, they still lost. He could have spent that time more productively by trolling for salmon. There were a few salmon caught today and a few more halibut from the big beach, but mostly boats returned with limits of rockfish. 

John Kuhlman put the hook in a 38 pound salmon today. He seems kind of happy about it.

Also happy was the crew of the Predator who landed several halibut today, including this 28 pounder. They were trolling Ten Mile, "all by ourselves".

This green cabezon weighed 14 pounds. That's 7 pounds of head! I kid, but it's not coincidence that cabeza means head in spanish. Supposedly the green color in the flesh of many cabezons and ling cod comes from eating lots of shrimp, so go easy on the endless shrimp platter at Red Lobster.

I'm not sure if this is a big vermillion or small model holding it, or both. Probably both. A lot of rockfish came in today but so did quite a few salmon, especially from the Tomales Point to McClure's Beach area. Halibut sounded like they were mostly caught on the south end of  Ten Mile but not everyone was talking. 

Moochers picked up some salmon from McClure's to Bird in the last few days. Elephant Rock and Abbott's had a few as well. It is definitely winding down but still doable. Halibut fishing was slow in the bay but a few are coming from McClure's and Ten Mile.  Helmuth Himmrich caught a 30 pound flatty on McClure's yesterday.  I put three in the boat about a mile this side of Abbott's in 30 to 65 feet of water. We drifted live mackerel and mackerel scad and lost two other halibut. The mackerel schools are plentiful on Ten Mile. Good thing, because the big Dungeness crabs will eat most of your bait. Our bites were 4 to 1 crabs. I'm sure that the crab will be gone by November, but so will the halibut.  Rockfishing was good.

You can tell summer has passed when you only launch five boats and the wind isn't howling. Of those five launches, three limited on salmon, one had a half limit, and one had many bites but couldn't stick one. The best numbers came from this side of Abbott's in 60 to 70 feet of water but Bird Rock and McLure's had a few salmon as well. No halibut today, but that could be because nobody fished for halibut.

Poor Jeff Norton. He caught a salmon early in the day, then tried to get the second one all day but he never could. I can only imagine his disappointment when this 45 pound sea bass bit. I guess that makes a pretty good consolation prize. Jeff seems okay with it. Both of his fish came from 90 feet of water just this side of Abbott's Lagoon while mooching anchovies. The Miss Anita trolled by about the time Jeff was fighting the bass and they caught its twin. There were quite a few (for September) salmon caught this weekend. mostly from the south end of Ten Mile but still some on the reefs from Elephant to Tomales Point. The halibut showed pretty well too, with one boat catching six yesterday. The halibut are finally biting in the shallower water where they're supposed to be. Today there were a few in the mix but salmon definitely outnumbered them. 

Sherrie Georgis caught this 33 pound salmon yesterday. The bite slowed but there were still several salmon brought in yesterday, although most of them were not close to this size. So far today one boat has returned with his salmon limit. Dennis Stocking put two halibut in the boat quick yesterday morning but couldn't get the third. He was fishing by Hog Island with shiners. 

Here's Randy Johnson's 36 pound sea bass from last weekend. It was too painful for me to get a picture of it, so I had to steal this one from Facebook. He was mooching for salmon off of McClure's Beach when he caught it.

Labor day weekend was a bit windy but there were still a few fish caught. Saturday had some pretty good salmon numbers and a 36 pound white sea bass. Sunday was pretty well blown out. Monday saw a few salmon caught but not too many. The water cooled off by 8 degrees to 56. It should be good for salmon but they might need a chance to acclimate before they get real bitey. Today six boats tried for salmon but only three fish were brought in.  The one boat that limited caught his in 50 feet of water, shallower than the fish have been but probably an appropriate depth for the new water temperature. Divers on the bar today had clear 54 degree water for excellent views of nothing but sand. Fishermen caught a few halibut back by Hog Island over the long weekend but the mouth of the bay was pretty quiet. The halibut may finally move into shallower water with the cooler temps but with all the squid out deeper I wouldn't bet on it.