This morning Nathan Porter caught that sea bass he's been looking for. 35.5 pounds, it bit a drifted dead squid at McClure's at first light. Find the squid, find the sea bass.

Yesterday's dawn patrol couldn't find the squid, but the anchovies worked out okay. Nathan Duby caught a 27 pound WSB on a dead frozen anchovy at the Keyholes and I caught a 24 pound halibut on a live (but dropped hard on the deck) mackerel in 90 feet of water. We were back by 8:00 AM. Then we went back out in the afternoon for four hours of trolling for nada. Guess we used up our luck.

John Brezina mooched up this 26 pound salmon at the Keyholes yesterday. There were a few other salmon caught there early in the day but the bite died early. There's been some sporadic salmon and halibut action at the squid spawning grounds but it has not been dependable. The halibut fishing in the bay has been slow, probably because the fish are so well-fed on the schools of anchovies circulating around the bay. Actually, most of the non-rockfish fishing is slow everywhere, but if you are lucky you might catch. The salmon/sea bass derby tomorrow should be interesting. A fish could win it all.