Here's your weather report. The wind is blowing so hard that it is dragging unsuspecting kite flyers into the sky. Supposedly we're in for better weather over the weekend. Less wind is better, right? The fishing report is nada except for a few crabs from the pier. I did hear about another good use for drones, though;

     I was going to post that the crabbing was pretty slow over the weekend, but then Diane Read sent an email saying "Hi, We had much success this past weekend crabbing, limits all three days that we were there.  Can't wait to get back for Halibut and hopefully Sea Bass!" So, I guess it was slow for some people and not for others. I'm afraid that Diane didn't share any secrets. 

     There were a few surfperch caught over the weekend and many clams taken. Actually, more clams were dug up than were legal and Fish and Wildlife wardens had a busy weekend. They're probably still doing the paperwork. There were a number of questions asked in the tackle shop this weekend, and here are a few select answers to them:

    " No, we don't have a holding cell here. If the wardens took your friends away then they'll be at the Marin County jail in San Rafael."

     "Yes, you may use out telephone to call your wife, since your friends drove off and left you here when they saw the men in green."

     "It's the first ten clams you dig up. Only ten."

      A bit of advice to future clamming visitors- if you are planning on breaking the law, probably don't come here. The wardens do come here, and they come a lot. When they have a weekend like they just had they get grumpy and they make a point to come here even more. If you want to cme and follow the rules, great! But if you want to break them you should go somewhere where the wardens still smile.

     These pics and info sent in by Allen Evans: Great day fishing(wednesday)....Limit of Lings out of Tomales Bay....great ocean conditions as well.

     Thursday had flat water but a stiff breeze from the south. My fishing trip turned into an abbing trip, but six feet + of viz and no surge was nice. If I was any kind of diver I could have got a limit of nice ones. Mine were legal when I took them but maybe not big enough a couple of months ago. The water was 57º, plenty warm enough for halibut on the bar. 

Surf stripers

FYI, there's stripers in the surf at Dillon Beach. Not as many as other places, from what I  hear, and probably not as good as in the delta right now, but still, fish. There was an eight pounder caught yesterday by a perch fisherman near the parking lot and I caught a shorty about halfway down the beach this evening. I panicked when it hit. Topwaters rule.

     Looks like these guys know where the crabs are. Or where they were, at least. So, maybe the crabbing wasn't as slow as I was led to believe. Thanks to Sara Connelly for the photo.

     Also, looks like salmon season here will run through October 31 this year with a 20" minimum size limit starting in May. Not too shabby.

     For those of you that fish out of Lawson's, here's the channel across the bay. Looks a little different than last year, eh? The best thing about it is that it's actually deeper than it's been in a while. Also, this picture demonstrates that a drone can be used for more than looking in your neighbor's windows.

     Most people reported slow crabbing, although a couple of people did very well. The clamming channel (I can't say exactly where. Secrets, you know) did well for a couple of people. One boat caught 26 Dungeness inside the bay. The only tip I got from that group was that they worked their gear constantly and freshened their bait on every pull. The outer bay was slow for the folks I talked to. Nine crab in nine pots for a three day soak qualifies for slow.

     Rockfish opened this weekend but the couple of guys that I spoke with didn't venture very far out and, while they caught some fish, they had to work for them. The salmon bite was tough, too, but I heard of a few being caught in various locations from 240 to 300 feet of water. There's only about four to five miles between 240 and 300 feet. There's a bit of water to be covered to figure out where the hungry ones are hiding.

     These gents got their limits of abalone today. They tried a few days ago but the water was pretty murky. Today the water was better, not good, but at least you could see the abs. They got them at Tomales Point. 

     They're getting a few salmon out in 240 to 300 feet of water. The fish are scattered around and people are catching them but not too many guys are loading up. It's still better than what was being caught at this time last year, so maybe summer will have a better salmon bite. A man can dream.

     Tomales Outlaw sent a report from yesterday: We managed 8 big Dungeness today, but had to work hard for them. We only had 1 red crab in the pots all day. Also managed 2 limits of cockles, but didn't have to work as hard for those. We saw a couple of schools of mackerel, and there were sea lions harassing them. Other boats we talked to had between 0 and 4 crab, so I guess we beat the average. I'll have to put the halibut gear aboard next time.

    So I had a theory that, in order to catch a halibut, one needed to fish for halibut. I don't know that it is true, but these guys went halibut fishing and caught two, so maybe. They caught these on this side of Hog Island along the edge of the holes, slow trolling a white hoochy for one and a live mackerel for the other. They also came back with four Dungeness. It looks like, at least for these guys, it is finally halibut time.

    One other thing that these fine gentlemen mentioned was seeing arches under the mackerel schools on the fishfinder. Hmmmmm........

     I didn't catch these guys names but they sure caught the surfperch. The Dungeness crabs that were their primary goal couldn't get to their gear through the crowds of red and rock crab near the shore on the other side of the bay, but these guys found a school of perch that liked their shrimp and Berkley Power Bait worms to the point of near limits. Someone's having a fish fry tonight....

     Not too many happy things said about the crabbing today as most of the guys working Tomales Bay had similar issues with the reds. Outside the crabbing was better for the guys that tried it. No salmon or halibut landed here yet, but not too many people are fishing for them, so that may have something to do with it. For anybody looking for a little info about perch fishing, here's a good site, even though they don't mention Dillon Beach : http://www.scalzfishing.com/surf-perch-fishing-tips-for-beginners/

     Here's a report from the opener. Yes, that was a week ago, but it is still good info. Bob Russell sent this in:

    Good morning. here are the pictures of the two we caught.  Not monsters but both early in the year keepers.  also this is just one of the crab pots we pulled.   Many of the crabs were 7" plus.   Chris Monk runs a 30' Radon out of Bodega bay.   1707 875 2267   Great boat and crew.  My son and brother and I  had a great day.  The salmon were bright red and sweet.  One on straight bait and one on a copcar apex.   about 7miles straight out off the college and about 40' down.  Water looked fishy.   We can only hope the fish stick around and get bigger as the year goes by.   As for the ab guy .  I used to dive at rocky point below point reyes on the marin coast  in the 1990s.  quit when I saw a bleeding seal with about a 12"  bite out of his back.  Stewards point is much less sharky.  
     Please note in the first photo that the pot full of Dungeness does not appear to have cotton string holding parts of it together and the door is tie-strapped shut. Still legal now, but not after August 1st. I've gotta re-rig all of my pots, too, so I'm going to try to keep reminding you guys until I finally get mine taken care of. Yes, I'm nagging myself, too.
     The Dungeness crabbing has been good for this time of year, but then again, it's usually at it's slowest now (February and March). They're still out there but, again, you've got to work for them.

     Salmon season is open today and, even with the dire forecasts for low fish counts this year, people are actually catching salmon. It is far from red hot, but I heard of one guy that limited out and was pulling his boat out before 8:00 AM. He didn't share his location, but it probably wasn't too far out.
     Randy from Reno was here this past week and caught a total of 31 Dungeness from the pier during that time. One day he caught his limit, but usually he averaged three per day. That means it would be difficult for us normal people to catch many from the pier, but there's a chance. Tomales Bay still has some decent crab but it is getting more difficult to get them. I dropped eight pots in the outer bay on Thursday for a four hour soak and ended up with only eleven keepers. The pots closer to the "TB" buoy had keepers and the rest caught snails and reds.