In nature there are tales of struggle and survival, like the salmon making their way back to the rivers of their birth, and baby sea turtles crossing the sandy beach to the ocean while predators pick off the unlucky ones. This striper experienced that by dodging Gage's lures, only to be caught by Mr. Blong here on 6 pound test while he was fishing for smelt. It took him 15 minutes and a bit of luck to land this 19 pound fish in the surf.

     The crabbing was just OK over the weekend in the bay, a little better outside. The halibut fishing was decent by Hog Island around the turn of the low tide. Surfperch fishing was also good. No salmon.

    Poor Gage still can't catch a perch. The brave little guy still manages to keep a smile on his face, though. Be strong, Gage.

Dennis Stocking caught this 21.5 pound halibut on a live shiner by Hog Island. Two other shiners Dennis soaked were eaten but the halibut were not hooked. A few other halibut were caught back there today. Surfperch fishing was pretty good on Dillon Beach and at least one more striper found its way into a perch fisherman's bucket. The crabbing was, well, just OK.

    So it appears that there are still a few halibut biting around Hog Island. These guys were a little cagey about their exact location, but did share that they caught  these fish on jigs. It also sounds like there were some other guys catching fish, so hopefully more photos to follow.

     The fish report for today was nada. One boat said that they didn't think the fish were there because they were watching their jigs work the bottom in 15 feet of cold, clear water and they looked so good that something should have bit them. The halibut were probably too busy shivering to notice the jigs. The Dungeness don't mind the cold at least, so the crabbing was OK. The New Sea Angler looked to be trolling in front of Bird in about 200' of water today. Hopefully his report will include salmon.
     

     Kevin Soper sent in this picture of his fishing buddy waiting for a striper to bite. I hope there's no hard feelings between you guys when you reel in all the fish, Kevin.

     This photo was submitted with the sentence, "rumor is these all came from Dillon Beach this weekend." I had heard that there were some nice redtails getting caught, but wow. I hope the rumor is true. 

      UPDATE: Confirmed. These gentlemen were fishing from the beach near the path from the new walk-in tent sites, about a half of a mile from the sand point.

     Gage went surfperch fishing and had a lot of bites but only caught one little perch. He said he had one other bite but he was pretty sure that it wasn't a striper, since there aren't any here. If it had been a striper, it would have bit on a piece of Berkeley Gulp! Power Sandworm on a no. 4 hook. But it wasn't one. So never mind.

     

     Halibut update: The water cooled off (51º) and so did the bite. The fish may still be interested around the bottom of the tide when the warmer, back-bay water is around Hog, but the fishing near the mouth of the bay is over until the water warms back up. I mean, the catching is over. The fishing was lovely today.

     We've got our first fish on the bragging board, and it is, apparently, kissable. Sean Bottomley caught this 33 pound halibut by Hog Island today, possibly on a jig. I was asked yesterday if the big females were showing up and I said no, they wouldn't be here for a while. This fish was just to prove me wrong. You're welcome, Sean.

     Finally some halibut. Cameron Roth picked up this nice 14 pound halibut back by Hog Island on a white scampi jig. I heard of at least seven others landed from the same area today. The wind has laid off for a while and the water warmed up and got the fish interested in biting. Of course, now the wind is supposed to be back in the next few days. I guess a window has to open before it can be slammed shut on you.
     The rockfishing has been good for everyone but Steve Werlin. Crabbing has been slow for most people but there's still a few guys loading up, sometimes right in the middle of everyone else. No more salmon landed, but the school off of Duxbury is supposedly moving this way, so maybe in a week or two we'll get some red meat.

     No salmon landed here this week, but the water is starting to get a little brown tint to it and the temp is up to 53º to 56º, so with the good weather this week we may see some more. There were quite a few rockfish caught, and one of the rockfishermen spotted a squid boat possibly working near Elephant Rock. It looks like there may be some squid around, still. No stripers but quite a few surfperch were caught. The crabbing was the usual, slow for many, good for a few. The clamming was great over the weekend with some of the lowest tides of the year. Along with the low tides came the wardens and they had a busy weekend again. They were checking by land and by sea (that would have really confused Paul Revere) and they wrote many tickets. They were very courteous about it, though, and even allowed a couple of people that had licenses but didn't bring them to purchase a duplicate license and avoid the ticket. Remember, the license doesn't have to be displayed anymore but it needs to be on your person while fishing, clamming or crabbing. Not having it with you is just a cheaper ticket, unless the wardens are in a good mood.
     Don't count on the mood thing.

     Just a quick note- these guys said the perch are running. I believe them, for what it's worth.

     A second note- Gage reports shiner perch on the pier, so maybe it is time to expect some halibut.

     Greg Gartrell caught his first salmon (and possibly the Landing's first salmon) of the season yesterday. He was fishing in 220 feet of water, due West off of Tomales Point. He's out again today on some of the flatter water we've seen lately. It's amazing how nice it is when the wind isn't gusting to 45 knots. 

    Hey, did anyone go to the big abalone meeting today? The one in Santa Cruz? The public workshop that "As part of CDFW's efforts to encourage public participation in the plan development process" was announced on Friday and is being held today, Monday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM? Don't worry, it's being funded by The Nature Conservancy, so I'm sure it will be fair, impartial, and science based. Here's the press release:
Red Abalone Workshop to be Presented in Santa Cruz

	Size limits have long been useful tools for abalone fishery managers. CDFW photo

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is currently working on a fishery management plan for the north coast's recreational red abalone fishery. As part of CDFW's efforts to encourage public participation in the plan development process, the Nature Conservancy and CDFW will jointly conduct a workshop on the topic. The Nature Conservancy is providing financial support for the event.

The workshop, which is open and free to the public, will be held on Monday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the UC Santa Cruz Horticulture II Building, Arboretum Conference Room. Directions to the workshop location can be found online.
 

Fishery scientists, citizen scientists, anglers, and managers attending the workshop will discuss options for developing a control rule to manage the recreational red abalone fishery. Invited speakers will describe the use of control rules and available options for integrating abalone size measurements into a comprehensive framework for decision-making.

Other than that, we had a lot of wind this week. A lot. At least one boat slipped out for a quick report. Nick Mitten sent in this:

We had a fun trip. We were able to get out for a couple hours Friday before the wind kicked us out and picked up a few. My friends also went out for rock fish Sunday and did well. Short ling, no keepers but good quality rock cod.