The surfperch are still biting really well on the Berkley Gulp! Power Sandworms. The medium tides seem to be the best times for catching.

   Today's the last day for boat rockfish until April 15, so you've probably missed it already. These fish came in an hour right after noon on Thursday, so there's still time.

    The cold water slowed down the bat ray bite on the mud flats but this thornback ray was still hungry for squid. We usually don't see any of these critters, so it was weird to see caught two this year. 

    The Dungeness crabbing has been really slow with a few lucky (or skilled) people picking up a couple here and there. There's still a lot of red crab and most of the full buckets are full of them.

   Nick made it out for one last trip last Saturday and got this nice 16 pound ling as well as his limit of rockfish. Don McCorkle parked his boat over limits for all three aboard, actually. 

    Nick spotted this dead whale floating out there and his Christmas wish is for the carcass to drift far from here. No sharks nibbling on it, yet.

    Eddie Kim went out or a final trip of the year today and landed three limits of rockfish and three lings. Looks like we've got a few more days of decent weather and of rockfish season if anybody else want's to get in on the action. There's still a few crab being caught but the rockfish and surfperch fishing have been the best bets for the day tripper.

   The Dungeness crabbing is pretty slow in the bay. At least the reds can be reliably caught on the West side of the bay. The outer bay has a few more crab but is still pretty spotty. The rockfishing has been good outside when the weather allows a trip.

    My surfperch pro tells me that the redtails are in. Gage caught 20 and released 12 today, released 17 yesterday afternoon and a buddy of his caught 20 in a couple of hours this morning. Maybe there's a striper with them?

    Now that the wind is shutting everything down outside, I can tell you that the rockfish were definitely biting this week. In three hours yesterday we caught limits of rockfish and lingcod and had to return another eight legal lings. Nick Bauer caught the two largest ones at 15 pounds apiece. There were several other boats out working the rocks, mostly near Bird and a few at Elephant Reef. We went a bit further down off of Ten Mile. The crab numbers that I heard were kind of sad (7 pots, 24 hours, 6 Dungeness in outer bay) but there's still some around and you never know when a fresh batch will come strolling into the bay. No surfperch report, as Gage's basketball practice is interfering with his fishing.

      The pier is still kicking out a few Dungeness, especially around the turn of the tide. Snares and traps are both working about as well there. The bay crab action has been on the slow side for most boaters. About 4 to 6 Dungeness has been the average with quite a few zeros and one boat landing 17 over the weekend. Outside the crabbing is better but not great. Guys are getting them with a bit of work. The rockfishing has been good in the ocean and there's some nice redtail perch in the surf if you and the school of perch are lucky enough to meet. Twilight seems to be the more important than the tide for the perch.

    Here's a reminder that those of you with abalone cards this year had better remember to send them in or file online on time, or they won't sell you an ab card next year. Oh, wait...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December 8, 2017

California Recreational Abalone Fishery to be Closed in 2018

Red abalone and urchins CDFW photo by A. Maguire The California Fish and Game Commission yesterday voted to close the 2018 northern California recreational abalone fishery due to ongoing environmental conditions that have significantly impacted the abalone resource. The closure affects next year's recreational abalone season, which was scheduled to open on April 1, 2018.   The Commission's 4-0 decision (Commissioner Jacque Hostler-Carmesin was absent) upholds the policies of the Abalone Recovery and Management Plan, which was adopted by the Commission in December 2005. Over the past several years, the Commission has taken several actions to reduce take and shorten the season to protect abalone from the unprecedented environmental conditions.   The Commission directed the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to work with stakeholders to deliver a new fishery management plan that includes guidance on navigating these unprecedented conditions. The Commission also directed CDFW to consider how the new fishery management plan can inform the potential re-opening of some fishing opportunity for the 2019 season.   More information about California's recreational abalone fisheries can be found on the CDFW website.   Oh well....Guess I should've got wet this year.

    The only picture I have to show is this photo of Gage and Nick's thornback ray from last week. I had to crop out Gage's boots from the photo so you couldn't tell how big (small) it was. The boys caught 14 bat rays and this little critter in three hours of night fishing at low tide on the mud flats off of the seawall. Squid was the hot bait.

     In other news, the rockfishing was on the slow side this last week, probably from large swells and the full moon. Crabbing in the bay was decent for the guys really working their gear and moving it around. Get too close to the rocks and kelp and it's nothing but reds. The outer bay still has some decent patches of Dungeness, again in places away from from the rocks. Also, a note to the clammers: Digging during later tides that may require you stay out after sundown is a bad idea. "No instrument capable of being used to dig clams may be possessed between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise, on any beach of this state," and the wardens can get grumpy when they write tickets in the dark. Let's keep them happy and stick to daylight hours like we're supposed to do.