Tom Carter sent me a text yesterday:"Heard you had a great day yesterday and Alec is a tuna guy now. We are trying to be salmon guys with 20 pound average fish off the beach lots of fun"I think you guys figured out how to be salmon guys. Probably has something to do with the grump on the right.

    Lou Zanardi, Steve Freeman and Glen Hakola caught these salmon to 25 pounds down on the beach. The southern end of the beach was crowded with boats from as far away as San Francisco Bay. Most of them were catching. Depth of water was pretty shallow, 30 to 60 feet. 

    No halibut pictures today but there were some caught on Ten Mile and in Tomales Bay. I even heard a tale of a 24" halibut getting caught from the beach by a guy using bacon for bait. Yes, bacon. I don't know if it was fried but I kind of doubt it.  

   Yesterday Jim Whitley caught this 32 pound salmon. He had kind of a rough day before with no salmon landed but I think he was past that by the time of this photo. I don't know for a fact but I think he caught this on Ten Mile, probably at the Towers.

    Alec Bennett, notorious captain of the Shrimp Boat, landed this 23 pound (gutted) albacore yesterday, one of the 13 we brought in. Alec was the designated reeler. Good man to have fishing with you. 

      Scott Mason put the boat over these hogs yesterday. The Towers was the location of his victory. I didn't get the weights but none of us would have thrown them back.

    Finally, photographic evidence of the Tomales Outlaw:"Hi Willy after 10 years we got our picture taken out front. The nice lady at the bait shop took it.  Salmon were caught by the crew of the Tomales Outlaw between Bird and Elephant in 50 to 70 feet of water. On anchovies and herring." If memory serves the Outlaw is a moocher, for those of you who prefer silence while fishing.

   And here's a report sent in by Steve Georgis, troller:"Hey Willy. Great fishing Wednesday and Thursday. Hooked over 20 salmon in 2 days. Abbots then Towers in 40 ft. They’re here:)"

   Here's a few pictures from derby day. Stacy Barton and crew Tried off of the day beach first and ended up with a couple of halibut, then went to Point Reyes (about 240 feet of water) and caught salmon 50 feet down. I don't know where the rockfish came from.

   Gage sent me this with no explanation yesterday. It looks like Thumbs and Eddie Kim caught some nice salmon. At a guess, VK Dying Minnow (Thumbs) and green Rotary Salmon Killer (Eddie). The location of the catch is difficult to judge from the photo but, since I caught a salmon last night at the Trees and several other fish were caught there, I'll guess somewhere near there. The bite moved South to Ten Mile today.

     It turns out that fishermen lie and there are no tuna to be had from Bodega/Tomales bays. There's no way that the warm mass of water that they're catching albacore in from Fort Bragg and extends past Point Arena could have fish all that way. The 60 mile run to 38º 37' by 124º11' is too far. Even if you went the tuna are very small. No way they'd hit Mexican Flag feathers and Rapala X-rap 20's. It would be impossible to catch 13 of them. Or, it did happen and I just finished cleaning fish. 

    Alec Bennett told me that "fishing is easy." It took him less than an hour yesterday to land this limit to 21 pounds in 50 feet of water at the Trees. They bit anchovies under a VK head, no flasher.

   Joe Downing made no comment on the relative complexity of the sport of fishing but just smiled and weighed in a pair of 23 pound salmon yesterday. He also mentioned the Trees. 

   Nathan Porter and Charise Corpe caught more fish than they could hold today. I believe that halibut went 24 pounds and the largest salmon 23. All fish hit bait behind an 11" green Hot Spot flasher. I'm told they were at McClures.

   Lou Zanardi and George Cinquini were one short of limits on salmon today but still caught enough to overheat the Foodsaver. The big one was 22 pounds. North McClure's Beach was the general area. The bait has moved into the nearshore waters and, while surely attractive to salmon, there's so much of it that it most bait schools are unmolested by ravaging salmon. Finding bait doesn't mean you found the salmon.

     Jeff from Sebastopol caught this slug that weighed 26 pounds and was caught close enough to my fishless boat to make me momentarily hate two really nice guys. I got over it. South of the Trees, 60 feet of water.

    

   Gage, sensing my skunked discomfort, made sure to send me this picture of another fish I neglected to catch this evening. His salmon weighed 23 pounds and a bit a straight bait. Yes, it is legal to gaff a keeper salmon in the ocean.
    Now, a critique of the report as submitted by Doug Vincent: "I'm guessing that the fishing reports page main purpose is to encourage more people(customers) to visit your business. I find it a rare occurrence when there is actual usable information there that would encourage me to go out there and go fishing(spend $ with you). For example, so and so caught these fish off Bird rock in x ft of water this morning. Or, these halibut were caught in 20 ft in front of Hog island. When you post photos of grinning people with nice fish, without any usable info, I feel like you are just saying to everyone, "nah, nah, too bad for you, we caught fish and you didn't" and "we don't want your business". Feels like you are trying to be a
smartass when you say things like "they were caught out front, or somewhere sandy, or off a beach, or in the water". NOBODY LIKES A SMARTASS. The least you could do is caption the photos accurately. Like this:
"These greedy smartasses would not tell us the location these fish were caught so that we could help others to be successful as well. They are not nice people and might think that only they should be allowed to catch fish.
Helping other fishermen is what good fishermen do and withholding valuable information shows a total lack of sportsmanship"
There should be consequences for that sort of selfish behavior
OK, I feel better now
I still don't know where to catch halibut in Tomales Bay though"  Well, Doug, a lot of people don't like playing bumperboats (except at Scandia) and would rather keep their spots to themselves. They may also feel that, having put in the time and effort to find the fish, maybe just handing that information over would be cheating both you and him. For the guys that do share, thanks. Also, a lot of the time I don't get a chance to talk to people but just get a picture from another employee. For the record.though,  Doug, as far as the smartass thing goes, my dog still likes me. And if you don't know where to catch halibut in Tomales Bay, I can't help you. There are fish from one end of the bay to the other, from 6 feet to 40 feet of water, in the rocks, mud, sand and along the eelgrass beds. Probably the least concentration of fish is under the fleet of boats near the yellow buoy and Pelican Point, yet a few guys limit there pretty regularly. If you are trying lots of spots and not catching then you need to change the only constant- your technique. If you are waiting for some guy on a computer to tell you where to go for instant limits then you are in for disappointment.

   The winner of the 2019 8th annual Merle Lawson Memorial Salmon Derby was Nate Salazar, who weighed in a 19 pound (gutted) salmon early enough to win him the $1275 first place purse and  $75 gift certificate to the Outdoot Pro Shop in Cotati. Second place was Bob "Skippy" Rosario with a (later) 19 pound salmon for $850 and a $50 Sportsman's Warehouse gift card. Finally, 3rd place went to the first boat to return and A. J. Masters with his 18 pound fish, worth $425 and a $25 Sportsman's Warehouse gift card. For a change, the Derby was graced with beautiful weather and some decent fishing. Rounded out with a great group of people it was a really fun time.

    Mike and Mara Nursement sweetened the pot for the Derby with a $500 donation. Mike obviously regretted that and tried to win it back but came up a few pounds short. Pretty darn nice fish, though.

   Patty O'Hair was also gunning for a bit of that prize money with this fish which didn't make the top three but did fill a hole in the freezer. The previous two fish as well as many if not most of the others landed yesterday came from offshore. 220 to 330 feet of water, from Bodega Head down to almost Point Reyes. Most of the deep water fish were also caught pretty deep on the wire, 120 to 200 feet down, although the pictured fish, as I understand it, came from up near the top. With the weather as it is and is forecast to be, it is likely that some of these fish will find their way onshore for a shallow water bite very soon.

    

   These guys above (separate photos to make room for egos) didn't get the message about it being a salmon derby only, it seems. That, or they didn't want to leave fish to find fish, which is actually a pretty good excuse. Either way, they whomped the poor halibut somewhere sandy (strangely, they wouldn't say where)(yes, my son won't tell me. My son).

   John Brezina is smiling because he caught the derby winning salmon. A moment later his smile disappeared when he remembered  the derby was yesterday. This salmon weighed 31 pounds, guts in.

    Team Fogal found a few halibut to 23 pounds out front today. Just remember, the size of your boat doesn't dictate the size of your fish. It's the number of rods you fish that does.

    Joe Winn and his crew bagged 9 halibut to 17 pounds (and a starry flounder) today. I believe that they did it yesterday too. Please note: None of the halibut pictured were caught by Hog Island. There's fish by Hog but with the current water temps it is better North of there. 

     This is Cameron showing us what a winning salmon could look like in the 8th Annual Merle Lawson Memorial Salmon Derby. This fish weighed 31 pounds and was actually caught by local legend Gerard Fitzgerald on Wednesday. The Derby will be held on Saturday at the Landing. Looks like there's a few fish around so we might have an interesting competition this year.

   On the other hand, the weather sucked today for safe ocean fishing. While the forecast is great for the weekend, today was a bay day. Catching bait was challenging but paid off with a striper, white seabass and two halibut, mostly from the bar. Live anchovies on size 8 trebles caught three of the four. The biggest bit a 10" jacksmelt. The wind blew but didn't cool the water off, so far. Actually, the water got warmer from the wind. Go figure. The weather should be better tomorrow and actually good over the weekend.

     Herman Rinkel caught this 25 pound salmon today near McClure's. Today was quite a bit nicer than yesterday as the South wind was only bad. Yesterday the wind was gusting up to 30 knots and made things really unpleasant. There was even one anchored boat sunk. I don't know how many EZ-Ups in the campground went to an early grave, but it was a lot.

    These gentlemen found 'em "on the beach" in 30 to 60 feet of water. I like this grade of fish. Nice work, guys.

   No pictures, just a quick note. There's been a decent bite on salmon in 200 to 240 feet of water off of Tomales Point- until today. The water is warming and browning so look to shallower water for salmon and halibut this weekend. The wind is blowing farther out and leaving the sea pretty rolly and unpleasant but you may not need to go far, anyhow.

    Marsha Englebrecht caught this 24 pound salmon yesterday off of Point Reyes. It was one of two 24 pound salmon in the boat piloted by experienced netter John Brezina. The salmon bite has been pretty good down there, but if the forecast is correct you probably can't get there from here this week.

    Ed Parsond caught this 23 pound halibut on the troll at location "off a beach." Not the most helpful information but still a nice fish. 

   Here's Gage's contribution to the fish report. This 15 pound halibut was caught off of McClure's Beach (Probably; it was foggy) on Saturday evening. It would appear that the Gage was trolling from the flasher in the photo. It would also appear that he has learned how to pick 'em.

    Lucas Bair of Loomis caught this 20 pound striper on Friday. His group of fishermen caught halibut as well. I didn't hear where these fish came from specifically but most of the halibut and stripers were caught starting about a mile South of Hog Island. 

    There's always a few exceptions. This halibut, along with another, was caught on the North side of Hog Island on a live anchovy. The ocean water has warmed up a bit and there's a few halibut biting on the "ocean " side of the temperature break near Hog Island, as well as a few showing up off of the ocean beaches for trollers. Salmon activity has been mostly confined to right off of Point Reyes and along the continental shelf drop-off (the edge of the world) although with the water temps increasing and the anchovy schools starting to assemble closer to shore the salmon will likely follow. 

    Here's a picture from last weekend, sent in by Bill Pacuilla: "I took my wife Lori fishing on Tomales for the first time Saturday.  She caught a nice halibut and striper.  I was skunked." Looks like she had a good time, Bill. You don't need to catch if she is.

    Jesse Keilman gave the salmon a good try on Monday but ended up fishing for stripers and halibut yesterday. It looks like he did okay. I didn't catch his fishing buddy's name but anybody who exaggerates the size of his fish while he's still holding the fish is okay by me.

     This would be one of the better ones from the bay today, weighing in at 15 pounds.

     Jesse Keilman and crew had to go home today but before they did they caught a few more fish, including a 28 pound halibut. That would be the largest one landed today and it was caught within sight of the pier. 

    On the salmon front, aside from rumors of a few scattered fish caught nearby, I did hear that there's a big school of salmon that the commercial fleet has been working near Cordell. There's a lot of fish being caught but it's over a 20 mile run. I'd do it in a heartbeat for tuna but I'm less excited about a salmon run that far. Well, good weather is forecast for this weekend, so I guess if someone wants to get a little tuna run practice, here's your chance.

     Here's a darn good report from Saturday: "Hey Willie!! We Had two limits of halibut and stripers by 10:30 today! Kyle and Craig Perry did well today! Fishing mostly around Hog." These guys spent more time driving to and from than they did on the catching. Nice job, Perrys.

    Here's a few selected pictures from "Camp Clarksburg" and their weekend stay. Travis Barton did a fine job as netboy for his crew of fishkillers. My understanding is that they fished within a few miles of Hog.

    Kelley Roy sent over this report from the water early yesterday afternoon: "Hey Willy

3 Hali 1 striper so far. Plus a huge bat ray lol. 
Marshals....Gages set up

Kelley" I believe that I heard Kelley and Herman ended up with four stripers along with the halibut. Gage's set up is likely the purple haze hootchy behind a Hot Spot flasher. 

    The ocean has been cold, clear and fairly bumpy, conditions that neither salmon fishermen nor (apparently) salmon like. Common themes the last two days are "no bait" and "no fish". This caused more than a few people to fish in the bay where the stripers have followed the anchovies. Jacie Albarran of Clarksburg caught this 24 pounder today but most of the rest have been 8 to 12 pounds. The halibut have also been "bitey" but mostly further back in the bay or around the bottom of the tide when the water is warmer near Hog.

    Here's a picture from Thursday when the boys and I found three salmon willing to bite in the morning. Mine wasn't big enough for a picture with Gage's 18 pounder and Cameron's 20 pounder, but it was the first fish in the boat. All told we had six bites between 7:00 AM and 8:30 AM in 50 to 70 feet of water off of the North end of McClure's Beach. There were a few other fish caught there around the same time but I haven't heard of any since then. There's still bait in the outer bay (the esteroes) but it seems that the pelicans and murres have found the anchovies but the salmon have not. Perhaps some signage to direct them? Someday when the wind quits and water warms up to 58º or so, the salmon will return in great numbers to the inshore waters and we will rejoice. Or be angry we missed it. Definitely one of the two.