Joe Downing took advantage of the flat ocean today and ran to the Point Reyes reefs. He only got one bite but that bite was a 22 pound ling. If you're only going to catch one, make it a good one.

    Tim Nelson sent over this report from Sunday:"Caught these two on straight bait in the South Bay, Mike also caught a shaker halibut and a silver salmon." The north end of the bay has cold water and I couldn't find any bait in it yesterday. Two hours of looking around and then chumming for no bites or sign makes me think that the live baiting for halibut is over. Looks like Tim and Mike are still catching with the dead stuff, so do as they did if you go. 

    There's been a couple of barely-over-the-line crab test results, one from Fort Bragg area and one from Duxbury, while the retest from Bodega Head passed. What's it mean? For us sport guys, probably the season starts as planned with warning from CDPH to clean before cooking. For the commercial guys, their start should be on the 15th but could be delayed due to domoic acid and weight testing and whales. Whale entanglement is a huge issue for the commercial fishermen and will become an issue for us as well. Here's some tips to minimize your chances of being the guy that kills a whale:

BEST PRACTICES

• No excess lines should be floating at the surface. Floating line should only be between the main buoy and trailer.

• When changing set location across depths, adjust the length of trap lines by adjusting shots (i.e., measured length of line) to maintain taut vertical lines.

• Avoid setting gear in the vicinity of whales whenever possible.

• Communicate the locations of high whale activity with other fishermen.

• Maintain gear to ensure lines and buoys are in good working condition and will not break under natural conditions causing gear to become lost or irretrievable.

• All gear should be clearly marked consistent with applicable regulation.

• Use the minimum amount of scope required to compensate for tides, currents and weather.

• Remove all fishing gear by 11:59 pm on the last day of the season when gear is no longer allowed in the water.

   That first one there that says no floating line? That's a damn good rule.