Not too much to report, as you may have guessed. Crabbing in the ocean has been tough. There's a few in the outer bay but they need to be worked for. Out deeper is even slower. Hopefully the commercial guys caught enough at the start to pay their bills because now it sounds like a good day barely pays for fuel and bait. From the shore the snares are still accounting for a few Dungeness. FYI, I'm seeing more "Crab Hawks", or folding castable nets, getting used and I'm pretty sure that they're not legal in California. I haven't heard of anyone getting ticketed for using one but I doubt that anyonr reading this wants to be the first.
I heard that the hatcheries got all the salmon they needed and lots of jacks showed up but I haven't heard any numbers of wild salmon returns. There will probably be an ocean salmon season, maybe. If there is, it looks like it should be pretty good since some of the commercial crabbers have seen sea lions eating salmon out in 40 fathoms (240 feet). There's lots of anchovies out there, too.
I heard about a herring spawn in Tomales bay last weekend and a fresh school of herring pushed into the bay yesterday. I would think that there'd be few stripers chasing them but I haven't heard of ant caught except for a couple in the surf. Gage finally went surf fishing and managed a couple of barred perch at low tide. "The only structure to fish is at low tide," said the man.
Willy:
ReplyDeleteNot much to report? But look back on all you just reported.
Crabbing is tough, even for the commercial fellows livelyhood. Some comments on crab snaring and Crab Hawks. Hatcheries got lots of salmon with lots of immature "jacks" (Hey get big jacks so you can breed and not disturb). Ocean salmon season may be questionable. Sea lions continue to harass fisherman so there are salmon out there. Herring are spawning in Tomales; maybe stripers chasing herring are available. Gage caught some perch at low tide. And maybe after the many structure ruining storms there's structure out there in the low tide areas.
Wow, Willy that's lots of interesting news!!!
Thanks for reporting it!
Agree. Excellent report.
ReplyDeleteSwampy
All i read was "said the man"........Gage is a man, young but with great character. Great to see Willy's boy's grow up to be fine gents in our society. Gage definitely is diligent in his quest for sea fare.
ReplyDeleteLove all your reports Willy - could we have daily reports? lol
https://californiaoutdoors.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/crab-hawk-traps-legal-in-california/
ReplyDeleteThe short of it, Crab Hawks are considered a trap by DFW, unlike a snare or ring net. Unless you modify it to add a rigid escape ring, they're illegal in CA.
And great report as always, Willy !