Received this email from Fishlipps today:"Hey Willie,

Like everyone else, I’m sitting here bored out of my mind and wishing I could get out on the ocean. I would quarantine myself there for a few weeks if I could!

I thought maybe a couple of pics from days gone by might help pass the time and provide some incentive to hang in there…

1. The tuna pic is my son and his wife a couple of summers ago about 60 miles out of San Diego. They caught it kite fishing. It weighed close to 220 lbs., gutted! Had to fight off a sea lion once they got it close to the boat. You can see the bite marks around the head.
2. Salmon and Halibut pics are just a few favorites from around home.

"

I imagine that most people are in the same situation. If anyone wants to brag or commiserate or whatever, send me your photos. lawsonslanding@gmail.com Please, no pictures of genitalia. Let's stick to fish or fishing-related photos.
    It would also appear that salmon season may be delayed until May. Rumors are flying and probably aren't wrong. Gage really wanted to catch one for everybody. Well, for him, really.

    Alastair Bland sent me a pretty good question: "Hey Willie,

What do you  expect for this summer? Are we going to be allowed to fish? I have been told all fishing (not sure about commercial) has been halted in Washington state. The beach closures in CA  seems like a step in that direction. Are they allowing you to remain open, both for camping and launching? If  you are going to address all this in a post, I'll just wait for it. 

Hope you're doing well.

Alastair "
    What do I expect? Anything but the Spanish Inquisition. There is obviously tremendous pressure to stay open for fishing and likewise to close it. I would have to say that the closure of almost every boat ramp is an indicator. Driving to or from a ramp in the Bay Area could net you a misdemeanor for non-essential travel. Most lakes are closed. Maybe CDFW doesn't need to close the season since it is 99% functionally closed. Or maybe they'll just make it official since the difference between functionally and actually is fairly negligible. If this $2,000,000,000,000+ stimulus bill passes with its money for small businesses (as it should) it makes it easier for governments to say no to a lot of activities as the economic justification to stay open weakens. This bill includes payments out to July 1 or so, so if you believe in following the money you can expect the current "Shelter In Place" order to remain in effect until late June. Lawson's Landing is closed to day use and camping until the order is lifted. The current order is through April 7 but I expect it to extend significantly within a few days after the passage of the Covid-19 rescue bill.
    If that makes you sad, here's this: Commercial fishing is considered essential so they can fish, but with the current socioeconomic situation there are no orders for crab or salmon. The crabbers got an extension on their season because there weren't many whales but crabbers are stacking their gear because the buyers aren't buying. Estimates on salmon prices at the dock are $2-3 a pound if they even buy any. Fuel is cheap now but it still takes money to fish.
     The only good news is that the fish will just be bigger and fatter when those of us that are lucky enough to still have jobs do get to go fishing....

    Got this report yesterday :"Hey Willie,

Snuck down there before we all go into lockdown and caught a few perch off the beach. Lots of smaller ones but had fun. Most came at the top of the tide.

Saw Gage taking quite a crew out Wednesday afternoon, they do any good?

Thanks, Swampy" The Gage report was two boats, one possible bite between them. They tried for halibut back by Marshall and found 54º water and not much bait. It is still early. I would stick with the perch and hopefully social distancing will keep others from crowding you if you find the good spot.
     One boat made a trip out for sand dabs yesterday. They tried 290 to 305 feet of water due West from Tomales Point for a grand total of three tiny dabs, one petrale sole and a spiny dogfish that tied the leader into knots. His summary: "Go perch fishing."
     Crabbing has been the usual, okay in the outer bay if you're in the right spot, slow inside the bay with occasional small runs of keepers passing through.

    Finally, a fishing report :"Took these ladies fishing for their first surf fishing trip and they definitely had the luck on their side" Gage and company were not the only ones catching out there. These fish were caught near the top of the tide in the afternoon but Gage talked to some other fishermen that had 3/4 limits earlier in the incoming. As usual, the Berkley Gulp! sandworm in camo color was the fish's choice.

    Friday Tim Woerner had a bit of excitement on his way in from crabbing in the Outer Bay. Just as he was getting to the dangerous part of the breaker line on the bar he ran over a floating crab rope. It killed his motor but luckily the wind and tide carried him away from doom instead of toward it. He was able to clear the line from his wheel and come in safely but, "That was the closest I've come to dying on the bar," in a long time. Then I told him that I had gone shopping at Costco Thursday evening and he told me, "You win."

    I'd like to add a little perspective to the last report about the human remains in a crab pot. Jumpers from the Golden Gate Bridge and Bodega Head have washed up on Ten Mile Beach before. It is conceivable that an intact body made its way by current and wind to the Ten Mile area before coming apart (as Yeats said, "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold"). Those currents can move rocks around on the bottom (as mentioned in the comments, chunks of coal have been caught in crab pots). Human bones are equally or less dense than bituminous coal so therefore they should travel even easier. My two takeaways: 

    1. The simplest answer usually being the correct one, it was probably a suicide.

    2. If you're going to dispose of a body at sea, don't do it during commercial Dungeness season.

    For those playing along at home, it appears that the three options for this year's salmon season are pretty well dialed in. They may still change but I'm told it shouldn't be too drastic. The options for the Bodega/San Francisco area are all basically that it salmon opens on April 11 and closes around October 31. There may be a closure between May 1 and May 15 and the season will start with a 24" minimum and change to a 20" minimum by or before July 1. These options are far better than one of the earlier options that had us only fishing in July.
    There's a pretty short list of things you don't want to find in your crab pot. It sounds like a commercial crabber pulled a pot off of Ten Mile Beach last week and found a human femur in the trap. If anyone has an idea about to whom it may have belonged I'm sure the Marin County Sheriff' would be interested. No information was provided as to its effectiveness as an attractant.
     Officially I still think it's too early for halibut on Tomales Bay but a couple of whispered stories suggest that there may actually be a few keepers coming over the rail way in the back. Without specific knowledge on my part I would suggest going very shallow. Six feet would not be too shallow but stirring up mud with your propwash would be.

   Here's a shot from last year that hopefully gives us a taste of the year to come. I missed the salmon informational meeting but the posted documents (located here) indicate that there's 473,183 Sacramento River salmon in the ocean. With that many fish out there even I may be able to catch one. There may even be enough salmon for us and the orcas to share. There may be some closed dates and a larger minimum size early in the season to reduce pressure on the winter run chinook, but we're used to that by now. There may be some additional constraints to fishing due to low numbers of fish on the Klamath but all in all, things here look pretty good for this year. Next year?
    It would appear that there were enough swordfish caught in Southern California last year to alarm the California Fish and Game Commission. The Marine Resources Committee will be receiving an overview of emerging issues and discussing potential regulation changes for the recreational swordfish fishery on March 17. Maybe the regs will change for the better? Or maybe it will be over before it starts up here. I guess I'll wait to buy my flying gaff.
    I just spoke to two crabbers in the store. One caught eleven Dungeness today in the clam channel (maybe 300 yards from the launch area) and the other caught eight Dungeness using a snare right in front of the store.