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....