Here's a report from Mike Martin from Thursday:"Willie, went for a late trip last night (Thursday). Hit south end of McClures about 4:30. Landed this 18# at 6:00pm.  60ft. down in 80 ft. of water. Had just yanked the line off the downrigger release as we were going to make a move and after about 5 cranks he hit.  Saw 2 other fish landed same place, same time, same depth. Note the lack of Adipose fin. Hatchery fish? First hatchery fish for me if it is." Nice fish, Mike. As I understand it (them's weasel words to say I may be wrong) the hatcheries put RFID tags in 10-25% of their fish and cut the adipose fins off of the ones that get tagged. If a fish counter sees your fish you are supposed to surrender the head (where the tag is) to the counter. No fish head soup for you. So, yes, almost certainly that's a hatchery fish, and it represents only a tenth to a quarter of all hatchery fish. Your tax dollars at work. When was the last time you got something from the government? I mean, besides unemployment money or a PPP loan or roads or.... never mind.

    Here's another late (totally my fault. I need to read my email more often) report:"Afternoon Willy,

Made it down for some fishing and the halibut were tough to come by. Wednesday we didn’t get bit the whole day, thankfully Thursday we did a bit better getting 4 up to 12 pounds. Brian here caught is first Halibut from your bay in a long long time.

Thanks for the reports, Swampy." Sorry I missed you on your visit, Swampy. I saw that you were here but circumstances conspired against me. Nice fish, especially considering the fact that the halibut, and even worse, the baitfish, have decided to quite biting for the most part. Clearly, they all didn't get the memo, but what was easy a week ago has become quite difficult. Very nice job.

     Oh, how the mighty have fallen.When a man named and revered for his halibut jigging prowess is forced to resort to catching salmon, well, the halibut fishing is damned slow. The fact that his larger salmon weighed 27 pounds should in no way diminish his shame, nor should the fact that he caught his limit and returned by 10:30. Well, maybe we can let this one slide. This time.

     Team Alexander on the Double Trouble ended up with six fish to 23 pounds out of twelve hookups today. These fish came from the Outer Bay, as did Jigger John's. There have been fish caught from well above Bodega Head to the Keyholes in the last few days. Mostly in close, but out to 220 feet as well. Ten Mile is ready to go off with bait and warm water present but actual biting fish (both salmon and halibut) sadly lacking. They're coming. Partly because it's a historical fact, that the fish just generally show up there, but mostly because of sheer willpower making them appear. Trolling the Beach for mixed salmon and halibut is just about the best thing ever. Well, the best thing in 20 miles for sure. Those fish are coming because they need to for mental health's sake. After the windy cooldown at the end of this week the water will warm up again and at that time the fish will appear on the sands of Ten Mile. Probably. So maybe on the 3rd to 5th of August. Maybe.