Austin and Bennett caught these 12 and 16 pound halibut on the bar today with the help of this masked man. His help and the help of the live baits that gave their lives so valiantly in the face of overwhelming odds. I don't know what kind of live baits but I suspect it was anchovies or possibly jacksmelt. I do know the location: The bar. Yes, as incredible as it sounds, there are halibut beyond Hog Island.

    No salmon were landed here today, saving me the effort of having to come up with something sort of clever to say about them or the fishermen. What a relief. But, word of a smoking salmon bite off of Carmet in 200 to 260 feet of water (I heard both numbers) and down 140+ feet has me worried that I may need to be clever again tomorrow. Then again, the fish are moving around a lot right now, so I may not have to smarten up. Here's and observation from our friendly Anonymous Commercial:"A commercial got a few fish yesterday at 30 fathoms. He had tried the rocks and the beach for nothing. The good news for your guys is they were not too deep, maybe 60 to 80 feet from the surface. The bad news, they were  probably moving and who knows how far down they will be tomorrow. Should still be stragglers coming down for the rest of the month, just have to find them." The conventional wisdom is that shallow fish are moving through and deeper fish are feeding. Maybe those Carmet fish will be around for a bit. Only one way to find out, and it requires a downrigger.