Scott Simpson sent over this report from last weekend: "Hi Willie, 

My son Derrick Simpson of Sacramento caught this 12# halibut Saturday 10/17 just north of hog. We were drifting over a 40 foot hole when it hit frozen herring. We were super excited because this was our 5th excursion in search of the elusive halibut. During the previous 4 attempts we hooked a ray and a shark, but couldn't  seem to find a halibut. We finally broke through and joined the halibut club.  Had a great time at Lawsons this week. " Glad you had a good time and glad you joined the halibut club. It'll get easier. The more you catch, the more you'll catch. Like any art, the more you practice it, the better you'll get. Starting off with a 12 pounder kinda starts you off down the road a bit. Nice fish, and nice job catching it.

    And then there's Swampy: "Hey Willy,

Sounds like y’all had a great trip with your boys. Loved the dorado video. Just a quick report from early last week. Three days fishing with my son, easy bait, nothing near 5. Hit the clam channel the last half day and ended up with two up to 12. Second one hand lined in due to faulty reel. May have one more trip in me this year.

Take Care, Swampy."  The fish are still there, Swampy. It ain't red hot, but there's fish to catch. Earlier this week the fish I heard about were on the outside edge of the bar. The past few days the swell has made that location harmful if not fatal. While I can't recommend the bar now, often the north part of the bay can be good when the bar has fish. There's lots of anchovies in the bay now and they're due to leave soon. They gotta go out the front when they go. The deep water  (275' or so) still has some salmon out off of the Head and I heard a rumor of some from the outer bay (off of Estero Americano) but it's all kinda sketchy this late in the season. Any salmon you catch now is a bonus salmon, but bonus salmon taste extra sweet, so....