Please note that this is Joe Winn's hand, not Gage's hand. "Hey Willie, happy new year. 

Just a little fishing report. The family needed our ocean fix and managed to rent a few cabins up by the store. 

Fished Saturday and Sunday. Struggled Saturday, only landed 4 small perch and one tiny halibut but at low tide Saturday found a little structure just south of the day beach. Went back Sunday morning at high tide and had a blast. Non stop action and lots of dinner plate size perch. " So they do exist. 

    The probable clam pump ban will be decided on February 10. The topic on the agenda is this : "Recreational clam, sand crab, and shrimp gear emergency Discuss and consider adopting emergency regulations to prohibit use of hydraulic pump gear for recreational take of clams, including clarifying amendments to apply the same gear restriction for sand crab and shrimp. (Amend sections 29.20 and 29.80, Title 14, CCR)" So they're looking at banning pumps for ghost shrimp as well. Ghost shrimp, as you well know, make great bait and it would suck to have to dig them up with shovels. Since the water pumps being used too effectively for clamming are a two-man (or more) operation, I think that asking for one-man pumps to be acceptable is reasonable. Public input is being accepted and can be sent here: fgc@fgc.ca.gov On your subject line include that your email is about item 20 for the Feb. 10 meeting of the Fish and Game Commission. It may not help but it sure can't hurt. 

UPDATE: This was noticed by someone and I have it on the QT that shrimp/clam guns (one man operation without a hose attached) are not being targeted. A note in support of this probably still helps.

    One of our frequently pictured fishermen passed away last night. I guess he really couldn't wait for salmon season to open. "Willy, last evening the Landing lost its biggest fan.  After 15 yrs, 9 months Louie moved on to better fishing grounds. He made many friends in his years there." 

 

      Our entry gate security cameras recorded this photo of a CDFW warden leaving the property with a couple of nice looking stainless steel crab pots in the back of his truck, along with an ice chest. I don't know the story behind this, but one wonders what will get your pots seized. The traps look well-made, so I assume that they have the required escape rings. No GO ID numbers on the buoy? Somebody else's GO ID numbers on the buoy? Or maybe the problem lies with the contents of the ice chest. A bunch of small crab? The way the crabbing has been it sure wasn't over limits of keepers. While I'd like to think a "pot pirate" got caught I think a bunch of shorties is the likeliest answer. 

    As mentioned, the crabbing is pretty slow. A few of the shore snaring crew here are having fairly consistent short crab action with an occasional keeper, but mostly there's more casting than catching. Gage's run as a greenhorn commercial crab deckhand has begun and ended. A weak first pull of the gear devolved to less than half the catch on the second run of the traps, ending the need for a bait boy. At least the desire for fresh crab and their lack of numbers have caught up with the price and the crabbers might actually get paid for their time on the water.

    Nothing in the way of fish going on here. There's been an on/off herring spawn in Tiburon over the weekend. At least we have rockfish reopening on April 1st and salmon scheduled to open on April 3. Of course, the final decision on salmon will be hashed out over the next few months with information posted here: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean/Regulations/Salmon/preseason
 

      Do you hear all that splashing? That's the sound of hundreds of commercial crab pots hitting the water. There's not an abundance of crab and the price isn't very good, but at least the crabbers get to go to work. The presence of whales in the area delayed the season from a November 15th opener to a December 23rd start, then the issues on price slid the start back to today. While a forecast of not many crab would usually raise the price, the lack of crab feeds, closed restaurants and a tanking live market in Asia have cut demand. 

     I tried a little striper fishing in the surf on Saturday during the low tide. The seaweed catching was good but no fish bites. The beach conditions were not good, at least on the south half of Dillon Beach. The big swells erased almost all of the structure (points, bars, channels) that I would normally key on. From the high tide line to water's edge at low tide was 100 to 200 yards of gradually sloping sand. There's a couple of places that might hold fish at high tide near the point but mid to low water looked awful.

     This weekend we had a significant turnout of Fish and Wildlife wardens. They were primarily checking clammers but I did see a couple of nice stainless steel crab pots in the back of one truck. On Saturday I was told by a warden that the restrictions on using water pumps for clamming would be going into effect very soon. I then received this email from the Coastodian yesterday: "Hi Willy,

Are you aware that the CDFW plans to prohibit the use of pumps to take clams?

At the last CFGC meeting I was told that an emergency ruling would be put in place in February (exact date unclear) banning their use.
A permanent ban will be put in place in the future prior to the emergency ban expiring.

I’ll ask those at CFGC/CDFW how they plan to promulgate this big change so that people can plan accordingly.

Perhaps you could let folks know they need to find their shovels and clam tubes and leave the pump at home in the near future." The current warning to not eat sport-caught shellfish from Marin County didn't seem to slow down the clamming but this pump ban might.

 

   FYI, here's a map of the 50 fathom line for rockfishing. Remember, the depth limit for fishing isn't the actual depth, it is the shoreward side of a line of waypoints listed in the Federal Register. My points here are pretty close but not dead on. If you'd like to make your own cheat sheet, here's the list for Point Arena to Pigeon Point:

(98) 38°57.50′ N. lat., 123°51.10′ W. long.;

(99) 38°55.13′ N. lat., 123°51.14′ W. long.;

(100) 38°28.58′ N. lat., 123°22.84′ W. long.;

(101) 38°14.60′ N. lat., 123°09.92′ W. long.;

(102) 38°01.84′ N. lat., 123°09.75′ W. long.;

(103) 38°00.00′ N. lat., 123°09.25′ W. long.;

(104) 37°55.24′ N. lat., 123°08.30′ W. long.;

(105) 37°52.06′ N. lat., 123°09.19′ W. long.;

(106) 37°50.21′ N. lat., 123°14.90′ W. long.;

(107) 37°45.57′ N. lat., 123°9.46′ W. long.;

(108) 37°11.00′ N. lat., 122°31.67′ W. long.;

    Happy new year to everybody. May your fish be so large this year that you only have to lie a little bit. Or, as I tell Gage, may your fish be as large as your ego. 

     Starting Monday, the Landing will be open for day visits on Thursday through Monday and closed Tuesday and Wednesday. The store will be closed and we won't be launching. We will return to normal hours when we can. There have been a few Dungeness caught off the beach in the last couple of days (literally two or three) and the boaters haven't done a whole lot better inside the bay. Outside the bay is better but getting there from here has been complicated. This week looks to be even more so with swells up to 15 feet forecasted. It's a great time to work on gear.

     The good news is that new, mostly better rockfish regulations are now in effect: "

New Recreational Groundfish Regulations For 2021

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announces that multiple changes to the recreational groundfish regulations will take effect in the new year. CDFW worked closely with recreational stakeholders to develop the following changes, effective January 1, 2021. See CDFW’s summary of recreational groundfish regulations for Management Area boundary definitions. Elimination of sub-bag limits for black rockfish, canary rockfish and cabezon within the 10-fish Rockfish, Cabezon, Greenling (RCG) complex daily bag limit. A new sub-bag limit of five vermilion rockfish within the 10-fish RCG complex daily bag limit. The Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) boundary will increase to 30 fathoms (180 feet) in the Mendocino Management Area during the regular open season (May 1-October 31). The RCA boundary will increase to 50 fathoms (300 feet) in the San Francisco Management Area during the open season (April 1-December 31). The RCA boundary will increase to 100 fathoms (600 feet) in the Southern Management Area during the open season (March 1-December 31). For consistency with federal regulations, the legal method of take for California scorpionfish has been updated such that no more than two hooks and one line may be used when angling for this species The ‘All Depth’ fishery in the Northern and Mendocino Management Areas will continue each November and December, unless modified by an in-season action. The new regulations were adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission in mid-October and the Pacific Fishery Management Council in July. Anglers should check CDFW’s website for the current regulations before fishing for groundfish and are advised that regulations printed in the 2020-21 ocean regulations book will be out of date starting January 1, 2021. The 30, 50 and 100 fathom depth contours are defined by straight lines connecting the waypoints as adopted in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 50, Part 660, Subpart C. Many of these changes were made in response to the outcomes of recent stock assessment science. Populations of yelloweye rockfish and cowcod, which were declared overfished in 2002 and 2000 respectively, are increasing faster than anticipated and the cowcod population was declared rebuilt based on the 2019 stock assessment. “The good news for 2021 is groundfish populations are rebounding,” said CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Caroline McKnight. “Of the eight stocks that were declared overfished in the early 2000s, all but one, yelloweye rockfish, has been declared rebuilt today. The improved status of these species allows fishery managers to recommend management measures that provide additional fishing opportunity, including access to deeper depths that have been off limits to anglers for more than a decade.” The implementation of a new five-fish sub-bag limit for vermilion rockfish within the 10-fish RCG complex daily bag limit may come as a surprise to some anglers. Recreational catch of vermilion rockfish has increased significantly in recent years, but stock status information is dated. While a new stock assessment for vermilion rockfish is planned for 2021, the results won’t be available for use in management until 2023. In the interim, the new five-fish vermilion rockfish sub-bag limit has been implemented as a precautionary measure to slow catches. Take and possession of bronzespotted rockfish, cowcod and yelloweye rockfish remain prohibited statewide.

"   The only thing not better is the five-fish sublimit on vermilion, and that's kinda reasonable. The way I catch vermilion, though, I don't think this "precautionary measure" is going to slow my catches. My actual catches will do that for me. I'm happy to get a couple in a trip. 

    Finally, there was a question in the comments a few days back about Lawson's having overnight parking like Miller Park to kind of avoid the ban on camping. We at the the Landing have too many future asks with the County and Coastal Commission to play things too "cute", so that won't be happening. But also, I was notified by a Marin County Parks officer to let you know that you can't park overnight at Miller: "Hi Willy,

A keen citizen passed on some info regarding a comment on your blog regarding “ overnight camping” at miller. It’s not allowed on park premises or parking lots. I send the SO when I get reports and it’s posted too. Can you pass that on to the folks who think it’s “ ok”? Thank you and Happy New Year!"  Sorry to be the bubble burster, but FYI.