Gage put his boat in the water and tried for sand dabs yesterday. He was sort of successful. I'm not sure if you can see his catch in this photo, so here's a closeup:

    With a big enough screen, these fish could be larger than actual size.  Calm down ladies, his hands are only normal sized. Luckily Gage's mother wasn't very hungry, so she ate his fish for dinner. She said they were delicious. Both fish came off of Tomales Point in 200 feet of water and bit immediately on his first drop. There was no encore.

    Yesterday the California Fish and Game Commission voted on the emergency hydraulic pump ban. The press release today reads: "The Commission unanimously voted to adopt an emergency regulation to prohibit the use of hydraulic pump gear for recreational take of clams, sand crab and shrimp. The emergency regulation is in response to dramatic increases in recreational clamming effort and harvest rates using hydraulic hand pumps, necessitating immediate additional protections while a standard regulation is under development." It looks like the "classic", solo operated shrimp and clam guns (slurp guns?) will remain legal to use for now. In six months the Commission will reexamine the situation. 

    I was sent a note earlier with this link: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB534  It is a new bill in the State Assembly to : "Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or regulations adopted pursuant to this code, by no later than November 1, 2025, ropeless fishing gear, as determined by the department, shall be required when taking any species of fish for commercial or recreational purposes in any trap fishery, including, but not limited to, Dungeness crab, spiny lobster, and spot prawn. "  This sounds pretty complicated, but luckily there's companies already making products to satisfy these rules. Here's one :http://ropelessfisher.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAyJOBBhDCARIsAJG2h5cMHD0ShDIFDJW8gXY7nW8R8AAL2TS2ZA_BZvREu65I6Lc29QhN1fsaAsrtEALw_wcB   A coastal kit only runs $4950.00. I think that's more than my boat is worth. Hello, ring nets.