Once, I was told to talk to the hand. Here's what it had to say today: "Perch are in very consistent bite at tide change decent grade of fish lost count" Yes, that's Gage's hand and report. From 50 pound bluefin to redtail surfperch in a week and still excited. The stoke is real. For those new to the report, Gage's weapon of choice for surfperch is more or less a Carolina rig with a Berkley Gulp! Sandworm in camo. 

     When the wind and water have allowed the rockfishing is pretty good, especially if you go a bit farther. Farther where? Well, the guys that are doing well aren't sharing GPS coordinates, but a few have admitted to taking more time to get to the spot and back than they spent fishing for limits. I know it's hard to believe, but it seems that the less a spot is fished the more likely the fish there will be friendly. Crazy, I know, but places nearer Point Reyes generally seem to be good choices and spots near Tomales Point and Bodega Head, not so much. Don't get me wrong, the local reefs have fish but you need to work harder for them. You can either hone your craft close to the harbor or trade gas for bites by going farther. I have a Costco card and a good working relationship with the guy managing the pumps there, so I'm going to go for it, weather permitting. 

     Water temperatures inside the bay are slowly creeping up and the first pelicans made an appearance here today, hopefully in anticipation of a flood of anchovies into the bay. A few halibut have been getting scratched up by Hog Island recently but warm water and the bay turning into anchovy soup should turn the scratch into a good bite. May starts on Saturday and by the end of it there should be should be a more consistent halibut bite, if not a good one.

      Crews are boarding the American Challenger again this week to finally finish their inspection of what petroleum may still be aboard. They had only inspected 7 of 11 tanks before. There is still a very slight chance that they might try to haul it off the rocks. Apparently some of the authorities are concerned that members of the public might want to board the derelict vessel and therefore endanger themselves. Who would do that?