We've been waiting for the halibut to come in while we've been waiting for salmon to open up. Well, the waiting is over. For which? Looks like both. Salmon, of course opens Saturday and halibut, it seems, are now entering the bay. This one weighed 17 pounds and was the largest of three caught here today on the bar. There were at least four others speared by daring men in rubber garments, also on the bar. The basic math is that fish on the bar are fish entering or leaving the bay. As the bay has been mostly empty, entering seems statistically more likely. Diffusion alone, right? As far as salmon, I have heard a few reports of fish being caught in close, yet when I went fishing this morning I couldn't see any commercial boats. They were too far out. That doesn't mean that there's no fish in close, only that the most catching, currently, is out in the deep. I saw very little bait inside of 200' of water on my trip today and I spent (wasted?) four hours chasing rumors of squid, sardines and anchovies for nothing but a caffeine hangover. We ended up clobbering the rockfish, and they hurled up a collection of partially digested critters that was impressive in it's variety. Most numerous was anchovies, followed by smaller rockfish, squid, shrimp, lizardfish, crabs, worms, midshipmen, and a bullhead (Pacific staghorn sculpin). Yeah, the boat was a mess. After a gray whale pooped just upwind from us later on I narrowly avoided adding to the partially digested flotsam on deck. That really stank. I'm never apologizing for my farts again.  I don't compare.

       Eddie Kim sent me this picture today. Do you ever think, hey, those Pacific halibut, they're out pretty deep and like rocks as well as sand, right? What are the chances I'll catch one while I'm rockfishing? Well, for you and I, not good. But the Kim and his crew, well, they can make it happen, it seems. This one weighed 15 pounds and came from 200 feet of water off of Elephant. As I understand it, the Pacific halibut bite right now is as good as or better than any time in my lifetime. That said, it only has to be a couple of fish around here to qualify for that. Your chances of duplicating that catch has never been better. Your chances still suck, though. Good work Eddie and crew. And don't buy lottery tickets. Your luck is spent.