This is my view out my window tonight. The night has been pretty dark out since commercial Dungeness closed, but tonight the sea is alive with lights. What for, you may ask? Commercial salmon has opened here. The two lights on the left are anchored up in the mouth of Tomales Bay, indicating that these boys are from out of town and there aren't any places left in Bodega Bay. I don't know if the stronger indicator is that fishing is good here or that fishing down South isn't good. My guess is that the fishing South isn't as good as some folks would like (when is it ever?) and they're hoping for better up here. Hope often doesn't equal reality, as you, too, may have discovered. I did receive this text from a commercial fisherman, though: "Looks like your going to have some decent fishing when it opens. Off  Pt Reyes now, fish moving up and they are up high in your depth range." It sure sounds optimistic. So does the weather forecast for the opening weekend. 

     Other optimistic signs for fishing are baitfish near shore off of the beach as well as molting sand crabs. Some of the sand crabs were having difficulty shedding their old shells and were washing up on the beach this evening. The sand crab molt usually means good fishing for the things that eat sand crabs but my casting with a popper this evening resulted in my daily step count going up and not much else. Your results may vary, but I wandered home disappointed. Maybe tomorrow?