So, when you catch an endangered coho salmon in the next few years, take heart! It may actually be an endangered California coho, as they are seemingly having a very good year this year this year. Amazing what a little water and some habitat rehab can do. Gage and I stopped a couple of times along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard today and never failed to see coho salmon. I know you folks along the Sacramento see salmon all the time, but for us to see them in our backyard is pretty cool. It seems like a good sign. To me, it's like being told "We're all gonna die!" a lot, but then seeing the canary in the coal mine not just keep living but laying fertile eggs. Is everything going to be better? Hell, no! But I think that the lesson is that if we try real hard the things we want to save might just get saved. ( I hope it's salmon). The Gage and I spent our day today at Bon Tempe lake, fishing for planter trout. We are not proud people. We caught four (I lost three, to Gage's disgust) and they made for a really good dinner. Crabwise, inside the bay has been okay (not awesome) with a few here and there. The shore snarers have been doing almost as well as some of the boaters (much to the chagrin of the boat owners). Today we had a couple of boaters that launched that really exemplified the need for boater education. Having a Boater's Card may not be the end to all foolishness but it sure doesn't hurt. It may even help to reduce your time on the sand bar.
Sheeeeesh, don’t you know it’s considered bad form ol’ chap to watch procreating , well ( anything ) ? Sure is an Amazing act of selflessness for those critters though !!! Should be required by more species in my opinion !
ReplyDeleteI love hearing about the salmon making a comeback. Awesome to hear they are being seen in rivers they havent been in 20+ years.
ReplyDeleteOn the crabbing note i tried tomales bay for crab for the first time. Good thing I read this blog so I was prepared for all the submurged buoys, and thank you for writing about it Willy! I saw several 1-3ft below surface that just luckily were on either side of the boat as I passed. I added a 1 gallon container to my bouys, without the current would of pulled mine below as well.
Worked 3 conical. and soaked 4 pots from 8-1130. Got four keeper dungy, 5 jumbo reds and several other reds I didnt want 4-5" and some short dungys. Split between 2 people I still got a crab dinner but not enough for the wife to be excited about the trip, it was gorgeous weather and great scenery, It was like crabbing on a lake so no complaints.
I released a coho on October 30, it attacked my shrimp fly.
ReplyDeleteWe set 6 pots and 4 hoops from above to below abbots yesterday (Tue) for about 30 Dungeness and 15 big-mitted reds in two pulls, done by noon. Maybe could have gotten limits for all five of us if we worked all day, but it was nice to get off the water early. Waiting for crabs to crawl when you can’t fish for rockfish is sort of like watching grass grow or paint dry. Plenty of undersized dungies out there for future reference. Gobs of little reds too, how do we get rid of them? Tried but failed to find sanddabs, any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteI think shrimp flies will be in your salmon arsenal next year;)
ReplyDeleteGood question HT, hey Willy how and where for sand dabs. We set pots on Thursday off Carment and ran out to 200'-250' tried for dabs we caught 4 in 3 hours. We caught quite a few Hake. Where's the hot spot?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I only tried for sand dabs once and got skunked. Gage tried last year for only a couple. We aren't dabbers.
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