Vickie Campbell wasn't around yesterday, so Dan Steneck was forced to drive down to the Boathouse for a photo op. The striper wasn't weighed, as it was still flopping. It bit a jerkbait, which brand I can't say, but know that Dan lost another fish right before he caught this one and the fish came off due to straightened hooks. There's a brand with killer lures and bendy hooks that is sort of notorious for it in the surf scene. That one. Today Gage and I tried the beach for stripers and surfperch. Not all of it, but my legs say it was a lot of beach. Our pictures didn't make it on here because no fish were caught. As far as I can tell, the fishing is not very good unless you're Dan Steneck. 

   Rockfish opens tomorrow and salmon on Saturday. The wind is supposed to howl tomorrow through the weekend (and beyond). So, you can, except, you can't. Maybe next week? 

  Who needs Vickie Campbell when you can get the real deal (NOTE: I do. Thanks again Vickie for the info)? This was sent in by Dan Steneck, who looks suspiciously like the guy in Vickie's picture from the March 18 post. "3-25-22.Well, the Hooks were sharp and the senses keen.12 lbs -33" Female. There is not much to eat out there besides Sand crab. Her gut was empty." Empty guts should mean full hooks, in theory. My experience has varied, greatly. I'm two stripers landed for four hook-ups this season. Gage took me aside the other day to tell me, gently, that I suck. I think he meant at landing stripers. 50% isn't awesome, but it ain't the worst, either. My plan is to improve. Mr. Steneck seems to have figured how to keep those fish attached to the hook. We should talk. You tell me how to keep the fish on the hook, and I'll tell you how to hold the fish out for your photo.

   The crabbing is still going sort of okay (even without the Eddie Kim) in certain spots by certain people. The rest of us haven't been doing nearly as well. Reds are in plenty on the far side but Dungeness are much harder to get. Tim pulled his gear today after a few days' soak for six smallish keepers in the outer bay. I'm not sure if he pulled them for end of the commercial season or just because he gave up. Sport trap season is still on the books to end in June but I expect a closure announcement by Friday, as that will give CDFW a seven day window to close the trap season for sport Dungeness concurrent with commercials. 

   At least rockfish opens on Friday, God love 'em. Usually eager to bite and damned tasty on the plate. Saturday, salmon opens. If I were to go, I'd fish out of Monterey or Santa Cruz, as they usually get the numbers for the opener. The Bodega Bay area can have fish at the opener, but if you aren't sure where to go, don't come here. Plus, the weather looks, let's say, questionable. Let's just say that your season to start waiting for good weather starts on Friday.

 

 So, the Dungeness closure is official for the commercial fleet. Ours is coming: "

California Department of Fish and Wildlife Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program Update

March 25, 2022

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham has assessed entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP) and announced the closure of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Fishing Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the U.S./Mexico border) effective at noon on April 8, 2022. This closure is being implemented because of two recent humpback whale entanglements that occurred off San Mateo County and in Monterey Bay involving California commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear. All commercial Dungeness crab traps must be removed from the fishing grounds by the April 8 closure date. The recreational fishery in these zones remains open but may be subject to a future trap restriction when humpbacks return to forage during the spring and summer. In addition, CDFW is continuing a Fleet Advisory and reminds all in the commercial and recreational fisheries to implement best practices, as described in the Best Practices Guide. While this closure shortens the season for many fishermen, the RAMP regulations are designed to minimize risk and provide for a long-term viable fishery for all Californians. In addition, the Director has authorized the Lost and Abandoned Gear Retrieval Program to begin removing commercial Dungeness crab traps left in the water beginning April 15, 2022, at noon in Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6. The full news release can be found at the CDFW News Room and for more information, please visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries Webpage.

"  The crabbing has been good in the bay for some and not good at all for others. Your results will vary. At least one boat today caught three limits near Marker 5 (not at, but near) so the crab exist. It's just that the time for traps is now limited, and probably very limited. I can't see sports getting a pass to run traps while the commercials get kicked to the curb. It could happen, at least for a little while, but not for too long. So, if you have traps and want go crabbing, go soon, or wait until next December or later. 

   Rockfish opens om the 1st and salmon on the 2nd, and good timing, because the stripers are a fickle fish. Gage and I found a couple of biters (not biting enough to stick to the hooks for more than three seconds) last night but today there were no takers. Last night had two on and off, three other bites and four surfperch, two redtails and two barred. The sand crabs are insanely thick and are probably the food source of choice right now. What bites we had were awful close to shore. They also happened around the turn of the high tide. Three evenings of no bites and then a flurry. There were a few guys bagging perch today, so they're still biting, at least. 

    Unfortunately, Vickie Campbell hasn't sent me any more photos of random fishermen catching srtipers (By the way, thanks for the report, Vickie). I did hear of one lost on Saturday. The story is that is bit a sand crab and was lost when trying to drag it ashore through the surf. I (and others) tried for stripers on the evenings of Saturday, Sunday and today and caught a grand total of zero stripers (one perch). The beach is literally wiggling with sand crabs, so I'm guessing that the stripers aren't far away, but catching them is, like lots of fishing, hard. For myself, when I actually hook one I generally stare at the rod for at least two seconds before I remember to even set the hook. It's more like, "something is wrong with my rod" than "Hook up!!!" Maybe if I caught more I could get my head out of my.... you know.

    In other news, the crabbing has been less than awesome out in the Outer Bay. There's some Dungeness to be had but they are outnumbered by the pots. Inside the bay, a few guys are doing pretty well but mostly it is hard. It will likely continue to be difficult as, rumor and a San Francisco Chronicle article has it, there is (are) entangled whale(s) (Couldn't read the article as I had already read too many for free. I'm a bad person)  that will shut down commercial crabbing early and with it, trap season for us sporties. While I didn't read the article, I did hear some dock scuttlebutt, and then I read this: "

California Department of Fish and Wildlife Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program Update

March 22, 2022

The CDFW Director will conduct an assessment of marine life entanglement risk for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery on or around March 25, 2022 using the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP). In addition, regulations adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission provide the Director authority to apply management actions to the recreational crab fishery to minimize entanglement risk informed by RAMP. The California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group will meet on March 23, 2022 to review Available Data and CDFW's Initial Assessment and Preliminary Management Recommendation. The Director will consider the Working Group's recommendation, CDFW staff’s Final Assessment, and all data made available to CDFW prior to making a final determination of marine life entanglement risk. All materials will be posted on the Whale Safe Fisheries webpage as they become available. Additional updates will be made available once the Director has made a determination through this listserv.

"   Please note that mention was made that " In addition, regulations adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission provide the Director authority to apply management actions to the recreational crab fishery to minimize entanglement risk informed by RAMP." Read that as, "traps are done, soon".  So, if you've still been on the fence about buying rings, just know that for the foreseeable future it looks like rings will be the start and end of our season for Dungeness. We will likely all have to get better at crabbing with rings, especially since the beginning and the end of the Dungeness season seems to be the best times for keepers. Something to think about. 

    I got this email this afternoon from Vickie Campbell: "Nice striper on the beach didn’t catch his name but he had fun getting it in." I bet he did. Looks like a Lucky Craft jerkbait did the job. I was out most of the day and missed most of what was going on, but thank you for the info Vickie. And nice job, happy fisherman.

 

 

      Just a quick post this evening. There are some stripers out there. Some surfperch, too. Gage missed a striper bite and landed two perch on sand crabs. He missed quite a few other perch bites but he wouldn't switch out the 5/0 hook for a perch-sized one. On the other hand, you don't catch small perch on 5/0 hooks. I was trying a new lure, the Jackall Deracoup Tail Spinner, trying for perch, but the stripers liked it more. Who knew? I think I'll keep it in the lineup for a while.

     It appears to me that the salmon season options for Point Arena to Pigeon Point (the San Francisco area) for this year are:

ALTERNATIVE I

April 2 to May 31, July 1 to November 13

ALTERNATIVE II

April 2 to May 15, July 1 to October 31

ALTERNATIVE III

April 2 to 30, June 20 to September 30

In all three alternatives the minimum size is 24 inches through May 15, then goes to a 20 inch minimum. My very limited understanding is that the size limit is to save the spring run and the May-June season gap in our area is to minimize our catch of Klamath salmon and allow a bit of a season for our friends to the North. I personally don't have a problem with a closure during what is historically the windiest month of the year here. I know the Half Moon fleet are unhappy with missing June, and I'm sure that when we get the best weather we've ever had in June I will be just as disappointed. But I want every day in July and August and after the salmon fishing in the last few falls, I want some more of that good fishing, too. I like the shallow, nearshore stuff. I like catching more than anything, but catching fish in shallow is the best. There's no sounding in 20 feet of water. Anyways, the final season will be determined soon (and it may be a variation on these themes) but the one thing in common is that April 2 opener. 

   

    Eddie Kim read my post about the crabbing being horrible and mad a point of of coming up here to prove me wrong. Well done, sir. These three guys still look chipper in the this picture. After they got done picking all that crab they looked like they'd been fed through a chipper. Still, thirty legal male crab inside the bay by by noon is pretty impressive. I guess, like Westley, it's only mostly dead. Most everybody else is having far less luck. On the surf fishing scene, there were a few stripers landed today. At least one guy was carrying a limit back to his car and another fisherman caught his first striper ever. Like the crabbing, it is far from good, but there's possibilities. 

    In the absence of local halibut stories, here's this: "Hey Willy,

Thanks as always for the blog.  After a three skunks in the last few weeks trolling for halibut in Tomales Bay I broke down and headed to the big bay.  Hopefully the last couple of days are a sign of good things to come! No big fish but I did limit out in three hours yesterday.

Best regards 

John deRenzy" Nice job, John. Our good halibut fishing usually starts four to eight weeks after San Francisco Bay's good halibut fishing, so we're looking at probably sometime in late April to May. You can catch one now in the cold water; it is possible. It is just really, really unlikely. 

    The Pacific Fisheries Management Council is meeting over the weekend to determine, among other things, the options for our salmon season. A final decision on the three options will be made tomorrow. As things stand now, June looks like a no for salmon fishing in the San Francisco/Bodega Bay area, but a start on April 2 seems likely. A lot of halibut are breathing a sigh of relief. The commercial season options look bad with a week or two of fishing each month. It is all still in the air, but things look good-ish for us sporties, so far. I would like to see the season run late (October or November) as the late season has been pretty good sometimes in the last few years. I have not caught a November salmon but I'm reliably informed that they taste pretty good. I'd like to make that call myself. 

   Other seasons starting in April in our area would include rockfish. I'm hoping for some good weather in 
April to go fishing for some, but my favorite spots are off of Ten Mile and Point Reyes. I'm going to have to find local fish due to the current price of gas. That may require skill. I'm nervous. I relied heavily on fish that were plentiful and non-judgmental. I guess I'd better up my game. 

   Crabbing has been slow. The outer bay is actually full of pots. Please, no more. Any new pots will be dropping on the ones already there and will complicate the retrieval of any. I don't know if the buoys are thick enough to walk on but they are thick enough to complicate navigation. Crab catching has been, let's say, not good. A few from the shore snarers, a few others in the traps. but overall we're waiting for another pulse of keepers from outside. They're coming, but when?

   Speaking of waiting, when will the halibut get interesting? The water is still pretty cold in the bay but the longer days are starting to have a positive effect. Usually our bite comes four to six weeks after San Francisco starts up. It seems that they lit up this week. So, maybe May 1? That seems right. There were some guys from El Dorado county that would come here in early May and kill the halibut. I might be able to catch one by June. Maybe.

    Another commercial boat went down yesterday. The Susan E had stacked their gear and they were headed in when they went down. Luckily the Argo was nearby and picked everybody up. The Argo was close enough to see the Susan E go bow up and slip beneath the surface. Here's the whole story:  https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/3-commercial-fishermen-rescued-off-sonoma-coast-by-fellow-crabbers/  The moral of this story is, it happens faster than you think. When these guys first noticed something was amiss they called for assistance but thought they had lots of time. Within a few minutes they were swimming. By the time most us realizes that the boat is taking on water, the boat has been taking on water for some time. When you feel her start to wallow and get sluggish you're probably already approaching the point of no return. There is a certain point when the water comes in faster than you can do anything about it. Beyond that point, you're going to be swimming. If you think you're taking on water, try to find out why and make it stop, but get everybody else in a lifejacket. Make sure you have one available, too. Preferably, you're wearing it already, but when your trying to figure out where the water is coming from, speed is critical. If you're alone, life jacket and radio call first before looking. If you're among fishing boats, call them first. The guy off your starboard side might not be Coast Guard but he's right there. Call the Guard on 16 next. If you aren't mid-fleet, reverse the order. Call the guys with a helicopter first. Then alert the fishing fleet. Close is better than professional but professionals can get to you faster if distance is a constant. 

    By Monday evening we should know our options for salmon season this year. I'd like an earlier opening than last year but I'm not sure how much I want to run out ten miles for salmon at $7 a gallon when they probably will be pushing up onto the beach by mid-July. I hope they will. I'm going to be trolling from the boat launch. I may fish the tides just to ride the flow out and back. I'm going to bet that most boats will have more people on them this year just to share the price of fuel. Just don't overload yourselves. 

   How's the crabbing? Well, there's a few being caught by the shore snarers and a few more by the boaters in the bay, but it's far from awesome. The Outer Bay has so many pots in it that one more dropped in may cause another to slide ashore. Tim has a few pots already established out there and his report yesterday was two and a half day soak, ten pots, two barely keeper sport crab. The next wave of crab is probably on its way (they always are) but it ain't here today.

   Well, it looks like this year's salmon season may be a little better than last year, on paper at least. Sacramento River system returns were below target (104,483 adults, 122,000 being the minimum goal) but jack numbers were good (17,003 jacks) which, according to best available science, would indicate an ocean abundance of 396,458. Last year had a prediction of about 271,000 adult salmon in the ocean, yet and estimated 322,137 were there in probability. Last year's season was planned around a number of 271,000, so an extra 125,000 can't hurt our season options for this year. The winter run numbers will effect our season and the Klamath River numbers are going to screw the guys up north yet again. With a bit of luck, the recent approval for dam removals on the Klamath should open up more spawning grounds in the near future and increase the Klamath salmon numbers in the next decade or two. For now, though, it sucks to be Eureka. But her glory will return. Our season and theirs will be determined next month, and the options to play with will be decided on March 14th. At this point, things look tentatively better than last year. Fingers crossed, if that helps.

   Gage dislocated his shoulder a few weeks back and was told he might be months away from fishing. He got an updated report from his doctor this week saying he could do things that don't hurt. This poor striper suffered as a result of that decision. Are there stripers in the surf? Yes. Are there very many? No. And worse yet, there's one less. But it bit a delicately jigged 1 ounce Kastmaster with a bucktail. Gage's shoulder said it wasn't cast out very far, either.