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.
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