Gage's "official" pronouncement that the halibut season in Tomales Bay is on may be a little premature. These folks found four on their second day of looking, none the first. I heard of one other boat with a few. Mostly, halibut fishermen had nothing. Halibut are definitely more active in warmer water and Tomales Bay warms from back to front and from top to bottom, so farther in is probably the key to numbers but not size. I did hear today that there were quite a few schools of bait near Marshall/Marconi, although the fellow relating that story had no fish to show. Bait doesn't always mean predatory fish are around. But you gotta look. I heard of a couple of bites on live jacksmelt on the North side of Hog Island but no fish. Gage says he caught them all. 

   One fellow ventured outside today for limits of rockfish and a touch of mal de mer. 'Twas a good day for both, but mostly the second one. Our hero returned to the bay for limits of Dungeness with conical rings near Marker 5. Why conicals? Because the trap time has passed us by. Maybe this fall the traps will return to us. I don't think CDFW checks for whales during red crab only season, so I'm guessing that even if the whales leave early the trap ban won't. Don't get too upset; the whales won't be leaving early. Why do I say that? Some secret knowledge? Nope. Good old pessimism. It rarely lets me down.

   I have heard a few reports of a few scattered salmon between Tomales Point and Elephant Rock in 190 to 220 feet of water, 80 to 100 feet down on the wire. They're here, but not like they are down South of us. Patience. They're coming, and they're only getting bigger. 

  One other thing: The clam pump ban is longer an emergency rule but a law of the land, or it will be when it goes in to full effect. The California Fish and Game Commission approved it as law but it still needs to pass muster with the lawyers. I think that they have done a pretty good job of calling out what is okay and what isn't. Here's a bit of the legalese: "(c) Gear restrictions. It shall be unlawful to use anything other than the following hand-operated devices to take clams: spades, shovels, hoes, forks, rakes, devices that use suction to remove clams commonly known as slurp guns or clam guns, or rigid pipes used to prevent the collapse of holes when digging for clams. It shall be unlawful to use any other device to take clams, including any hydraulic pump or other devices capable of liquifying sand. It shall be unlawful to possess a hydraulic pump, or other device, capable of liquifying sand to aid in the harvest of clams anywhere clams may be taken. It shall be unlawful to possess any such unauthorized device, except in a their permanent residence, concurrently with any clam. No instrument capable of being used to dig clams may be possessed between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise, on any beach of this state, except tools and implements used in the work of cleaning, repairing or maintaining such beach when possessed by a person authorized by appropriate authority to perform such work." So the classic tools are still okay. 

   For those playing along at home, Gage has declared halibut season on Tomales Bay officially open. Everyone else can make their own decisions, but know that these two came from north of Marker 5 at the turn of the low tide, so there's likely a few fish around, or at least a few moving in. Please notice that the 15 pounder was gaffed appropriately (Cough! your welcome, Gage. Cough!). Gage had four bites, two of which stuck. I had zero bites a few feet away. I'll get even, someday. Maybe. The season is in its infancy, so anything could happen and probably will. We went for stripers in the evening for a grand total of, let me count..... zero. I had more faith in the stripers at high tide. While I did just as well for each, Gage definitely had a better time fishing for halibut at low tide. My suggestion is to try that. 

 

 Here's a salmon report from Sea Hunter: "full day trolling Monday for one 24”er. How do you single handle a fish and pull up manual downrigger simultaneously? it wrapped around the cable three times. Thought for sure I would lose it. First fish for me this season

Sea Hunter" If you landed it, it wasn't completely wrong. A lot of guys will continue trolling forward with the rod in the holder while they wind up the downrigger. Some guys leave the downrigger down and keep it trolling forward in the hopes of the fish not overrunning the cable. I mostly drop leads, especially while solo fishing, so it's harder to find things to stick the line on. Somehow, I still find the things. The most exciting part of fishing is often trying to save the fish after it wraps another line, a motor, the transducer, floating bull kelp, other boats, etc. It gets my heart rate up just thinking about it. There weren't many fish getting caught out there, so extra good work on the one that didn't get away.

   Sunday, 7:00 PM is when your traps have to be out of the water. This is for all crab, Dungeness and reds both. The end is nigh. For traps. Rings, snares and conical nets are still open.

      One of our last old fishermen, Herb Hansen, passed away on Saturday morning. Here is a rare picture of Herb almost smiling. It took a seabass in the boat and another one lost for Herb to crack a hint of a smile, or even pose for a picture. He fished the Marie E. and before that the Poor Puss. Herb will be missed, but not by the salmon and halibut that he put a hurt to. Herb was not universally loved, and there were people that complained that when they called Herb on the VHF, he wouldn't reply to them. One day I happened to be trolling past Herb on Ten Mile (where else?) and somebody called him on 74. I could clearly hear Herb's voice over the water (but not the radio), " I'm not talking to you, you a**hole." I never attempted to call Herb after that, as I didn't want to find out where I ranked. I had a suspicion... He'd talk to me in person, though, and I learned a lot from him. I wish I could have talked to him a bit more. That man knew Ten Mile. If you were fishing near Herb on the beach, you may not be catching but you weren't in the wrong place. Godspeed, Herb, and thanks for leaving us a seabass. 

    

    K R was kind enough to send in a second report from the weekend: "We launched out of lawson's landing went across the bar to be greeted by a pod of Wales we dropped 4 of the new conical crab traps in 65feet of water we then headed to elephant Rock we fished for 1 hr in 120 feet of water we picked up 4 nice lingcod and a few rockfish. The best part is the fact we got the kids there first lingcod ever.also got 2 nice 7inch male Dungeness. I also would like to say if fishermen need conical crab nets lawson's store has the best price around we got 10 from them. The little blonde boy is actually named Dillon Beach." Good man to put the kids on fish. I usually took the kids to put me on fish, but your way is better. Good idea getting in a little conical practice before it's the rule. 

   While we all heard the rules for salmon, now they're official:"

Recreational Salmon Seasons Finalized for the California Coast

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announces California recreational ocean salmon fishing season dates are now set for the remainder of 2022 and offer about the same number of open days as last year. Sport fisheries opened south of Point Arena on April 2 and the remainder of the coast will open May 1. Although anglers can enjoy an earlier start to the season than last year, there will be intermittent breaks in fishing opportunity in management areas north of Pigeon Point.   This week, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) met in Seattle, Washington to finalize and adopt recommended ocean salmon seasons occurring between mid-May and October. These seasons are the outcome of a months-long public process and reflect efforts to maximize recreational angling opportunity while also achieving the stock conservation objectives prescribed by the PFMC and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for 2022.   Efforts to increase adult returns of California Coastal Chinook, Sacramento River Fall Chinook, and Klamath River Fall Chinook this fall and winter resulted in ocean salmon seasons that allow for more fishing opportunity in southern management areas and slightly less time on the water in northern management areas.   The 2022 recreational ocean salmon season dates for the California coast are as follows:   In the Klamath Management Zone, which is the area between the Oregon/California state line and 40°10’00” N. latitude (near Cape Mendocino), the season will be open May 1-31 and Aug. 1-Sept. 5. The Fort Bragg Management Area, which extends from 40°10’00” N. latitude to Point Arena (38°57’30” N. latitude), will be open May 1-July 4 and July 22-Sept. 5. In the San Francisco Management Area, which extends from Point Arena to Pigeon Point (37°11’00” N. latitude), the season is open April 2-May 31 and June 23-Oct. 31. In the Monterey Management Area, which extends from Pigeon Point to the U.S./Mexico border, the season is open April 2-Oct. 2. The minimum size limit in all management areas north of Point Arena is 20 inches total length. In the San Francisco and Monterey management areas, the minimum size limit is 24 inches total length through May 15 and will drop to 20 inches total length thereafter. The daily bag limit is two Chinook salmon per day. No more than two daily bag limits may be possessed when on land. On a vessel in ocean waters, no person shall possess or bring ashore more than one daily bag limit. Retention of coho, or silver salmon, is prohibited in all ocean fisheries off California.   Anglers are advised to check for updated information when planning a salmon fishing trip. Season dates, bag/possession limit information and gear restrictions can be found on CDFW’s Ocean Salmon webpage or by calling the CDFW Ocean Salmon Regulations Hotline at (707) 576-3429. Public notification of any in-season change to conform state regulations to federal regulations is made through the NMFS ocean salmon hotline at (800) 662-9825.

" 

  Cameron sent me this photo from the launch today: "260' of water off the point. 100' on the wire. Anchovy under a hoochie." Other tidbits I heard were that there were several other boats in the area but they only heard of one other fish caught nearby. No other salmon were caught from here today and it didn't sound like very many were caught anywhere on this side of Point Reyes. I guess all that wind really shook things up. It looks like not too much Northwest wind for the next week, so maybe salmon will pick up in some of the weather windows. Rockfishing has been good at least. Crabbing? One  boat tried the outer bay today and said they did really well on the Dungeness. Another boat tried the outer bay for nada and came back in to hit the Marker 5 area for a few keepers. It sounds like there's some out there but you better move around and run the gear to find them. Or be lucky. 
 

   Poor reports from yesterday and a fairly stiff South wind today kept Gage and I ashore today, yet somehow Gage found a way to hurt me. His thirty-ish cast or so with a jig head I supplied (and that he gave me heck about) caught this striper mid-beach. I caught my usual, nothing. It was raining and cold windy but at least one fish didn't care.

   Here's a report from yesterday: "April 13 left out of Lawson across the bar to be greeted by a pod of whales dropped 4 pots in 75 feet of water with a 4hr soak 5 legal male Dungeness and lots of undersized. Trolled in 190 feet of water with no luck for salmon. We headed to salmon creek for some rock fishing lots of small Ling cod got a few backs and blues .The best part of the day was picking up my two personal best ." Those are some nice lings. I'm sure salmon would have been even more appreciated but I bet those lings fried up real nice. Most of the boats that went for salmon yesterday came home with nothing, some with rockfish, and only a few with pink meat aboard. Nice work coming home with some nice fish. Five keeper Dungeness from the outer bay on a four hour soak sounds pretty good, too. The numbers inside the bay have been ... poor. Outside ain't much better. It should pick up a bit for the finale, especially as crabbing effort will drop off with the trap ban. 

 

    We had one boat go out and try for salmon today. No salmon for them but they caught some nice rockfish. It sounded like most salmon boats finished without salmon. After five heinous days of strong Northwest wind the water is cold, clear and barren, the proverbial iceberg meltwater, and barely melted at that. Tomorrow should be slightly better and Friday better yet, as the critters have more time to assemble schools of bait and the salmon have the time to find them. Better fishing, but maybe not good. The New Sea Angler reported seven salmon today for eight anglers, so there's some hope. For Rick Powers, at least.

   Unsurprisingly, the CDFW has announced that trap season for recreational crab fishermen will be closed as of April 24th at 7:00 PM. "

Media Contacts: Ryan Bartling, CDFW Marine Region, (415) 238-2638 Jordan Traverso, CDFW Communications, (916) 212-7352

CDFW Restricts the Use of Crab Traps for the Recreational Crab Fishery to Minimize Risk of Whale Entanglements

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham has assessed entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP) and in accordance with regulations adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission for the recreational crab fishery. Due to increased risk of whale entanglement, Director Bonham is restricting the use of crab traps for the remainder of the recreational Dungeness crab fishing season. The season ends on July 30, 2022 in Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties and on June 30, 2022 in all other counties.   The trap restriction becomes effective at 7 p.m. on April 24, 2022, at which point the use and deployment of recreational crab traps shall be prohibited. This restriction is being implemented because of the unusually large number of humpback whales that have migrated back to California waters earlier than in previous years and because of several recent humpback whale entanglements involving California commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear and gear of unknown origin. This statewide trap restriction will help minimize risk of entanglement as humpback whales continue to return to forage in California waters during the spring and summer months. Recreational take of Dungeness crab by other methods, including hoop nets and crab snares, is not affected by the trap restriction.   CDFW asks recreational crab fishermen to remove their traps as soon as possible but no later than 7 p.m. on April 24, 2022, and to be on the lookout for and report any entangled whales so a disentanglement response team can be mobilized to remove the gear. Reports can be made to 1-877-SOS-WHALE or contact the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16.   CDFW, partnering researchers and federal agencies have conducted numerous aerial and vessel-based surveys from the California/Oregon state line to the Channel Islands in Southern California to observe marine life concentrations. Those surveys, and other inputs including important oceanographic data, inform the RAMP. This large collaborative effort works to use the best available science to manage an important California fishery. Its primary goal is to strike a balance between minimizing entanglement risk and providing fishing opportunity and ultimately fresh Dungeness crab for California residents.

"  As the article stated, hoop and conical nets remain open, as does snaring. I would expect this fall's Dungeness season to open in a similarly trapless manner. 

    It appears that the salmon season has been set. The CDFW/CFGC has to make it official, but it appears that in the San Francisco/Half Moon Bay/Bodega area the current open salmon season with a 24" minimum size limit will end on May 15th at midnight. It will reopen at 12:-01 am on May 16 with a 20" minimum size limit, then close on May 31 at midnight. It reopens on June 23 with a 20" minimum and runs through October 31. That's a pretty good season. There may even be weather window this week to try catch a few on Wednesday /Thursday, but we'll see. The South wind kind of sucks to fish in, as does rain. But, a bit of catching could make it all better. 

   So, enough with the good news: "

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

April 11, 2022

The CDFW Director will conduct an assessment of marine life entanglement risk for the recreational Dungeness crab fishery using the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP) and regulations adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission. The regulations provide the Director authority to apply management actions to the recreational crab fishery to minimize entanglement risk informed by RAMP. The CDFW Director will make a determination on or around April 13, 2022, following consultation with the Fish and Game Commission President.

"   I'm going to guess that we will see recreational traps shut down by or before the 21st of April. We shall finish the Dungeness season as we began it. 

    And then some news: "

Pacific Halibut Fishery Set to Open May 1

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is pleased to announce the 2022 recreational Pacific halibut fishery will open Sunday, May 1 and remain open until Nov. 15, or until the quota is reached, whichever is earlier. The 2022 Pacific halibut quota for the California sport fishery is 38,740 pounds – approximately the same as the 2021 quota.   The season dates are expected to meet the goal of providing as much fishing opportunity as possible throughout the season and ensuring the quota is attained. The open dates are not guaranteed, and the season could be closed early if it is determined that projected catches will exceed the California quota.   Anglers are always advised to check for updated information when planning a Pacific halibut fishing trip. Season dates, bag/possession limits and gear restrictions can be found on CDFW’s Pacific halibut webpage. Public notification of any in-season change to regulations is made through the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacific halibut hotline at (800) 662-9825 or CDFW’s Groundfish and Pacific halibut Regulations Hotline at (831) 649-2801.

"  Normally I wouldn't be that interested in Pacific halibut season, but last year there were a lot of them caught around here. "A lot" in this case means a few, but a few is a lot more than none, which is the norm. Fingers crossed that the count is done better this year with no incorrect shutdown in the middle. Somehow the projected catch and the actual catch were off by most of a season's worth of fish. Oops!

   And now the painful story. This striper was found on the beach, dead, last Saturday morning. Apparently, I can't catch them, yet there's so many out there that they're dying of old age. I guess I need to fish for fish without stripes. Maybe fish with polka dots? Is there a fish wearing houndstooth? I'll look into it.

   Here's the pictures that were supposed to accompany yesterday's post. I was too tired to remember them. I don't remember this fishing thing to be such hard work. But, they say the memory is the first thing to go, if I remember correctly. I've looked at a few other reports from yesterday and it seems that it was not that good a bite, even though it felt to me that everybody else was killing it while I just burned gas. It appears that it didn't get interesting for most guys until the afternoon. Some gave up salmon and went rockfishing before the bite came. To be honest, Gage and I had just finished hooking up our rockcod gear on the spare rods when we finally got bit. We were going to quit earlier, but luckily my procrastination finally paid off! Finally.

    In other news..."

Media Contacts: Ryan Bartling, CDFW Marine Region, (415) 238-2638 Jordan Traverso, CDFW Communications, (916) 212-7352

CDFW Moves Quickly to Close the Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery Statewide in Response to Humpback Whale Entanglements

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 1 and 2 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the Oregon state line) effective at noon on April 20, 2022. This closure is being implemented in addition to a closure of Zones 3 through 6 announced on March 25 because of three recent humpback whale entanglements involving California commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear. All commercial Dungeness crab traps must be removed from the fishing grounds in Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 by noon on April 8 and by noon on April 20 in Zones 1 and 2. In addition, the Director has authorized the Lost and Abandoned Gear Retrieval Program to begin removing commercial Dungeness crab traps left in the water starting April 15 at noon in Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 and April 27 at noon in Zones 1 and 2. “We received reports of additional humpback whale entanglements and moved quickly to close the fishery to protect migrating humpback whales that are just starting to return to California waters,” said Director Bonham. “While this poses an economic impact on certain sectors of our coastal fishing communities, it is important to protect both whales and the long-term viability of the commercial fishery. We will be working with the fishing fleet, researchers and other agencies to better understand these recent entanglement events and find ways to mitigate this risk in future seasons.”   CDFW asks fishermen and mariners to be on the lookout for and report any entangled whales so a disentanglement response team can be mobilized to remove the gear. Reports can be made to 1-877-SOS-WHALE or contact the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16. The recreational fishery remains open statewide but may be subject to a future trap restriction as humpback whales return to California waters to forage during the spring and summer. The recreational fishery should be ready to respond to minimize risk. To that end, CDFW reminds everyone in the commercial and recreational fisheries to implement best practices, as described in the Best Practices Guide.   A map of all Fishing Zones can be found on the CDFW website. For more information related to the risk assessment process, please visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries page. For more information on the Dungeness crab fishery, please visit CDFW’s Crab page, including FAQs for the 2021-22 commercial fishing season and FAQs for the new recreational crab trap regulations.

"  We saw a couple of humpbacks yesterday, not feeding (never saw any bait on the meter) but definitely present. Our closure for traps is certainly coming, and I predict that we will end the Dungeness season as we started, with rings. 

 

 Well, it isn't red hot for most out of Bodega/Tomales, but there's some fish if you're skilled or, like us today, lucky. We tried off of Bodega Head in 300 feet of water to start. I guess some guys nailed them out there yesterday. Well, after two hours of trolling through what appeared to be a desert we got a call from Tailout saying fish were being caught south of Elephant in 240 feet of water. Not having a reason to stay, we ran down there. After only several hours, we finally landed a fish after noon on a flasher/hootchie. Ultimately Chris Brown, Gage and I finished with four fish about eight to ten pounds, three hookups on straight bait (one landed), five hookups on flasher/hootchie (three landed), one rod bait, two rods hootchies. The fish weren't big, but like the weather they were hot. A lot of fish were caught at 9 and 2 (or 8 and 3, earlier) but there was very little bait. One humpback rolled through while we were there. There were quite a few murres around and they seemed to be feeding near the bottom. Our fish came mostly at 100 feet on the wire, one at 60 pulls with a two pound ball. If I were to go tomorrow I would go to 9 by 2, but since we have a gale warning I probably wouldn't go at all. This was likely my April salmon day. It's my first April salmon. 

   It was awesome.

   Upon returning home we cleaned the boat, then the fish, then I went out on the beach to try for stripers in the surf (the high tide in the evening doesn't happen often enough.). I caught nothing but watched Eddie Parsons land two beautiful stripers to 16 pounds so close to me that he could hear me yelling horrible things at him. And he can't hear well. He caught his fish on a Yo-Zuri Mag Darter in sardine. I will own one soon. 

   Now bed.

    Occasionally we get a story here that can hopefully help the rest of us be safer. It is important to learn from our mistakes, and when we can, from other people's mistakes. So, yesterday, a gentleman with his kids took his inflatable boat out and across the bay to a beach. While parked there, his boat drifted off. No anchor? Poorly anchored? I don't know that part of the story, but I will say that I learned once, the hard way, that if you aren't sure about your anchoring than you better try again. Watching your boat drift away sucks. Anyhow, our gentlemen noted the same thing. He stripped down and swam after the boat. Now, yesterday morning I shot another temperature check on the water in front of the boathouse at low tide and had a temp of 53.5º. Try that in your skivvies. As the tide was higher when our hero went for a swim the water was very likely colder. The gentleman made it to his boat and was able to return, pick up the kids, then return to base. He was suffering from hypothermia and starting to slip into shock at that time. 911 was activated and he was checked out and passed muster without a trip to the hospital, but.... If not dying is your metric for pass/fail then he was cool. But if the wind was blowing the boat a little faster or he'd noticed it a minute later, there's a good chance our guy would be dead. Cold water kills fast. A lot of the living guys that the Coast Guard pulls out of cold water end up dying in the chopper. Don't go in the cold water without the proper attire or previous Polar Bear Club experience. I got thrown off the pier for my birthday in my teens and I can tell you that when you hit the water your heart stops. It feels pretty good when it starts again. Your breathing goes to short gasps because you can't take a full breath as your genitalia has crawled into your chest cavity to stay warm. My breathing's getting a little choppy just remembering it. Don't go in the water without a layer of neoprene.

   

   Well, nobody came in this weekend with stripers to make me feel any worse, so there's that. The New Sea Angler and Reel Magic did catch salmon yesterday, limits for the Magic and almost limits for the Angler, so it actually means that there's quite a few fish out there. That is kind of atypical for April, but supposedly we are living in atypical times, so there you go. I accept the good parts. The way things are lining up, there could be squid spawns in May and June and a good white sea bass bite during that time. The wind says no, but other indicators seem to differ. I'm hopeful, mostly because I'm hopeful. Catching white sea bass, as I vaguely recall, is good. I'll be watching water temps with the weather eye. 

   Crabbing over the weekend was good if reds were on the agenda. Dungeness? Far, far less so. There were some caught, even by the shore snaring folks, but it surely wasn't a hot bite. Most folks went without. All the wind has made things very entertaining for the people watching the self-launches as the freshly-blown sand has been very, very soft. Even the tractors are having a hard time. It will get better, but probably not before it gets worse. I took a temperature check yesterday afternoon at a 2.5' tide as the water was still going out and had 56.5º in front of the boathouse. THAT was the most interesting thing all day, as far I was concerned. There may be biting halibut in Inverness and there will be biting halibut by Hog Island and points north soon thereafter. 56º-57º is pretty much the go/no-go line. The report may soon become more interesting.

   Also interesting, there may be a change in the rockfish season year, in which the depth restriction we have become used to may apply in reverse. We could have up to four months of only fishing deeper than 300 feet of water. Rittenburg? The Football? Black cod on the edge of nowhere at the continental shelf? All in. And more. Cordell would continue to be a no-go, but other options are around, especially for a user of the Navionics app. I'm not selling it, but I have bought it, and it is worth it. All is revealed.

    Yesterday Gage and I went fishing on the beach and never had a bite. We started thinking that we night suck at this. Then Dan Steneck pulled up around noon today to confirm our worst fears. I guess I need to get one of his jerkbaits. I'm not Lucky at my Craft without them, it seems. Very nice work again, Dan. 

   I hadn't even looked until today, but it appears that the Point Reyes waverider buoy has been back up and running since January 26. The wave height for the last five days has ranged from seven to sixteen feet high and the average period from six to eight seconds between waves. That translates to "bad weather". Another indicator is the water temp rapidly dropping from a high of 53º to hover between 49.5º and 50.5º. The lower the temperature, the more wind and the more upwelling. The forecast looks breezy for a while. As we stand today, crab traps are still legal for sport fishermen. I think that will change soon, but who knows? If you do get a weather window and drop traps, please look out for whales. A dead whale wrapped in Dungeness gear will close the season for a long time. A dead blue whale could close the season for up to three years. So, now you have another reason why killing a whale is bad (did you need another?). Please be as careful as you can, for your sake and the rest of us.