These guys caught four halibut to 28 pounds today. Excuse me, these folks. Will Moore caught the big one. It bit an underspin swimbait. One ate a live jacksmelt. The other two (and one short) bit jigs. All fish north of Tom's Point (barely). I heard of one other halibut caught today, also in the same area. There's been a few others caught around Hog Island and Marshall. Hopefully these fish are indicators of fresh fish entering the bay. I don't know that it's true, but I hope that it's the case.

    The wind is blowing, so getting out to where the salmon are lusting for your baits is very hard. Not impossible, but distance times gasoline price times wind in knots equals a big, bad number. Something close to no way. Close enough that very few are going. The wind today was not quite as bad as forecast but it sure was a long way from good. Soon enough the wind will drop, and soon thereafter there will be close fish.

    Probably.

    If you follow this website regularly, you probably are aware that even more than water temperature and clarity, I favor my theory that gas prices are a leading indicator of albacore. Today I learned that a couple of commercial boats running out of San Diego and heading north searching for albacore found... albacore. Off of southern and central California. 40 fish a day, mostly, with a 200 fish day off of Half Moon Bay. It's June. It's way more than they've seen in the last several years. We may have tuna this year, it seems. Game on. 

 

   A few boats caught halibut today and a few others didn't. Josiah, here, didn't worry about that and just put bodies in the boat. The slightly larger halibut weighed 16.5 pounds. It's been hard to catch bait which makes it hard to catch halibut, but Josiah caught his bait, put them on the hooks, and reeled up the fish. I think I need to take Josiah fishing. Or, maybe, I need Josiah to take me fishing.

   Brandon aught this 25 pound halibut on the Tomales bar today. My understanding is that it bit within a couple minutes of the captain saying "There's no fish here." Perhaps a plaque with that saying should be mounted on the boat. 

   Who figured out the stripers were biting? These guys (and company). Today's take on the boat was four. They had eight yesterday. The fisherman on the left got shut out for two days but caught the first two today. The man on the right kinda didn't need any more but still managed a couple. His largest of the week ran 25 pounds and he caught a 17.5 pound halibut while casting off the beach on Thursday. This group comes out here for a week every year and usually show us something new while they fill their ice chests. The last couple of years were a little rough for them, but I think they redeemed themselves this year. I realize that a lot of valley guys aren't impressed by stripers, but we don't get that many. I'm somewhere close to twenty or more trips for a striper bite in the surf. This camp is leaving tomorrow with, I think, somewhere north of thirty stripers and none less than ten pounds. The bite is kind of petering out but the next full moon is coming and I just got a new jar of blackened fish seasoning. 

    There were a few boats that went out for salmon today. Ultimately, success was equivalent to distance ran. The guys that ran to the weather buoy area limited or ran out of bait (four trays!) just shy of limits. The guys that stayed inside of 220 feet had a few bites but no fish in the box. In between was in between. The salmon seem to be following my albacore rule for gas prices. Albacore leading indicator: The higher the gas price the likelier there will be a good albacore bite someplace far away. So far, this year looks awesome for many long runs. 

 

 

   First off, a little catching up from yesterday: "This halibut was caught in front of Hog Island on live smelt by JB from Marin today" It's not often that someone catches a fish almost as large as they are, but this fellow did it. 

   Cannon Brunkhorst caught this 20 pound salmon today. There were four salmon total on the boat, a few others lost and several silvers returned. Team Brunkhorst/Rath were fishing in 270 feet of water south of Tomales Point. There were some other reports of salmon today, also from deep or deeper. Other places named today were the weather buoy, as well as 70 fathoms (which is pretty much the same place). Not catching where you are? Go deeper. Still no catching? Deeper. Repeat until you hear clicker.

   I was asked not to post these photos, but enough people have seen fishermen carrying stripers around the campground to know that there's a few being caught locally. Some in the surf, some from boats, and pretty much none of then too small. The Cabo boat in the photo landed nine today between 2:45 and 4:30. Even I caught a couple. The stripers aren't WFO, as there were more zeroes than ones for most fishermen today, but there's at least one roving school of large stripers that were occasionally playing ball. NOTE TO FISHERMEN: If you see some boats gathered around with guys casting to a certain spot, please don't drive over the spot. That kills the bite and not only doesn't catch you any fish, it makes the guys that were fishing there want to cause you great bodily harm. We're already shorthanded and can't afford to lose Gage to a felony conviction for something a jury of his peers (fishermen that know) would exonerate him for. Please help keep him out of jail. Don't do it. 

   Here's a report from the launch: "April from Chowchilla. 13 pounds slow drift with live bait(bullhead minnows) by Hog Island"   My understanding is that this halibut was caught on a live bullhead. It may not have been their first choice of bait but it worked, and if it worked, it wasn't wrong. It's probably a testament to April's ability to catch halibut. Go April. 

   Another report from today: "Big one 21 lbs. Rob Benjamin. Live herring right by the sand point" It looks like Rob found that school of stripers that's been cruising around. Nicely done, Rob. I heard of a few other stripers and halibut caught today. One boat had three or four halibut and a striper. Several boats had nothing today as well. No guarantees (it is fishing) but there's a few fish out there if you work it correctly (ask April or Rob). 

 

      While our Covid hasn't affected our breathing, it has affected our ability to catch halibut. Catching bait has been easy, both perfect-sized jacksmelt and red-to-green label-sized herring, but Gage and I couldn't get anything to eat it except a Dungeness, a sand sole, and a 21" halibut. We watched a few halibut get caught by the yellow buoy at Hog today, enough to know that it's us, not the halibut that's the problem. While Gage and I have been isolating, Cameron has been working at the launch and he sent in this report:

    "Yesterday's report: 

Our folks who got three yesterday picked up another, same spot, same bait. The drifts were trickier for them, the wind was at least as bad, and the crowds were worse, so with nothing to prove after their slaughter the previous day, they packed up and got home before the wind worsened. They did it all again today (Sun) with one more halibut to show for it.

One (pictured) picked up by the yellow marker near Seal Island sand bar. Live smelt. All the info I could get from them, I'm afraid; with you and Gage doing so much fishing, there's precious little time to keep my thumb warm. Still, I'll take my whippings with dignity.

A number of rescues when the wind came up yesterday. More than one vessel blew away from the island (for the love of God, anchors! A bucket of sand! A child holding a rope! Something!), and there was a call about a capsized boat, which I later heard made it back to shore with everyone ok. The park service reported 5 separate incidents with a total of 17 people involved, and even though I never saw them, I'm certain beyond any doubt that they were an instrumental part of each rescue like they implied.

Today's launches were mostly clammers, with a few crabbers and halibut fishermen. I've been hearing less than typical grumbling from crabbers, and one mentioned limits, though not of what species. Little to report on the fish front besides what I already mentioned, but word is the water is crowded to our south, and some guys are even catching. Miller must be busy."  Hog didn't seem that full of boats, but it probably was to the boat catching fish as everybody wants to cuddle when they're not catching. Thursday is the second salmon opener of the year and the weather looks actually good all week. We could have pictures of silver fish that aren't jacksmelt on here. Fingers crossed...

   I've got the Covid. Finally! So no work for me. I got this picture and info from Cameron who was driving the tractor today: "Yesterday was all sadness. Most people couldn't get bait. A couple boats mentioned a school of sardines in the channel, maybe around marker 5, with stripers throughout. Today, a boat I gave advice to yesterday followed it and caught three before being swarmed in boats. Chummed up smelt from the eelgrass bed west of hog, then drifted near the yellow buoy to get three in rapid succession. I'll send more info as I get it." The rumors of bait (herring, actually) around Marker 5 seem truish. as I caught a couple of herring there yesterday ( it turns out you can quarantine on a boat. Who knew?). I saw quite a few schools of bait but catching them was harder for me at low tide than it was for other, more clever people (Cough! Swampy. Cough!) at the high tide. I did catch enough jacksmelt there to drift for halibut but the halibut didn't want my smelt. Only the smelt were happy about that. These folks caught a limit by the yellow buoy which about three halibut better than most. Nice work, nameless happy people. I can't speak for everyone else, but I, for one, am jealous.

   This fish made me a little less jealous. This eleven pound striper was in a school of stripers that attacked Gage and my jigs on the bar this morning. Gage had, conservatively, 8 bites before I ever got one. Mine stuck, though. We were both hooked up for a couple minutes on a double and hollered like mad for the couple of other boats to come get in the school, but like all good things, the bite didn't last very long. Yes, Gage and I have the Covid, but we have been blessed with just about the mildest form you can feel. We are happy we waited for the "diet" or "lite" version. Can't legally work, but we can quarantine on the water. 

    One other report; the surfperch are still on the chew out in front of the tent sites. There may even be a striper or two there, but the perch seem to be more reliable. And they're flaky enough. Incoming tide is better, and especially the couple hours before the top. 

 

        Steve Werlin, AKA the Dark Lord, caught this 29 pound halibut on a jig this morning. No other halibut bites, but with that fish, he didn't need any. He caught it close enough to the Boathouse that he was looking to see if we saw him do it. For the record, Steve, if we had glimpsed it, we would have looked away.

   For more dependable halibut action, the waters near Marshall had a lot of shorts and a few keepers for the boats that trolled there today. Robert Rath took out these seasoned fisherpeople for four keeper halibut and an indeterminate number of "not yets". Another boat from here had two keepers and returned quite a few of next year's fish (and a few of the year after's, too). The water temps have come up a bit with a couple of day's break from the wind, but the forecast isn't great for continued warming. 

    I received this cryptic email this afternoon: "Some sizeable fish were convinced to hit topwater plugs on a foggy sunset in the surf. It was awesome." Myself and two worked about a third other fishermen worked about a quarter of the beach last night trying for stripers and catching perch. We were straight out from the tent sites path. This mysterious gentleman was not there. I will be out on a different portion of beach tonight. Here's a picture of last night's catch:

    When the surfperch are hitting the 3-ounce Hopkins (I caught two) they're probably hitting everything. 

 

 

    It turns out that jigging works. Gage looked startled when I asked him to gaff my fish, as usually it's the other way around. This one weighed 17 pounds and bit at the turn of the tide in 53º water well North of Hog. I heard of a couple other halibut trolled up from Marshall today and a few others in the past few days near Hog for the skilled and lucky. The halibut bite ain't on fire, but there's a chance. A poor chance. 

   The oceanfront beach has had quite a few surfperch (barred and redtails) and that's probably because it's time for the great sandcrab molt. Perch love sandcrabs and they love the soft shells the best. Come to think of it, they're actually pretty tasty, so I get it. Stripers like those sandcrabs too, and the perch are full of babies that stripers (and yeah, the perch) like to eat as well. I couldn't catch anything except for boots full of water when I went, but Gage caught many surfperch after he finally found them last Tuesday night. He wandered the beach for an hour casting for nothing but three keeper-sized Dungeness crab (they like the Gulp! worms too, it seems) until he found the spot mid-beach that the surfperch were holding their convention in. When he switched to Kastmasters for stripers the surfperch just kept biting. My results varied. Yours? I wish you Gage's luck, not mine. 

 

   As promised, here is the picture of Zach Liddell with his 16# halibut from Saturday. The Haoli Girl caught fish again! Steve Towne would love this (and/or take credit) (we do love you Steve)

Tim Peelen caught these fish yesterday. "Willy, a couple of pics from Sunday afternoon. Fished the top of the incoming tide for a pretty good perch bite, tried for stripers late, lost one landed one. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Tim Peelen"

"Hey Willy,

Glad to see and hear about your successful trip up north for P. Halibut. Good timing on the bite! What did you use for rigs? Speaking of bites, I snuck out in the bay with my brother George last Friday 6/3 and I got lucky. (My first boat ride of the year) He was lucky to do the gaffing and cleaning of my catch:)  Both fish bit my 2oz. Jig in the picture. Live bait got one take down but not hooked. Fish we're 36 & 38 inches. Always fun, but more fun when you catch something...Yes, I gave him a fish to take home:)

Cheers, 

Russ Lincoln"

Russ - Nice freaking fish for inside Tomales Bay! Really great fish for the first time out this season! Captain Tony, on the Shellback, ha us using a mix of half Godfather rigs and half spreader bars with white hoochies and a double treble hook. (my personal favorite rig) The spreader bars caught 4 of the 5 fish. But I'm betting Captain tony uses the Godfathers because they work too. Gage and I plan to use both rigs when we try for both types of halibut this year.

    Sorry, life got in the way of the fun stuff.

   Here's one from last weekend. The halibut hasn't been a hot bite but Dan Dentone and crew picked up a keeper a bit south of Marshall on Memorial Day weekend. The water in the back is about 15 to 18 degrees warmer than the water in front and is closer to a halibut's happy temperature. There's some bait back there but it isn't everywhere. There were a few other halibut caught in the last few mostly wind-free days, those fish coming from Inverness all the way up to almost the mouth of the bay. There didn't seem to be a hot spot, but I heard of fish from the Red Barn, Marshall, Hog Island, and in front of the Landing. Not many fish, but enough to know that there are enough to fish for. 

    Chris Brown caught a 20 pound halibut this evening on a jig of his own design. Please note the excellent gaff shot into its vitals and not the meat (I've been practicing on Gage's fish). This would be the first fish on the bragging board (20# and up) this year. It was caught a short distance from the launch, and almost in the same location that Zach Liddell caught a 16 pounder yesterday (Cameron hasn't sent me the picture yet). I heard of another 16 pounder from this side of Hog Island today. There were a few stripers seen and hooked (not landed) on the bar yesterday and at least one caught and one lost on the beach this evening. The surfperch catching has also been excellent the last couple of days on the incoming tide in spots. If the tide is coming in and you're not getting bit (especially on Gulp!s) then you need to use your feet and head and to find another location. They're out there, somewhere, and they move around, and if you fish where they aren't, you won't catch any. 

  David Woodbury sent in this report from Saturday: "Willy,

Friday, May 27 - my daughter caught a small Coho.  200' off Bird Rock, 100' OTW, watermelon Apex.  Fish released.

Saturday, June 4 - my son caught a 15 or so pound Chinook.  150' off Bird Rock.  Fishing for lingcod with sardines.  Salmon hit the bait a few feet from the boat as my son was reeling in.  Fish released.

Too bad those dates weren't reversed.  Sigh.

David" The only thing that I catch while reeling in are jellyfish, but I do catch a lot of them. When they decided to close most of June for salmon you just knew that the fish would finally come in. One rando salmon on rockfish gear makes almost every salmon fisherman think that if he were doing the right salmon things there he'd have a lot of salmon to clean. The wind is supposed to go back to more of the blowing, so maybe we can declare sour grapes on the situation, but you still have to wonder if we're all missing the first big salmon bite off of Bodega. Oh well, those fish were probably sour, anyhow.

   I fielded a question about the Solunar tables in an email on Friday. Hunter Smith was asking if he should go try for crab and rockfish on Saturday when the Solunar tables predicted slow fishing. I wisely said that they haven't seemed to work for me. Go for it! His Saturday report: "Weather couldn’t have been better. Caught five rockfish three dungies and about 100 rock crabs off McClures" I guess we can deduce that the tables work for rockfish and Dungeness but not red crab. And that your results may vary.

   Last Wednesday Gage and I jumped on the Shellback out of Trinidad with Chris Brown's charter. Tony Sepulveda parked his boat over the Pacific halibut and we caught our limits early enough for a drive home in the daylight. My apologies and thanks to the kind CHP officers that decided to not give me a ticket for speeding. I learned a few things about PacBut fishing on the trip and Gage and I are going to give it a try around here this year. There's rumors of a gentleman out of Bodega regularly targeting and catching Pacifics and after eating some, I want to do that, too. If it works we will share our knowledge. Heck, we may even share the things that didn't work, too.