The salmon's case of lockjaw seems to have improved very slightly today (that's what lockjaw is, right?) if secondhand reports are to be believed, or if you count fish lost. Several folks braved the intermittent fog wind that chopped up the water today, and some even hooked fish. My sources saw a few fish caught in the areas of the Keyholes and Trees, in relatively close to shore within 50-70'. Speaking of fish at the Trees:

Steve Cato took out local legend Bud Adams to show him how the crew of the Odyss boats 30 lb salmon. Bud seemed impressed. It was their only fish, losing another to a downrigger ball, but that was more action than anyone else I talked to today, and that's the kind of fish you want if you only get one. They were fishing the Trees reef trolling herring near the bottom; this one had a scratched up belly.

Halibut and stripers have both been picked up occasionally over the last few days, both from boat and by shore. The surf beach has put out both for some of our more persistent shore fishermen. They are understandably worried about getting crowded out of their spot, so out of respect I'll keep it vague. Just know that a lot of the techniques and gear that have been working for shore stripers this year are still working, in similar areas. I didn't get pictures to share, but the halibut I saw was around 20 lbs, and the grade on the stripers they've been getting have consistently been in the 15lb range. The picture below is of an 18 lb striper that came off the bar. On Sunday, the boat total was two stripers and three halibut. One halibut came on a dead herring, everything else on jacksmelt. Live bait was tricky to get ahold of, but worth the work, I'd say. Weather ought to be decent for the next couple days if the forecast holds up. The SW winds they're calling for always get me nervous, since the magnitude can always be much higher or lower than advertised, but I'm optimistic that there will at least be some very solid windows.