Hunter Smith sent over this report today: "Picked up this sixteen pounder just north of elephant in 125’ on white tube jig" I assume that this is a today fish. Yesterday, Gage and I saw 49º water in the morning and decided against trying for halibut. It is my understanding that there are more halibut out in 100 to 200 feet of water than I would think. Like, there's lots. The downside is that there's way more area than fish, and the water at that depth is always pretty cold, making the fish fairly sluggish. That said, my buddy Hunter Smith says that those fish will bite. For him, at least. Most of the successful halibut guys fishing deep water are dragging nets behind big boats (drag boats), covering a lot of ground for fish that don't need to be hungry. Your chances of success are less, unless you talk to Hunter, it seems. He's got something figured out.

    Gage and I took Ed Parsons out fishing yesterday. We fished between 8:30 and 11:00 for 29 schoolie rockfish and 5 lingcod. We then checked our two pots we had dropped for red crab, one at Abbott's Lagoon and one at Kehoe Beach. Our three hour soak yielded a total of five keeper Dungeness, returned. Takeaways for us are: 1. Red crabbing in open sand yields very few red crab. 2. A couple of the best places for Dungeness crab have very few crab of any kind. I had heard that numbers were very low in the Outer Bay and after seeing so few crabs on Ten Mile, I'm a bit concerned for our season.  There's a good chance that there's a lot of Dungeness out deep that just haven't come ashore yet, and maybe they've been waiting for the water to cool off, but at this point, a week before the opener, it ain't looking good. Then again, I'm not a very good crabber. 

   Sorry, I'm a liar. I was informed that the final decision about crabbing would come on Monday, and I repeated it. Now, this:

CDFW Restricts Recreational Crab Traps and Delays the Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery

The recreational take of Dungeness crab using crab traps will be temporarily restricted statewide when the season opens on Saturday, Nov. 5 due to presence of humpback and blue whales and the potential for entanglement from trap gear. Recreational take of Dungeness crab by other methods, including hoop nets and crab snares, is not affected by the temporary trap restriction and is allowed statewide beginning Nov. 5, 2022. However, the deployment and use of crab traps in any recreational crab fishery (including rock crab) is temporarily restricted in all fishing zones until lifted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director. CDFW also reminds recreational crabbers to implement best practices, as described in the Best Practices Guide. The commercial Dungeness crab fishery south of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line was scheduled to open on Nov. 15, 2022 in Fishing Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6. However, the season opener has been delayed in those zones due to presence of high numbers of humpback whales and the potential for entanglement. “Based on recent surveys, large aggregations of humpbacks whales continue to forage in California coastal waters and allowing the use of crab traps would increase the risk of an entanglement,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “We will continue to work with both the recreational and commercial Dungeness crab fisheries to protect whales and sea turtles while striving to maximize fishing opportunity. We appreciate the ongoing commitment by the fleet and the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group to protect these incredible animals. These partnerships will continue to shape the future of both fisheries and we look forward to continuing the important work of providing fishing opportunity in the coming weeks." Prior to this determination, CDFW worked with a broad range of scientific partners, researchers, agencies and the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group to collect and synthesize information regarding presence of humpback whales, blue whales and leatherback sea turtles across each fishing zone. Aerial and vessel-based surveys indicate aggregations of humpback whales and several blue whales are present statewide. Under triggers established as part of the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP) regulations for the commercial fishery as well as regulations for the recreational Dungeness crab fishery, the CDFW Director is required to implement a management action for these fishing zones to reduce marine life entanglement risk. CDFW anticipates the next risk assessment will take place on or before Nov. 23, 2022, at which time the Director will re-evaluate the temporary recreational crab trap restriction and commercial fishery delay in Fishing Zones 3-6, as well as the need for any management actions for the commercial fishery in Fishing Zones 1 and 2. That risk assessment is expected to inform the potential for a statewide commercial fishery opener on Dec. 1 and the potential to modify the recreational trap restriction.