I got a phone call today that led me to believe that yesterday's report made people think that the bite is on! Let me clear: The bite is not yet on.  It is coming. There are some halibut out there, and some of them are huge, but your chances of catching any of them are small. Unless you're Jeremy from Sacramento. Facts don't apply to him. Probably, you're not him, so don't think that you're going to go out and catch lots of halibut here. Those fish are coming but mostly haven't crossed the bar, yet. There are signs that they are coming, though.

    Thankfully for all of us, Gage was able to reassemble his exploded head. The glue joints were cemented fully when he caught his first striper on the bar this afternoon. Those joints were extra-cured when he caught his second striper. #1 weighed 10 pounds, and the deuce was 12. I launched as he pulled his boat out and arrived, yet again, at the post bite. Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, I'm told. You may make your own decision about my still going fishing as I could actually see the conditions change as the tide shifted. Gage saw a halibut caught near him today. Steve Cato and his friend landed a nice, high-teens striper on the bar today. Another striper was landed near Hog today. Is the fishing good? No. Is there a chance? Yes, but... it ain't good. The water in the ocean is unseasonably warm (54º, the average being 50º) and if the usual wind and upwelling stays away we may see the halibut come in early. It's just like the halibut to step up in the absence of salmon and give us something to do instead of chasing salmon. Those halibut are givers. They sure came through in San Francisco Bay this year. Emeryville Sportfishing boats have landed over 6200 halibut so far this year. You don't catch that many fish if they are overfished. They might be overfished now.... Well, the future will pay for that. The bulk of the halibut are coming, here, and most people will have given up on them by then, and that's okay, too. More for me, and luckily for Gage's head, more for him, too. But if you want to come out in the late summer and early fall your chances of not having your head explode will be much better than now. Also of catching fish.