The last report wasn't a fishing report and this isn't a catching report. The wind has been blowing outside so the deep water rockfish have been safe for a few days. The halibut in Tomales Bay have decided to relax and not chase baits, apparently, as the last fish caught that I heard of was on Tuesday. That lone keeper was accompanied by three shorts, but that doesn't make for a photo spread with Gage laid out behind a pile of fish. It's more like snatching victory from the jaws of defeat (I usually do the opposite and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It's easier and requires much less fish cleaning). At least there's crabbing, right? Well, sorta. There's reds and rocks, but the Dungeness catching that usually picks up at the end of the season hasn't followed through. I guess the crabs don't read this report. Stupid, illiterate crabs... There's a few Dungeness being caught, but only a few. Reds can be caught in bulk across the bay in the coves but the bigger, fancier models are hiding out, even though they shouldn't be. Well, at least the surfperch are biting. Usually. It is possible to not catch them, but they have the best success rate now. Good striper fishing should be starting any time, but again, the fish may not know this. My short trip in the bay on Thursday was not productive, even though the pelicans swore that there were fish in a couple of different spots. Those spots included the mouth of the bay and mid-bay in front of the Boathouse. Hopefully, your results will vary. There are a few schools of bait coming in, so hopefully all those things that we want to be following the bait will be coming as well. Here's to dreaming....
3 comments:
Perhaps too much fishing pressure on small shallow narrow bay is catching up quality wise?, always couple stripers around but after all the large females that were harvested last year not expecting much sadly. Price we all pay for posing with big "piles" of fish to be Instagram heroes. If you want some sport action just back from boat camping trip up on Lake Shasta, lots of spotted bass every day on topwater surface baits always lots of fun as an alternative, nice to have full lakes again
Tilly has inspired me to offer up my observations. Others' experiences may differ, but here's mine: Over the past 10 years, the productivity of Tomales Bay's halibut fishery has plunged to where it's barely worth going anymore. I'm a free-diver. I used to never even mention that, hoping to keep a good secret to myself, but it doesn't really matter now. The fish appear to be almost gone. As recently as 2016 and 2017 I would see an average of 3-5 fish per outing - sometimes 6 or 8, sometimes 1 or 2. I usually managed to spear a halibut somewhere along a 2- or 3-mile transect. Things have changed, especially in the last 3-4 years. In 2022, I went diving 21 times in Tomales Bay, between Pelican Point and the Bar. I brought home 2 halibut all season, both on the same day (speared 10 minutes apart). In the entire season, I saw or spooked just 7 halibut. 2021 was equally poor for me - 3 fish in the boat in about 20 trips. For anglers on top of the water, it's appealing to imagine on a slow day that the fish are "there" but just aren't biting. Diving adds an extra layer of visibility to what's actually going on under the surface. As far as I can see, the fish are not present anymore. I always have worried that the fillet tables stacked with halibut, and the urge to post reports on the Internet, would catch up with us, as Tilly suggested. I think that may be where we are now. I hope I'm wrong and that things turn around.
In case anyone is wondering, the most halibut I took from Tomales Bay in one year was roughly 10, in 2016.
I'm curious: Does anyone have a Tomales halibut perspective that strongly differs from mine?
Predatory fish such as halibut and stripers generally enter the bay for one reason....to chase baitfish. While some species of fish can be caught there year-round, Tomales is mainly a seasonal fishery, that ebbs and flows with water temperatures, fish migration patterns and most of all...the presence of baitfish. No baitfish have yet entered the bay in any quantity. I have fished the bay for over 15 years regularly, and my best days for halibut, and stripers, have been when there is a lot of bait present in the bay. Herring, anchovies and even large numbers of smelt account for this. When the bait is there, the fish are there.
Not many species actually spawn in the bay. Some sharks, and bat rays account for the major spawning species inside the bay. Yes, halibut and stripers do spawn in the bay, but not in large numbers. This is my personal observation, and not based on any kind of first-hand science. Just the observations of a fisherman. This has been the best halibut year in recent memory in SF Bay........a few years ago we had the same in Tomales. When this occurred the bay was glutted with bait.
I don't disagree with the added attraction social media can give to a fishery, and as a result the added pressure on said fishery. But they good days and big fish will return. My main point is that bad fishing in Tomales Bay is not so much a result of fish caught there in great numbers, but also in fish caught elsewhere in great numbers that would one day be present in Tomales, as a direct result of chasing the bait schools.
Outlaw
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