The full moon is a funny thing. If the moon is bright and you catch fish you don't even remember the moon phase. If you don't catch, though, you can curse the sky gods for wrecking your day. Today I shake my fist at the heavens. We saw many, many bluefin today. They were actively feeding under birds, mostly, and near or on feeding whales. At one point, early in the day, we had tuna surface about 100 feet from the boat and proceed to chase anchovies under and past our boat. Anchovies chased by tuna actually bounced off the hull and if we hadn't been casting jigs we probably could have free-gaffed a tuna (and instantly regretted it). They were not boat shy early. Later, yes. I heard of one bluefin caught near the Football and a couple landed near Cordell (Red boat again. You, sir, are a badass!) Where the fish were the water was 53º at first light. We went out to the warmer water and trolled north to the  40 line, then back in to the continental shelf, then south to the Football again to watch the tuna show. And then home. 103 miles and 56 gallons of gas. Today was an educational kick in the gut. The whales were cool, though.

   In happier news, Mike Martin sent in a report: "Hey Willy, a little late but here’s some pictures of my first BFTuna trip. I was fishing out of Shelter Cove with Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport fishing. We went 3 for 3. Using the length and girth method, they measured out  at 130#(2 of them) and the biggest about 165#. Launched at about 7:15am and hooked the first fish at 12:15 and the last at 2:30. We trolled 240 madmacs at 85 seconds(1000ft.?) and 60 seconds(600ft.?) at 10-11 knots in 54-55 degree water. We saw lots of whales but only circled feeding birds about 3 times all day. No fish were hooked near the feeding birds. We started about maybe 5 miles straight out from the launch and then trolled south about 7-8 miles. We stayed in this area(see map) the whole day with about 6 other boats who all caught fish, one had 6!!! We also had a bonus pair of Orca’s swim along side us for about 15 seconds.

 

Mike Martin" I'm jealous, Mike. Nice fish, and good trip. Everyone, please notice the water temps mentioned in this post. Bluefin are more concerned about food than warmth. As long as there's food, there's hope. 

   First up today is Richard Baratta with a report from aboard the North Bay Charters boat. They were North, if reports are to be believed.  Nice damn fish, Rich, and good choice on your charter. It looks like you weren't too far from shore. Hopefully the rest of us us can do nearly as well.,

   These are images of Gage's MadMac post-fish. His fish split the lure. The lure has since been retired. This fish was hooked with the trailing hook one the left and the forward hook on the right. That torque broke the lure. Trebles are supposed to avoid that end, but reality beckons..

  

"Hi Willy,

My friends Greg and Gordon boated this 58” 130 pound beauty today from the mighty sea louse, 15’ Dauntless. Gordon single-handedly gaffed and hoisted it over the rail. Belly full of anchovy I was told. Great weather and only a few people yelling / asking at others to not run over their lines, I was one of them (doing the asking, with no success ) . We heard a guy down at Cordell complaining about a guy in a trophy that cut both his lines off.

Maybe DFW needs to have a requirement that anyone planning to drag a $50-$60 lure a thousand feet back has to prove they know what it looks like to be a thousand feet away from another boat.

Plenty of whales, dolphins and birds if you were in the right place . Bonus tuna for those really in the right place."

 I'm super glad  that they caught. That's the real ticket. And if you're gonna catch, catch a big one. 

    No surprise, but traps are out, officially: "

CDFW Restricts Recreational Crab Traps and Delays the Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery to Protect Whales from Entanglement

The recreational take of Dungeness crab using crab traps will be temporarily restricted between the Sonoma/Mendocino county line and Lopez Point, Monterey County (Fishing Zones 3 and 4) when the season opens on Saturday, Nov. 4 due to presence of humpback whales and 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. 4, 2023. The use of recreational crab traps in Fishing Zones 1, 2, 5 and 6 is also allowed. In addition, a Fleet Advisory has been issued for all Fishing Zones (1-6) for the recreational fishery. The commercial Dungeness crab fishery south of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line was scheduled to open on Nov. 15, 2023 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.

“Large aggregations of humpback whales continue to forage between Bodega Bay and Monterey and allowing the use of crab traps would increase the risk of an entanglement in those fishing zones,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham. “We will continue to work with both the recreational and commercial Dungeness crab fisheries to protect whales while working to maximize fishing opportunity. We appreciate the ongoing commitment by both the recreational and commercial fleets and the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group to manage entanglement risk in this iconic fishery."

CDFW reminds anglers that the deployment and use of crab traps in any recreational crab fishery (including rock crab) is temporarily restricted in Fishing Zones 3 and 4 until lifted by the CDFW Director. Recreational crabbers should also implement best practices, as described in the Best Practices Guide. In addition, if adopted, proposed regulations for recreational groundfish will allow the deployment of Dungeness crab traps shoreward of the 50-fathom Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) boundary line (50 CFR Part 660, Subpart G) when groundfish are onboard. Until the emergency regulations are in place, no fishing gear of any type may be deployed shoreward of the 50-fathom RCA line when shelf rockfish, slope rockfish or lingcod are onboard.

CDFW anticipates the next risk assessment will take place on or before Nov. 17, 2023, at which time the Director will re-evaluate risk for the Dungeness crab fisheries. 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.

For more information related to the risk assessment process, please visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries page or more information on the Dungeness crab fishery, please visit www.wildlife.ca.gov/crab."

One item to note here.  It appears that, since the waters less than 50 fathoms are closed to rockfishing, you may not drop crab gear on the shoreward side of the 50 fathom line if you have rockfish from the other side of the line Crabs first, then rockfish, unless you have a lot of rope on your hoops. 

   This week the weather looks great for offshore fishing for bluefin from Sunday through Thursday. Unfortunately, the moon is very bright with a full moon on Saturday night and won't dim until late in the week. Will that hurt the bite? Dunno, but it probably won't help it.  Clouds may help. 

 The clock is ticking on the start of Dungeness season. Nothing is for sure, yet, but it seems like domoic acid won't be an issue for us here. Testing isn't over yet, but you can follow along with the fun, here. Even if there's some positive tests down the road our sport season should still start on time unless the positives are huge. As far as traps being a thing at the start of the season, my guess is no. I've seen quite a few whales around lately. The CDFW will be deciding in a few days: "

Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program Update -  October 23, 2023

The CDFW Director will conduct an assessment of marine life entanglement risk for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery on or around October 27, 2023 using the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP). In addition, regulations adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission provide the Director authority to apply management actions to the recreational crab fishery to minimize entanglement risk informed by RAMP. The California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group will meet on October 25, 2023 to review Available Data and CDFW's Preliminary Assessment. The Director will consider all data made available to CDFW prior to determining the appropriate management action to minimize entanglement risk. All materials will be posted on the Whale Safe Fisheries webpage as they become available.

"  The recommendation for Point Arena to below Monterey is for no traps. The decision comes tomorrow. Don't hold your breath. The red crabbers have been tossing back a lot of Dungies, so maybe not having the gear we want won't matter. No shallow water rockfish, so you can devote all your attention to the crabs.

I've had a few emails and texts about bluefin fishing. In order to save more typing, I'll answer one here: "Hello Lawsons Landing Blog. (I assume Willy?)

My name is Rick Salcedo and I have been reading your blog for a few years now. I am fairly new to ocean fishing and have some questions for you that I hope you can help me with.

First off I usually fished for rockfish and salmon and would read your report on where they were biting. Like Mclures, Bird and elephant. All that lingo I understand. 

The wife and I bought a Avet EXW 30/2 with a Okuma rod and took our 2019 Raider explorer out to the cordell bank to try our luck. (We did not catch anything but the whales and sea life was amazing) I took an extra 14 gallons of gas because I had never been out that far and was a little apprehensive to say the least. Turns out after getting there and back plus putting around all day I used about 30 gallons in a 50 gallon tank. So I feel my boat is up to the task.

 The questions I have are the numbers you put out on your blog. I feel like they are coordinates but am still having trouble deciphering them. For instance your blog on the 13th of October "We left them biting as 12 by 27. 145 and 155 gutted and gilled" also in that same blog "we dropped the MadMac 200s in at about 11 by 25" In looking at google earth I am trying to figure out where you guys were fishing? I was wondering if you can school me a little and give me some information on determining where you are fishing?

 Also I know where the Cordell Bank is and am wondering what and where you call the football?

Thanks for any help you can give me. It is really appreciated." No problem. The numbers can be a mystery but this is how the occasional good-hearted fisherman will share his location over the radio. This sharing is taking a bit of a hit after folks have had poorly behaved fishermen descend upon them. First off, the numbers are just the regular Lat/Longs with the first numbers left off. 12 by 27 is 38º 12' by 123º27'. If you're running out of Bodega it all starts with 38 and 123 unless it's unusually far; then guys will tell the first numbers. Or, if a guy says he caught albacore at 55 by 02, he's probably at 37º55' by 124º02' because you won't catch many tuna in Drake's Bay. 

  In the absence of numbers to run to, how does one decide where to go? For albacore, look for a temperature break from warm and clear to cold and green water. From there, where all the life will be, to maybe 20 miles or more further into the seemingly barren, warm wasteland of purple (at times), 60 to 65 degree water outside of the break. So, luck. Bluefin seem to follow a different rulebook and don't necessarily require warm water (it's nice if it's near, though), just food. Lots and lots of food. Usually that's also near a temp/color break, but they can be anywhere. A few were caught at Fort Bragg recently in 80 feet of water. Others are being caught there only a couple of miles from port. I'm pretty sure we saw bluefin feeding in 300 feet of water on the 13th. The birds left, so we did, too. We caught our fish the last two trips within sight of feeding birds but only on fish in the feeding birds. Probably, fish with empty bellies are easier to trick. So, the two greatest tools for finding bluefin? Stabilized binoculars and luck. Also, read this tutorial by Captain Ryan Giammona. He knows what he's talking about. Or book a trip and take notes. He's happy to talk tuna and you can actually watch. There's tricks to hooking and landing these things and I don't think I'm in a place where I'm an authority on it, but I'm trying to learn. Seven bluefin doesn't make you a pro, it means you're lucky. But you can weight your luck a bit.

  Having you gear correct is part of that luck-weighting. Lots of 100 pound spectra or stronger. Make sure it's from a reputable brand. Buy it from a reputable seller. Keep in mind that that the testing rating and the reality of the real world may be two different things, so giving yourself a bit extra strength may not be that much extra. Gage and I are using 150 pound PowerPro. We can use the extra on our downriggers! We currently have around 100-150' of 130 pound Momoi for our topshots. We had used 100 pound Berkley Big Game and it worked last year but then broke twice this year in July and got banished from our family. So far, so good on the Momoi. One 140 pound fish rubbed the mono on the outboards three times and it didn't fail. That mono has since been replaced, but I'm pretty happy with it. Gage and I currently use the modified Tony Pena knot as shown in this video. It ain't perfect and rattles through the guides pretty harsh, but so far it hasn't failed. It's smaller and stronger than my RP knot. There's other knots that may work better and are smaller, but I can still tie this one with a few beers in me, so she's a keeper. Also, a bit of mono is required. Spectra doesn't stretch but will fail early with a big shock. Fluorocarbon also has very little stretch. You're trolling. Fast. Use some mono. Or lose fish and gear. Gage has been tying on to a 3 foot, 200lb fluorocarbon leader and I've been crimping my 130 to the MadMac. So far, this season, I'm 3 fish and he's 1. Both rods have Avet 50 Wides so they can be run long. Mine is a Phenix Axis 80-200 and Gage has a United Composites Invictus 7'. When those rods bend, you know something is happening. 

Those fish pull.

 

    I played hooky today with Alec Bennett and Steve Werlin. We dropped the Madmacs in about 8:00 AM and before 9 we had two 130ish pound bluefin aboard.  Gage and I thought that doubles would be trouble and it turns out, they are. This time it worked and we landed them both but there was more than a little luck involved. Those fish can pull. And they seem to be attracted to propellers. I wound the first fish in to within 100 feet and switched with Werlin for the endgame, then panted like a dog locked in a hot car for five minutes. I may need a little gym time. I was able to get a text out to Gage's buddy Mason Harbarth about my location and the double. Mason, fishing alone in his 16" Boston Whaler, thought it might be a good idea to reel in his second line. Good thing, because he did hook a fish.

    Mason's fish taped out at 196 pounds gutted, so in the round it was probably over 200. Mason spent most of his time trying to get a fish larger than himself aboard the boat. Obviously, he won, and almost as obviously, he doesn't want to do it again. And now that he's done it, he doesn't have to do it again. Nice job, Mason, and better you than me.

The Coastodian sent over these photos today. No tuna for him, although four were hooked and lost. A friend of mine trolled for five hours without a tap, so you're doing something right. From the radio today, it sounded like there were quite a few bluefin caught. It also sounded like the parking lot at Westside may need to install a boxing ring to allow tuna fishermen to work out their grievances. Maybe a webcam on pay-per-view, too. Well, at least the weather was nice. The fish were mostly nice too, and bit hooks from Cordell to the Football. Lotsa good water out there, guys. We probably don't need to be stepping on each others, uh....feet.

     No launches today. There were a few crab snarers catching some reds (and returning a few Dungeness) on the beach but not much else going on. I heard a rumor that some of the boats out of Bodega caught tuna today, and not a few. I almost went but changed my mind at the last minute, so it seems right that they killed them today. Oh well, that's what memories are for...

   ... and pictures. Gage and I took uncle Lou Zanardi out with us last Friday and he sent over a few pictures today. Here's a few:

   Don't let the pictures fool you; we made sure Lou did some reeling too. Those fish pull hard, and rotating through the available fishermen keeps everybody fresh for the end game. The next most important part is having a good crew around to help with the cleaning and packaging. We're lucky enough to live in a small town and have been able to assemble a group to help each time we do well. Thank you, team. Also, thanks to whomever placed a couple thousand hungry tuna in front of my boat on Friday. You're the best. 

 

     This seven pound halibut was caught on the bar on green label herring this morning. There were a few other boats out there catching a few halibut, too. Miller Time caught a couple at McClure's today, too. The weather has been pretty good and the water has warmed a bit. Those flatfish are biting but they aren't  big and they won't do it for a whole lot longer, as the season end is near. It's pretty good now, but the lack of variety in size kind of makes the point that halibut are overfished and the population may crash as it has done in SoCal. The California Fish and Game Commission will likely be making the two fish limit permanent statewide pretty soon, and honestly, indicators are that we probably need it. I like halibut and want to keep catching them. Hopefully this helps.

This victory photo was sent over by the Coastodian. Unfortunately it was not his victory, nor was there victory for the two boats that ran for tuna from here yesterday. Clearly, some guys did catch a few. Maybe next time.

They're biting

We left them biting at 12 by 27. 145 and 155 gutted and gilled. Our killbag runneth over....

   A bit more detail... On the way out I'm pretty sure we saw bluefin feeding under a couple of birds in 300 feet of water. We stopped and motored over and as we approached the fish (or maybe dolphins?) sounded and didn't reappear. The birds left, so we did too. The water temp there was 57º and dropped to about 53º at the big drop-off. It then came back up quick to 58º so we dropped the MadMac 200s in at about 11 by 25. Shortly after we spotted a huge bird pile on the horizon. We turned toward it but before we got to the birds we hooked the first fish on the short line, 40 seconds out. I announced our numbers on the radio because I'm trying to be a gentleman. Half an hour later we have a fish in the boat. During the fight you could see other tuna on the fishfinder at times. After making the fish comfortable in the kill bag we started trolling again. Perhaps five minutes later as we passed between two masses of birds, whales, dolphins and breezing tuna, boom, we're on again. Thirty more minutes later and our kill bag is full. There's tuna on the meter again and there's three other boats hooked up around us. We wanted to stay but... We left. We drove a mile or so away and washed the boat. Then we heard guys on the radio yelling at a yellow boat that was supposedly running over their fish and cut off a couple of guys. They were still yelling at him at noon when we were home, cleaning fish and boat. I wonder if everybody made it home with all their teeth today? Luckily, not my problem, but I'm glad we left when we did. Also, if the fellow in the red boat that was hooking lots of fish but losing most of them (both last Thursday and today) wants to trade a few tips (he can hook 'em; seems we have had better luck keeping them hooked) he can email me at lawsonslanding@gmail.com. Send some photos, too. I'm going to start just following red boats around because this guy seems to have a nose for bft.

     The halibut fishing, while never great this year, continues to kind of grind along. The fact that there isn't much else that we're allowed to fish for makes every biting halibut a thing for which to be especially grateful. Here's a few of the fish we appreciate: 

"12lber picked up across the bay shortly after making live bait this morning. Hit a live smelt." "This morning" was actually Sunday morning (sorry, I lost this picture and comment in my email). The vast majority of halibut being caught lately are barely legal, so this fish is one of the better ones coming in. Nice work on a good fish, kid that hearts hot moms. 

    Angie Burns caught these two halibut near Marker 5 on frozen herring today. One fish looks fairly typical, but the other one is a good one for sure. Nice work, Angie. Those fish don't come easy, especially, usually, on popsicles for bait. The small average size may be an indicator of a small population. Often, a large number of juveniles in the catch is an indicator of overfishing. I think that the deepwater fish didn't come in to play this year. I've heard of quite a few caught (by drag boats and hook and line fishermen) in deep water. One recent report online noted a 38 pound California halibut caught in 500 feet of water off of Fort Bragg. That's pretty deep for a fish that I usually catch in 20 feet of water or less. I think that the fish we want are out deep. I think that they aren't coming in. I think it doesn't matter what I think, as the California Fish and Game Commission will vote on Thursday to make the two fish halibut limit permanent. You can also take that to mean that the CFGC thinks that there won't be a salmon season next year. It was this year's lack of a salmon season that precipitated the cut to the limit, and making it permanent seems like an indicator of some sort. I hope it isn't.

    While speaking of regulations, also you should know that sturgeon will likely become catch and release only in certain areas due to the vote that is made tomorrow. I saw one jump a few weeks back at White Gulch. It appeared (at a distance) to be a low range keeper. But fishing for sturgeon in Tomales Bay is pretty much a bat ray expedition. But, wow, the bat rays... So  many.... Also, of note, I recently heard of a silver salmon caught off of Dillon Beach buy a surf caster during the summer. Then, yesterday, Gage saw a guy catch a nice silver off of the Sand Point  

 

 

     From Mike Mack: "Halibut caught 3 today on live smelt. 1 at #5, 2 at red and green. 1 shark on the bar." A lot of sharks on the bar, at least according to Joe Winn. He still scraped out limits for the boat there by noonish. Not many large models today (or lately, really) but Joe had one about 15 pounds and yesterday somebody weighed in an 18 pounder, so there's a few larger ones mixed in with all the 20 to 26 inchers. No tuna today, as most of the tuna fleet turned around due to bad weather and the few that ran all the way wished they had turned around sooner. The halibut bite in the bay was mostly not disappointing. Mostly. Nice work, Mike Mack and Spinner. The fish mostly did come today, but they didn't come easy.

 

   Tom Brodsky took a buddy out tuna fishing today and they returned with this nice longfin. Their one bite came on a way-way back 8" cedar plug at about 16 and 40. Yes, that means the Fort Bragg water slid down here. It also got cut off and greener. It won't last (nothing good does) but some boats today had anywhere from one to over a dozen albacore inside the warm bubble. Many boats caught none. Peak albacore seemed to be north with a 38 number between 16 and 28 and a 123 number in the 40's. I ran out there this morning and landed one less than Tom. There were also many bluefin seen on the 123 30-32 line from Cordell to the football. A few were hooked. A few less were landed. One fisherman on the radio claimed six bluefin hooked and two landed. He sounded excited and genuine. I hope it was true. 

     Halibut fishing in the bay has slowed but not stopped. Catching bait and flatfish have both become harder but it isn't yet a no. The no is coming, but not yet.