Out of nowhere, CDFW has decided to close commercial Dungeness and recreational traps! See the following:

CDFW Closes Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery and Restricts Recreational Crab Traps in the Central Management Area, Limits Commercial Fishing to inside 30-Fathoms in Northern Management Area to Protect Whales from Entanglement

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham has assessed entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP) and announced changes to both commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries. Aerial and vessel surveys conducted in mid-March show humpback whale numbers are increasing as they return to forage off the coast of California, elevating entanglement risk. To minimize this risk for humpback whales, changes to the Dungeness crab fisheries, as detailed below, will be effective at 6:00 p.m. on April 8, 2024.

The commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Fishing Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the U.S./Mexico border) will be closed, at which time the commercial take and possession of Dungeness crab from those waters is prohibited.

A 30-fathom depth constraint will be in effect for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Fishing Zones 1 and 2 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the Oregon border). Traps used by the commercial fishery in Fishing Zones 1 and 2 will be prohibited in waters seaward of the 30-fathom contour as defined in Title 50 of the Federal Codes of Regulations, Part 660, Section 660.71. As a reminder all vessels must also carry onboard an electronic monitoring system capable of recording the vessel’s location while engaged in fishing activity.

A recreational crab trap prohibition is being implemented in Fishing Zones 3, 4 and 5 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to Point Conception). CDFW reminds recreational crabbers that take of Dungeness crab by other methods (including hoop nets and crab snares) is allowed through the close of the season.

All open Fishing Zones remain under a Fleet Advisory for both the commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries. In addition, CDFW reminds all fishery participants to implement best practices, as described in the Best Practices Guide, and to anticipate additional management measures in the coming weeks.

Under emergency regulations approved in early March, CDFW has also authorized commercial Dungeness crab vessels to retrieve an unlimited number of commercial Dungeness crab traps which are lost, damaged, abandoned or otherwise derelict in Fishing Zones 3 through 6 starting at 6:00 a.m. on April 15, 2024. CDFW requests that individuals operating under the emergency regulations regularly report retrieved gear to WhaleSafeFisheries@wildlife.ca.gov. Any vessel operating or transiting in an open Fishing Zone may not possess more than six traps belonging to another vessel, pursuant to Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Section 132.2(a)(2)(A).

CDFW anticipates the next risk assessment will take place in mid-April 2024. For more information related to the risk assessment process, please visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries page. For more information on the Dungeness crab fishery, please visit wildlife.ca.gov/crab.

   Who'd a thunk? So, recreational traps and commercial, well, everything, is over at 6:00 PM on April 8. Notice that the CDFW is now allowing, well, encouraging, the retrieval of old pots that have been lost or otherwise abandoned. Thank you. Let's get the leftovers out and minimize the points against all crabbers. And save the whales. We can do both! I would have a bounty where, post season, any trap you find and bring back is worth $20 to the guy that lost it, or you get to keep it. That may come, but not for a while.  Another decision was made, too:

California Fish and Game Commission Adopts 2024 Groundfish Regulations

Yesterday, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) unanimously approved changes to the 2024 groundfish season opening dates, fishing depths and bag limits. In 2023, most groundfish seasons offshore of California were cut due to exceeding federal catch limits on quillback rockfish, a now federally-declared overfished species. The new changes provide additional fishing opportunities compared to 2023, but come with new requirements that anglers need to be aware of. The new regulations are anticipated to be effective in early April.

The measures adopted by the Commission will work in combination with regulations for federal waters and serve to largely avoid quillback rockfish in their primary depth range between 20 fathoms (120 feet) and 50 fathoms (300 feet) off the coast of northern and central California. One key element of the new regulations is the availability of new waypoints that define a 20-fathom boundary line, which allows fishing to occur only shoreward of this line. Within several groundfish management areas (GMAs), a 20-fathom or 50-fathom ‘Inshore Fishery’ will take place during the 2024 season, allowing opportunities to retain nearshore, shelf and slope rockfish, lingcod, cabezon and greenling.

Alternatively, during months when there is an ‘offshore only fishery’, fishing for groundfish will only be allowed seaward of the 50-fathom boundary line, and only shelf rockfish, slope rockfish and lingcod may be retained. Take and possession of nearshore rockfish, cabezon and greenling are prohibited during the offshore fishery.

Divers and shore-based anglers will continue to be exempt from boat-based season restrictions affecting rockfish and other federally managed groundfish, which allows for year-round diving and shore-based angling, in line with current regulations.

The Commission also approved a requirement that a descending device be carried aboard and available for immediate use on any vessel taking or possessing any species of federal groundfish. Descending devices are used to send fish back to the depth from which they were taken resulting in considerably higher survival rates for rockfish suffering barotrauma compared to being released at the water's surface. Members of the public, along with representatives of recreational fishing organizations, have recently advocated for a descending device requirement in order to improve survivorship of released fish.

Another key element of the new regulations is the division of the central GMA at 36º N. latitude (near Point Lopez). This split provides opportunities to anglers in areas south of 36º N. latitude which historically have little to no catch of quillback rockfish.

To protect vermilion rockfish, another species for which catches have exceeded allowable federal harvest limits in recent years, the sub-limit will be reduced to two fish within the Rockfish, Cabezon and Greenling complex 10-fish limit, in the Mendocino, San Francisco, central and southern GMAs. The vermilion rockfish 4-fish sub-limit will remain for the northern GMA.

All recreational GMAs in California are scheduled for six months of all-depth or inshore fishing opportunity in 2024. A summary of the 2024 seasons for each GMA approved by the Commission is provided below.

• Northern, Mendocino, San Francisco and Central GMA North of 36º N. Latitude:
• Jan. 1- Mar. 31: Closed
• Apr. 1 – Apr. 30: 50 fathoms offshore only fishery
• May 1 – Sept. 30: 20 fathoms inshore fishery
• Oct. 1 – Oct. 31: 50 fathoms offshore only fishery
• Nov. 1 – Nov. 30: 20 fathoms inshore only fishery
• Dec. 1 – Dec. 31: 50 fathoms offshore only fishery

• Central GMA South of 36º N. Latitude & Southern Management Area:
• Jan. 1 – Mar. 31: Closed
• Apr. 1 – June 30: All depth fishery
• July 1 – Sept. 30: 50 fathoms inshore fishery
• Oct. 1 – Dec. 31: 50 fathoms offshore only fishery

The 2024 groundfish seasons are expected to be reviewed and approved by the Office of Administrative Law and take effect in state waters in early April. The Commission and California Department of Fish and Wildlife staff have worked diligently to expedite the adoption of state regulations to allow boat-based anglers to get on the water beginning in April. Until the 2024 regulations are approved, the 2023 regulations remain in effect.

Once the regulations become effective, CDFW’s Summary of Recreational Groundfish Fishing Regulations web page will be updated with 2024 regulations. Before fishing, anglers should refer to this web page for the season openings and other regulatory information.

       So, you can fish for rockfish outside of the 50 fathom line starting Monday. You can fish for rockfish outside of the 50 fathom line soon, but not yet. See the following post. There may be as many as eight days during April that you actually can. That's allowing for El Nino "less wind in the spring" conditions. Normally it would be two days, maybe. But if it lines up with my day off those yellowtail and widows are screwed. Well, 20 to 30 of them will be. But, after a run through the Eddie Kim batter and a session in the hot oil, there almost couldn't be a higher calling. That fried fish (especially the stuff that's still twitching a bit) is so good. You know how to tell if it's bad for you? "Does it taste good?" Winner. IMHO, it's the highest form of approval. And I approve.

    It should come as no surprise that, as April approaches, so does the closure of commercial crab and recreational traps. It seems that there's a few humpbacks showing up, as they tend to do this time of year, and numbers are expected to grow as the year progresses. The CDFW staff's suggestion is to close commercial Dungeness and close recreational traps in our area. Many commercial fishermen have already started hauling gear ashore as the catching slows and whale time approaches. The watermen were expecting it. It's not official yet, but I think we'll see a decision by the end of the week with a closure a week to 10 days after. So, if you haven't used your traps yet this season, don't wait. 

   The crabbing inside the bay has been mostly slow or worse, but a few people are doing well. Last weekend a boat came back with 14 Dungeness after only two hours in the water. Today a boat had 24 Dungies in no more than three hours of crabbing inside the bay. It appears that there's a few around in the right spots, but those spots aren't being shared with me. Probably a good idea on their part. But there's a chance at doing well. just not a good one.

    Curly DiBella sent me a text this afternoon. Finally, a fishing report! And what a report:

   Curly writes, "Two today 73 inches and 50 inches the one that was 73 inches weighed 228 pounds that is Kevin Kraft the angler that muscle them in out by half Moon Bay bouy Missing you and the boys send my love" Thank you, Curly. Love sent. I looked at Coastside this evening and found that Mr. Kraft was with Tony on the Reel Estate and they caught this near the Farallones. There was only one caught, but it measured 73 by 50 inches which by math puts it at 228 pounds. Damn. The fish pulled line at 40 pounds of drag, and it did as lot of pulling. The Tanker City out of SF also caught one today. They never left, just the fishermen did, it seems. Nice work gentlemen. 

     It is time to revise the MPAs and more areas are being suggested to close or otherwise restrict fishing access. I also received this email today in regards to it: " I couldn't help but think that you might be able to help get the word out about potential changes to our state's SMCA's and a lobby attempting to petition to change them into to no-take SMCA's or MPAs where fishing would be prohibited. 

The Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) has a solid writeup of what is at stake and has shared a video that they put together to help drive home the point. There is a petition at the end of this link to the BHA writeup and I would truly appreciate it if you could share it to help get signatures so that sport anglers are heard. If there is a petition to close fishing floating around then we need as many signatures as we can get to this petition in favor of maintaining public fishing access!

Thanks so much in advance!

Link here: 

https://www.backcountryhunters.org/sweeping_fishing_closures_threaten_conservation_in_california?utm_campaign=ca_bha_2024_q1_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=backcountryhunters#/396/thankyou

Kevin 

aka Catch N Cook California on YouTube" Thanks for the info Kevin. Everybody should check out the link. 

     On the last post, Harvest Time commented that without an offshore rockfish season, nobody would be out deep to find the bluefin, should they exist. It turns out that the bluefin are still out there, as a confirmed BFT was landed, I believe out of Half Moon Bay yesterday. The water outside ain't toasty but it's mostly warmer than the 53º water that we saw hundreds (thousands?) of bluefin feeding in around the full moon in October last year. Commercial crabbers had been saying they'd seen sign out deep all year, off and on, and incredibly, fishing advice from seasoned veterans turned out to be true. Who'da thunk? Please, Harvest Time, hurry and comment on salmon season to make it happen, too! 

   For crabbing here, the story is the same. Very slow. A gentleman yesterday said he tried outside for a while and caught nothing, then came inside the bay and worked hard, I think inside past Hog, for a grand total of 10 Dungeness. Compared to other reports I heard, well done, sir. I heard a rumor that the commercial guys were getting a few in super shallow off of Dillon Beach. The last few days you could see a hundred buoys bobbing near the surf. From the reports I heard from sport guys, no crab for them there, but it appears that there once were a few (or stories of a few).  

    Halibut have yet to start here but are starting to show in San Francisco Bay. Generally, that means we could see a few in six to eight weeks. Also generally, the bite should start near Inverness and work its way forward as the water warms. But, we are still in El Nino, and the rules aren't quite solid. The spring winds haven't hit yet, and may not, as El Nino springs are often wetter but less windy, here. El Nino can make halibut fishing awesome, or crappy, or average, so no prediction for this season from me, other than it will be one of those three things. 

    So, I guess that while I'm whining about salmon it would only be appropriate to whine about rockfish season. Or not. Or, maybe. How about, it depends on what you want? Here's the PFMC regs, which will soon become ours, after CDFW adopts them:

    April 1:-30 >50fms    This means the season is open deeper than the 50 fathom line as defined by a set of waypoints in the Federal Register

    May 1 -September 30 <20 fms This means the season is open shallower than the 20 fathom line as defined by a set of waypoints. Check with CDFW.

    October 1-31 >fms We discussed this.

    November 1-30 <20 fms Also discussed.

    December 1-31 >50 fms Just deep. If you can get there.

    So, these aren't official until the CDFW or CFGC make it so, but when they do, cool. Maybe don't go fishing on April 1 if the state regulations haven't changed yet. Chances ain't good for an offshore trip at any time in April, but who knows? I am old enough to remember some nice days in April before. Not a lot, but it can happen. If you have a deep water boat, be ready. Have deep water buddies ready, too. Those deep water fish taste better when they're shared.  And fried. Man, when they're still twitching when they go in the oil? I almost don't care about salmon. Almost. But the season should actually last for the whole season this year, as opposed to what happened last year. Avoid Quillback, however one does that. I think we have landed about two in the last 30 years, and I am probably exaggerating our catch (I'm a fisherman). So I really don't know how to catch less, I just do it. If I figure it out, I'll let you know. BUT, if you want to fish for rockfish you will have to have a descending device. The type is not specified, so anything descender goes, but if you're going deep you should probably have a SeaQualizer to attach to your downrigger. They work great. If you're in shallow water a Shelton's will work. Technically, a Sheltons Fish Descender qualifies you legally to fish any depth, and we will be selling the Shelton's, but if you are planning on going deep (during the short time you can, but damn, it is so good) get the SeaQualizer. I got one last year and used it each trip. It may not keep the fish from dying from barotrauma but it will keep you from getting a ticket and let the fish die where you won't see it. If you don't see it, it didn't happen, right? Right. Let the good times roll. And the fryer. 

   Also, almost forgot, everything I learned about these seasons I read about on Coastside Fishing Club. It costs a bit, I think $20 a year. $40? I'm not sure, and I don't care. Worth it. You're basically paying for server time and getting representation in committees as well. Plus they know things. I would not have landed a bluefin if I hadn't been reading their info. 

     The PFMC meeting is over, but not before another change to the options for salmon. As contentious as salmon is, the options will likely change again (and then again) before a decision is made.  But if you're making plans for this summer, here's the best, current info:

Option 1: June 5-9, July 3-7, August 1-6, September 1-3, 27-29, October 18-20.  There will be a maximum harvest limit of 10,000 salmon during June through August, and 5,000 salmon from September and October. 

Option 2: July 4-7. August 1-4, 29-31. Maximum harvest of 6,500 salmon.

Option 3: Pound sand

  Please note that in the non-sand-pounding options, quotas for maximum take will be in effect. If fishing is good, the season will close early. Option 1, if fishing is good in Santa Cruz and Monterey in that early season open, as it often is, well, forget August when the fishing would be best here. September ain't the best, but trying is better than not fishing. But, hey, that's only if the "best case" option gets chosen. Option 2 seems like a proper compromise, where everybody is unhappy. My guess is still that we something 2-ish. 

   No new crab or surfperch stories, but the salmon season options have changed. They will likely change again, at least slightly, before the adoption of one of the options. Contentious is the proper descriptive word. The options:

June 6-9, July 3-7, August 1-4, 29-31, September 1 to October 15

or

July 4-7, August 1-4, 29-31

or

pound sand.

My opinion? I think that sand should be pounded. That opinion is unpopular, and the CDFW and PFMC are aware of that. so there's pressure to allow some fishing, hence the two out of three options having fishing. IMHO, we're getting a season. But not much of one. Chances are best for something resembling option 2, the 11 day season option, or something resembling it. NOTE: If an open season is chosen, there is a likelihood of a quota being in place, A probability, actually. So don't count on the later dates. My guess is that there will be a lot of pressure. I will be fishing , given the option. If I'm going to get blamed for not enough salmon returning this fall, I'm going to earn it. Head held high and acknowledging it. Yup. Freezer full of extermination. Or, at least, attempted extermination. Just doing my part.

    The low tides have a few folks out digging clams and that's going pretty well. The clams can't really go anywhere The crab have other options, and right now they're mostly in the middle of "the clutch", when they're more interested in things other than your bait. At least one boat today broke the law of crab sex and caught a limit of Dungeness in the bay in a few hours around the top of the tide. It can be done, but probably not by you or me. But maybe...Nah, who am I trying to kid. Maybe you.  Crab really isn't my game.

   So, the salmon season alternatives for here, as of this evening, vary from  crappy to no season at all. Best case to worst, depending on what you want:

May 25-28, July 4-7, August 29-31, September 1 to October 15

or...

July 4 to 10

or...

pound sand.

  So, your options are either to try to go fishing on holiday weekends with literally everybody else (ignoring weather; just GO!) or not fish. My brother had an indelicate expression (actually, he had many of them; here's one)' "It's like a sh*t sandwich, and everyone's invited." I didn't really get it at the time, just wrote it off to the Kessler flu he was suffering, as it were, but I think I'm starting to understand it in a different way now. Some future video:

 

   I'm not going to subject you to all three of the "hand and perch" photos I received today, but just know that there's some surfperch out there. Gage fished to outgoing this morning, so the fact that he caught anything is a pretty good indicator that there's some fish out there.  December's big surf did a pretty good job of erasing all the structure and, really, any reason for a fish to close enough to shore for us to catch it. Since then, the beach has been trying to rebuild. Storms have slowed it, but the beach persists. And apparently, so do the surfperch. It ain't wide open, but judging by the number of bites (that mostly didn't stick) that Gage had, there's probably a lot of small ones out there. Gear up accordingly, or wait for growth. 

   Crabwise, well, things are slow. We had a guy recently that spent his day working traps inside the bay for a grand total of two Dungeness. As he was pulling the boat out he saw a crab snare guy landing a double of legal crabs. After the boat dropped off he went over to the snare guy and asked him, how many others? The snare guy said, none. Only keepers of the day. The moral of the story is, when fishing or crabbing, the important thing is less about how many you catch but more about how many other people see you catch. Extra points to the fellow that. while only tying with him, made a boater feel like he wasted his time. I know, as I was told by an old fisherman, "it's not a competition, unless you're winning." Snarer +1. Also, I wish I was winning. Maybe next time. As far as crab in general, it kinda sucks all over as this is the tail end of what the commercial guys call "the clutch", that special time when a boy crabs and girl crabs decide food isn't as important as as making the next generation of crabs. And God love 'em for it. Except for when you're trying to catch them. It only gets better from here.

   So, everybody (with boats, or with friends with boats) is wondering about salmon and rockfish seasons this year. Both are TBD. Salmon returned in numbers slightly more than anticipated, so there's a slightly better than no chance of a salmon season this year. There may be no season, but chances of a season this year are slightly better than zero. SLIGHTLY BETTER. Chances are we'll be, yet again, pulling barbed hooks from numerous anadromous fish's jaws. But maybe not, for a damn short time.  Also, for rockfish, our seasons are also yet to be determined by the PFMC and the CDFW. From the tiny bit I've heard, it may be dramatically broken up between shallow (<120') and deep (>300') on a month-by-month basis. It is still TBD, but expect confusion. Hey, good news! There's still a place for for tackle shops ."What's the rules today?" "What day is it?" We have good calendars.

 So, salmon season 2024. What will it be? Well, it turns out that you may be able to determine that. I'm not going to tell you what I think, because what I think shouldn't influence your choice, in my opinion. So, that's my opinion. The Golden State Salmon Association got some info from the Oregon meeting yesterday. Here's some knowledge:"Fishery managers, in a presentation given to the salmon industry in Oregon on February 28, forecasted 213,622 adult Sacramento Valley fall-run Chinook salmon in the ocean off the West Coast. This compares to 169,800 estimated in 2023 and 396,458 in 2022 at this time. The same information will be delivered to the California salmon industry on March 1 (see below for meeting details).

Normally, fishery managers allow fishing that will still deliver a minimum of 122,000 salmon to spawn in the Sacramento Basin. In recent years, they’ve increased that target number. In 2022, fishery managers limited fishing in order to see more than 180,000 fall run salmon return to spawn but less than 62,000 showed up.    

Two weeks ago, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) released its review of the 2023 salmon fisheries and reported a total of 133,638 (revised on February 28, 2024 to 139,500) hatchery and natural area adult spawning fall-run Chinook were estimated to have returned to the Sacramento Valley last year. The 2023 number of returning adult salmon fell short of pre-season expectations and continues to highlight the lack of returning salmon from 2020 and 2021 broodstocks–a direct result of state water management decisions that dramatically increased the impact of the drought. 

Salmon eggs faced overheated water because of the failure of the State Water Resources Control Board to adequately control temperature pollution from Shasta Dam. Lethally high temperatures in the Sacramento River were caused by excessive deliveries to the Bureau of Reclamation’s unsustainable industrial agricultural customers that allowed the draining of cold water from Shasta Dam prior to the spawning season. The few juvenile salmon that just happened to survive were then exposed to dangerously low flows during their outmigration down the Sacramento River, as well as through the Delta.  Further, Governor Newsom waived the weak salmon flow standards that are currently in place, allowing conditions for salmon to be degraded further.  

In the month ahead, the PFMC will use the latest ocean abundance forecast to determine if there will be a 2024 season for both sport and commercial ocean salmon fishing. In April of 2023, the PFMC was forced to finalize the season’s closure due to low returns–a drastic step that affected and continues to negatively impact all of California’s marine and inland waters as well as ocean salmon fishing off most of the Oregon coast.   

“This forecast will be used to determine whether or not salmon families in California and Oregon will be able to go to work, pay their mortgages and feed their families in 2024. Tens of thousands are still suffering from last year’s closed salmon fishing season,” said Scott Artis, executive director of Golden State Salmon Association. “The buck stops with Governor Newsom and his environmentally destructive and salmon fishery-decimating water policies. And as bad as this situation is, Governor Newsom is fighting to make life even harder for fishing families by building the massive Delta tunnel, Sites Reservoir and promoting the salmon killing and science-free water user ‘voluntary agreement’ proposal.”

" So, of the estimated 33,000 salmon, ocean sport fishermen will perhaps be allowed a portion. 33,000 fish on it's own isn't a decent season, and a portion of that is just sad. I have fished in sad conditions before, and as long as I don't have to make eye contact, well, all is good enough. It doesn't need to be good for me (but is sure as heck helps). Here's a link for your opinion, to someone it may influence : Do you want an opportunity to  fish for salmon in 2024? 

Then you MUST make your  views known!! 

Complete the survey put out by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Deadline  Sunday March 3, 2024. Say that you want an opportunity to fish consistent with conservation  objectives. 

Speak up at the meeting. You must sign up in advance (starting on Wednesday, March 6). Input  on salmon season options begins Thursday morning, March 7, agenda item C.2.

Speak your truth but probably don't be a dick. I am of both sides. I miss salmon fishing (and eating) but I don't want to get blamed for their extinction. However, if I'm going to get the blame, I'm fishing, and fishing hard.