An albacore report from the 9th from Brad Stompe: "Willie,

Took a run out to Bodega Canyon yesterday with the hopes of loading the boat with albacore.  Dropped the gear in with 62 degree water and in five minutes had a triple on.  Boated 2 out of three and were on our way to loading up the boat.  Eight hours later we decided to head in without getting another strike.  Polling those at the ramp revealed a range of 0 – 3 albies per boat.  We found water as warm as 63.5 on the outside and lots of life just inside the shelf on our way in with whales, dolphin and birds in abundance.  Maybe that’s where the bluefin are?

Brad Stompe" Gage went out with Tom and Bob Brodsky and they caught one albacore on their way, way, way, way back MadMac. No bluefin for them, which was their main plan. The albacore seems to be fizzling out. There's a few guys whomping some, but the vast majority of fishermen are catching, as Brad noted, 0-3 with an emphasis on the zero. The bluefin are biting a bit southwest of the the Farallones but haven't quite made it here, yet. The bait is out there on the edge of the shelf, so the fish will come. Bluefin come to eat and water temp is less of a concern for them than albacore. They also fight like hell in cold, oxygen-rich water. Which is good, because the wind blew (and is still blowing) and it cooled the water off. Again, less of an issue for the bluefin but a serious problem for halibut. The halibut bite has dropped off on the bar and off Dillon Beach, but there's still some biting at the yellow buoy. Hope springs eternal.

 

   I shamed or flattered (hopefully flattered) James Ludovina into a report. It worked! Thanks, James. "Great time and 1001 thanks. Hopefully can get my stuff done for more. Guess I’m a no tide river rat at heart!! Why can’t I smash fish tacos and a couple brews while beaching my boat! Tides??!! 😂 Yesterdays 31” fish was Jonesing for giant 30 pounder and a Thresher or WSB keeper. Next time! My brother is Paul from Woodland. He’s working the Knights Landing out of his game. 16# largest on smelt.

Cheers" Nice work on the fish, James. Grounding the boat, well, you learned. That's all the world asks. Screw up once, you learn. Screw up in the same way a second time? We will talk. But for now, good work! You'll get those fish you're looking for. Just maybe not today.

 

  My cousin Ira texted me this report from Thursday: " Sorry for the late report.  We covered some ground Thursday.  We got 17 at 20&55 but it was a grind.  Slower trolling and cedar plugs helped get us more fish,  thanks to our buddy Donny.  I'm bad about taking pictures because when the lines go off,  grab a rod....  and yes it was a not so comfy trip in.  Flat seas and wide open Tuna I hope are coming 🤞" Yeah, I'm jealous. In the catching, no so much the cleaning. I heard that Saturday was pretty slow on the tuna grounds, but today the bluefin started biting, so game on. The offshore water is cooling and the albacore bite has dropped, but bluefin are here and the game is changing (yet again; change is the only constant) so new game, game on! By the way, Nice Job Ira and crew.

     Cold water has flooded in from outside today and the halibut bar bite has died. Yesterday was good, but today, nada.  Inside the bay is still good, and Hog is really good, in spots. Nice Donelly of Lake County (but not from Lake County) caught this 20 pound halibut today. It was within sight of Hog, but an exact location lives only with Nick. Nick has been working hard this year on this halibut thing, and it's working. This is one of the reasons I love fishing. Some things are hidden from you in the human world, but the wild world is hidden but honest. Put in the time, pay attention, and it will pay off. Good for you, Nick. And show those kids. You got the bug. Pass it on. Us fish addicts need more addicts. We are the happiest and longest-lived addicts you'll ever find. As long as we allowed to fish...

       Chic Ash caught this 25 pound halibut today. He had some help, it looks like. These guys are friends and relatives, so they have a bit of a head start, but it was a visitor, James Ludovina, that told them where to go after he caught his limit, not us here at the Landing. James has been on the water every day for the  last last few days and has kind of figured it out. For now. Ask him, he'll tell you, he's learned enough to know that streaks don't last, the fish move or change their minds, whatever. What worked today may or not work tomorrow. That's what makes fishing awesome. Change. And when it doesn't change, and you can fish fish the same way two or three days in a row? Also awesome, and kinda extra awesome if you know that it's not supposed to work that way. Let's all be extra awesome, should we be so lucky. James says that Hog Island is wide open. I think that he's partly right, in that there's places back there that are full of fish, but there's probably a lot of places that aren't. But give it a shot. These guys got a couple of beauties today after James pointed them in the right direction. Good man, James.

    This picture is from last week. Rachel just sent me the photo. Sorry, guys, don't know your names, don't know your fish's weights, but nice fishies. 

 

    So we went for albacore yesterday. The video is of two fish hooked on the troll and me sticking a lucky one on a cast swimbait. We caught five, lost one. It was hard. Kinda sucked. The ride out, partly in the dark and all in the swell from two directions and fog, was not what what I wanted. It mostly sucked. Dodging ships in the fog was also not not fun, but not dodging them would be worse, so I guess not a complete suck. I just feel, 24 hours or more later, like the beatings I took yesterday were a bit too much. oof. I heard that a very guys did super well, up to maybe 30 fish. Most of the fishermen did somewhere between zero and five. That's a lot of gasoline for not a lot of fish. We burned 60 gallons. Brutal. 

   Can't wait to try again.

 

  Alec Bennet, captain of the Shrimpboat, caught this 26 pound halibut today. Live jacksmelt, but location fuzzy. "Your secret spot" Dammit. You can't trust anyone. Word to the wise, if you find a honey hole, shut the **** up. Or at least, shut up around Alec...Nice fish, but, damn, man...

    Jerrie Carter and friend caught a couple of halibut on the bar today. The big one weighed 18 pounds. Live jacksmelt, again. Tom Carter? Good gaffer. James Ludovina caught two limits today back by Hog, so there's officially fish in the bay. Myself, I'm taking tomorrow off and going for albacore with Gage and Alec. Mebbe? There's tuna to be caught out there. Whether I can catch one is a different story. I'll let you know later...

 

   Mike Mack was hoping to beat Spinner yesterday with this fish. For the day, he did, but Spinner has a 30 pounder in his pocket and Mike's was only 27 pounds. These guys catch enough fish to hang an "only" next to 27 pounds. That's a lot of experience. They caught their fish between McClure's and Hog Island. The big one was at Hog, even though I would expect it to be at McClure's. Shows you what I know. There have been a few halibut caught in the last few days. It ain't  easy, catching, but the fishing doesn't suck, either. There's some nice fish pushing into the bay. 

   

   My wife sent these pictures from yesterday, then called me to make sure they got posted. So. Not here, but she drove up to Fort Bragg this weekend to fish with the Nursements. Day one, Friday, one fish. Day two, Saturday, no fish. Day three, redemption, 19 fish. It's nice when the weather cooperates and lets you wait out the fish. It worked. Other fishermen had similar results with Sunday being redemption day for almost everybody. You may have seen the steam from the  many pressure cookers today, no matter where you live. Albacore are being caught from Eureka to Monterey right now. Suddenly, jars and lids are hard to find. Albacore tend to be feast or famine, and folks, the famine is over. If you have a boat capable, or can get on a party boat, it is time to gorge. Feast! This is the best CenCal albacore bite in......I don't know. A long time. Get it while you can. And use big gear. Monsters are out there.