Tom Brodsky also fished last Thursday and sent over his opinion of the day last Friday: "Morning Williy.  Accurate report you had yesterday. We limited on rockfish again, than jiged McClure beach no halibut. Then tried for ling cod in front of the slide and the point, no luck.  Yes the bar was breaking when we came in and fished for halibut on the inside. 7 hook ups only landed 2. Another fun day in the ocean." Tom has been fishing jigs a lot for halibut, and I guess running only artificials is a good way to avoid sharks. Not perfect, bet better than bait. Nice work, Tom, and good job keeping the boat right side up on a day when going inverted seemed like more than a possibility.

    I've been mostly stuck in the office or elsewhere lately and missed out on talking to most of the fishermen, not that there were very many of those. Of the few I spoke to, and of the few second-hand reports I heard, it sounded as if Hog had a few fish scattered around, but it was better for halibut the closer to the mouth of the bay you got. One fellow caught a limit on Saturday and on Sunday just jigging on the bar. Others may not have had the same success. But it seems like the action, mostly is moving toward the mouth. This being almost October, it may be because the season is winding down. And winding down it likely is.  But it ain't over. Yet.

 

     The bar today was not the bar of yesterday. Today after the tide turned it was breaking all the way across some of the time. "Some of the time" is about the most dangerous because you can be fooled into thinking you can make it. Gage and I were able to get across before the tide changed, catch our jacksmelt and return to inside the breakers. For the hour or so around the tide change we caught two halibut and hooked at least six sharks. The couple of sharks that we got to see were 4 to 6 foot spiny dogfish. The others cut the leader pretty quick. Before we ran out of bait and leaders we finally caught one more halibut around 1130. So it ain't that good and it's more than a little scary. It is officially fall.

 

    Swampy stopped in yesterday. His report: "Hey Willy, one day trip today with three in the boat to 12 pounds. I worked on my net game today for Al. Easy perch bait but didn’t start catching till 2:30. I did release a 21 3/4 inch one at least.

See you soon, Swampy" When Swampy says "See you soon," it's kind of a threat if you're a halibut. Thankfully, my eyes are one to a side, so no threat. A bit of Swampy's mojo is surrounding himself with other halibut killers. Taking good fishermen fishing almost always makes you look good. Al is a killer, as evidenced by Swampy's net work. He's a nice guy if you're not a fish. Nice work, gents. 

     

    Tom Brodsky and his buddy caught their rockfish today, then tried a few spots for halibut before stopping on the bar. They quickly hooked five, landing four, with the four they landed coming in quick doubles. All on Bigfoot jigs. I thought it might be a good idea to try fishing the bar this evening after work. Go figure, it worked. I caught a 15+ pounder on a live jacksmelt, and as I was just finishing roping it in to the boat (it helps to keep them from jumping back in) my jig rod in the holder went off. A sequential double for me. The water has warmed up, the wind is on its way to cool it off, but before that gets here we have a couple of days of really good halibut fishing, it seems. To the bar!*

* while supplies last

   Tom Brodsky saw my report and sent this photo to prove his fishing superiority. well done, gents. Now, go to bed. And sleep.

 

   I received this photo from Howard Law on Friday night. "Got this today between hog and Marshall." Nice thresher, Howard. I'm told that there's a heck of a story with this fish, but I missed Howard on Saturday to get it. As threshers are power and maneuverability incarnate, I'm betting there was yelling and almost getting spooled and tangles and maybe some hard feelings between the folks on board. That's a good day of fishing. This was not the only thresher in the bay recently. There's quite a few patrolling the anchovy schools back by Marshall. They taste pretty good, but holy crap, they are like a bottle rocket with a broken stick, fast and random. And awesome.  Good on you and your fishing team, Howard, as they ain't easy to land, but you did it.

   Swampy fished here on Thursday and Friday. His report: "Afternoon Willy,

Came down for the good weather and huge tides. Alright, maybe not the huge tides. 3 halibut first day and 3 halibut and a striper on the second to 18 pounds. Easy perch/anchovy bait near pelican and spent a few hours near hog for nothing. Took your advice and moved around to find the fish north of hog.

See y’all soon, Swampy" The water got pretty cold last week, but there were still a few spots of fish that continued to bite, even in the cold water. Swampy found them. Yesterday and today that good spot was on the bar. The water wasn't that warm, still, but fish were biting for a few people. Nice work, Swampy and crew. 

    Mike Mack and Spinner caught these yesterday. As I have been remiss on my duties as a fishing reporter, they felt the need to send over this photo to get me to post. Well, it worked. These were caught on live jacksmelt by Hog . Nice fish, gents.

    Kerry Apgar may have retired from the Landing a couple of years back, but she still enjoys sending me pictures of Paul Boley with fish I can't catch. Here's one from yesterday, with the message: "Today, Anchovies Tomales bay" Thanks, Kerry. This one looks like it was probably a keeper, and most of the white sea bass inside the bay have short, but not by much. Happiness starts at 28 inches. Thank you, Kerry, and it is nice to see Mr. Boley again. I hope that next year Kerry inundates us with photos of Paul with lots and lots of salmon. He's the man to catch them, if they let him.

    These fish are much smaller than the usual fish the Mike Mack and Spinner catch, but these were caught in the wrong place which makes them very interesting. The are saury, and they are normally found way offshore with the albacore in warm, clear water. Gage and I saw sauries jumping by the weather buoy on Thursday in clear but 52^ water. Soon thereafter a small school of bluefin boiled nearby as well. Pretty cool, but these two sauries were caught on a sabiki while fishing for jacksmelt in 60 feet of water in front of Bird Rock. Sauries aren't supposed to be there. Think the bluefin are there, too? It seems unlikely, but at this point, who knows? It's only unlikely, not impossible.

    After last weekend's wind the water has laid down and started to (barely) warm up. The rockfish are biting pretty well in the shallows in which we allowed to fish. Next month we switch to outside of the 50 fathom line, so if you want to catch shallow water rockfish you need to go now or wait for November. Going now is not a bad idea. Honestly, better chance for a ling in shallow now than waiting until October for a Rittenburg run, as this time of year the lingcod come in shallow to spawn. Well, October will hopefully let them make more little lings. Good for them. Then, good for us.

   In the bay the colder water has slowed down the action from Hog to the bar, although action can still be had at the bottom of the current low tides when the warmer water from in back runs all the way forward.  I was even able to connect with a 24 pound halibut on the bar this evening. They're here. It's just getting them to bite that's hard. James Ludovina stopped by again and, after seeing the cold, baitfish free water near Hog, went farther (further?) back and found warm water with schools of anchovies. In those schools, in the last few days, he and his guests have caught five halibut, three stripers (lost one of a triple yesterday) and three white sea bass (two keepers, one short) and a thresher shark. I think. I'm sure James kept a better count than I. But with the good weather forecast (inshore) this weekend I imagine we'll see a few more fish. Things are winding down, but it ain't over yet.

 

   This picture is from Saturday. Doug sent over this report: "Mark Rotondo Campbell California 22 pounder" I don't know his fishing location or methodology, but I would guess that he was within a mile of Hog Island and probably using a live jacksmelt. Just, statistically, that's the probable answer. But as he caught the only 20+ pounder in the last few days, he may have been almost anywhere. Saturday saw quite a few halibut caught but mostly near Hog after the tide had gone out a bit and brought the warm water forward. Mike Mack and Spinner had no halibut at 3:45 PM and three in the box at 4:30. No giants, but nice fish. They had to be back by 4:45 to pull out with the tractor, hence their missing the last fish. Other fishermen had similar days. Not Mr. Rotondo, apparently, as Doug sent me this picture at 2:40 PM. Yesterday, the wind blew, and it blew hard at peak. Our one launch caught a shorty before they finally gave up and came back. The guys that came out to kayak crab were coerced by Doug into at least buying life jackets and wearing them before going out. The one guy that went out decided that he loved his life jacket after getting blown off his kayak twice and having to swim the kayak back to the beach. He will tell you, the water is cold. Another couple of hundred yards from shore an he could have been a sad statistic. Now, he's educated, and would likely repeat the advice I read a while back about kayaking (although it really applies to all boating...) that one should plan for success (have the right gear for fishing, know where to go and what to do) but dress for failure (wetsuit, dry suit, lifejacket, whatever: you might be in it). Don't die. Please. It's a bummer. 

   Today the wind was spent. James Ludovina went out with a brother (not sure which brother) and the Ludovinas limited on halibut pretty quick near Hog (in James' spot) using live anchovies. They caught a thresher shark further back in the bay earlier. That took 45 minutes or better of fighting and chasing. I generally don't like sharks, but threshers are awesome. Jusr plain awesome. They. Have. Horsepower. And they taste good on the grill. Probably good for them that they have lots of horsepower. They're the poor man's marlin, except that they make marlin have to step it up. Good for them, and good for marlin, too! No slacking! Theshers are keeping the marlin honest.

    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.