I mentioned a video about a boat crossing the bar a while back. Alec decided to make it a PSA so it took a while to prepare (he does actually work). Here is the finished product. Apologies for the cameraman who flinched during a jump or two. A little PTSD? Maybe. But you can get the gist of it.

     Day two of the Dungeness season and the crabs held up. Mostly good reports from the bay again. Nobody went out today as the bar was constant sadness. This morning you could hardly see the channel from the fog spray coming off of the breakers. Who needs out when there's  crab inside? Standard rules for Tomales Bay apply: Avoid strong current areas except at the tide turn when you want to hit them momentarily, weight your hoop so it doesn't travel, pull early and often and move if no critters are present. Universal rule; it is hard to catch anything if the thing you want to catch is not there. Move. Move again. Sometimes the move is 20 feet. But don't dedicate your day to dead holes. 

 

      It looks like there's some crab in the bay. Well, less now, but still quite a few in some areas. Some folks knocked 'em, like these folks, but many others struggled. It is better than last year, but last year sucked so bad that's not really a compliment. It's like, "the bleeding has slowed" or "the fire has ceased forward movement." This, of course, speaks for inside of the bay. Getting outside the bay today was difficult in the fog, early, and then almost impossible later when the fog lifted, the tide turned and the swell picked up. I say almost, as someone in a SAFE Boat jumped the bar going out this afternoon. They made it, but I'll bet they're sore tomorrow. Those that did make it out did well. The outer bay has crab, and quite a few in spots. But the forecast keeps calling for more big swell, even bigger tomorrow. Parts of Bodega Bay proper should be fishable tomorrow in the wave shadow of the Head, but beyond that, I don't know. Not from Tomales Bay for sure. It's a long season. Wait for better days. A boat flipped out of Half Moon Bay today and three guys were pulled from the water. Let's not start that up here again. There are crab in the bay and they're being caught pretty well, so don't try going out tomorrow. You can catch Dungeness without risking your life. 

    Here's a reminder of why we don't cross the bar when she's breaking. This is the boat from two weeks ago, floating upside down near the lovely American Challenger. By the next day she was ashore aside the other hulk, getting smashed by the waves. 

      Halibut isn't over yet, even after the blow this weekend. It's not awesome, but there's still a few. Tom and Jerrie Carter caught one today and heard another in another boat. There's hope, but is looked like they fished for bait longer than they fished for halibut, so maybe not a lot of hope. Well, in a few days nobody will care about flatfish as crabs will soon be on everyone's mind. Shore snarers have been reeling in quite a few and (hopefully) releasing them. I think a lot of them are repeat offenders, as not everyone is poaching and a crab won't learn. I'm pretty sure that octopus are far smarter than crab and I've seen an octopus caught twice, so... Even with the duplicates, it looks better than last year, and it should be, as the difference between zero and the number of crab caught was not far. It doesn't leave much room to get worse. Of course, it can always get worse, but we should be on the upswing on the Dungeness population cycle. Still close to the bottom, mind you, but farther from it. Only Saturday will truly tell the story though.

   Speaking of Saturday, the wind doesn't look horrible (not good, but not gale) but the swell looks like the bar could be interesting. First thing they're calling for a 6 foot swell and the tide coming in until 9ish. Probably cool, but caution should be the watchword. Later the tide turns and the swell picks up. The afternoon will be bad on the bar. Hopefully the crabbing in the bay is good enough to hold everyone's attention and nobody needs to try outside. Let's be safe.

      The CDFW have spoken, and the ruling is: Dungeness will open here, south of Gualala, on November 1st, the first Saturday in November, as usual. Traps will be illegal and only hoops and snares will be legal, as usual. Commercial guys get screwed with a delay, as usual. There's some domoic acid around, so we're being told to clean the crab before cooking, as usual. It's the new normal. At least the domoic acid isn't high enough to shut us down as they have up north. Or is it? Testing results are here, but so far I don't see Bodega Bay locations listed. Probably they know something, since they're announcing we can open. Samples have been delivered. I guess we'll find out soon enough. But as things stand today, we're opening on the 1st here, and no crab butter for you.

       We only had a few boats hit the water this week and no fish were waved around by anybody in the boats. One boat had never crabbed before and they came back with two limits of red crab yesterday. They were pretty happy, but that's because they hadn't cleaned two limits of red crab before. I imagine that the joy moderated a bit with each critter processed. Catching a lot of anything seems like a good idea until you get to the cleaning table. The big takeaway is that there's 70 less red crabs to avoid inside the bay for Dungy season. 

      We watched a boat run towards the mouth of the bay this afternoon and he looked like he wanted to cross the breaking bar. Cameron accessed a camera on the hill and watched him jump a wave going over the bar before turning around and coming back in. It looked like a 22' C-Dory, so hopefully for them they didn't split the hull belly-flopping like a guy I know. Those flat, fuel conserving and stable riding hulls can sometimes be a problem. When the waves get big, deadrise is your friend. I'm hopeful that Wrybread can get us a Youtube video of the event. 

 Well, that was exciting. Anyhow.....

     It turns out that there are still a few halibut to be caught in the bay. Last week's wind cooled the water a couple of degrees, not enough to really call it over but enough that the halibut were unhappy for a few days. After it stabilized the fish bit again. The sweet spot must be across from Lawson's, as there were a few boats there pretty steady Sunday through Tuesday. Probably rockfish would have been a better choice for putting fish in the box, but conditions were not good for getting out to the ocean from here. Maybe tomorrow morning there will be a window. And maybe not. The roar of the surf has faded but the swell is supposed to pick back up again. 

     Dungeness is scheduled to open on the 1st this year. It seems the whale-searching-flights are done and the recommendation is (Gasp!) the usual, no commercial season yet and sport can open but hoops only off Sonoma and Marin counties. SNAFU, right? At least the hoops work pretty well if there's some crab around, and preliminary unofficial hearsay reports sound pretty good. There's some crab out there. judging by our timing in the Dungeness crab cycle, it is likely not going to be a good year for crab but better than last year. "Better than last year" doesn't mean much, as it kind of sucked for most people. So, hopefully this year will suck less. If you found a place to catch reliably last year, you'll probably be fine. If you struggled all season, well, I guess the struggle is real. Think of how much better a crabber this adversity is making you! Of course, if you aren't catching but you keep sticking to the same spots, well, shame on you. Isn't that the popular definition of insanity? Move. No crab there? Move. Repeat until happiness. Pay attention to your depth, the speed of the current, your very specific location. Twenty feet can make or break you. Fresh bait. Dungeness don't care for the rotten stuff, mostly. Weight your hoops and traps in the bay heavy as they will walk in the current (The biggest thief of crab pots in Tomales Bay is Tomales Bay. There are pirates but the current steals many, many traps/hoops) Avoid the fast current spots when the current is going fast. They can fish well when it is slack but when the water starts moving GTFO. And for God's sake, don't go out the mouth of the bay if you're not sure. That bar has killed far better men than me, men with more experience and better equipment. I'm terrified of the break. You should be too. Eat crab, don't feed them.

     Also, new rules are coming. When they go into effect could be at the opener or next year, as they haven't been fully approved yet and no timeline exists. The ones we need to know:

Hoops can have only one main buoy with a maximum size of 6"x14", any color. You can have a second, trailer buoy but it must be no larger than 6"x14" and orange and have two large "H"s on it at least 2" high and lines no less than 1/4" thick. My suggestion? Stick to one buoy. Make sure your GO ID number is on it. Traps need the red buoy behind them to show that they're traps. Absolutely no red buoy behind your hoop buoy. 

You can't use rope that is black and either yellow, red, or purple. These fancy two-tone lines are reserved for commercial crabbers from Oregon, Washington and California, so if a whale gets  entangled they know who to blame. They're making the commercial Dungeness guys buy all new rope. It may not save the whales but it sure is lucrative if you sell rope. I guess they need to throw the rope guys a bone before they outlaw rope altogether. Good times. Or I guess, awesome. Tim , the old man of the sea, says that when I say things are awesome they're actually in the toilet. So, awesome I guess.

     Dungeness season must be close because the bar is breaking pretty steady. Earlier today it was an intermittent break on the incoming tide, letting a few boats out to try for rockfish. One of these boats out of Miller Park limited out on rockfish in 100 feet of water about a mile or so south of Tomales Point. On the way back in, sometime after 11:00, the boat was either overtaken by a wave or overtook a wave (reports vary) on the bar at the mouth of the bay and was rolled over (reports agree). Steve Werlin, known on here at times as the Dark Lord, happened to be watching from his house on the hill in Dillon Beach. He called Gage first while somebody else called 911. Gage was, at that time, in Half Moon Bay looking at big pumpkins.  He called Cameron. Cameron grabbed me. Cameron jumped in the tractor headed for the boat lot. We tried John Brezina's Whaler because he doesn't have a bow rail (easier to load people from the water) but no keys, so.... Shrimp Boat to the rescue! Thanks, Alec. It's amazing how fast you can drive a boat over sloppy water when 1.) someone is in danger, and 2.) it's not your boat. The bar laid down the whole time we approached and as we got closer you could see people huddled together in the water. Then a wave started to build in front of us about head high and started feathering in the east breeze. We hit it just right and caught a bit of air before gently landed. Alec has a lot of crap in that boat but it apparently balances it out properly for gentle landings. Thanks, Alec, and I hope I didn't lose too much of your special ballast over the side on the run out. Then we were at the swimmers.

    First thing, one of them was a maybe 5 or 6 year old girl. Before you get all, "How dare they take a little kid on the ocean!", how do you think Cameron and Gage got so comfortable on the big pond? You gotta start sometime, and a good way to get your kids used to being on the water and not getting seasick is just by doing it. So, make your comments, and I'll let 'em post, but I stand with the dad. In this case, the boat flipped and the child was trapped under the boat. When dad figured this out he started diving under the boat in a frenzy to get his child out. As you would. Well, as I hope I would. Diving under a flipped boat with God knows what hanging under with possible fish hooks, ropes, whatever to tangle up or get trapped in without a wetsuit or fins or mask..... I want to believe that I would do it too, and I think I want to think I would, but Goddamn..... But he got her out. And when we got there he was so spent he couldn't even speak. We grabbed the kid, because she was easy and light and if a wave comes and I gotta leave, well, I ain't leaving a kid. Then Cameron blew his back out trying to get the dad on board. But between him pulling and the other guy in the water pushing, they got him in. I was leaning like a sailboater trying to balance the boat and watching for waves. The other fellow scrambled in (former surfer and accustomed to cold water. I may have to start trying that cold water immersion thing) and said two more were on the boat but they were swept in towards the bay. We ran in across the bar (mostly) and saw two people on the beach in the first cove behind Red Rock. Three coves over was a sandy beach that we could pick them up from, but it would take them some time to get there and the dad was non-verbal. I was thinking that if they could swim in there they probably weren't in as bad of shape as the dad. Making up my mind, over the Point came Henry One, the Sonoma County Sheriff's helicopter, with a badass on a fixed rope dangling underneath. That being more badasses than we had, I figured they had it, and we hauled ass back to Lawson's where the Marin County Fire Department had arrived and were deploying. They grabbed our people and started actually saving lives. They had them wrapped up quick. The other two were picked up by Henry One and dropped off here. Hopefully everyone ends up okay. The boat will likely be up on the rocks north of Dillon Beach tomorrow. I hope everyone involved ends up okay. Dad and his daughter weren't awesome when they left but they were in good hands and heading towards even better ones, so there's that. The big takeaway is, the rockcod are biting. This is a fishing report, after all. 

For the record, we aren't lifeguards or rescue guys. We just heard that there was a problem and responded. It's what you do. Don't count on us or anyone to save you. I ain't going if it's really bad. And mostly nobody tells me if there's a problem. So be safe.

    Gage says that the halibut, like Elvis, have left the building (In this case, the building is supposed to be Tomales Bay, FYI). From the fish counts here over the weekend, he may be right. Joe Winn and crew fished halibut over the weekend and caught a couple, but a couple for them is equivalent to zero for us mere mortals. Basically, he just made sure that the door didn't hit all of them in the keester on the way out. Even so, halibut may not be completely done yet. I know of at least one caught on the bar on Wednesday and Thursday Gage, Richard Porterfield and I caught limits of halibut after catching our fill of rockfish and lingcod. Ours were not inside the bay, but they weren't far, and they all bit jigs. The rockfishing has been very good and the lings are in. Mike Mack and Spinner had several pushing or exceeding 20 pounds to the boat yesterday but weather and gear malfunctions kept the majority out of the boat. They're out there. Mike left a couple for us. 

     Dungeness season is coming pretty quick. The flights looking for whales haven't started yet, nor has the domoic acid testing, nor have the new regulations been approved to go into effect. But they will in the next few weeks and my guess is that we're 95% sure to have the season start on time with hoops. Traps will likely have to wait. I guess that only because that's how it worked for the last four(?) seasons. It's not just those who have forgotten history that are doomed to repeat it.

 

Coleman hatchery this morning has an estimated 30,000 to 80,000 salmon waiting to spawn. There's more in the river (They're stacked up for 3/4 of a mile below the hatchery) still heading that way. Lots of Jack's mixed in. Remember that last year Coleman had 250 fish return. It looks like there's more than that this year.

We may have a salmon season next year. It could happen! Gage is visibly vibrating.

    Apparently that vibrating calls in the fish. This 19 pounder whacked his jig on the drop. He missed another bite and released a small halibut. I caught nothing and missed no bites. I'm going to work on my vibrating. This pretending to be calm just ain't working.

 

      I was headed out the door on Tuesday and bumped into this gentleman who's name I didn't get, but I did get this photo and the info that the halibut weighed 21 pounds and it bit the only live jacksmelt they,  caught that day. There was another, smaller halibut on the boat as well that bit a jig but this one was more photogenic. There has been almost decent halibut fishing this week, although the last few days the bar and, God forbid, Dillon Beach proper have been off-limits due to high surf. It makes it hard to fish the outgoing tide when it carries you towards your doom. There are a lot of jacksmelt out in the ocean for bait, but that's not helpful if you can't safely get there. The halibut should continue to be somewhat active until some weather cools the water down below their comfort zone, and I don't think today's wind was enough to do it but a few more days will. The forecast is for a break from the wind, at least on the beach, for a bit. Maybe even a pause in the swell, too (we already had a break, and a lot of it). 

    Rockfishing is about as good as it gets right now as all depths are open and the lingcod have moved in closer to shore in order to make more lingcod. Go help out a rockfish by catching a lingcod. Heck, get a pair of them. Probably get a few rockfish as well (we can't help all of them). I had forgotten how good fresh rockcod is. Now I remember. Damn. They're out there and not too far, but a bit farther will be better. Close in has been hit hard. The 120 to 300 foot area has been left alone for a bit, but beware: The forbidden fruit that we call quillback rockfish appear to be quite plentiful, despite their low numbers officially recorded. Gage showed me a video from Instagram where a pair of guys had probably a dozen quillbacks laying on deck while fishing the Farallones. Strangely, the video has since been deleted. But I don't think we've had a half dozen quillbacks on the boat in the last twenty years. Maybe I suck at quillbacks. Probably, even. But damn. Those guys caught all of them. Or, maybe there's more than we think? No, they probably got them all and we don't even have to worry now. Thanks, guys. But just in case one got missed, go here for info on what they look like: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=222200&inline

    We had some halibut-catching royalty here last weekend. Joe Winn and his buddy Brandon Salazar were here and their boats each caught four (limits) Saturday. The day beach and the bar were the good spots. Also, winter is coming, and the long period swell is here, too, and breakers are kind of a thing until probably May 2026. Be careful. There's some fish around but the good spots also have some surf near or on them. Give every spot the stink eye before rolling in and shutting down. And maybe don't shut down. Sometimes having the option to jab the lever forward and go quick is a good thing. Joe and his buddy used jigs and live jacksmelt to catch their critters. The halibut are out there. They aren't easy, but they're there. Mike Mack had a rough day yesterday in the harsh south wind that hit, but he eventually hammered two at the end of the day with the big one going 28 pounds. Nice damned work, Mike. And nice work, Joe and Brandon. Also, nice boat Brandon. Thanks for showing me what I could have with some hard work and other effort. I'm not going to do it, but wow. It looks good on you. 

    I did get to go to Gage's secret spot (should I capitalize that? Probably. Maybe if it stays good) on Thursday. It was good, but not like you want. There's long periods of nothing, then a brief flurry of bites over a very specific spot, then nothing again. If you drift off of the bitey spot you need to get immediately back on it. This, it turns out, is exactly the same rule for everywhere else. Here's some knowledge: Halibut run in schools. Halibut have tiny stomachs, so they can't eat much, and they're cold-blooded, so they digest slowly. These things mean they only need to eat maybe a couple-three times a week, and if you want to catch one you need to be there, then. Only a few fish in the school will be hungry, but a few will bite almost unconditionally. Almost. But you need to be there when they bite. And if you drift off, move back. If you have spotlock, use it. I need it. How do you know where the fish are and when they'll bite? That's the hard part. Edges, where depth changes or dunes or rocks are can concentrate fish, as they concentrate baitfish. Timing is tide change, usually, but other factors that I am unaware of can make them bite between tides. Just know that mostly halibut fishing is boring but when you get a bite, follow up! Now! Cast behind the boat, or drive back and drop. Multiple rods with multiple baits also work here in Tomales Bay. Have a lot of functional lines in the drink when they bite. It can make for a Charlie Foxtrot but, wow. Ever limit in 60 seconds? Maximize your opportunities.

    

 

    It was foggy enough yesterday to take Alec Bennett with us for a trip to Gage's secret spot. It turns out that Gage's secret spot is very good. It ain't big, so it needs to remain secret, but as luck would have it, the halibut are also biting in other spots. Alec got a 21 pounder, and I finally made the board with a just boardworthy fish (20 lbs). We had nothing, then a double, then nothing for a while, then a quad. When they're biting, wow.. When they're not, also wow, but the bad one. The other spots are off of Dillon Beach and the mouth of the bay (the bar, as we say) had some fish. Maybe not as big, and maybe not as aggresively biting, but places you can find without trouble. 

     Rockfishing has been pretty good, as all depths are open, and a lot of those depths have been off limits for a while, so they've been fished minimally in the interim. Go get 'em. They're yummy.

 

   I say the halibut fishing is bad, and who shows up? Swampy. Challenge accepted. His report from today: "Evening Willy,

Fat lady ain’t singing yet. Solo and probably last trip of the year, gotta start getting ready for the ducks. Started on the bar in fog and got spooked by the crashing rollers. Found these two just north of hog during the afternoon tide change on live bait. Sounds like Gage hammered them again. Thanks for another great year, Swampy." It looks like there are a few fish in the bay, or there were a couple. Probably there's more. Swampy tends to connect, and the tide change seems to be the deal. Nice work, as usual, Swampy. You gotta feel nervous for the ducks, though.

    Swampy mentioned Gage, and here's Gage's picture from today. He jumped on Tom Brodsky's boat, Fishbox, and he, Tom and Lee limited on rockfish before trying for halibut in Gage's "secret spot". Gage will be on my boat tomorrow and I hope to find out the spot, but I've already been sworn to secrecy. Heck, he didn't ask for my soul, so I'm in. They're out there, if you can find them, it seems. The rockfish is good, though, regardless of Gage's knowledge. No fishing in the +120 foot area has left many fish in the 120-200 foot area. There's probably more lingcod in closer but those unmolested deeper water rockfish are kinda dumb and very tasty.

 

     Halibut fishing has been slooooow, but you wouldn't know it from Steve Cato. This 21 pounder came from in front of Dillon Beach proper. I heard of one other halibut caught today, same place, a little smaller. Not a lot of effort lately, but low effort combined with a low catch-per-angler average equals not too many fish. But Steve and his buddy from Florida beat the odds and caught this one and hooked (and eventually lost, as such things usually go) a thresher shark. This is after they went out and caught enough rockfish for fish tacos for a couple of nights. Nice work, gents. 

 

     These halibut were weighed in around 9:30 this morning and were caught by trolling hootchies and anchovies off of Dillon Beach. Not sure of the depth of water fished but the halibut weighed sixteen and eight pounds. Considering how bad the halibut fishing has been, I understand why there were so many boats in front of my house this morning. I don't think everyone else enjoyed the same results, but I do know that there were some other fish caught there today. As is typical of halibut and fishing in general, the fish are where you find them. Good work finding them!

    Brendan Mendoza sent over this report from today: "Hey Willy. We were out rolling hootchies again and finally had some success. We landed 2 shorts 2 missed bites and managed a 33", 27" and a 23" halibut. Couldn't find the 4th but after weeks of no fish we were happy. Then finished the day picking up a few colorful rockfish."  Happy is what you should be. The bay has been empty. You normally fish south of Hog, so I assume that's where these came from, and if so, I'm very happy, as the ones you missed need to make our future halibut in the warm water of the bay. I'm not complaining about take, as Gage and I are very guilty of the same, but where do you go to target halibut without catching them in the successful spawning areas? Anyone? No? There we go. Nice work, Branden and crew. Your saltwater goldfish look pretty good as well. It seems that the PFMC has passed the resolution making fishing for rockfish past the three mile line legal, but I'm unclear on whether it is in effect yet. I've heard yes and no. Consult your lawyer before straying too far offshore. I did hear of some nice fish caught inside of 60 feet of water, so apparently a few fish have escaped from the pressure of the last couple of years. Finesse is the key to catching shallow, over pressured fish. Small jigs. Small swimbaits. Tiny even. They work. Occasionally, retail therapy works, and buying tiny gear is one of those things. Pressured fish have seen the other things, but tiny stuff seems safe? I don't know what they're thinking, but it works. Fricking fun, too, on light gear.

    There's not too many people here mid-week in September. Weekends are full, but weekdays there isn't a lot of effort. Almost none, in fact. Perhaps it's the reports. Perhaps it's the season, as interest has always waned by September, even though the fishing for halibut usually gets pretty good then. Not this year, of course, as most of the halibut are in somebody's freezer. But not all of them. Yet.

    I saw the Jigger John launch today around 10 am. I saw him leave around 2pm. I received this message from Kerry Apgar this evening: "Seth and John's catch for today". For the record, I believe that the 24oz Coors Banquet was purchased, not caught. As the catch has mostly been bad, I'm guessing that John and his nephew caught these on the bar, as that's where fresh fish enter the bay. I do not know that, just guessing. But, Gage had a few fish on Wednesday in a new location. The photo he sent:

     Gage caught four fish (he said...) letting go the two smaller ones and keeping two that weighed 15 pounds apiece. His boat looked like an episode of Dexter. He also wouldn't tell me where he went. Good on him, and good on John and Seth for their catches, but hey man, we gotta know. In the absence of knowledge I went out on Thursday looking to find Gage's secret spot. It didn't happen, but I did catch a few rockfish (and released an eight pound king salmon) at the Trees before the weather forced me to bail. Eight foot NW seas at ten seconds combined with 20+ knots of south wind equalled me fearing for my life and trying not to puke. I just got over the sea sickness this afternoon (no puke; just time). On my way back into the bay I started to get concerned, as the crappy conditions limited my speed even though the swells were going faster than 15 knots. You really don't want to get overtaken by a breaker on the bar. Pitchpole, anyone? But I watched as I approached and the bar never broke. Then, as I got closer, the waves just....melted away. I guess we're in the lee of the swell. Good deal, as the shallow spot on the bar right in front of Red Rock was filthy with terns, pelicans and seagulls all feeding. I slowed to an idle, preparing mentally to start casting. Then I glimpsed something to my left. Breaker! I jammed the throttle forward all the way and heard the crash of everything on the dash hitting the deck. Looking back, there was a 6'-8' breaker on my stern. Holy crap! That was at about 10:30. My hands quit shaking after a beer about noonish. I watched the bar from home for hours and never saw it break there again. Now, I know the regular story, that curiosity killed the cat. Complacency almost killed me. I have to rewrite this repeatedly as just thinking about it makes my hands shake again. It's that time of year again. The fish are on the bar, and you die on the bar. I kinda love and hate September. Don't get me started on October. Hey, it was easy everybody would do it. JUST BE CAREFUL. It's fall. The ocean is, in fact trying to kill you.

 

 

    Barb Pope caught this 17.5 pounder yesterday on a dead herring drifted this side of Hog Island. Three years in a row she has been the killer of the group from St. Helena. I'm sure that the rest of them are killers in their own right, but Barb just kicks it up a notch or three. Nice work, Barb, and very nice of you to sit it out today and let somebody else have a chance. They didn't catch any halibut without you, so... Well, get some, Barb. The halibut misguidedly like you. Most fishermen had the opposite response from the few halibut present. The catching sucked, as it kind of has. Some very good fishermen had a few fish this weekend but would normally be celebrating multiple limits over the weekend. Three years no salmon= no halibut. That's algebra I learned in 2010 after two years of no salmon. Three years is worse. Next year halibut fishing will suck, and suck hard. It will be a year to separate the men from the boys. I hope you do as well next year, Barb. For all of us.

     Howard Law sent over this picture with the report:" Not a bad day on the big pond. Threw back a  bunch of smaller ones." Those are some nice rockcod. Probably even better fish tacos. Nice work, Howard and crew. Last time Howard tried to fish somebody pulled out in front of him and he was in a pretty horrible crash. Good for the fish, I guess, but it kinda sucked for Howard. Well, payback's a, you know what.

     So, here it is Friday night and I'm finally posting Swampy's Tuesday report. I suck, but Swampy surely doesn't, as he tells it true:

     "Evening,

Should have been here yesterday. Tough bait today, plan C and D finally worked. Hit the bar and interior hard for two butts. Jake, Swampy Jr, scored a 14 pounder and Alex got a clicker. Great time as always and see you next trip. She ain’t singing yet……" The fat lady is surely warming up, though. She's not singing but she's doing the throat exercises to get ready to sing. It sounds like gargling and wind. Solid work, Swampy family, snatching a few fish from the jaws of .... well, the end of halibut season, such as it was. Keep in mind, as bad as this past season's halibut catching was, next year will be worse, and as halibut grow and spawn slowly (Sucks, but at least they don't need a river of fresh water in California like some prima donna like salmon) they will recover at the same slow rate. (Also sucks, but what are you gonna do? Run a hatchery?). I predict good halibut fishing in 2030. Until then we grind.

 

     This is one of those reports that I've been waiting for. Chris DeTrani moved here from the East Coast a few years ago and bought a boat to go salmon fishing. Bad timing, as he hasn't been able to fish decent local(ish) salmon water since the purchase. But Saturday last, "Worth the ride down. 90’ of water and 40’ down just below Point Reyes. 35” and 30”. 

Chris " I gotta bet those fish taste really, really good. Good on you, Chris. Maybe next year we'll have more chances at them. I took Alec Bennett with me yesterday for the end of season. We finished with our four, largest about 15 pounds, right about where Chris went, just deeper. They finally went on the bite after noon in 160 feet of water. We called in Mike Mack who finished with three. Okay, it wasn't a good bite but the grinding and scratching got quicker. It didn't sound too different farther south, as we saw the New Easy Rider out of Berkley tack past us at Point Reyes. That's a lot of good salmon water to drive past to get there. Some guys killed them on Sunday, but for most fishermen the season ended not with a bang but with a whimper.

    I received this report from Gage on Saturday with the message: "Megan Porterfield (not pictured) landed this 20 lb halibut near the bar on a Nomad jig." Seemed like a lot of beard for a Megan (not that there's anything wrong with it). This appears to be a Richard Porterfield and he put the boat over the fish Megan caught, so there you go. I'm guessing that Megan was jigging a Squidtrex as those have been accounting for some fish this year. Nice work Megan (and Richard, I guess).

     The halibut have been biting about as well as I've been posting, so very slow. Yesterday had a lot of zero reports at the launch. We didn't tell Swampy the fish weren't biting and look at the report he sent over this evening: "Evening,

Swampy Jr was on fire today, but everyone caught fish. 3 poles for 6 fish mostly from the bar. Biggest going 14 pounds. Got tomorrow to try again 

Swampy." 'Try? Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.' Said a tiny green wise man(?). It doesn't look like you tried today, just did. Keep doing that. Nice work Swampy, Swampy Jr. and unpictured third person that caught at least one fish and took this photo.

    This is a photo of the boat lights just outside of the Golden Gate Bridge on Thursday. Not pictured are all the boats running without lights, and their number was nonzero. We saw a couple of shadows pass between us and other boats. Holy crap. Only one boat filled with water and flipped over. Pretty good, IMHO. 

   In answer to question in the comments about the federal vs. the state rockcod regulations, my short answer is : Bureaucy. Longer explanation: The state only regulates the waters inside of three miles. The feds go out like 200 miles (don't get me started.  I think we blew up Qaddafi's son or nephew because he claimed the Gulf of Sidra, but whatever; we have the F111's to make it happen). So, you can rockfish any depth within the three-mile limit. When the feds vote this month sometime they will extremely likely vote to make it true outside of the three mile limit, as this was their idea. So by October you'll be good to go all depths. 

Until they change their minds again....

     Happy second salmon season! I just finished a dinner of fresh salmon bellies, collars and dumpster salmon (grilled bones with meat on them) with a bit (more than a bit!) of Thai sweet chili sauce. Heavenly! It was almost worth it! I've been up since 2:00 AM, driving to Emeryville to get on the New Huck Finn on a charter by Larry Varela. I've never fished out of the gate before and now have experienced Duxbury and Muir Beach. After screwing up spectacularly (sorry Scott and your down stream tangle buddy) I sorta figured it out. It was completely new to me but it sure works. My way here is more fun, but putting bodies in the boat is key, so this method works well. Not driving the boat was key to my enjoyment, as bum. per boats seemed to be most people's experience level. What's a boater's card? We limited by 2 with most of our fish caught at Dux but we had to pull and run to Muir to finish, and Muir had the largest fish. My limit fish came off of Gage's rod on the bow at about 20 pounds at Muir. Here's a pic of my cousin Nathan from South Carolina who came to catch salmon. 

   Quick summary: He did. No heads, as half of our fish were fin clipped hatchery fish and the fish counters were apparently omnipresent, as they were during the last short season. Expect the same wherever you go. Lots of monitoring, and let's be clear, lots of hatchery fish. As only a quarter of the fish from the hatcheries are actually fin clipped and chipped, let our 50% rate be your guide. They are all hatchery fish, as the river can't support salmon. It turns out that they need water, and water is money. It just is. Smolts trucked past the Delta and river tend to live to adulthood. Thanks truckers! It worked! Bummer, extirpated wild fish. I'm sure heaven is nice. Your highway star cousins sure taste good.

     Mike Mack and Spinner were not invited to Larry's charter and ran down past Point Reyes today for these three salmon. These guys are here almost every weekend to fish for whatever they can. Not surprisingly, salmon was on the menu today. It is not as good at Point Reyes as it is closer to the salmon funnel at the Golden Gate. Surprise, surprise. But two of these fish weighed in at 20 and 19 pounds. For a year without salmon, that sounds pretty awesome. It ain't red hot. But dinner, man, oh boy. Even better, I heard that Jesse Keilman and crew limited, eventually. after running from here to Point Reyes. Nice work gents.

    Here's a picture of me last week on the return from the albacore trip. Alec Bennett took the photo but it was out of spite, as he wanted to sleep in the beanbag chair. I get it, after sleeping in it. West Marine may be having a hard time like every other retailer, but their beanbag chair IS THE FRICKING BOMB.  I was out. Hard. Good times are the hard times. But the beanbag makes them easier.

     Here's the August finale we all wanted, except it has somebody else's faces in the picture. 

    These guys are big, and this photo doesn't do the fish proper justice. That being said, Michael Cameron of Cameron Park caught the 45 pound halibut in the photo and his friend, Todd Gentry of Sacramento landed this 36 pounder. Gage's text was, "45/36 lbs on the bar large grade jack smelt." It's a good text. I heard of at least one other jumbo that the fisherman didn't want weighed as it could cause a rush of fishermen. The real fact is, I think we're seeing the results of the last pulse of fish to come in to spawn. Fishing (catching, really) will suck again for a while. The pictured fishermen went without a fish yesterday and limited early today. They are obviously good fishermen, but today there were fish to catch. Tomorrow? I'll let you know later, but there may be a few stragglers from yesterday's push in. The day after? Should have been here yesterday...

   Most of the rockfishing has been pretty decent in the shallows and now that the deeper water has opened up the scores should increase. Canary rockfish catching should triple immediately with the two-fish limit. The largest canaries I ever caught were during the canary closure a few decades back. 

    An important bit of information I neglected to share yesterday in my post-tuna hangover (small boat tuna guys, you know what I'm talking about) is that the rockcod regulations that we were told will be changing, have changed. The press release: "

In response to new scientific information on quillback rockfish populations off California, the California Fish and Game Commission took emergency action on Aug. 14 to restore access to fishing depths in state waters that have been closed to protect them since 2023. The new state regulations are in effect as of Aug. 28, 2025.

In state waters between the Oregon/California border and Point Conception (34° 27’ N. Lat.), fishing for rockfish, cabezon, and greenling (RCG Complex) and lingcod is now open in all depths.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is working to implement similar all-depth fishing regulations for federal waters, however they are not expected to take effect until mid-September. As a result, federal waters will remain closed to RCG Complex and lingcod fishing north of 36° N. Lat. (near Lopez Point) until federal regulations are in effect. From Lopez Point to Point Conception, federal waters will remain closed for RCG Complex and lingcod fishing seaward of the 50 fathom Rockfish Conservation Area boundary line.

A map that includes the boundary line between state and federal waters is available on the Ocean Sport Fishing Map Viewer.  

Since fishing in the Southern Groundfish Management Area (south of Point Conception, to the US/Mexico border) is constrained by copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus) and vermilion rockfish (Sebastes miniatus)/sunset rockfish (Sebastes crocotulus), there are no changes to the current fishing seasons in the Southern Groundfish Management Area.

Anglers should also take note of other important elements of the state’s recreational groundfish regulations:

There is now a two fish sub-bag limit on canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger) statewide.  

Vermilion rockfish and sunset rockfish are now considered the same species for regulatory purposes. Both species in combination count towards the vermilion rockfish/sunset rockfish sub-bag limits.

Retention of quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger), bronzespotted rockfish (Sebastes gilli), cowcod (Sebastes levis), and yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) remains prohibited statewide. 

This blog post will be updated when federal regulations that open RCG Complex and lingcod fishing at all depths go into effect; please check back regularly. The Summary of Recreational Groundfish Regulations web page will also be updated with the most current information.  

Please send CDFW any questions you may have regarding the new recreational RCG Complex and lingcod regulation changes." 

   A very basic summary: You can fish all depths. The stuff you couldn't keep before you still can't keep. The canary limit dropped to two. The middle water (120 to 300 feet) hasn't been fished in almost two  years. If you don't mind reeling a little more it should pay off. 

   Also, salmon will reopen on September 4 through September 7th. If the 7500 fish quota isn't caught in that time than it will reopen for another short window later. In my humble opinion, after watching black-out-the-meter schools salmon chase stripers out of the surf here for two weeks, guys having to release multiple salmon at Hog Island, the first season going well over quota in their "limited" two days, well, probably don't wait for the second opener. My prediction is 20,000 fish will be caught. Or more. I plan on personally accounting for at least two. Good luck if you go. Remember, it will be open from Point Reyes, south to Point Sur. Not off Tomales Point or Bodega Head. There will be plenty of fish there but they are no go. Go south, young man...

 

    Swampy sent in this report this evening: "Evening Willy,

Hope y’all smoked the heck out of the tuna. Two fish for two roads today to 17 pounds. Looks like we caught  a herniated halibut today. You ever see one like this? Cheers, Swampy." I don't know what kind of heavy lifting a halibut might do that would cause an injury like that. It seems likely that a gaff or seal caused an injury that healed less than ideally. But really, ew. I like your whole fish pictures better. But these are interesting.

        Gage, Alec Bennett and I went out for albacore today, as Swampy mentioned. We had a slow start, as the trim didn't work on one motor and we had a delay while we figured things out. But at 9:00 AM we hooked a quad at 38º 36 and 124º 01. After our initial catch it was 100+ minutes for the next bite, but our day went 4, 3, 1 1, 2, 1. A dozen fish and it felt like we weren't catching. Booh whooh. The hour or better gaps between hookups led to negative feelings between bites. But we got over it. Other guys did better, and some others caught less. But purple water at 30 miles is pretty interesting. It ain't Bragg, but it's here.

    

   I received this report this evening: "Evening Willy,

Another good day on the bay with 3 fish to 19 pounds for two rods. Your son was our lucky charm as two were caught next to him. Hope tomorrow is another good day.

Swampy"  The weather is supposed to be good, at least. Nice job on the flatties. Gage finished with his limit but he worked his Bigfoot jigs pretty hard to get them. The bar (or the mouth of the bay, generally) was responsible for most of the catching today. Not wide open by any means, but there was a scratch bite for a few hours around the turn of the morning tide. Zeros to ones and twos, but fish. I like to think of myself as a master of forced perspective, but that close fish looks pretty nice in Swampy's photo. Nice work, Swampy and crew. And thanks for the cookies.

      No photos today, but good news, sort of. It's sort of good news because it seems that whenever I say halibut fishing is dead it picks up, and when I say it's good it dies. Yesterday I said the halibut fishing was bad and had been bad for a while, and it has been bad. Frank Green is here with family and friends and the four of them have been struggling to get one keeper per day in the boat. These are halibut killers, and one fish for four guys is bad. This is the halibut Godfather and his lieutenants, at least in my pantheon, and them not catching scares me for the near future of halibut. And then today they limited out on the bar in a couple of hours. The Carters, as fishy a couple as have ever tied the proverbial knot, watched them do it without getting a bite, until they did get bit, and limits followed quickly. All the fish were caught on the bar and were spotted, so if you believe the old-timers (crap, I think I'm one of them...) these are fresh fish to the bay. As the Jigger John said today, "They weren't there yesterday." He's been fishing here for over ten days, every day, and he's a killer too, so consider his words to be carved in stone and carried down a mountain by a really old man. Nice work, team Green. Grinding pays off, if you grind enough. Ten days is kind of soul-crushing, but what a finish! 

   In other news, there's albacore here, but they're far. 50+ miles is a long run. But the bucks here have been rutting since before the start of deer season and geese have been flying south past here since at least Sunday last. The elk have been bugling since July. Winter is coming. Since many of you believe Gage more than I, I'll repeat what he said: "Signs are that winter is coming soon. They're catching tropical fish from here to Washington, yellowtail, dorado, striped marlin. That's October fishing. It's August. Get 'em while you can." Well hell. I guess I'm going. Thursday. The forecast says Thursday is the day. I guess we'll find out how good the forecasts are now without weather buoys to report what actually happened...

    

     An important thing to remember when reading this report is that the guys that didn't catch don't get their pictures taken. The halibut fishing has been bad. If you catch one, you're ahead of the curve. That being said, these guys got a good one and made it look easy: "Mike Cordova, Matt Stockwell, Brayden Davis and Cole Mikita from Stockton with a 29 lb halibut and a 16 lb lingcod" was the message I received. There have been very few halibut hanging from this scale this year, so this is very good to see. Very fine work, gents, and I love that the lingcod is a green one. I think that those are the best for eating. The texture of the flesh seems more delicate. But maybe I just like cooking up green meat for guests just to watch their expressions. 

   Dean caught this 10 pound striper in the tertiary channel in the middle of the bay today. He caught it from his kayak on a Nomad Squidtrex. Nice fish, Dean. I hear those Squidtrex are doing the work on halibut too (probably why Dean was jigging one) but in the absence of good halibut fishing it's nice to see the stripers stepping up here as well as San Francisco Bay. I guess immigrants do work harder. Rockfishing has been mostly slow but the lingcod action has picked up, likely as the spawners come in to the shallows to do their work. I heard of a few around 20 pounds from Bird Rock this weekend but no photos found their way to me, only stories. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

 

       I was out of town for a few days and have to catch up on a few reports. The info I got with this one was a bit cryptic, but here it is: "Jack caught 20 pounder right out front drifting" I'm guessing that "out front" was in front of the store but I have no good guess as to what the fish bit. Nice work, Jack, as what little I did hear about the fishing didn't sound very encouraging.

     Nick Donnelly sent this report with a few highs and lows: "Willy sup bro, got some biggons yesterday 22 and 27 lbers after a crazy ride to the coast where the "critter getter" decided she was gunna launch her self at 35mph coming down the winding highway down Mount Saint Helena completely slingshotting past my truck onto the roadside... Luckily I managed to get her trailered again with some logs and brute strength avoiding getting hit by crazy lake county commuters.. limited out within an hour around 8ish. The "critter getter" takes on some water now from skidding on asphalt but she'll patch up nicely " Nice fish, Nick. I guess you were jigging while you were bailing. It seems to work. Excellent job on turning a bad day into a reasonably good one. 

     Depth restrictions will be dropped for rockfish soon. Exactly when remains to be seen, but while it is still summer seems to be the message. Here's the press release:"

California Fish and Game Commission Increases Fishing Opportunities for the 2025 Recreational Groundfish Season

On August 14, 2025, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) adopted emergency changes to the state’s groundfish regulations so that recreational ocean fisheries are no longer constrained by quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger). Fishing opportunities in northern and central California were reduced in 2023 due to low estimated quillback rockfish abundance. A new stock assessment completed earlier this summer indicates it is no longer necessary to restrict groundfish fishing to specific depths north of Point Conception in order to avoid quillback rockfish, allowing anglers to take advantage of expansions to open fishing areas. The Commission acted to rapidly change the regulations to allow additional opportunities before summer’s end.  

Over the last few years, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) collaborated with federal partners, fishing groups, and anglers to gather data and improve scientific knowledge of quillback rockfish off California. The information was crucial in informing the new stock assessment, which indicates the stock is at a healthy level and not overfished. This finding reverses results from a 2021 stock assessment which relied on very limited data from the California stock. Retention of quillback rockfish, however, remains prohibited in all waters statewide until recommendations for sport and commercial fishery catch limits are developed for California quillback rockfish in conjunction with those for other nearshore groundfish species. 

“This action is the result of hard work by a lot of people,” said Tim Klassen, an appointed advisory member for the groundfish sport fishery and a charter boat captain in Eureka. “The Commission and CDFW moved quickly to implement these changes and worked collaboratively with fishermen to achieve a result that protects our fisheries and the people that depend on them. This is what good fishery management looks like.” 

CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham remarked, “CDFW is pleased with the new assessment, which reflects what California anglers have been seeing, and is committed to restoring fishing access as quickly as possible. We appreciate all our fishing industry partners who participated in scientific data collections that contributed to this positive outcome – it was a true collaboration.”   

With restored access to all-depth fishing for northern and central California, a sub-bag limit for canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger) is necessary to keep catches within the federal California recreational harvest guideline for this species. Therefore, a new two fish sub-bag limit will apply for canary rockfish, statewide. Additionally, vermilion (Sebastes miniatus) and sunset rockfish (Sebastes crocotulus) will be managed together as a species complex, meaning that they are considered the same species for regulatory purposes (e.g., sub-bag limit) due to their nearly indistinguishable appearance. 

These changes are intended to roll back restrictions that were put into place to avoid quillback rockfish, which are very rarely seen south of Point Conception. Since fishing in the Southern Groundfish Management Area [(GMA) south of Point Conception, 34° 27’ N. Lat. to the US/Mexico border] is constrained by copper (Sebastes caurinus) and vermilion/sunset rockfish, there are no changes to the current fishing seasons in the Southern GMA. Groundfish fishing in the Southern GMA is currently open shoreward of the 50 fathom Rockfish Conservation Area boundary until September 30. The Map Viewer application can be used to view updated GMA boundaries and the 50 fathom Rockfish Conservation Area boundary. 

The following summary details the changes adopted by the Commission: 

• Boat-Based Fishery Season Dates and Depths – North of Point Conception (34° 27’ N. Lat.; within the Northern, Mendocino, San Francisco, and Central GMAs), groundfish fishing will be authorized in all water depths through December 31, 2025.  

• Species Retention – Nearshore, shelf, and slope rockfishes, lingcod, cabezon, and greenlings may be retained during the all-depth fishery.  
  • Canary rockfish will have a new two fish sub-bag limit statewide. 
  • Quillback rockfish will remain prohibited (no retention) statewide. 
  • Vermilion and sunset rockfish in combination are limited to two fish south of 40° 10’ N. Lat. (near Cape Mendocino), and four fish between the OR/CA border and 40° 10’ N. Lat 
• Management Line at Lopez Point Removed – The Central GMA will revert to a single management area. The split at Lopez Point (36° N. Lat.) between the Central – North and Central – South GMA is no longer needed. The Central GMA remains at the same northern and southern borders from 37° 11’ N. Lat. (Pigeon Point) to 34° 27’ N. Lat. (Point Conception). 

With all-depth fishing opportunity, anglers will experience greater flexibility on fishing trips when targeting species in addition to groundfish. Combination trips are no longer limited by depth constraints when targeting additional species or transiting between GMAs that do not have depth constraints. Note when transiting between GMAs it is still unlawful to exceed the bag limit of a GMA even if the fish are caught in another GMA (§27.20(b)(1)(A)(1). Meaning, anglers cannot catch four vermilion/sunset rockfish in the Northern GMA, then possess or land them in the Mendocino or another GMA with a two fish vermilion/sunset sub-bag limit. Similarly, anglers cannot take nearshore rockfish, cabezon, or greenling north of Point Conception and land them in the Southern GMA October through December when inshore fishing is closed.  

CDFW will notify the public when the new regulations take effect through the Marine Management News blog; please subscribe to receive the notification or check back regularly for the announcement confirming the new regulations are in effect. Anglers should review the Summary of Recreational Groundfish Regulations page for the most up-to-date information before going fishing. If anglers encounter a quillback rockfish, CDFW strongly encourages using a descending device to return it to depth. When fishing in ocean waters from a vessel a landing net is always required, and when fishing for or possessing groundfish, a descending device is required to be carried aboard. Questions? Contact Ask Marine. "

And where was I, you ask? On the Eddie Kim Bluefin Invitational. Good times with good fishermen, even though the weather wasn't ideal. We finished with 126 tuna and a yellowtail (Go Cannon!) for 24 guys. Heck, I even caught a couple.