This barely legal halibut (all of 22.5 inches) would lead one to believe that it is halibut time on Tomales Bay. I guess that it is, but it's got a long way to go until it's good halibut fishing. Gage and I trolled eight lines for three hours for two halibut, one of them a keeper. That's 24 hook/hours per fish. The water is warming and there's the start of some bait schools in Marshall and Inverness but it's not quite go time. Two weeks. Maybe three. By that time shallow water rockfish will be open as well. It's all coming. The things are going strong back in Inverness are leopard sharks and bat rays. We saw several of both while tacking around and watched the lines bounce off of several fish. It looked like we were bumping into jellyfish but there were no jellies. Two baby bat rays ended up getting snagged as we trolled. They were tiny and precious and really, really wanted to poke multiple holes in Gage. To be fair, I've had my moments too. No holes were poked and the bambinos were released intact. Another boat from here has caught quite a few sharks and rays back there this week in 4 to 8 feet of water. They're there if you want them.

    Crabbing has been not good, still, but it seems that it is starting to slightly pick up. Shore snarers are getting a few keeper Dungeness here and there. The guys I know working traps in the outer bay have been catching limits on long soaks but none of their crab have been large or pretty. But, hey, sport-legal mudders are better than no crab at all.