As of Friday night Windy.com is calling for good weather for the salmon opener. They also called for horrible weather a day or two ago. If the good weather actually happens it will likely also be the salmon closer, at least until September's season. The best bet for catching is the Half Moon Bay to Monterey area, as they usually have quite a few fish this time of year. Tomales and Bodega Bays have generally poor salmon action in early June but have also had a few banner years with lots of fish in the early season. With as much wind and upwelling as we've had, I'd guess that this isn't going to be one of those good years. But, the forecast also shows nice weather for most of the week before the weekend, so there may actually be a chance for schools of bait and krill to form up and salmon to find them. Back in April there were anchovies out in 240 to 300 feet of water due west from here, but as you may know, things can change a lot in a day and in two months they have likely changed many, many times. There's always a possibility of fish in close in the shallows but the chances of us being that lucky are really, really slim. 

    CDFW wardens have been busy here this week. Low tides have the wardens writing lots of tickets for people without licenses, people digging other people's clams, having your clams all in the same bucket (they need to be in separate containers, FYI) and no Boater Safety Card. Yes, if you haven't got your Boater's Card yet you probably ought to before the salmon opener as there may be a few wardens out checking then. Like, all of them. Also, check your flares as I'd bet the USCG may be patrolling as well.

   Gage and I tried Inverness for halibut yesterday. We ended up trolling from there to Marshall and back for two shorts and a windburn. We probably should have tried around Hog as it seems there have been slightly more fish caught there than anywhere else in the bay lately. Maybe we shall see a few from there this weekend if the currents don't make it unfishable.

       Last Sunday Mike Mack and Spinner caught three halibut to 14 pounds. They were at Hog Island and caught the fish on live jacksmelt at the turn of the low tide. I was going to announce that the halibut had finally arrived but I waited to see if it was actually true. Sadly, it would appear that Mike and Spinner happened to bump into only a small school of halibut entering the bay, not the tsunami of fish we're all waiting for. The Wet Dream boys were also here for the holiday weekend and picked up solo halibut on Saturday and Monday, making them the halibut leaders for those days as no other halibut were caught that I heard of. Their fish came from further in the bay than Hog by a mile or two. Five fish caught over three days does not indicate a bay full of halibut. But, there's a chance. I should also mention that there were a few anchovies caught on Sunday morning by the yellow buoy, and a white sea bass and green lingcod caught there on Monday. 

     The Coastodian picked up another halibut today and missed a second bite. Live bait, not at Hog but not all the way back, either. I assume somewhere kinda Marshall-y. 

     Crabbing has been surprisingly decent from shore with most people catching a few crab and a few folks catching more. Boaters did okay but a few shore snarers actually did better than a few of the boaters. Go figure. This week has some very high and low tides so the extreme currents will likely drop the crab catch. Next week will be milder tides.

     It's been so windy that you'd almost think that salmon season was open. Last week's string of gale warning forecasts (which was interrupted once by a storm warning) got it pretty right, as it sucked here. As I write this the Point Reyes waverider buoy just showed the water temp dropping below 49º. That's some serious upwelling. The water inside the bay has stayed warm at least. It's about 60º at Hog Island at low tide (53º  at high tide) so you'd think there's be a halibut or two around there. And there may be, but last week Gage and I tried for three hours without a bite. Lots of jacksmelt but no sardines for us, either. After that failed mission we tucked our tails between our legs and ran for Inverness this morning. We caught three keepers in three hours before we got blown off the water. There were also five shorts and four missed bites. We stayed in 11 to 13 feet of water. It ain't good yet. San Francisco Bay has been a slow starter this year as well. Maybe everybody fishing for halibut was a bit too much pressure. 

    Crabbing is getting slightly better, partly because it couldn't really get a whole lot worse. With only a little over a month left of Dungeness season there should be an increase in Dungies, if only to mess with the people crabbing for reds during the summer. There's nothing like having to throw back the largest catch of the day. But that's not yet, so there's hope. Shore snarers are catching some too, just not as many as the guys sneaking out in boats in the mornings before the wind really hits.

fishies

   So the halibut fishing ain't awesome, but there's a few. The Coastodian sent me these photos this morning, first the striper, then the halibut. The halibut photo arrived just after 9:00 AM. No further photos were submitted. I got distracted by life and work and didn't follow up for details, but I believe that our Coastodian has been a pretty solid live bait guy, and as halibut like eating wiggly fishies he's not wrong to pursue that agenda. Clearly not wrong as he has caught fish. Number one rule of fishing: If it is working, it ain't wrong. Good on you, Richard. They ain't particularly easy this year, yet, but hopefully their (or our) time will come.

      In other news, Gage and his girlfriend tried the hot surfperch action today. Their result? Awesome if you're a vegan. Fifty pounds of seaweed and only one perch bite that stuck. Not awesome. As usual, the conditions have changed. But if things continue to be usual that means that they will change. As Heraclitus said, "Change is the only constant".  Never argue with the ancient Greeks. Probably don't argue with the modern ones. The fishing may get better or worse. The seaweed may bet better or worse. But it will change.

 

     Two posts in two days? The end is nigh! Maybe, but more importantly, the schools of bait at the yellow buoy have been positively identified as sardines and herring with some schools of shiner perch at the bottom. The guys doing the identifying caught quite a few baits but had no game fish bite. This was at the turn of the high tide and the water was 52º, so the low tide may have different results as the water temp should be a bit more balmy. Actual results may vary. The bait is here. The fish just need to find it. 

      A second report from this weekend is that a camper here caught 50ish surfperch over two days near the sand point. He only kept a couple of the larger models, but he had pretty steady action. The perch were red-tail and barred. I haven't heard of  any stripers. I guess they must all be in San Francisco Bay and in the rivers eating salmon smolts. Well, somebody should be eating some salmon, I guess. I wish it was me, though. 

     Finally. Halibut. Not just here, but in San Francisco as well. I appreciate the fact that there's no lag time this year, as usually there's a four to six week period between when they bite in SF and when they finally bite here. This year they coordinated better and started a few days back. It ain't smoking hot either place, but you can catch a fish in both places, I hear. Gage and I caught a ride with tcguideservice.com on Tanner's 25 foot Parker on Thursday. We went back to Inverness and hooked fourteen fish, five of which were legal sized and four of which were actually landed in the boat. Gage and I need to practice our netting, apparently. Gaffing is good, though. Trolled straight herring was the ticket, mostly. Three fish bit stuff behind flashers/dodgers and one bit a Predator minnow but three of the keepers were on blue label Harbor Herring all by their lonesome. That is equivalent to everybody else's green label, size-wise, but our blue Harbor is in the best shape, so troll it we do. No belly disintegration. Good bait. And yes, it is game on all over. Best bite in Tomales has been way, way back by Inverness/Marconi on live and dead baits. The warm water extends all the way to Hog at low tide but the murky water we were catching in was lurking around Inverness only. I must say, I do better when the water is really colored up, as dirty water hides all my imperfections, of which there are many. Yes, I love that dirty water. 

    But beyond that Standells reference, other people have been catching too. The best bite has remained in the wayback (Thank you Mr. Peabody et. al. for the reference), but that's where people are fishing, so... Can't catch where you're not fishing. At the low tide, good temperature water extended past Hog to the north. Schools of bait were in the hole just south of Pelican. Not a few, but a lot of bait. Things are starting to happen. And thankfully, not just here. Soon we'll have photos. It'll happen! Probably before the end of this month but definitely before the end of June. The fish are starting to enter the bay, following the bait. 

   Crabbing has picked up, slightly, as the now sexually satisfied Dungeness are starting to slide back in closer to the shore. Good for them. Finish your post-coital cigarette and then climb in my hoop. Or snare. The shore snarers have been doing pretty well lately, judging by bucket and afternoon rod/snare sales. Most of those sales are predicated on somebody catching a crab and needing a bucket or seeing the crab caught and wanting to copy the success. 

   Crab traps are now closed until Dungeness closes here (July 1st).  Hoops and snares are still okay. Catching Dungeness is still hard, especially inside the bay this week as the low tides make for high currents, and high currents are bad for crabbing but good for losing crab gear. One guy I spoke with had only one keeper on Monday but landed six on Tuesday, all by Marker Five. Not quite awesome.

    Gage and I spent a few hours this morning trying for halibut on the north end of the bay. Result? Beans for dinner. We did get out of the bay and try for rockfish around the time the south wind kicked up, and we returned about an hour before the wind died. We caught two gopher rockfish to go with our beans. Good thing we had some beans. I haven't heard of any other halibut caught inside the bay although there were probably a few caught by some quiet fishermen, but not many. San Francisco Bay has been pretty slow for halibut so far, and we generally follow behind them, so maybe in a few more weeks? Fingers crossed. I guess I can get another coat of wax on the boat while I wait.