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.