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.