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.