Crab reports fron the bay have been almost universally bad, but a few guys have figured out some tricks and caught some decent numbers of Dungeness. I heard of one boat with 45 on the opener. The last few days a couple of boats landed 17 to 40 crab. Mostly people had 2 to 10 Dungeness.  The ocean has many crab out deeper but getting there from here has been a problem. Big seas have shut down the bay. There may be a window tomorrow but it is short. There were a few halibut caught over the last few days but hundreds of buoys made halibut fishing difficult. 

   The boats that have been getting out of Bodega have found good crab in sandy spots from 80 to 200 feet of water. Deeper is probably better as the warm water probably isn't happy for Dungeness.  Unlucky for them, since they don't have fish tails and need to walk their way to safety. Deeper is closer than north, so probably deeper they went. And yet the 6-packs are catching bonito while pulling Dungeness gear, so I guess those legs aren't working fast enough. 

   Dungeness opening results?  Meh. A LOT of effort. Not too much catching inside the bay, at least. Best report I heard was a boat with 35 Dungeness.  Next best was 12. Less after that. I heard one report from the outer bay with a catch total of seven keepers.  No bueno. The shore snares who stayed up all night did well at first but by dawn's early light their catching was mostly over as well. Apparently, the many crab being caught from shore were mostly the same hundred crabs being chucked back in. Once they were kept the catching slowed dramatically. 

   Is that it for the Dungeness? I'd guess no. My experience is that the only constant is change, and one day of data doesn't dictate the season. And it's a wierd year. Water temps are super high for November. Crab can't move around like fish to follow the "right" conditions but they can sure not feed if they're unhappy. We shall see. Hopefully we get some weather this month where we can go see. Maybe deep? Maybe belly up? Time will tell.

   Here's a good report. Joe Winn and crew got tired of dodging boats and floating crab rope, so they went farther back into the bay and found some halibut. The ocean water is toasty, probably not the best for Dungeness but it keeps the halibut active. 

    So we are go for Dungeness here, starting at 12:01 am tomorrow. Inside Tomales Bay should be fine.  Getting outside from here could be fatal. You want to crab outside Tomales Bay, go to Bodega. The ocean will be bumpy. Avoid shallow water. Inside Tomales there's some crab. Probably less than it seems as we're likely seeing the same crab caught time after time, but there's not none. Hopefully I'm posting pictures of lots of crab tomorrow. Just be safe.

    There was another round of picking straws and this time the short straw got pulled by Eureka. No crabbing for them. Secret domoic acid tests came up too high.  There's still time for them to decide thar our area is too high. No crab test results have been published for Eureka or Bodega areas, so I guess we're still up for grabs. We'll know for sure in 24 hours. As things stand the extreme shallows seem to be holding crab, as many Dungeness have been caught and released recently. Many of those crab could be the same crab released many times, but there's some crab for sure. The weather looks a bit sketchy from Tomales bay, as big swells may shut us down, but smart, skilled boaters can probably run out of Bodega Bay over the weekend. But be smart. If unsure, follow someone at a distance. 

 Good news! We drew a long straw and Shelter Cove got the short one! Sorry, Shelter Cove guys, but our Dungeness season will open as scheduled at 12:01 AM on Saturday November 7th, hoops and snares only, no traps.

"Recreational Dungeness Crab Fishing Begins in Most Areas Nov. 7 with Trap Restrictions, Commercial Season Delayed

The recreational Dungeness crab season will open under trap restrictions beginning Nov. 7, 2026, except in a portion of Northern California where it has been delayed due to a public health hazard.  

State health agencies determined that Dungeness crab collected north of Fort Bragg (southern Humboldt County/northern Mendocino County) have unhealthy levels of domoic acid and recommended delaying the opening of the recreational fishery in state waters from Cape Mendocino (40° 10' N latitude) to the Ten Mile State Marine Reserve (39° 33.3' N latitude). Following this recommendation, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Meghan Hertel has delayed the opening of the recreational Dungeness crab season in this area. Recreational take and/or possession of Dungeness crab is prohibited in these closed waters.

The use of recreational crab traps will be restricted from the California/Oregon border to Point Conception (34° 27' N latitude, Fishing Zones 1-5) until at least Jan. 1, 2027, due to the number of confirmed entanglements this year and high abundance of humpback whales across the fishing grounds. A Fleet Advisory has also been issued for all Fishing Zones for the recreational fishery and crabbers should avoid setting any gear in areas where whales are present. The trap restriction does not affect the use of hoop nets and crab snares (loop traps), and CDFW reminds anglers that all hoop nets must be serviced every two hours and cannot be left unattended for longer periods.

The commercial Dungeness crab fishery will be delayed from the California/Oregon border to Point Conception until at least Jan. 1, 2027. The commercial season delay and recreational trap restriction is required due to the number of humpback whale entanglements during the 2026 calendar year. Current regulations require the CDFW director to take these actions to reduce the possibility of additional entanglements for the remainder of the year. This delay will also allow whales to migrate out of California waters prior to the opening of the commercial fishery."

So the Commies are screwed as usual. We get to crab with hoops not traps, as usual. SNAFU, as usual. There are a lot of humpback whales out there. Usually you don't see them inshore but this year they are here. Warm water isn't likely to send them away anytime soon, nor does the warm water seem likely to go away for a while. Speaking of warm water....

Eric Sheppers caught this 33 pound, 45" white seabass today while rockfishing off of Abbott's Lagoon on a white fly with a piece of squid on it. It almost spooled him a couple times. Nicely done sir!

      Pretty slow last weekend. The weather was meh, but Mike Mack and crew landed a few fish.  The weather was also meh. And yet, bonito made the smoker for Mike, and he found smoked  bonito was really good. More was tried for over the weekend but reality intervened.

  Over the weekend a friend of the report has passed.  The Simpsons, "The Wet Dream" guys, have been pretty regular contributers here. Recently the worst happened for them. Derrick was killed in a car accident. This is a fishing report, but he was a reliable reporter.It hurts because I  know them. Here's a link for helping: https://gofund.me/689d753d3 The Simpsons landed a white seabass back in early September in the bay. 

 

    Gage went out with Tom Brodsky today for bluefin. The got this one about 9:00 am and then no other bites. It bit a sardine MadMac 200 35 seconds back at 7 knots. They were between Cordell and the Bodega Canyon. Many boats out trying for bluefin today. Some guys caught (Ryan Giammona of North Bay Fishing Charters was spanking them in the afternoon) and many were sad. Speaking of the sad guys...

    ...Alec Bennett got some nice action shots of our day bluefin fishing. Both fuel filters plugged on the way out. I plumbed past them with some inline filters on the boat Then we trolled and tangled and cursed for 6.5 hours. Then on the way in the inlines plugged up and I barely could get the hoses connected without the filters, but it worked (it shouldn't have). Now to replace all filters. Again. The wrenching wasn't even the worst part of the day. I discovered that trolling MadMacs and spreader bars at the same time is not like chocolate and peanut butter at the same time. It is a tangle machine that eats gear and time, and lots of both. Side note, the crimps on the spreaders will cut and weaken your Spectra to where it just breaks while trolling a MadMac. Awesome. We fished from 38 03 by 123 31 to 38 11 by 123 38 and saw some fish hooked around us at both ends of that range. We saw tiny jumpers at the first numbers. I would write more but I need to go pet my Golden retriever again for some positive affirmation. 

PS. To the gentleman that stopped to help us this morning, thank you. Stopping on your way out is pretty badass. I hope you had some good karma today and mine didn't rub off on you.

     Gale force winds on Saturday kept the fish count low. There were a couple of halibut caught in the bay by a small portion of the few boats that braved the chop. Yesterday the weather was better, not good out on the ocean , but Mike Mack went out and found the bonito off of Elephant Rock in 200 feet of water and caught his fill. He also got beat up by the rough conditions. 

    Also of note: There are a lot of Dungeness inside the bay. Shore snarers are reeling in about ten Dungeness for every red keeper they're catching. Most of the Dungies are not quite the size we need them to be but many of them are. No telling how long they'll last once the season opens (as we are recycling the crabs now) but the opener looks promising. The ocean conditions being kind of atypical this year, there's a possibility of a domoic acid delay, or at least the pessimists think so. Nobody is dropping dead from eating the red crab, though, and nobody is testing the reds either, so I guess nobody is worried? 

 

    Yes, Virginia, there are bluefin at Cordell. And off the Farallones and Half Moon Bay. But I can only speak for the fish at the northern-most point. Gage found one yesterday at 06 31 at 11:00 am. We went there today. It was rougher that forecast but the definition of fishable. We had to slow down to MadMac speed (10 knots or so) 10 miles short of Gage's numbers from yesterday as the weather was no bueno and we were beating up the boat (and us). We threw the macs in and trolled the 10 miles. As we were going to swap out the Madmacs for spreader bars at the numbers we hooked up. A good rule for fishing is of you're catching don't change your method. We caught our limits (4) of bluefin at 06 by 31 in 90 minutes on Madmacs at 10 knots. Other guys had bigger fish farther south but I don't leave fish to find fish. They also had limits. There were probably a few with nothing as fishing can be a fickle b*tch. There were lots of bluefin caught from below the Half Moon Bay weather buoy to at least our numbers. There may be a weather window next week. 

      Last weekend the fishing was pretty much bad, unless you were Stephen James of Ukiah. He caught a second halibut on Sunday, again across from the Landing, but a bit smaller.  Also on a Redrum jig. Mike Mack and company had one salmon on Saturday and a few bonito but just lingcod on Sunday. 

Today Gage and his buddy Mason had one bluefin to 20 pounds at Cordell.  Tomorrow?  There's been quite a few bluefin caught near Cordell banks over the last few days. Probably more tomorrow,  and hopefully some by Gage and I. More to come...

 

     Stephen James of Ukiah started us off today with this nice 18 pound halibut caught right across the bay from the Landing. It bit a white 2 oz. Redrum tube. There's not no fish in the bay, just almost none, and now there's one less, but what fantastic weather to go sit in a boat.

 

   Slooow this week. The Swampy report: "Evening,

Spent Tuesday all day trying to catch bait. Ended up with 13 whole baits of various grades. Got my Dad out for a lot of drifts on Wednesday with him catching one short and a couple missed bites. Great year again and waterfowl better watch out. Thanks for another great year at your little bay.

Swampy " That means the halibut fishing in the bay is bad. If Swampy ain't catching the rest of us are kinda belly up. I can confirm that I couldn't catch in the bay. At least you had some sun on your stay, Swampy. Look for the bright spots. And ducks.

   Gage found the bonito yesterday. On his way to Point Reyes to try for salmon he found birds working at 38 08 by 123 00. He was only able to get two lines in before he hooked up on both. He limited with his ten fish and the boat running with him landed six bonito on salmon gear, losing about as many. Gage used albacore gear, both feathers and Rapalas, trolled at 5 to 7 knots, and his largest fish weighed 13# gutted. 

    I had a morning meeting so I didn't launch until after 1:30. No bites on the bar for me but I caught one halibut in 45 feet of water by Tomales Point on a Redrum jig, probably not coincidence that it was the turn of the tide. No more bites for me. I started running down to where Gage had caught his bonito but it was almost 3:00 so I stopped in 150 feet of water off the Trees and trolled two lines northwest. Off Tomales Point fifteen minutes later I saw a boil next to the boat and maybe ten seconds later my Rapala got bit. One bonito later I went home as I had no ice. If you can find feeding birds there seems to be lots of bonito. If you can't there's a few scattered about. Water temperature was 54 to 56 degrees. 

 

     Swampy sent over this report Wednesday evening: "Evening,

Came down for a quick trip, I was net boy today. Shiner and big eye perch bait worked great at the bar till it got too nasty. Ended up with 3 to 18 pounds for a good day.



Looking for at least one more trip before duck season.

Swampy" I had always been told that those walleye perch were no good for halibut but my experience has been similar to yours, Swampy. I just wish that I could catch them reliably. Actually, I wish that I could catch any bait reliably. Nice work on the fish (including the baitfish). Those halibut will likely stick around a bit longer. I didn't hear of any other fish but that could be due more to a lack of fishermen than a lack of fish. 

 

    Gage sent me this report today:" 

The Goligowski’s with their two halibut from across the bay, to 20 lbs" Nice work Goligowskis! They were just planning on drifting some dead anchovies and not trying for any live bait. Well done. Only other news is that Mike Mack and Spinner limited on salmon again on Sunday.

    I have been informed now, after first posting, that of the three boats that launched from here today, all caught two halibut. Ed Parsons limited by himself and the other boat caught a pair. The Goligowski's 20 pounder was by far the largest, though.

 

      Here's a report from yesterday from Swampy's second day of fishing: "Gave it the old college try today but didn’t get any Bluefin. Ended up with 3 butts to 15 pounds. Al did a great job with the net. Caught a few shakers with most caught on the bar. See y’all next week.

Swampy" I guess Al's good netting means Swampy did the hooking. Team effort. Good work, gents. Today there were a few more halibut caught with Team Porterfield catching four on the bar. Mike Mack and Spinner made the run down to Point Reyes and the open salmon area and caught their limits of salmon in about an hour. The year is winding down but it ain't over yet. Then again, neither is the wind. 

 

    These aren't bluefin, which is what Gage and I were looking for yesterday. We trolled about ten miles south from the edge of the shelf just below Rittenburg, then turned back toward Noonday Rock and as we came up onto the shelf below Fanny Shoal we saw some birds feeding in 450 feet of water. We hooked up on both MadMacs on bonito, then stopped and threw jigs at them for 45 minutes. We kept ten and released at least as many. They ran about eight to ten pounds gutted and gilled. We then ran about two miles out back over the edge to try for bluefin again and immediately hooked another bonito, so we called it a day as reeling in MadMacs from 450' out for bonito you're going to release anyway isn't fun. Stopped at Fanny for a few rockfish for dinner. The limit on bonito is 10 over 24" fork length but ten was more than plenty for the two of us. They bit everything we threw at them, metal jigs, surface iron, RedRum tube, etc., and they pull hard. The lights out bonito were at 37º 46' by 123º 12'.

    A report from way closer to home yesterday from Swampy: "Afternoon,

Been a while since we have been down but got into them today. Al and I were done by 1:00 with good fish. Tough bait but little shiners work. Will hit them again tomorrow. On the bar." That's the best report on halibut since last weekend. Mostly it's been sadness. Lots of anchovies in the bay but I've only heard of a few halibut and a thresher shark by Hog. There's been a few shiners on the bottom right at the yellow buoy but those anchovies might work on the bar too if you can catch any big enough to support your hook.  

 

 

    Todd Gentry and Jason Morrell caught these halibut today. 27 pounds for Todd and 21 pounds for Jason.  Limits for the boys, but these are the bigger ones. Yesterday was sadness for the same fishermen but limits for Mike Mack and Spinner. Today no halibut for Mike Mack and Spinner.  Fish are complicated. Mike and Spinner limited yesterday but today only landed a salmon (on a sabiki) and a striper. And limits of ling cod for Doug, but Doug fish don't count.  Nice work today Todd and Jason. 

     Yesterday I took Alec Bennett and Cameron on a nature tour of the Pacific. We covered just shy of a hundred miles of water for a grand total of one bonito. There were whales jumping and feeding, bird piles and hundreds of dolphins but no bluefin for us in the warm, mostly brownish-green water that we found at the Bodega Canyon. The outside edge of Cordell had better looking green water (that's where the bonito was) but apparently I should have ran farther offshore to find the cleaner water. Oh well. I didn't want to clean a bluefin anyway. 

  The halibut bite has been super slow on the bar and Dillon Beach. Here's a report to back me up: 

"Tried for halibut yesterday. Not even shorties. Water chocolate brown, whales, diving pelicans.Outside of that the water a little clearer, pasty green. Need some wind, and looks like we are going to get it.

Mat

F/V Candice, Retired" Well, we're getting the wind whether we like it or not, so hopefully it does some good for us. There are a few halibut in the bay (I think, he doesn't say but he usually trolls by Marshall), or there were, as a report from Branden Mendoza says:

"Hey Willy we headed out for our last trip of the year. Before I go in for 3rd and hopefully final back surgery. We decided to celebrate and try for some halibut. Ended the day with 3 big keepers. One looks like it came at the expense of someone else as the biggest had a gaff scar. We ran fresh cut makeral and a chartreuse hootchie flasher combo. Just want to say thank you for always keep up a good report always has the good info. Until next year we wish you calm seas and many memories. " Good luck on your surgery, sir. Nice finish to your season. 

 

     I was hoping for a picture from here but need to post this photo from Fort Bragg as it's my only picture. Team Nursement took Trip Plumb out for some albacore fishing today and finished with 10 when their fish box was full. Smallest fish 30#, largest 40#. Not far out. 8 to 15 miles. Seems like they're there. Not here, now, and maybe not later, either, but maybe there will be a window here. Or, you could go to Fort Bragg and catch albacore. Probably don't wait. It's a wierd year and there's no expectations except for weirdness. 

     Halibut report here is bad. Lots of tiny sublegal fish. Not many keepers. Gage and I caught three keepers off of Dillon Beach on Thursday for a pound and a half of dead squid, 5 jack mackerel,  and 5 tiny anchovies. Two keepers on a swimbait and one on a live jack mackerel.  And many, many short bites. Lots of shorts, to be clear. 

    Best report I heard today was from the inside of the bar where a legal white sea bass was caught by the Wet Dream boys. Not huge but nice fish.  Lightning strike fish. Nice work boys. See you next year, and that's a hell of a finish this year. 

 

    Harvest Time harvested a big one yesterday. They scored a giant where others did not. The report:"Plugged the boat with one yesterday morning (all my problems are small boat problems).

66” fork length, 600’, at the canyon.

How many other sport boats were out there you ask?

Zip, zero, zilch, nicht, nein, nada!

Finished up with quick limits of quality rockfish at Cordell.

Harvest Time out." I read a couple of other reports from the same general time and area and they had no bites. So I'll share this. Steve Wisnewski was right time right place. Your experience may (and likely will) vary. Super job Steve. Thanks for the heads up. And nice job catching where others failed.

   Gage went down past the salmon line (38 02) and caught his salmon limit today in 70 feet of water.  I worked today, but did get out in the evening for a quick try. I caught my personal best halibut, 39#, on a whole dead squid in 76 feet of water. Not what I was trying for but I'll keep it. 

   There's a couple of photos from Gage's trip today. He caught his salmon and got a good great white shark show on his return. Not a bad day.