Well, I guess I missed out on a heck of a bite while I was in SoCal. Not to worry, that bite mostly died when I returned. The few stripers that my boys and I caught swan far away soon after we caught a few on Saturday. The wind has churned up a -10ºF temp drop in the water, and to cold-blooded creatures, that drop is like a fever to us warm-blooded critters. They don't feel good. And not feeling good seems to make them not bite. There have been very, very fish caught at this end of the bay since the wind started. The fishing, in a word, sucks. Well, the catching does. 

   The bluefin  and other tuna have had a few moments in the last week, but mostly they have disappointed as well. The next six weeks should be the sweet s for actual catching. Only time will tell.

      The bite on the bar slowed, and the number of boats out fishing slowed even more. More room for the rest of us. The wind is back for a few days, so that may have a bit to do with it, too.  Gage called the owner of Redrum Baits and told him about the striper bite we had on Saturday night. Pieter was here (from San Diego) by noon on Sunday to give them a shot. In true fish fashion, the stripers bit in the morning on Sunday (nice job, Mr. Brezina, on your limit) but in 24 hours Pieter only had two stripers. Six halibut, without trying for halibut, but still... He headed to San Francisco Bay today to try greener pastures. Here's a report from last weekend when the stripers did bite, though: "

My brother Dave Gatlin and I fished off the point sunday morning. I got 1 15lb striper on a x-rap! 

Saw whales 100 yds out and saw other people getting halibut!

How do I send videos of the whales?" Nice job Matthew! Those surf stripers don't come easy here. There's been a young gray whale in the area and it occasionally cruises by the sand point, slurping up invertebrates in the mud. I don't know how to upload the video on here, but Matthew posted it on the Tomales Bay Fishing Facebook page, as I understand it. Between the whale and many, many birds feeding there, on occasion, it indicates that there's some schools of baitfish passing through there again. There have even been a few thresher sharks seen jumping from in front of the shop to the point. It's go time. But no guarantees. There's no certainty in fishing.

 

   No posts for a bit, as I was fishing in San Diego with the Eddie Kim charter on the Pacific Queen. It was good. Limits of bluefin, 25 yellowtail, 20 yellowfin and 6 dorado. The hurricane only made driving down difficult but didn't mess with the fishing. Thanks to all the folks that showed up for a fish cleaning and packaging party on Thursday night, and special thanks to Tal Roseberry for his fish cleaning expertise and for bringing along the "Death Star" of vacuum sealers. Two and a half hours to clean and package 20 fish to 130 pounds may not be a record but it sure seemed more like a party than work. I should have posted earlier, but sleep got me first, both on Thursday and Friday nights. I actually ate last nights dinner tonight, as I finished cooking it last night but fell asleep before dining or writing. It was a good trip.

   I got this report from the Tomales Outlaw on Wednesday: "Made the run to Timber Cove and found a school of blacks and olives. Hope you guys have a heavier vehicle coming home than you did going down." We did, thanks, but only because I let Gage get back in it. Three days on a boat and there's a question about who's driving home with whom....Anyhow, that's a pretty serious run from Tomales Bay, but those are some nice fish, so nice job, Outlaw. Also, good timing, as it seems that the shallow water. fun fishing is about to end, six weeks after it started:"

Fish and Wildlife Closes Nearshore Groundfish Fishery in Mendocino, San Francisco and Central Management Areas

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced that as of 12:01 a.m. Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, the 50-fathom Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) boundary line for the Mendocino Groundfish Management Area (GMA) (Cape Mendocino to Point Arena), San Francisco GMA (Point Arena to Pigeon Point) and Central GMA (Pigeon Point to Point Conception), will take effect.

In these GMAs, recreational boat-based groundfish fishing will be ‘offshore only’ and allowed only seaward (away from land) of the 50-fathom boundary line, defined by straight lines connecting waypoints (50 CFR Part 660, Subpart G). Shelf rockfish, slope rockfish and lingcod may be taken seaward of the 50-fathom boundary line, while it will be unlawful to take or possess nearshore rockfish as defined in Title 14, Section 1.91(a)(1), cabezon or greenlings at any depth. In the Southern GMA from Pt. Conception to the U.S.-Mexico border, these same ‘offshore only’ rules will take effect as originally planned on Sept. 16.

During the ‘offshore only’ fishery, fishing gear shall not be deployed shoreward of the 50-fathom RCA boundary line when shelf rockfish, slope rockfish or lingcod are possessed onboard the vessel, however vessels may transit shoreward of the 50-fathom RCA boundary line with these species in possession if no gear is deployed. Additionally, vessels fishing in the adjacent Southern GMA and transiting back to the Central GMA must adhere to the ‘offshore only’ provisions effective in the Central GMA and shall not return with nearshore species aboard. These changes do not apply to shore-based anglers or divers.

CDFW is carefully monitoring the harvest of quillback rockfish from both the recreational and commercial fisheries throughout the state and has taken a series of steps in an effort to reduce quillback rockfish mortality. On Aug. 7, retention of quillback rockfish was prohibited statewide, followed by closure of the recreational nearshore fishery in the Northern GMA, on Aug. 21. Newly available recreational data from the Mendocino, San Francisco and Central GMAs for the second week of August showed double the estimated recreational take and indicated the 2023 quillback rockfish harvest limit specified in federal regulations has been exceeded. This additional in-season action authorized by Title 14, Section 27.20 (e) to adjust the fishing depth is necessary to prevent further overage.

CDFW urges anglers to use best fishing practices to reduce impacts to quillback rockfish and other prohibited groundfish species. These include reducing mortality when releasing fish by utilizing a descending device and relocating to different fishing grounds or switching targets if quillback rockfish or other prohibited species are encountered. CDFW recommends reviewing the Summary of Recreational Groundfish Fishing Regulations page before each trip to ensure anglers are up to date on the most recent groundfish regulations, including a complete list of authorized species.

For details regarding the quillback population estimates and how these changes were developed, please see CDFW’s Quillback Rockfish In-Season Informational Briefing. For information on all groundfish regulations visit CDFW’s Marine Region Groundfish page.

Pursuant to California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 27.20(e), when federal harvest limits are exceeded or projected to be exceeded, CDFW has authority to make in-season changes, including adjustments to bag and sub-bag limits, seasons and depths." I'm sure you all heard that already, but it still must be said. There must be a bunch of quillback killers out there in order to shut down the season. Good work, killers. I guess we'll all have to work the deeps until they shut that down for yelloweye abuse, probably in September or early October.

    As I wasn't reporting, I think a few people thought I was ignoring them. Sorry, just distracted and without internet or wakefulness. Here's two reports affiliated with these photos:"Hey Willy, 

Went out with Nick Nichols on his Raider Saturday and Sunday. Spent most of Saturday trolling Madmacs and Halco 220's with no luck but we did stop by Rittenburg for about 30 minutes and got our limits of Rockfish. Went out near the canyon on Sunday and picked up a load of black cod along with a few green spotted and a sole in 650'-750'. Sunday afternoon got pretty lumpy so we headed in early. Lots of sunfish whales and dolphins out there.

Best,

Nate Baker

Hey Willy - Nick here.

Will try to keep this short. Nate and I left Bodega Saturday searching for BFT. Started at the canyon towards Rittenburg for 0. Salvaged the day with rockfish limits in about 30 minutes. trolled some more for Tuna with same results - 0. Sunday got late start and went to some numbers Nate wanted to try for Black Cod. First spot we got 6 Greenspots and 1 sole. Went deeper and started catching the cod. Thank goodness for the electric reek as average depth was 600" plus. Most of the cod were caught on these rigs I made up which basically is a copy of the Halibut Godfather rig with Nate catching some on a couple other rigs.

It was a grind but we managed 21 Black Cod. FYI - Tons of whales and bait out there.

Cheers!!"  While these are not the sort of bluefin tuna fishing reports we're all looking for, they are valuable. Those fish were not biting last week, but there's a rumor about that a few guys may have connected late in the week. That information is kind of useless now, as the wind is up offshore (and onshore in the evening) but still good to know. Good effort, guys, and nice pile of what was until recently a forbidden fruit. Taste that knowledge! Yum.

    Tomales Outlaw was here for a few days and he also sent this report: "2 fish north of Hog today. 1 missed bite on the bar. This 32" butt and one 24". Both bit large jacksmelt. Not bluefin but good for today. South wind sucked big time." A smart fisherman takes what the conditions allow for, so I guess we know where you stand, Outlaw. Good job on the catch, especially with the conditions being veryn conducive to not catching.

    Finally, we catch up to today. Cameron sent over this picture and report: "16 and 10. From the bar on live 12" smelt."  Don't know their names but I do know the look of a happy fisherman, and these guys have that look. A few boats caught limits today (Joe Winn et.al., the Wet Dream) and a few other failed to connect, but over all for the past week the bar has been very good for halibut. It;s as good as it has been in the last 15 years if not better. It won't last and it ain't perfect, but it seems pretty good to guy that lives next to it. Oh, yeah, there's a few stripers around, too. Gage, Cameron and I caught nine after work (all but one released). Redrum tubes in pearl sour caught most of them. They're biting.

   

 The halibut bit again for most fishermen today. The few that didn't catch that I spoke with had bites but couldn't get the fish to the boat. One had a break-off. There's some good ones out there, but you don't have to pull super hard on them. It feels good to really yank on them, but a fish that swallowed the hook will shake its head and cut even heavy line with it's needle teeth. Patience. This mountain will come to Mohammed, given the time to do so. 

    Ron Johnson fished all day yesterday and was able to scratch out a striper at the end of the day. That was nice, but Mr. Johnson felt better today with his catch of two halibut on the outside of the bar. He missed several other bites, which has been typical this year. If you're doing it right in the right place, you'll still miss a few. The bites have been ....let's say, lacking conviction. Gage and I have missed way more bites than we have stuck. Probably we suck, so that's why we work hard to get lots of bites. It's a numbers game, and Ron Johnson played it correctly today. Nice work, Ron.

   Scott from Auburn sent over this report today: "Team auburn, lol, 3 halibut, one Ling, off the bar, on Jack's, between 9:30 and 11:30" Team Auburn has been killing it this week. Sweet green lingcod, too, guys. Those are the best. Nice work.

    Tom and Jerrie Carter ("Wheels", if you're Frank Green or someone that knows Frankie) sent over this report from today: "Hey Willy, fun day on the bar this morning, A successful double, and released a big ass stripper. Done by 10"  I watched the movie, Very Bad Things, so good that you released the stripper. Nice fish. As we aren't allowed to catch any of the jumping salmon we're seeing all around. it's nice that you're letting the next best thing in the fighting category go so everybody has a chance. Gotta leave a few spawners, and the bigger they are, they less we have to leave..... Nice fish, and good work. I know you guys are killers (well, Jerrie is...) but it is always more fun when the fish are biting.  

 

    I know most of you are full of halibut, but a few of us are still fishing for them. Yesterday, Gage, Steve Cato and I caught limits of halibut to 20 pounds, all on live bait. For us, the bigger the bait, the quicker it got bit. Note the size of the bait compared to the halibut it caught in the photo. When your bait is super-sized you need to feed those halibut some line and give them some time to eat that super-burrito. We caught five of them on the bar in three drifts, with three of the fish landed on one drift between 9:15 and 10:00. During that time you could hear whoops and hollers from many of the other boats out there as they landed fish, too. There was a bit of swearing on our boat as well as we missed at least as many bites as we stuck (probably more). After two dry drifts we moved to off of Dillon Beach in 30 feet of water where we missed a few more bites, then stuck a nice keeper to finish. 

    Alec Bennett of the Shrimp Boat took more time to catch his bait than it did for him to catch this 23 pound, rod-breaking halibut yesterday. He pretty much bonked it on the head when he dropped his line in the water.  There was a netting incident that resulted in a dead fish and a broken rod. To be fair, catching a large fish by yourself is hard, and halibut are wicked strong. But I'm betting that Alec may be using that gaff more for landing halibut in the future. For the record, myself and my boys are pretty strict halibut gaffers, if for no other reason than a gaff is way, way easier to use effectively one-handed. Also, after you get used to punching 'buts in the gut it gets pretty cathartic to stick them.  We prefer J gaffs, but Gage has also spent enough time on a commercial salmon boat to know how to effectively pick a halibut, too. I've picked a few, but I feel better with the straight pull of a J gaff. 

    Swampy got on the water before me yesterday, and not surprisingly, was off the off the water before me as well. His report: "Got to make it down for a quick trip Thursday.  Good to see and talk with some familiar faces. Two limits for us to 12#s, two from the bar and two at my favorite area. Shiners did the trick. See y’all down there next week. Doug there in the photo bomb.

Swampy" We watched Swampy repeat a drift a couple of times on the bar, so we kinda figured he was bonking a few. Nice job, sir. I don't know where Swampy catches his shiners, but probably not coincidentally a boat from Bodega Bay limited quick on the bar today using shiners. They gifted some to these guys:

   Scott Bergenstock and crew had a rough day yesterday but made up for it today with quick limits of halibut to 15 pounds. They used large smelt for one, but after watching the guys in the gray Whaler get quick limits they didn't say no to sharing the offered shiner perch. They quickly finished up. In similar news, a couple of my personal heroes had a rough day yesterday and finally finished with a respectable four halibut for three fishermen, but the man known as Jigger John failed to connect with a jig. Today he lived up to the steely glint in his eye, and all six fish were taken by him with a Bigfoot Baits jig. It's possible that it had more to do with the man than the jig (He is "Jigger" John, after all) but it could be that is was jigging day, as live bait and swimbaits have also had their days recently. Whatever it was, good job to all. A table full of filets is its own reward. 

    Hunter Smith sent over this photo and quick report: "Got this today at 9 on herring popsicle at mcclures on drift  Hunter Smith" He weighed it at 26.5 pounds. Even without the weight, any fish that has it's tail sticking out of the ice chest is a good fish. Because I want as many fish as possible to have a positive self image at their demise, I try to bring the smallest reasonable ice chest for my fish. On my boat a 24"er feels like a badass. Hunter clearly doesn't follow with my thoughts on fragile egos, but he still seems to find fish that won't fit. Good on you, Hunter. Nice damn fish, too.