Well, I'm due to report, so, crab is the only story here. It's a pretty good story, as stories go. To be fair, you can definitely go home with nothing, but mostly crabbers are leaving with a few crab. Snarers are getting a few. When the current gets too strong, a few snarers are heading out onto the oceanfront beach and picking up a few keeper Dungeness. The current isn't nearly as fast there. Inside the bay the boaters are picking up a few up to limits. The guy I spoke with that had limits used rockfish heads for bait when he limited, but had half-limits using chicken for bait. His timing with the tide may have been better on his limit day, too, as crabbing over the tide turn is almost always better than crabbing through peak current. The outer bay has still been good but, as usual, dropping in the right spot is the key, and finding that spot, well, it can take a bit of effort. I'm still looking for it. But I've seen the results from the guys that found it, so I know that there's a few spots out there to be found. 

    The weather forecast has not been sympathetic to bluefin fishing, so I haven't heard of anyone heading out there lately. No tuna reports does bode well for no whales spotted, so let's look at the silver lining, as it were. Maybe traps, soon. Of course, that would also mean that the guys that depend on crabbing to pay their bills will get to go fishing, too, so the better gear is offset by a load of better fishermen. Good for them, though, if it happens. We had our easy chances, and if we missed it it's kind of our fault. Go make some house payments, boys.

      It's been a busy holiday week. I haven't had the chance to write. Luckily, others have stepped in and picked up the slack. Thanks! Here's a tuna report from Tuesday: "Hey Willie,

 

Tried out the new Makaira 50 wide yesterday trolling Bodega Canyon to the canyon north of the football.  Lots of birds, whales and dolphin but no tuna seen.  We did get one hit at the north canyon that stayed on for 5 seconds then off.  No sign of debris or fish lips on the Madmac so not sure what it was.  We did stop on the football to crank up some rockfish in 600’ of water which gave us the exorcise we hopped to get reeling in a tuna.

 

Regards,

 

Brad Stompe"  It sounds like you had a short strike, Brad. I'm jealous. The only feedback I had on Tuesday was the boat bucking from the chop. We're probably past the best bluefin fishing this year but I'll bet it ain't over. I'll bet someone has a bit of success by next weekend, weather permitting, and possibly in shallower water than one would expect, as the bait seems to have moved in closer. Gage and a buddy missed one near Cordell yesterday among piles of birds and whales. It's not dead, it's only mostly dead.

   Zack Wilson sent in this report from today: "How’s it going?

Went out solo today on a beauty of a day on the bay. Set off around 8am and plan was to test out some spots inside the bay and then run North towards Salmon Creek if things looked slow. Boats were stacked up there so figured things were happening. Luckily I didn’t need to leave my spot in the bay and I ran through a 6 trap set twice and was pulling in about 1.5-2 keepers a trap with lots of shorts and lots of babies. Got my limit and pulled back in around Noon. They’re still out there!

Best, 

Zack"  Clearly, Zack was crabbing in a different spot than I did, and good for him. Those are some jumbos. Most everybody working gear in the outer bay have been doing pretty well. Zack just did well a bit quicker. A word to the wise, though: Both of the MPAs off of Bodega Head (the MPA and the SMCA) are closed to crabbing with hoops. It seems that most boaters are avoiding it, but it's worth a mention. It would suck to get a ticket for dropping a ring (that you have to use in order to save the whales) in a place that only allows traps (that you have to use because that's how the law was written, apparently). That would be bad timing. In other news, Tomales Bay crabbing continues to be tepidly plod along, not great but not bad, mostly. As usual, boaters are outdoing shore casters. The tides are ripping out in the afternoons and the bar is potentially fatal, but so far this week nobody has flipped over or been sucked out the bay. But tomorrow is another day. Fingers crossed that we all survive the holidays.

 

    Here's a good report from today: "Hi Willy!

We ran through the gear once in the outer bay for 1 keeper and bailed back inside. We hit it just right and ended up with 13 commercial grade Dungeness. 3 of them were the biggest We have ever caught in over 15 years of crabbing in the bay. The gauge is 7 inches and it didn't cover the shell. I'm sure it was the albacore trimmings we used for bait that got us the jumbo, not our crabbing prowess. Somewhere between mile 5 marker and the green can. Great day at Lawsons and on Tomales Bay, as usual.

Crew of the Tomales Outlaw"   Clearly, I should have been crabbing on the Tomales Outlaw today. They had a good day. I tried for bluefin, hoping that the east wind wouldn't be too bad. The wind didn't howl, but twenty miles of fetch was enough to make the waves really unpleasant. And no tuna for us, nor feeding birds, from the north end of Cordell to the Football. I wish I had been crabbing. Other people have been doing pretty good on crab. Kapulani Chong and crew limited on jumbo Dungeness in the outer bay yesterday. There have been a few limits from inside the bay, but mostly people are catching just a few. The shore snarers are catching a few too.

  

 Guess what? "

Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program Update -  November 17, 2023

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham has assessed entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP) and announced the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Fishing Zones 1 and 2 will be delayed, and the season delay in Fishing Zones 3-6 remains in effect due to increased concentrations of blue and humpback whales. There is also a continuation of the temporary crab trap restriction in the recreational crab fishery in Fishing Zones 3 and 4 and will now include Fishing Zone 1. The recreational trap restriction for Fishing Zone 1 will go into effect on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, at 6 p.m. and continue in Zones 1, 3 and 4 until at least the next risk assessment. The Fleet Advisory for the recreational fleet in Fishing Zones 1-6 remains in effect. Recreational take of Dungeness crab by other methods, including hoop nets and crab snares, is not affected by the temporary trap restriction and is allowed statewide. The use of recreational crab traps in Fishing Zones 2 and 5 is also still allowed.  The next scheduled risk assessment is expected to occur on or around Dec. 7 or 8, 2023. The full news release can be found at the CDFW News Room and for more information, please visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries webpage.

" So, that's what. As they suggested, so they decided. The situation stays the same, except that no more traps in the far north of California. Are there suddenly more whales there? At any rate, as sportsmen, we have nothing to complain about. The commercial guys are .... sorry, all my metaphors are pretty disgusting and not to be shared here. Least offensive is, they're getting screwed someplace uncomfortable, and it ain't the back of a Volkswagen Bug. Sorry, guys. But, hey, bluefin to the Oregon border! 

   Also in crab world, some good numbers from the outer bay. A few boats the last few days limited out there, and others did very well. I didn't do as well as I planned but caught five jumbos in an hour with four hoops. I think my bait (bluefin trimmings) washed out pretty quick, as my three runs through the gear dropped from four keepers on the first pass, then one, then none. Then I went home, as high tide would prevent me from getting the boat back out of the water until 2:30. So, a little over an hour for a half limit of jumbos. I think that I would have done better with some squid in the mix, but I only needed five crabs, so good enough. Others did better than I. The good crabbing should last for a while, as the pros won't be able to go for a bit longer.

 I won't copy and paste the press release, but just know that CDFW has info suggesting that they shouldn't open traps for sportsmen or any commercial fishing at all. That's the suggestion. Too many whales, it seems. While an official decision has yet to be announced, I think it's safe to say that you can leave your traps wherever they they are. Hoop, there it is. For now.

   Inside Tomales Bay the catch has dropped off, partly from a huge number of crabbers working a small area, and partly from serious tides causing fast currents. The tides are fading this week, so catches should start sucking less. Probably less gear dragged out of the bay, too. Today's crabbers didn't limit but caught anywhere from 5 to 25 Dungeness per boat. Not bad, but numbers from the outer bay and Ten Mile have been better yet, when you can get there.

  Because shallow water rockfish is closed there really isn't much successful fishing to report on. No tuna reports for a couple of days has people thinking that the tuna have left. While I'd like to say that's true and minimize the amount of boats I have to dodge while tuna trolling, I don't think it's over yet. If the whales are still here, it's because the anchovies are still here. And if the anchovies are still here, probably the bluefin are, too. The bluefin are here to party, and that party is in the form of food. Anchovies being bluefin food, well, nobody's leaving yet.