The outer bay still has some Dungeness when the weather allows a trip. Inside Tomales Bay it's pretty slow on the Dungeness with catches ranging from 0 to 6. The pier has mostly reds to offer. For the record, it is illegal to remove the claws from a crab and toss it back. They eat with those, you know. It would be like having your hands and jaw removed. It's also illegal to dump the still-living amputees into the dumpster. Someone was witnessed dumping three buckets of crab in that condition this past week and the Department of Fish and Wildlife have been notified.
    The Fish and Game Commission will vote on March 19 to determine the April salmon season. It sounds like it will probably open on the 5th and at least be open on the weekends. In mid-April the Commission will vote to determine the season from May on. They may also decide to raise the possession limit of salmon to two daily bag limits, so you could fish for a weekend and limit both days and not be breaking laws on the way home. Not that anyone ever did in the past, of course.

It looks like maybe there's a few more Dungeness in the bay, or at least at the pier. In the last few days there have been a few of the more experienced pier fishermen catching 2 to 5 keepers. Most people are not doing as well, but at least we know there's a few around. The outer bay is loaded with crab. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them are shorties and females. There are enough keeper males in the mix to keep it pretty interesting but you'd better have a lot of bait. Abalone cards are available today but I expect that people will be pacing themselves a bit slower with the reduced take, hours and area. Some surf fishermen picked up some perch casting off of Dillon Beach yesterday, no jumbos but eating sized.

The salmon season planning process has begun and this month you may get involved at a public meeting in Santa Rosa on Feb. 26. Information about the meeting and planning process can be found here: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/salmonpreseason.asp Hopefully last weekend's rain was enough to wash at least a few smolts into the ocean. We got 7" of rain here which kept most people home, but a few people tried the pier and caught some crab, mostly reds. I heard one report of a few surfperch caught on Dillon Beach last week.

For those abalone divers that haven't heard yet, here's the new regulations. For the rockpickers, it looks like you may need to find them fast or learn how to dive, since the best low tides are usually pretty early and the tide is coming in pretty quick by 8:00 AM. Since there's no shortage of abalone, I guess the lower limit will allow you to spend more time looking for larger ones while the theme from "Jaws" plays in your head. At least, that's how I do it. The crabbing is still slow in the bay and OK in the outer bay if you can get there. 

The California Department of Public Health has officially lifted the health advisory regarding clams, mussels, cockles, etc., in Tomales Bay. Crab was never affected but is still fine to eat, if you can catch them. The Dungeness are still tough to catch in the bay but I did overhear that a group staying here last weekend caught over thirty Dungeness, although my guess is they came from the outer, not inner, bay.