I got a call from Frank Green today, and he mentioned that without the regulars around there weren't many fish getting caught. Well, Mr. Mosby and the Gonzales brothers came in from fishing about an hour later. David caught the big one again, a 30 pounder this time. I'm told that they fished the bar, but a very good halibut diver worked the bar from one end to the other and never saw a fish. Nonetheless, it is good to have a few regulars around. 

     First fish of the day was caught by Zack from Petaluma. The halibut weighed 12 pounds and came from Hog Island. 

     Jim Reed from Santa Rosa tried his luck at surf fishing today. It looks like his luck was good. With the full moon coming up, this week should be prime time for surf stripers. Nice work, Jim.

      Big fish of the day goes to David Gonzales of Stockton with this 29 pound halibut from the Hog Island area. David fished with his brother aboard Don Mosby's boat and they had eight bites which turned into about half as many fish. This one broke his rod on the hook set but he still landed it.

     Here's brothers Marque and Ben Mouton from Louisiana. Kevin Fogal sent them over here to catch a halibut, and so they did. This was their first, and it weighed 14 pounds and bit a swim bait North of Hog Island.

     Kayak fisherman Michael Weese sent in this photo and email: "Caught this nice Thresher south of Hog Island on Saturday in a kayak. Great battle. It didn't seem like it would live; therefore, it turned into dinner. Sad but Delicious!" Great battle probably didn't do it justice; these fish can swim fast. I'll bet Michael went for a little "Nantucket sleigh ride" and got towed around by the thresher. One question, Michael, is you're reading, did you hook it in the mouth or tail? The threshers I've hooked have been about 50/50.

     Mike Martin emailed this Sunday report: "Vic Holmsted caught and released one 4ft. leopard shark and  Adam Evans put this 13lb. striper in the box. Caught it in between the boat launch and hog island drifting smelt." I guess everything likes smelt. Must be why the halibut fishermen call the 6" jacksmelt "candy bars." Nice striper, gents.

     One other thing. Did anyone else notice the water that just moved in off of the Farallones? 61º and clear, next to green water? There should be albacore in that water. Too bad the weather forecast says we can't go there.

     Here's Gage's picture from Thursday, along with his buddy Nick Strode. The halibut bit right next to the weather buoy. Yes, Gage caught it. For the record, Gage doesn't exaggerate; things just seemed more awesome at the time. No fish pictures for today, but I could get some nice shots of blowing dust or kite surfers if anyone needs to see what's happening today.

     Here's an email that Bruce Schneider sent yesterday: "32&33 inches on live smelt drifting near weather buoy today. " Most of the people that I talked to didn't do so well, so extra good job, Bruce.

     There were a lot of people trying the surf today, trying to catch a striper, but I didn't hear of any successes yet. Yesterday there were a few hits and misses. Gage says that there were anchovies jumping out of the water and stripers boiling all around him yesterday evening. He missed one that he estimated was as big as him. Assuming that a tiny portion of his story is true, probably the point in the middle of the beach would be a good place to try in the evening. He and many others tried there this morning but got nothing but mild hypothermia.

     These two gentlemen caught halibut by Hog Island yesterday. The fish on the left preferred sardines, but the fish on the right liked a live shiner. Anchovies, jacksmelt and mackerel have all had their fans among the flatfish this week. Anchovies have probably been the hardest to catch with (not the hardest to catch- that prize goes to the sardines) as the bay is practically anchovy soup by the weather buoy. It is hard to make your anchovy special when he is surrounded by 10 million of his closest friends. Not a lot of big fish counts from around Hog, mostly 0 to 2. The Bond family caught the 2 from a rental boat from the Landing. Salmon are supposedly out there waiting for us the weather has not been as nice as one would hope for. All crab, for those that haven't heard, are closed. Testing continues on the reds and they may reopen in the next month or so, by the way the results look. There's still a few stripers in the surf if you can get one to stick to your hooks. I heard from a couple of guys today that had a few seconds of excitement but no fish dinner.