So the good news is that Gage caught a halibut yesterday evening back by Inverness in the water I said wasn't salty enough (Turns out, it is salty enough). He was trolling and it bit a green hootchie. Game on.
     Here's a better article spelling out the bad news for salmon fishing: https://komonews.com/news/local/2-groups-sue-trump-administration-over-orca-starvation-deaths   Get your salmon this year, because who knows what's coming? The government may find a sensible way to allow salmon fishing in California after the killer whales have returned to Washington, allowing the take of fish that the whales didn't eat. Or, likelier, they'll just close salmon period. No salmon fishing might make it easier to suck more water out of the Delta. And who wants that? Oh yeah, the guys getting sued. I guess the no salmon fishing option is the more sensible option.
   Bummer.

   Hey, remember those endangered killer whales in Puget Sound? The ones that we might be forced to not fish for salmon so that they don't starve? Because they only eat salmon? They're in Monterey Bay. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/04/endangered-orcas-venture-south-desperate-hunt-salmon   At least, some of them are. The people trying to get our salmon fishing curtailed are very likely using their current location as evidence to support their agenda. Please be polite and, perhaps, a bit more specific (whalehuggers is a good term) in the comments. I'm looking at you, abfish.

   Mitch Hamilton sent in a report from yesterday:"Managed to scrape 9 up back by Hog Island, more importantly my youngest grandson is on board now. Heard of a halibut hooked and lost by one of the kayaks." Notably, not the only halibut I heard of yesterday. There may have been a second one lost and another halibut caught near Marshall. I guess that I know now how much salt needs to be in the water to keep halibut happy.
   PS- The one boat that went rockfishing from here yesterday caught 12 fish for two fisherpeople (fisherpersons?) in 50 to 80 feet of water off of Tomales Point. From the usafishing report, it sounds like there may be a few salmon around out deeper. I guess we'll find out on the 13th, weather permitting.

    The water warms up a little and look who shows up. This striper was landed this morning and a 29 incher was caught yesterday morning. The pictured one ate squid. I heard that there was another one on that broke off after a long fight. Gage's striper count was low but he had a couple of photos from the past few days:

   Yes, the second photo is a mini-mud-marlin and perch "double". Not quite what he was looking for, but action nonetheless. As I write this the Tomales Bay water temp is 62 degrees. I tried to get my test fisherman to go jig it but he's got striper on the brain. He's probably right to skip it, as the warmer bay water also happens to be a bit more on the brackish side. Click on "Plots" on this page to see the inverse relation between the temp and salt in the bay now. If the rain ever pauses long enough for the bay to salt up a bit the halibut bite should be start in the way back soon after. I'm not sure how much salt makes a halibut happy, but 21-23 PSU is significantly less than the 30-32 PSU in Horseshoe Cove. 

   Tomorrow is our rockfish opener. If you don't mind a little rain the weather looks pretty good. Remember, this year you're allowed only one ling (22" minimum) in possession and ten rockfish. Of those ten rockfish, three can be blacks, three can be cabazon (15"minimum) and two can be canaries. No yelloweye or cowcod allowed, and gentlemen, if you don't know a yelloweye from a vermillion, learn it. It's too expensive to be ignorant.

   There are still some nice Dungeness to be caught out there. Well, there's a few less now, but still quite a few. Snares and traps from boats are definitely the ticket. These crab only took a couple of hours to climb in the trap.
   Speaking of crab, a lawsuit will close the commercial Dungeness season early, in April, and change the way the commercial guys fish in the future. Here's the press release, but don't gloat too much; we're next.

Entanglement Settlement Protects Whales, Sea Turtles and California’s Crab Fishery

MARCH 26, 2019

SAN FRANCISCO — Californians will be pleased to know that Dungeness crab will be caught off the coast with greater care for endangered wildlife under a settlement announced by the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA).

The legal settlement protects whales and sea turtles from entanglement in commercial Dungeness crab gear. The Center for Biological Diversity sued CDFW in October 2017 after a drastic increase in the number of whale entanglements off the West Coast.

“As I’ve said many times, no one wants whale entanglements to happen,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “This agreement represents hours of intense negotiation to help ensure they don’t happen while supporting the resiliency of the crab fishery in the long run. I am thankful for the leadership of the Center for Biological Diversity and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations who realized something needed to be done together.”

“This is great news for whales and sea turtles fighting extinction off California’s coast,” said Kristen Monsell, a Center for Biological Diversity attorney. “The settlement will reduce serious threats from crab gear to these beautiful and highly endangered animals. This agreement is a turning point that gets us closer to zero entanglements and a healthy ocean.”

The lawsuit was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity against CDFW (Center for Biological Diversity v. Bonham) in federal court in San Francisco. The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, which represents crabbers, intervened in the lawsuit.

The settlement, subject to court approval, creates a comprehensive approach to the problem of whale entanglements. It expedites state regulation, ensures stakeholder input from the Dungeness crab Fishing Gear Working Group and formalizes a first-ever commitment by CDFW to pursue a federal permit for protecting endangered species. While these steps are executed, the settlement calls for this year’s crab season to end three months early and prescribes protective measures for future springtime fishing seasons, when the greatest number of whales are present off the California coast.

In November 2018, CDFW announced it would seek a federal permit under the Endangered Species Act to address protected species interactions with the crab fishery. Obtaining a permit and developing a conservation plan as part of that process can take years, so the settlement spells out interim protections.

“This settlement represents the path back to normality for California’s crab fishery with built-in protections for whales and crab fishing operations under the Endangered Species Act,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of PCFFA. “The past several years have been extraordinarily challenging for fishing families, and the actions we’re taking here are no exception. But in the end, we’re going to emerge together with a resilient, prosperous, and protective fishery that will continue to feed California and the nation.”

Details of the settlement can be found at http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=166146.