Brian Miller caught this 27 pound halibut today, making him the winner. He and Swampy limited on halibut, catching them on live "whatever we could catch", which included anchovies, shiner perch, jacksmelt, and even a random juvenile rockfish. They couldn't catch much bait (a common theme, lately) but the bait they caught worked. There were a few caught on dead bait today as well. Other than that I heard of only one salmon caught (Tim) off of Tomales Point. The weather was about as unpredictable as it gets with winds randomly shifting directions, blowing hard then hardly blowing, rain, lightning, but no snow. 

   As to the comments in yesterday's post about two vessels possibly colliding, I hadn't heard about that but it probably happened. It happens every year. I realize that commercial guys, especially guys that fish alone, have a hard time working the pit and driving the boat at the same time. But the rule is, you need to watch out. It is literally Rule 5. And commercial trolling does not make you a "vessel engaged in fishing." That's defined in Rule 3. We all need to watch out for each other and move out of each other's way. It's not just polite, it's the law. If someone is a jackass and not looking where they're going then you need to avoid having them hit you. It's actually Rule 8. Everyone is responsible for collision avoidance. And two guys trolling into each other is generally just hot jackass on jackass action. There's a lot of rules (you can see them here) but Rule 8 is the one to take to heart. Stay out of each other's way. Nobody has the right of way, there's just some boats that have a harder time avoiding you so you need to do a good job of avoiding them. 

RULE 3 General Definitions For the purpose of these Rules and this Chapter, except where the context otherwise requires: ......... (d) The term “vessel engaged in fishing” means any vessel fishing with nets, lines, trawls, or other fishing apparatus which restricts maneuverability, but does not include a vessel fishing with trolling lines or other fishing apparatus which do not restrict maneuverability;

RULE 5 Look-out Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.

 

     This is a 30 pound striper. Unfortunately, I don't have the names of the gentlemen that (I believe) boated it, nor any info on where it was caught. Believe me, I am sorry, too. I want one, the same sick way Veruca Salt wanted a goose that laid gold eggs. "I want it now!" That quote is from me, not Veruca.

   Today was a very weird weather day, as you may have experienced. Lightning, thunder, wind from 17 directions, rain, warm temperatures (here), more lightning. In the campground it was the E-Z Up apocalypse. At one point this morning we may have had the highest density of men wearing only their underwear outside in the world. This would be during the pre-dawn windstorm when almost every RV had a scantily-clad man outside it frantically trying to crank in his awning before it ripped off. Some failed. But at least they looked good doing it (I'm throwing them a bone. Awnings are expensive and they need the morale boost). Anyhoo, the weather didn't seem too conducive to catching fish. Yet, some did brave the elements and succeed. There weren't that many fishermen today (for some reason random bolts of electricity from the sky keep most fishermen off the water) but those that braved the elements generally had fish tales. Almost everyone had a tale of a big fish lost.

   Now that's how a Tim Nelson photo should look. Mike Mack with a large salmon. All is actually right with the world, no matter what the media tells you. Here's the proof. "After the tornado this morning we went out and cut one salmon in a 106' of water off the trees at 45 pulls "

    Her's another post from the weekend: "Hey Willy

 Here’s the other lingcod. There’s one more big one there for sure. Because it broke broke my line clean off:( Great seeing you and the boys,  hey if I win the lottery I’ll help you build a new pier, promise!

Richard"  Careful, Richard, written contracts are binding. We will definitely take you up on that. 

   Gage took his significant other out for surf striper fishing this evening. The rest of us mere mortals gathered near the Gage were not able to catch (well, nothing caught but seaweed, but a lot of that was caught) but at least someone did. Fourteen pounds on the scale. Looks like a keeper.

   Her'es a picture of desperate striper surf fishermen. Yes, the fish bite when it gets dark. Just not necessarily for you or me. 

      You hear a lot of things. Some of them are true. There were probably some albacore caught out of Bodega Bay today. Maybe. There was definitely a bluefin caught at Cordell, not a tanker but one in the 30's (something actually catchable). Fort Bragg boats did well for albacore but the further they went Southwest, the better. The closer they got to 39º 00" by 125º 00", the better. For the uninitiated, that is farrrrrr. Luckily, today they had farrrrr weather. The salmon bite was slow but the fish that were caught almost made up for it. Halibut action was good but bait collecting was bad. The rockcod stepped up today and provided those in need of a morale booster with the needed tug on the line. Case in point:

   "Hey Willy,  thanks for the hot tip on your O so secret spot! We were able to get limits of nice rock cod and one lingcod.

Richard On the Defiance" This was yesterday's report. Here's today's "Hey Willy, wanted to let you know 5 limits of rock cod  and one beautiful ling for five guys on my boat today in your oh so Secret spot  By the way if you see about a five or 6 foot sunfish Lit up like a Christmas tree that’s not my gear or downrigger ball on it it was the boat next to me... Richard" Damn nice ling, Richard. The secret spot is Elephant Reef, folks. Try to leave a little space between the boats. Shading the sea floor will make it less productive. I hope the mola (sunfish) is okay, because he has a whole lot more jellyfish to eat.

    Here's yesterday's Kim report "Lost 4 nice hooks ups and landed 5. The biggest were 18 lbs & 15lbs." Part of Mr. Kim's secret to halibut success is knowing where to get bait. He sent me a text within a couple of hours of his launch to show me his three buckets of live anchovies. By his count it took 40 anchovies to get those five fish and he didn't try to finish their limits after the livey's ran out. I'm told that once you've run through that many baits the only thing to do is go home, clean fish and have a shot of the Glenlivet.

     This is "Kyle and Jimmy from American Canyon with a 21 lb salmon and an 8 lb vermilion" That vermilion looks like it might have eaten a smaller, keeper salmon. Nice mix of critters.

    Another good mix, but a bit larger :"Jim Dellasanta of Napa 30 lbs" Gage sent me this text and I think he means the salmon weighed 30 pounds, not Jim or the ling.

    I think something is wrong with this picture. Usually when Tim Nelson sends me a picture it's of Mike Mack with salmon. This is the wrong guy with the wrong kind of fish. "Gage stopped by our camp with with his monster out of the surf thought I would send you a picture" Location and lure were Dillon Beach and an SP Minnow.

    

    Kenrick Young caught the larger of these three halibut, all three of which were caught, you guessed it, near Hog Island. There were halibut caught North of, South of, and along side of, that island. They really liked the live anchovies but those anchovies really didn't want to get caught. Jacksmelt will work, luckily. 

    Eddie Kim took a couple of guys out for salmon today (Thumbs was in the house) and they caught three salmon near Abbott's Lagoon. They had two doubles, one of which resulted in a lot of excitement but no fish in the box. I'm told that the fish were doing the kamikaze toward the motor. There was a lot of bait between Abbott's and Elephant in 20 to 100 feet of water and a lot of it was being eaten. The bite at the Trees/McClure's  (such as it was; most of the boats there watched a few others actually catch yesterday) died today. It looked kind of weird without a bunch of boats there. Tomorrow is another day, though,  and I would expect it could be worth the time to make a tack through the area tomorrow before heading to the bite further South. 

 

       Tom Treadway, Isiah Machado and Tito Machado won the salmon fishing today at Lawson's Landing. The largest weighed in at 28 pounds and the smallest pictured, while not weighed in, hardly qualifies as small. Their experience today captures the salmon situation right now. When they landed their sixth salmon (not pictured; legal but not as impressive as these beasts) a neighboring fishermen yelled at them that they had to leave as they were limited on salmon. Two takeaways: First, that's not the law. You are allowed a 20 fish limit, two of which can be salmon. You may continue to fish, just not for salmon (even though you must still conform to salmon rules as you have salmon on board). As the Treadway group caught salmon, rockfish and halibut in the area they could continue to fish. Second, If a neighboring boater knows how many fish you have caught it's because he hasn't any. Nobody catching fish pays that much attention to another fisherman. And if you are paying that much attention, maybe you should be concentrating on your fishing. It is also indicative of the fact that most fishermen came up short today. Even Gage (gasp!) couldn't catch a keeper salmon today (he quit and caught halibut instead). A few guys whomped 'em and a lot of guys didn't. Fishing....

   Speaking of guys that were whomping 'em. Woodrow Deloria of Placerville caught this 32 pound slug today. His personal best, I think I heard him say, and for sure the largest salmon on our bragging board. So far. Gage has you in his sights, Woodrow. But you probably shouldn't worry. That's a damn nice fish.

  Here's another two-for-the-price-of-one picture. When your son is sending you pictures of his bait it means the fishing is slow. But when your son sends you pictures of a sardine he caught while trying for live bait near Hog Island it get's you excited for the possibilities. Live sardines are like halibut catnip. And yes, this sardine caught a halibut. 

    I heard a rumor today that somebody fishing out of Lawson's Landing caught two bluefin out at Cordell and got spooled by another. That's a damn fine rumor and I'd like everyone to close their eyes and picture me catching a couple of 150 pound bluefin tuna. That's what I'm doing. It's all I've got, as, to the best of my knowledge, nobody from here even got close to going out there in the last few days. Onemore posted a report from a Tuesday reconnaissance in the comments on Sunday's post. Good signs, but no fish. By the way, thanks for looking. From the scattered reports it appears the bluefin have slipped back south of Monterey, for the moment. Things change, as they always do. They'll change again. Maybe even for the better.  Don't worry, if history is any indicator I will blab about any tuna caught here, and if I catch a big one I will talk about it until you're sick of hearing it. And then keep talking...