Mike Morgan caught this 22.5 pound halibut on a live shiner in the channel on the north side of Hog. There were a few others caught on both sides of the island.

Fabian Orozco caught this 21 pound ling cod today. There were two 14 pounders in the boat to keep it company. 

     A couple of boats got on the salmon today, one of which limited in front of the Trees. Another boat had five salmon but I didn't get the word on their location. I was just so excited to see salmon again that I forgot. 

Not too many takers today with the wind forecast to come up. Those that did go out didn't go far but there was still a couple of salmon taken, one off of Tomales Point and one off of Dillon Beach. A couple of halibut came from Hog Island on shiners. Around the shop there were rumblings of a small group of boats making an albacore run off of the Farallons on Sunday. There were a couple of white sea bass caught near Elephant last week and there were more rumors of anchovy schools somewhere on Ten Mile. I say rumors because I saw nothing but a few jacksmelt as I leapfrogged my way down the beach, mooching. The only thing I caught down there were Dungness crabs, but I did learn that they love anchovies drifted head down. We tossed back a limit of would-have-been keepers, some of them jumbos and clean.

The ocean was beautiful yesterday and fish were kind enough to leave most of us alone so that we could relax and enjoy the calm water. The few guys that did get bothered were mostly on Ten Mile, where a few salmon and halibut were caught. A few other salmon were mooched up at the Trees/McClure's spot but it was very few. A few halibut were caught in the bay. The commercial boats found some salmon to the north, up by Fort Ross. There's a bit of wind forecast for the next few days and hopefully that will shake a few salmon down this way.

The salmon fishing did not improve today. Of the 17 boats that launched from here, there were two fish mooched from the Bird/Trees area weighed in, one 21 pounds and one 32 pounds. Other than that there was a limit taken from Ten Mile (exact position not reported). There were a couple of halibut taken on the bar and a couple more from Hog Island, and one boat trolling the beach had 5 halibut, although other boats had none. The rockfishing was pretty good, or better than the salmon fishing at least. I did hear about a good albacore bite off of the north Farallon and another good bite at Fort Bragg. I also heard that there are quite a few biting salmon up off Fort Ross in 120 to 240 feet of water.

Slow fishing yesterday, and from the sound of it so far, slow today, too. There were a few salmon and one or two halibut that passed through here. I did hear a second report of albacore off of the north Farallon. Now that the salmon fishing has slowed, I can announce the 2nd Annual Merle Lawson Salmon Derby. It will be held on September 14 at Lawson's Landing. Launching starts at 6:00 AM and all fish must be weighed in by 4:30 PM. Weighing will be done on the Landing's scale by a Landing employee and any ties goes to the fish weighed in first. There will be a potluck held after. For more info, or to RSVP, email Nicki Vogler at beachdweller96@gmail.com.