The bite slowed down a bit today, probably partly because the south wind sped up. Still, everyone I spoke with had salmon and about half of the boats caught limits, maybe not as big as they wanted, but limits. Halibut fishing was slow (except for the drift, which was too fast).

They say the clothes make the man, and I'm told that these boots make the man a salmon killer. Scott Alexander used them to catch this 24 pound salmon, one of the six fish in their limits today. It wasn't quite a wide open bite for salmon today but it was better than most of the other days this year. Salmon were caught from the "TB" buoy just past the bar to the esteros and down to Elephant if you wanted to go that far. Most of the fish came up higher in the water instead of having to pound the bottom, although the pictured salmon sure had a red belly. The guys fishing squid for halibut will need a new trick as the halibut didn't want any today. Rockfishing was pretty good.

The wind blew pretty hard but that didn't stop a few boats from heading out today. They found salmon in front of Elephant, Bird Rock, and even between the inner and outer buoys. Most of the fish were smaller but some teens to 27.5 pound salmon found their way into the boats. The halibut bite was a bit slower on the bar but dead squid for bait put fish in most of the boats. Hog Island was slower still for halibut but there were still a few picked up. A shark fisherman near Hog picked up a few leopard sharks and then had his rod and line broken by a freight train hit. Perhaps another WSB?

Remember when you were little and you thought that monsters lived in the dark? It turns out that it was true. This monster bit as the last light faded and weighed in at 55 pounds. Robert caught it after nailing the salmon at Abbott's Lagoon. Several boats returned with limits of salmon from there yesterday, but today was windier but much slower. They bit so well yesterday that I almost limited. Reports from points north, like Salmon Creek, Carmet and Fort Ross sound more consistent for salmon. Halibut on the bar and back by Hog Island has picked up again and a few guys have done very well fishing dead squid for flatties. The rockfish bite has been pretty good for most guys. There's still stripers getting caught from the beach. I saw about a 12 pounder (caught on a popper) get carried in today and heard about another one yesterday.

There are a lot of smaller salmon scattered off of Ten Mile and there was one large one, but Kim Fitzgerald caught it. A couple boats limited out on the smaller variety. There were also limits of halibut taken in the bay near Hog Island. The salmon bite seemed to be better in the afternoon, so maybe get your halibut in the morning and your salmon after. And then hit the lottery.