Here's the picture missing from Mike Mack's report yesterday. Those stripers look pretty good to me. There were more caught today near Hog, along with a few halibut. Things are looking up.

   For those of you that, like me, had some doubts as to the identities of the baitfish in the bay, here's a couple of photos for you. Yup, I agree, herring aren't supposed to be here. The fish didn't get the message. Maybe all the cold water has the fish thinking they're somewhere further North? I don't know, but they're here now and the halibut and stripers are eating them. Actually, some of us here at the Landing ate some for dinner and I now understand the attraction the fish have for them. Tasty little devils.

     I don't get too many clamming pictures submitted, but here's an exception to the rule. Aylah got her first clam yesterday and it was about the biggest Washington I've seen. Knowing her clamming friends, this photo was possibly staged in a different location. Knowing Aylah, this is definitely her clam. The clamming on the islands for gapers has been very good as the clams are plentiful to the point of difficulty in digging up just one. While we all want to get a limit of trophy clams, sometimes digging one hole for three medium clams is okay too.

  

 

     This morning Gage told these guys to forget halibut and try for stripers instead. It appears that, at least in this case, one can be full of it and still be right. All three stripers (to 12.5 pounds) on live jacksmelt in 45 minutes around the turn of the tide, just South of Hog. A similar report from Mike Mack's first trip of the season. No pictures, but a good report: "1 ray 3 striper at hog live bait smelt and lots of herring. Nothing down south water 63° in back" Quite a few fishermen reporting catching herring in the bay this weekend. As there appears to be a tray bait shortage, I'm thinking I may need to spend a little time herring fishing very soon. I've never used a live herring for bait but the dead ones work pretty well. Live has to be even better. There's been a few terns working small schools of baitfish in the last couple of days and I wonder if it's the smaller herring they're eating. Whatever is going on, I'm just glad to see some fish come in.

 

     No reported halibut today, but it seems that the valley guys can't get away from the stripers. There's probably worse things. I heard of four caught around the turn of the tide near Hog Island today. That's a far cry from a red hot bite, but it's fish. The wind was pretty bad for a good part of the day today and made catching anything a victory. A few of the crabbers did okay in the bay today but to my knowledge nobody was throwing back keepers because they had too many. Less wind in the forecast tomorrow, so maybe we'll see a few more critters on the dinner platter tomorrow night. 

 

   So I whined about no halibut yesterday. Zach Liddle and his girlfriend weighed in an 18 pound halibut today. It ain't red hot, but there's fish being caught. Zach's fish bit a live (but probably unhappy) freshwater minnow he bought from Bodega Tackle. Another boat in the Hog Island area reported no fish for them but they caught an anchovy and a couple herring for bait and saw two halibut and a striper landed on other boats. The fish are coming and a few are already here, it seems. Terns were working the clam island on the incoming tide today which would indicate some smaller baitfish entering the bay. All this goes to show that whining gets results.

    Also today, a gentleman and his wife limited on Dungeness on a one hour soak with four pots in the Outer Bay near the Tomales Bay "TB" buoy. The story is that they threw back more keepers than they kept. Crab, like fish, move in schools, so those crab may have moved on before you get there, but it seems like a good place to drop gear. I'm hoping for a few "full pot" pictures for tomorrow.

    In response to the "no anchor" zone comment from the yesterday's whiny post, yes, there are many areas where anchoring is not allowed in order to protect the eelgrass. Here's a link to the map: https://nmsfarallones.blob.core.windows.net/farallones-prod/media/archive/eco/tomales/pdf/seagrass_maps.pdf    There's quite a bit of fishable area outside of the no-anchor zones that one could drop a "crappy anchor" for a slow drift. If you are trying to drift over the eelgrass to catch halibut you should probably try a different spot. Halibut are colored like sand and not grass for a pretty good reason. 

 

      So I gave the halibut a try this morning. Low tide (super low tide) so warmer water on the North end of the bay. The water color looked good but by water temp never got above 54º and I'm pretty sure that all my "missed bites" were imaginary. Maybe not, as cold water could have the fish short striking, but my scampi tails didn't look scarred up at all, so the evidence goes to imagination.  I tried by Hog, on the bar, and the clam channel down to Marker 5. Just jigging, no bait, but it felt like nobody was home. For me, at least. The wind pushing the boat into the bay against a fast current may have been a factor in the non-catching. For the record, the bar looked fishier than anywhere, but looks aren't everything.

     Dungeness crab season is winding down. Commercials need to have their gear out of the water by June 1. This year we still get to finish on June 30, for what it's worth. Just be mindful of the fact that an entangled whale in sport or commercial gear will impact next year's season. And not in a good way. Don't forget, next year you will need a 3" x 5" red buoy attached to each regular, large buoy you have on your traps. I was talking to Tristan at the Outdoor Pro Shop in Cotati this afternoon and he thought they'd be getting their red buoys by mid-summer. I'm not hopeful that the season will open on time but I want to be ready nonetheless. For the record, the crabbing is slow now but a few Dungeness are being caught by the lucky or very skilled. 

   Aside from that, the wind sucks and I for one am ready for it to stop, or at least chill a bit a let the water warm up a little. Social media wants to keep reminding me of the fish I caught in the spring last year as opposed to this year, and honestly, social media can suck it. If I want to be reminded of now painful memories I have a wife to do that. I realize that the last few years were special with catching starting early and lasting longer. I started to think that this global warming thing was really working out well. Well, you can share in my disappointment over this year. I bought a bigger truck with appalling gas mileage last year (thanks, Prius and CAFE) and all I got was colder water. I was kinda hoping for yellowtail. What's funny is that they're catching kelp and sand bass and a few barracuda in Monterey Bay and the water there isn't much warmer than here. I'm betting that those fish feel cheated. So do I.

    So I was drifting too fast this morning. What should I have done? Here's a few tips:

Electric trolling motor. I brought one. They work great. Make sure your battery is charged. Mine wasn't. 

Parachute. I have a 6' cargo parachute that I usually bring along. A debris bag or bulk bag for hauling sand or rocks works well, also. Small drift 'chutes don't work when the wind is really blowing. They light look overkill. They're not.

Crappy anchor. When wind and current are going the same way the parachute doesn't work. An undersized anchor can slow you down to fish-catching speed. Those mushroom river anchors work well for this. I knew a guy that used a length of large chain on a rope to slow him down. 

Backtroll. This takes two to do it effectively. One guy drives the boat in reverse, going forward with the current and wind, while the other guy runs the gear. This allows you to fish an edge or weed line that you couldn't while blind drifting. It is very effective and a lot of work and will have the two of you yelling at each other in a couple of hours. It's awesome. Do it. Success heals most wounds.