Crabbing continues to be fairly decent (for some) inside the bay. Outside, well, I hear the commercials are already starting to see a drop in their catch. When the first pull has females in it the keepers aren't thick. (FYI: The large male Dungeness crab are, lets say, pushy. If there's a lot around they will crowd out the females that aren't as big or as pushy. In a good year you catch only dudes for the first month or so. If you catch females on your first drop it doesn't mean the season is over but it sure ain't a sign of plenty.) There will still be plenty of crab out there for everybody that can do a long soak but for us day fishermen the good times are pretty much over. Not too much commercial gear in the outer bay and none in Tomales Bay, so the mediocre crabbing can continue unabated. Rockfish and crab guys, tomorrow is your last chance until April. 

     So, as reported on here a few days ago, a gentleman told me that he saw "black-out-the-meter" baitfish at the weather buoy in Tomales Bay. Well, I like herring for bait (and eating) so Wrybread and I took a little trip today to see if they exist. While we did not find the quantity reported earlier I can say that the fish do exist. The deep hole immediately south of Pelican Point has pinhead anchovies, jack mackerel, sardines, herring, shiner perch, and mackerel in it in 50 to 60 feet of water. My list is from most to least. Probably 50 'chovies to only one mackerel with a half of a five gallon bucket to convert to tray bait and dinner. Wrybread's tempura anchovies and jack mackerel were damned tasty. If only they were larger. After last year's tray bait shortage, and the consideration that really, nothing has changed to make tray bait more plentiful, the vast majority of our catch went on cardboard and into the freezer. Will it be good bait? I guarantee that it will better than no bait at all. We're hoarding for an uncertain future. PS, if you think that salmon aren't interested in mackerel to eat, you've clearly never tried it. They like eating little blobs of fat as much as any red-blooded American. Think Homer Simpson and donuts. I don't know how long the baitfish will stay there but, at 48º, the water says not long. The fish may say something different, though, as pelicans are still around in large numbers as well as whales and feeding birds offshore (I hear). I'd say global warming but 48º seems like the wrong number for that. Whatever, they're there now; get 'em while you can.

   

    I hope everybody had a good winter solstice holiday, Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever it is you may celebrate. It worked and the days are starting to get longer. It also worked in that my wife bought me the reel I wanted. Life is good. The total tally for the family by the end of Christmas makes me happy for my neighbors at the Outdoor Pro Shop. A reasonable amount of their sales were under our tree this year. Most of it wasn't mine, but still. I hope everybody got what they wanted, or at least, as the Jagger said, what you need. 

    The day after Christmas, the 26th, was the day for commercial boats to drop their traps, starting at 8:01 AM. Gage missed Christmas dinner with his mom and dad to go out with his cousin on a commercial crabber (more food for me). He heard of three boats requesting help from the Coast Guard on the 26th. Two were sinking when they called. One, a Farallon, sank (rolled over) just outside the jaws of Pillar Point harbor. At least one other may have been a boat out of San Francisco. I have no facts, but it is reasonably common for boats to roll over or sink on the opener with too much gear on board or on deck. What's too much? I don't know, but marine architects have math to say what's okay. My rule is that if it looks iffy then it is not okay. If I'm not sure then it's iffy. As a man I can tell you, if you think there may be a problem then there probably is (we tend to underestimate danger. Testosterone is a rough drug.) . Be sure and be safe. As far as we heard, everybody made it home safe, but still. A ride home in your own boat is way better then a ride home with the Coast Guard.

     There were only three launches out of here today and they did okay on the crab. Nobody left the bay but they all came home with crab. Low boat had six Dungeness and high boat was limited, so it sounds like there's still a few crab in the bay. Or there were. I heard yesterday that there was "black -out-the-meter" bait just south of Hog, near the yellow buoy. Could be herring. The time is right. The time to catch next season's blue label bait is upon us. Also, they're pretty damn tasty. 

   

   So, Gage, Giuseppi Maselli, Brian Rocha and I decided to give the rockfish and crab a try today. The weather was not quite as advertised but at least running south into a south wind meant an easy ride home. The ride down? Well, let's talk about the nice things. The crabbing was good. This pictured pot had a three hour plus soak. It was our best trap with ten jumbos and two 6"ers. Out of seven traps, we came home with our forty Dungeness, 6"+, and six traps. Note to self, when someone gives you rope saying they don't trust it for their traps and you use it, assuming that your hand pulling won't break it, then you buy a pot puller, you should change your rope. Don't worry, all my crappy traps are okay. Only the good stainless one is gone. Dammit. I had to buy a pot puller after reading on Coastside Fishing Club that anybody without a puller was obviously a pot pirate. You'd think a good pirate would spend his money on a puller rather than traps since one gets the other, but, I bow to the accumulated knowledge of the discussion boards there. That bowing cost me a pot but Gage is still walking upright, so... Break even I guess. The commercials drop on Sunday, so the crabbing awesomeness will likely drop off soon after, but the fishing was stupid. Biggest problem? Too many lings. It is hard to concentrate on rockfish when the lings keep assaulting your gear. We released, conservatively, twenty keeper sized lingcod today, not counting the fish that came off the hook on the way up. Giuseppi said to me, " I've never heard you curse before." Well, he'd never seen me lose a big ling before, either. That fish felt like I'd hooked the bottom except that it was coming up. Dammit. It was a good day, but the ones you lose haunt you. For the record, We crabbed and fished off of Ten Mile, best fishing and crabbing south of Abbott's Lagoon. 

      

   Brad Stompe sent a report :"Hey Willy,

Thanks for the heads up on rockfish reg. changes.  I find it interesting that you have caught so few quillback considering the results we had Saturday fishing between the end of Pt. Reyes and Abbots Lagoon.  I think browns were the most prevalent, but quillback were abundant.  We did well on vermillion and canaries too fishing 150 - 200' of water.  It was one of those beautiful days with little wind that made it easy fishing the deep water.  Also plenty of crab on 10 Mile with easy limits for 3.

Regards,

Brad Stompe"

   Well, Brad, for the record, the first fish we caught today was a quillback, but at 5" long, Gage wouldn't keep it. His pride got in the way. We suck at quillback, but part of that might be our focus on schoolies. In that area we like to find schools and fish them until they quit biting. They clean easier and bite quicker, usually. Today? We think the post-spawn lingcod have the rockfish a bit nervous as they are hungry. The rockfish were schooled up 20 feet off the bottom or more. Seven of eight of our lingcod were spawned out. Try for lings. They were stupid for swimbaits today. 

  

 

     There's a few new rules on the way. It appears that, starting next year (or maybe sooner) the limit for vermillion rockfish will drop from the current five to four fish. Quillback and copper rockfish will have limits of only one of each. The Pacific Fisheries Management Council has concluded that these three rockfish are overfished and need lower limits to help their numbers bounce back. The quillback should be the easiest one to stay legal with, as I rarely see them around here. I think Gage and I have boated three in the last two years, so we'll need to increase our quillback take dramatically to limit out. I'll probably just keep doing what I'm doing. Four vermillions per person is still a pretty good number. You could go over that in the right spot but, probably not. Only one copper, though, will see many a fish tossed back (or should, at least). It's a good thing for coppers that they're nearly indestructible. If they can survive five hours in my ice chest they will probably survive a release. 

   

 No traps tomorrow. Traps open here on Friday at 9:00 AM. So, those of you that purchased your $2.42 Crab Trap Validation, you have sixteen days to use it in Fishing Zone 3. 

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California Department of Fish and Wildlife Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program Update

December 15, 2021

CDFW Director Bonham has completed an assessment of marine life entanglement risk for the recreational and commercial Dungeness crab fisheries under the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP). Recreational Dungeness crab trap fishing in Fishing Zone 3 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to Pigeon Point) will open under a Fleet Advisory beginning at 9 a.m. this Friday, Dec. 17, 2021. The commercial fishery will open in that area under a Fleet Advisory at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021, with a pre-soak period to begin at 8:01 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021. The commercial fishery 40-fathom depth restriction will also be lifted in Fishing Zone 4 beginning at 8:01 a.m. on Dec. 26.  Based on data collected during the most recent risk assessment, the Director has determined that risk of entanglement has declined, and it is time to provide fishing opportunity in all fishing zones. However, informed by requests from port and crab boat owner associations in zone 3 to promote a fair and orderly fishery, the season delay in zone 3 will continue until Dec. 29. These groups have requested additional time to prepare and set gear for an orderly start to the commercial fishery. This also gives the remaining whales additional time to leave the fishing grounds, further reducing risk of entanglement when the season opens.  To see the full news release please visit the CDFW News Room. For more information, please see the FAQs for the new recreational crab trap regulations or CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries Webpage.

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