The pier has been giving up as many Dungeness as the outer bay. One pier crabber had 5 keepers in the morning, as many as another boater had on a three day soak for 6 pots outside. The weather forecast for this weekend calls for wind, so the pier definitely would be the place I would choose.

The bay is about half fresh water from all the rain, so the crabbing is not very good. The few people who have braved the bad weather are still catching a few, but just a few. The Pacific Fishing Management Council has approved three alternatives for salmon season starting on April 2. The California Fish and Game Commission has not yet made it official, however. The regulation book says "The final 2011 salmon regulations will be announced on the Department web site (www.

dfg.ca.gov) and will be available in the 2011-2012 supplemental fishing regulations booklet

in May 2011." As of this posting it has not been announced. There is still time but they're cutting it close. Abalone opens on the 1st and divers and beach fishermen can take lingcod on the 2nd.

Here's a much better video with actual sound of the current running past the pier from the tsunami on March 11, 2011. Thanks to Nathan Porter for this video, even though he made me realize that my camera is nothing but a Crackerjack prize.

Here's a different view of the tsunami at Dillon Beach. Looks at how much beach is exposed in the early part of the video and compare it to how much is covered at the end. It was doing that every 20 to 30 minutes. Spooky.

There are still a few Dungeness in the bay but not too many. Across the bay there are many crabs but few keepers
Surprisingly, the pier has been better. The best times are when the currents are slowest, so check the tide tables. A few surfperch and no word on leopards.

Last Bite Of The Cherry

Its been a long, cold winter and my Grayling fishing has been nothing short of  disappointing. On Saturday I took a last ditch attempt to put a bend in my recently acquired Greys Streamflex 10' #4 with a few hours on the River Wye in Mid-Wales.

Fortunately the fish were not too put off with the low and clear river and as I arrived there were one or two flies coming off the water prompting a couple of fish to venture to the surface. After taking a couple of small Grayling on a dry olive pattern it was a change to a team of three weighted nymphs that brought a few more with a couple of  Grayling to put a proper bend in the Streamflex.



Bedraggled March Brown (Rhithrogena germanica)

 

Time now to look forward to what the trout season has to offer, with the heavy weighted flies back in the box for a while and the dry fly box in the top pocket ready to test some new patterns.

The tide going in and out by 2 to 3 feet every 20 minutes was as bad as it got here, luckily. The tsunami warning has been dropped to a tsunami advisory, so chances are we are OK. The fishing and crabbing is going to be slow for the next few days, though. Too bad, since they started catching a few surfperch off the beach in the last few days.

The current was boiling out of the bay for about ten minutes, then would switch back and surge back in. No damage yet.

Upper River Wye

An early morning walk along the river is always a joy for most anglers but sometimes the scenery makes it extra special as is always the case when I walk along the part of the Upper River Wye just upstream from Builth Wells.


'The Rocks'


This part of the river is known as 'The Rocks' and the river here tumbles and twists through a deep rocky gorge which makes for some stunning scenery. The Salmon had once run in good number up here late in the season but the recent down turn in the Wye salmon run has unfortunately made it a bit of a lottery to catch one...I really do hope things improve in the future..but I'm not holding my breath.



Faithful Companion - 'Joe'



Fishermans Hut

With the river looking so nice it was only natural to have a few hours fishing in the afternoon. I decided on a spot downstream of Builth Wells and although the Trout season was underway there was a distinct feeling that winter was reluctant to give way to spring.

The water was ice cold and my temperature gauge had given a lowest overnight reading of -5.7deg, with a chilling upstream breeze I certainly wasn't expecting any trout action.

Always nice to see these little fellas about

As it turned out there was no sign of a trout but fortunately some of the Grayling were still keen to take my offerings. Fishing a team of tungsten nymphs attached to a sensitive braid line seemed to do the trick and I ended with a tally just nudging into double figures, no big fish but after what has been a dour winters' Grayling fishing it was worth enduring the freezing temperatures.

Some nice big surfperch were caught yesterday by a boater fishing the weed beds near Hog Island. There were a few nice Dungeness caught yesterday as well. No reports of leopard shark.

Great weather forecast for today and tomorrow. High tides around midday should make for good crabbing conditions in the bay and a small swell should make it worth venturing outside. The best bite is still down at Ten Mile Beach but there are enough Dungeness around to inside to keep it interesting. A new regulation goes in to effect on April 1st affecting the use of ring nets for crabs. I think it only applies in Southern California, but here's the wording: "Hoop nets may be used to take spiny lobsters and all species of crabs. Between Point Arguello, Santa Barbara County, and the United States-Mexico border, not more than five hoop nets, as defined in (b)(1)(A) or (b)(1)(B), shall be possessed by a person when taking spiny lobster or crab, not to exceed a total of 10 hoop nets possessed when taking spiny lobster or crab, per vessel. The owner of the hoop net or person who placed the hoop net into the water shall raise the hoop net to the surface and inspect the contents of the hoop net at intervals not to exceed 2 hours." It looks like it doesn't affect us here, but just in case, check your nets regularly.