Some salmon yesterday, a few from 240' but the best action was from out by the weather buoy,which is at 38 15 by 123 17. Tim Woerner had a 26# salmon on bait from the inside spot. Halibut, mostly from Hog Island south but at least one from the bar and one from across the bay from the pier. No more thresher sharks landed, and no more Dungeness after today. The rockfish bite was slow out off Bird and there were a lot of brown jellyfish present.

Josh Capra caught this (too big for our scale!) thresher shark this morning, just outside the bar in the mouth of the bay. Josh was fishing around a large school of anchovies there, trying for a halibut. No flatfish, but a good hour's entertainment was had.

Tom Cook of Petaluma caught this 20# halibut across the bay from the Landing yesterday, but chose to have Lori and Tyler model the fish. There were a few other halibut caught in the bay yesterday and a couple of salmon from 40 fathoms. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the man lost overboard yesterday. In what could only be described as a freak accident, he was ejected out of his 14' boat while traversing the bay. A life jacket may or may not have helped him, but it is a reminder that we all should wear our PFDs when we're out on the water.

The salmon are still biting out in 240+ feet but you may not be able to get there until after this weekend if the weatherman is right. At least the halibut are biting a little better south of Hog. One boat had five yesterday. No recent word on surfperch or sharks.

A couple more halibut from Hog Island and two limits of rockfish from outside yesterday. The water outside was nasty at the start of the day but calmed down a bit. Today the ocean has a little lump but is very fishable.

Some nice halibut just south of Hog Island today, all of them biting on live jacksmelt. Limits of surfperch from the beach, as well as a schoolie-size striper. There was a striper caught in the bay last week as well. That's almost as many stripers as we see in a good striper year here. Two limits of rockfish from Bird Rock today.

A few salmon yesterday, most of them from 240 feet of water, 100 feet down, but one came from 70 feet of water in front of Bird Rock. Some limits of rockfish yesterday with most boats fishing within a couple miles of Tomales Point. The only shark I saw was a spiny dogfish caught while rockfishing. Fairly decent Dungeness crabbing for the guys that are working their gear, not so good for all day soak crowd. The red crab are still pretty consistent against the far side of the bay.

Dear friends,

We are asking everyone who loves to camp, fish, boat, and spend time at Lawsons Landing to take the time to show your support by attending the Coastal Commission hearing in San Rafael in mid July. The California Coastal Commission will be determining the future of Lawsons Landing in mid July. The date and location of the hearing will be:

July 13^th, 14^th or 15^th

Marin County Board of Supervisors

3501 Civic Center Drive

San Rafael, CA 94901

Click here for directions

Background

The Lawson family has lived, worked, and recreated at the Landing for nearly 90 years, and since 1957 the Lawson’s have shared this special spot on the edge of Point Reyes National Seashore with campers, boaters, hikers, and fisherman from throughout California. You and your families have come back to this unique coastal community each summer, and have become part of our extended family.

Today Lawson's Landing is still owned and operated by the Lawson-Vogler family. We have chosen to work to keep the Landing open and affordable for all to enjoy and appreciate.

Lawson’s Landing offers much needed affordable overnight amenities for families from California to visit, enjoy, and appreciate California’s beautiful shores, especially with state park campgrounds in jeopardy of closure. Prices for tent, RV, day use, fishing, and boating are comparable with California public State Parks—without requiring ongoing State subsidies.

Issue

We have worked hard for many years to complete the local and state planning and permitting processes necessary to protect Lawsons Landing. After lots of hard work and tough choices imposed by state policies and Coastal Commission staff, we have agreed to reduce the total number of RV and tent campsites from 1000 to 417, and we are minimizing camping near environmentally sensitive areas. Campsites will be numbered and laid out in rows to meet State requirements, and some areas will be for tent only camping. We will do everything within our power to ensure that your campsites will still have plenty of space. Additionally, we are proposing at least 3 camp areas that preserve the group camping that we are known for. We are proposing many other improvements that would make your experience more enjoyable, including new restrooms with showers.

Supportive Solution

Although we are saddened to see our camping area reduced, agreeing to these changes is necessary to remain open. And the new clustered camping areas will increase the surrounding open spaces around you at Lawsons Landing. Without these changes the Coastal Commission will not approve the project and we would be forced to close our doors.

Unfortunately, there are a few very vocal opponents that have been critical of the campground and would like to see the RV and other uses reduced even further—to a level that would be infeasible to operate and impossible for us to stay afloat.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE SURE VOCAL OPPONENTS ARE NOT THE ONLY VOICES HEARD AT THE JULY HEARING.

We are grateful for the many years that we have been able to share our beautiful property with so many. We need you, and your family, and your friends who love Lawson's Landing to attend the July Coastal Commission hearing in San Rafael. First, we need the power of presence to show your support. Second we need some folks to help us emphasize the importance of protecting affordable overnight options and coastal access and recreation at this special place we share. With your attendance and some key folks making public comments in support, we plan to stay open to serve many generations to come.

If you can possibly help, please email us at lawsonslanding@gmail.com so that we can let you know about the exact date, location and time of the hearing and other important information as soon as we know.

Sincerely,

The Lawson and Vogler families

Good kite-flying weather this week. There were a couple of halibut caught back by Cypress Point in the last few days. There was a shark caught off the Sand Point day before yesterday (species not known). The water at the mouth of the bay is cold, 50ish degrees, but further back it hits almost 70 past Marshall. The warmer the water, the more active the sharks, rays and halibut should be. The ocean conditions for divers are currently bad, unless you're a fan of diving blind in a washing machine full of rocks.

HookPoint - Multi-Tool

OK, it has to be said that when I see something that catches my eye then I generally have to take a closer look, and when I first glanced at the 'HookPoint' I knew I had to find out more as to what this fly fishing/tying aid was all about.

Upon purchasing the HookPoint it became clear that this was a well thought out and designed bit of kit.

It was developed and is now marketed and sold by Microvista Products Ltd where inventor Dr Andrew Worthington felt that there was a use for a pocket magnifying tool which enabled anglers on the bank to identify any issues with the sharpness of their hook point (a common problem that we are often not aware of until its too late). It was also developed to aid with other 'in situ' problems that we can sometimes encounter whilst out fishing.

Ceramic hook sharpener and picking tool

After several weeks trying out this product I would say that one of the areas of interest for me has to be the crystal clear x6 magnification you get which when used with the integral LED light enables close detailed viewing of any nymphs or flies you may wish to inspect for positive identification.


Photo taken by placing the lens of my camera on the Hookpoint eyepiece

If you are a budding entomologist or like me someone who has a fascination with the life our rivers contain then you will no doubt find the 'HookPoint' a worthwhile tool to carry around with you.

The HookPoint has been recently reviewed in both 'The Trout & Salmon' and 'Fly Fishing & Fly Tying' magazines and if you happen to be attending the BFFI (British Fly Fair International) this coming weekend (18th/19th June) then you can check it out yourself at The Microvista Products Ltd stand and see what you think.

To find out exactly what the HookPoint is all about head over to the website where there is all the information you need,

http://www.microvistaproducts.com/

No salmon landed yesterday but the rockfish got hit pretty hard by the few boats that went out. The three boats were working off of Bird Rock and the trees. One boat reported top to bottom krill in 60 to 70 feet of water in front of Bird. They didn't fish it since the large number of whales made them nervous. There's a good surfperch bite off the front beach. Nice-sized barred and redtail perch were being caught on ghost shrimp even though the seaweed is a problem.

Environment Agency - River and sea levels

With most of the UK rivers levels running severely low at the moment its always useful to detect any change that localised rain may have in raising them up a little.

Also on the flip side of the coin when we start to get some of the deluges we are more accustomed to its worth a quick check on this site to make sure the river you've got lined up to fish is not going to be bank high and unfishable..it may well save you a wasted journey!

This is a site I use quite a bit for up to the minute river levels for England and Wales.

Environment Agency - River and sea levels

FYI, the new rockfish rules became official today. Rockfish season is open! 22" minimum for lingcod. The season runs through December 31. Finally! Also today, two salmon were caught and two more lost by a fisherman at 38 16 and 123 05, and there were two halibut caught by Sacramento Landing, the largest weighing 19 pounds. There was also a limit of Dungeness caught across the bay.

Two halibut from the Marshall area yesterday. There was a salmon caught on Tuesday in 260 feet of water due west of our outer buoy (on the 15 line). Not a lot of action but action nonetheless. It is starting to feel like summer with overcast in the morning and sunny afternoons.

No salmon landed here the last few days. The boats that are catching are out in the deep, about 360 feet of water. There's some bait showing back by Marshall but no halibut that I've heard of lately. Rockfish will open on Monday the 13th as there is no effective date yet set for the new regulations. The regs were adopted on May 26 and sent to the Office of Administrative Law yesterday, so maybe by the end of July we'll get a break on lingcod length. There are still some Dungeness in the bay and the season has another 3 weeks, so if you haven't caught your fill, now's the time to do it.

The local legend caught two more salmon today and the Bodega Bay charter boats had some fish but there were some other good fishermen that came home with nothing but stories of silvers and shorties. The action was scattered but generally around 260 feet of water. Halibut fishermen in the bay haven't been able to hook one this week. One boat had two limits of Dungeness from the bay yesterday, so there's still a few hungry crabs out there.

New Stream To Explore

Last weekend was quite an intensive fishing weekend due to the bank holiday, I concentrated on the smaller rivers due to the severe high winds which were whipping across the UK.

I got the chance to try out a Shropshire stream that I had not fished before and was very impressed with the quality of this little gem. Its one of those streams that you wouldn't even know was their when driving past it.

I had also planned a trip back to the River Edw which runs close to Builth Wells but when I arrived it was apparent that the rain that had fallen during the night had not found its way into this river and it was barely a trickle in parts. Fortunately in this area there are quite a few back up locations.

I received this email yesterday: "Rick White from Folsom caught this 15 lb. Halibut out in front of Cypress in 15 feet of water trolling on Saturday. That confirms the story." This proves two things. There are halibut in the bay, and some of the stories I repeat are true.