Patty Stahl of Loomis caught this nice 23# salmon while trolling with her husband, Mike, yesterday. There were a few other fish caught, but not too many. The rockfish took a beating from frustrated salmon fishermen. The halibut bite slowed down as well but not quite as bad as the salmon. The wind is supposed to star blowing again this week, easing up around Thursday. That should cool the water off and hopefully shake things up a bit. Less of the red tide bloom probably wouldn't hurt the fishing any but will close the nightly light show. For the shark fishermen out there, my boys tried casting lures to the glowing sharks as they swam by, but apparently the sharks aren't interested in biting things with a glowing fishing line pointing at them. Dropping bait to the bottom is a good way to catch the many Dungeness crabs walking by. It's still a good show, though.

Tyler Lipton of Granite Bay caught this 20# halibut on the bar on the 26th.

Jim Moore of Fallon, Nevada caught this 30# halibut on a frozen sardine while drifting the bar on Friday. Both of these halibut were the first halibut ever caught by these gentlemen and will be difficult to top.

First, a little catch-up. Here are future local legends Haley Porter, Cameron Vogler, Gage Vogler and Paige Cato, all of Dillon Beach, showing off the largest of their total of 14 salmon caught between two boats (there were three adults helping) on August 2. There was a boys versus girls fishing contest and both sides claimed victory.

John "Johnny Sandbar" Bartholomew caught this 27 pound salmon while trolling on the 19th. In the picture, the thing under the salmon is a pelican trying to figure out if he could fit the fish in his beak. He couldn't.

Joe DaCruz and Tad Bowers show off some of their (and Jerry DaCruz's) catch of 1 salmon, 6 halibut and 6 sole from Ten Mile on Thursday. If you look closely you can tell where they were fishing.

Ten Mile has been pretty good for halibut this past week, with a few salmon thrown in as well. McLure's has also been good for both species. Tomales Point and the Trees have been good for salmon. When I say good, I mean that there were fish caught. Not too many salmon limits anymore but some decent scratch fishing. The rockfish have been a bit slower. Some of the slow could be caused by the fish feeding all night. We are experiencing a bloom of bioluminescent dinoflagellates, or light-emitting plankton. The ocean glows with every movement in the water. It is a bad time to be a small fish, since every movement lights up an "eat me" sign. Last night we watched no fewer than 6 sharks feeding right at the pier, and those were just the ones near enough to the surface that we could see them. One shark chased a fish onto the beach. It's a heck of a show but probably not good for daytime fishing. The wind is forecast for Monday and Tuesday and if the water cools off the lights should go out.

The halibut are on the bar. So far I've seen 5 limits go by from there. Live smelt has been the ticket.

Recent Fishing Confines

Recent trips have been confined mainly to the River Wye due to the lack of water currently being experienced on many of my usual 'small stream' haunts.

Even on the Wye there is a need to target the river early morning or late evening to get the best out of it. As a result to getting to the river at these times I have fortunately had some reasonable catches although the target fish has predominately been the Grayling with the Trout waiting 'til the onset of darkness before feeling safe to feed.

I have also been trying out a new 9' #3 rod which was built by a friend of mine who has built many rods over the last few years and has amassed a great deal of knowledge on the optimum process involved (more on this in a future post).

Nick - pushing his 11' #2 french leader rod to the maximum with a fine Grayling



A little worst for wear but a very successful Olive Dun pattern for the Wye

Although I'm off for a long weekend break Friday I'm hoping that the rivers I fish get the much needed rain to re-vitalise them and with a bit of luck the remaining month of the trout season will see a flourish of small stream action!

There was a pretty decent bite today with everyone who targeted salmon getting at least one keeper. Not too many jumbo fish but legal ones. Elephant reef, McLure's and Bird were the scenes of most of the catching. The halibut bite was slower today with only a few fish landed by Hog. The water is warming up a bit, so the bar may be an option soon. Good rockfish action.

Ron Johnson found some fish on Ten Mile yesterday, including this 30# salmon.

Lance Seppi caught this 34.5# king off of the Trees on the troll.

The DaCruz brothers caught this halibut and 6 sand sole on Ten Mile on Friday. If you like sand sole there are many to be caught on the big beach right now.

Mike and Mara Nursement of Colfax caught these 24 and 28 pound salmon off of Tomales Point today (Mara caught the larger one). They went through four trays of bait to get them.

Here is Larry Nies of Lodi with one of the halibut being speared on the bar. This one weighed 25 pounds.

Yesterday's totals were a bit disappointing for most, with probably half of the boats from here going without salmon. Successful boats had from 1 to 4 with a few halibut from the beaches mixed in. The water is cold and clear. The forecast is calling for some decent weather though, so it should warm up and color up, and then hopefully fish up, by later this week. The salmon came from Ten Mile (no more specific location given), tight against the beach at Elephant, Tomales Point, and the esteros. There were some fish being caught up by Carmet but of the two boats I spoke with, one was skunked and the other had early limits of small fish, so the bite is either good or over, depending on who you ask. The divers are spearing some halibut in the deep holes in the mouth of the bay but the fishermen aren't doing as well there. Hog Island has been the place to fish with catches ranging from 0 to 5.

Jason Kasick of Sacramento caught this nice 20# salmon while fishing with Dave Pile. There are definitely some salmon scattered around but you definitely have to work for them. In the last few days there were fish caught in the outer bay, off of Bird Rock, off McLure's Beach, Elephant reef, and even a couple from Ten Mile. The problem is that bites have been short-lived, a couple fish here and there. There were a few halibut taken on the bar and more back by Hog. A couple of flatfish came from McLure's as well. The rockfish have been biting pretty well. No more thresher shark hook-ups that I've heard of. One striper on the bar yesterday. As I write there is a small bite for salmon off the Day Beach. I guess I have to go.

Cameron Vogler caught this 20# halibut at McClure's Beach while trolling a herring behind a dodger.

Two of our regulars here have passed on this week, both of them from Lodi. Some of their friends have decided to put on a fishing tournament in their honor. The 1st Annual Ivan "Doc" Hayes and Charley "2Duck" Kundert Halibut Fishing Tournament & BBQ will be held on September 3 at Lawson's Landing. It starts at 6AM and all fish must be weighed in at the Lawson's Landing store by 4:45PM. All large fish will be marveled at, but only halibut are qualified to win. The cost is $20 to enter. If you are interested please contact:

Judy Perrigo (916)717-3698 at space H-13

Kerry Apgar (707)795-0214 0r

Harolyn Nelson (707)322-4509 at space G-34

UPDATE: Due to a greater response than expected they are not excepting further entries to the tournament. Doc and 2Duck are obviously missed.

The fishermen may not be catching halibut on the bar but the divers confirm that the fish are there. The divers at top used scuba to shoot several flatfish, including Chuy Sahagun's 20 pounder, and Jake Showaker freedove for this 23 pounder and another fish.

Tom Cook shows off the 20# salmon which kicked off his 4 spots in a row domination of our big fish board. Like the others, he trolled it up by the esteros using a Deep Six and straight bait.

A few pictures from last weekend:

Scott Mason got his technique dialed in to boat himself a limit of salmon and lingcod last Sunday.

Vic and Terry Shada caught this 25 pound salmon last Saturday. Terry confirmed that Vic is a good netter.

John Crippes and his father, George, caught these four salmon on board the Adrenaline, crewed by Terry Fogal and Ron Johnson. They were trolling between Tomales Point and the esteros on Friday. The fishing was and is slow but the fish are there if you work hard for them (and are a little lucky).

A few salmon yesterday, almost all from the outer bay. High boat belonged to Stacy Barton with 4 salmon in the box, next boat had 2, a couple had 1, but most boats came back with consolation rockfish. Stacy found a school of bait in front of the estero and trolled it for hours, grinding out his fish. The only halibut that I heard of came from off of Dillon Beach. At least the rockfishing was good.

The water temperature on the bar has dropped to 51 degrees, so that may not be the ticket after all. One halibut landed so far today from off the day beach but the water is getting sloppy.

The bite at Jenner died but there are still a few salmon being caught off of Bird and in the outer bay. High boat that I spoke with had 4 salmon from the esteros. Halibut at Hog and the bar, the bar having slightly better numbers coming in. The wind has been coming up in the afternoon so go early.

Tom Cook of Dillon Beach ca,ught this 24# salmon in the outer bay near the esteros. Tom now holds the last three spots on the big fish board, all to fish caught by the esteros. Aside from some good looking water at McClure's and the outer bay, everything else looks pretty bad with cold, clear water. The rockfish are biting well and there's halibut back by Hog, but for salmon it seems like either the outer bay or Jenner. The bite in front of the river is real good if you don't mind company.

Not too many fish yesterday. A few halibut from Ten Mile and there were some salmon scattered around with probably the best place for decent fish being from the Trees to Tomales Point. Numbers ranged from 0 to 3. The Esteros have the largest concentration of fish, both salmon and bait, of anywhere nearby. Too bad the salmon are almost entirely shorties. With the bait concentration there it is probably just a matter of time until the big boys find it. There's also a few thresher sharks cruising the schools of anchovies so be prepared for a spooling if you go.

It was slow today. Very slow. 3 halibut and 4 salmon that I heard of. I guess the wind screwed things up worse than I'd hoped. It took a few days to recover last time, so, with luck, we'll be back in the fish by Sunday.

Despite the wind and sloppy conditions on the ocean, a few boats got out. Tom Brodsky of Newcastle caught this 28# salmon while trolling on the bar. There was at least one other salmon caught there yesterday and a couple of limits taken out in front of Bird Rock. The forecast changed for today and so far it is nice out there.

Brian Underwood of Santa Rosa speared this 22# halibut on the bar yesterday. The divers have been doing well since the water cleared up a few days back. The fishermen are catching too, but they have to go a bit deeper to get the bites. The salmon are biting well from Tomales Point to the Trees in 40 to 80 feet of water. Results the last few days have been up to 8 salmon landed in one boat. Most of the fish are running 25 inches long but there are some teens and twenty pounders mixed in with them. Trolling and mooching are both putting fish in the box. Wind for today and tomorrow, then good weather for the weekend.

The salmon are biting off of Bird. Six fish in two hours, 60 feet of water.

Braden Woodward, 10, of Dillon Beach, caught these 18 and 26 pound salmon while fishing with "local legend" Gerard Fitzgerald. Way to go, B-dog!
Ed Parsons of Lodi caught this 24 pounder off of Bird while trolling on The Other Woman. (That's the name of the boat)
Joe Downing of Sacramento caught this 22 pound salmon while fishing with Mike Mayry. Mike also caught a salmon. They were trolling off the Trees.

"Halibut Harry" of Vacaville caught this 20# flatty on a live jacksmelt on the bar this morning.
Mike Nursement of Colfax mooched up this 20# salmon in the Elephant Rock area, as well as a second salmon, a halibut, a lingcod and a couple of rockfish. He went back out for a limit of abalone. That is a full day's work and a lot of cleaning.

The salmon came from all over last weekend but the better places seemed to be between Tomales Point and the Trees in 30 to 60 feet, the general vicinity of Elephant reef, and selected locations on Ten Mile Beach. Halibut were caught on the bar (mostly on the outer slope) and on Ten Mile. Yesterday evening I tried to get to a salmon bite that had been hot in the afternoon (one boat caught 9 salmon and left the fish biting) in the pocket south of Elephant. I found a halibut bite instead, landing two and missing 6 other bites, all on big sardines.

Scott L. Smith of Wilton caught this 23# halibut (south of Elephant) and this 22# white sea bass yesterday. The sea bass was caught in deep water on a trolled watermelon Apex. I guess everything likes those things.

This photo and message were submitted last night. :"I just wanted to share with you (and your blog) the 34 inch Halibut I caught today right outside the bar. It was my first one and I owe a lot of thanks to the staff at Lawsons as you guys gave a first timer all the right gear, bait, coffee, and tips to bring home a nice fish Thanks!,

Tracy Vickrey from Vallejo"

Nice fish, Tracy.

John Rosasco of Stockton caught this 32# salmon at the south end of McLure's Beach on the troll.
AJ Masters posed with Gerard Fitzgerald's 34.5 pound salmon. Gerard limited on salmon and halibut on Ten Mile. That's why he's a legend.
This is a picture of a legendary day on Ten Mile, submitted by Jerry DaCruz. The day was Friday the 29th, the particular place on Ten Mile was not given.

Alex Slater caught this 24 pound salmon aboard the Good Juju, captained by Steve Werlin of Dillon Beach, who caught this 20 pound salmon. Both fish taken on the troll off of Tomales Point.
Judy Perrigo shows off one of a pair of 22 pound halibut she caught on the bar yesterday. Her captain, Carl, lost a jig to a fish that broke his 50# PowerPro.
Randy Cannedy of Folsom landed Lawson's Landing's first white sea bass of the season. It weighed 25 pounds and was caught on Ten Mile Beach while trolling for salmon.