Ten Mile had salmon and halibut but not a lot of either. Numbers ran 1 to 3 fish per boat. One fisherman limited quickly on salmon, then spent three hours trying for halibut, while two others caught halibut but couldn't catch a salmon. The best action was on the bar in the Carters' boat, where they caught four halibut to 23 pounds and a salmon. The rockfish cooperated for all that tried for them.

A salmon and a halibut from the bar today, and a couple of lingcod from off the point. The salmon was trolled up and the halibut bit a bucktail (hawg raiser) jig. The south wind prevented anyone from going down to Ten Mile, so no report from there until tomorrow. Good weather forecast for tomorrow and Saturday.

   Greg Ladner caught this 24.5 pound salmon off of the Towers yesterday. There were two other salmon in the boat as well, all caught in 50 feet of water (because sometimes the waves broke in 40 feet). There was a huge swell on Ten Mile but the bar was just periodically lethal. A 25 pound halibut was caught on dead bait across the bay from the pier by Kathy Larson. The ocean is way happier today and there is at least one boat fishing the Towers, so perhaps a good report will be available later.
   On another note, California DFG just started a new mobile website so that you can check up on MPA fishing areas and closures from your Apple or Android smartphone. The website is: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/m/MPA .

Two halibut from the bar today, both on jigs. Another boat tried trolling by Marshall but no bites. Big swell today, so nobody went outside to play. Maybe tomorrow.

A good fisherman tried the bar and caught a salmon and two halibut, plus lost another halibut, all at the turn of the tide. Another good fisherman tried out McLure's today with no success. My guess is that there will be a few more boats on the bar tomorrow.

While it was slower for some yesterday, at least one boat caught limits of halibut and salmon at the Towers. He said he didn't have to get too close to catch them. There were a few other salmon caught yesterday, but none large enough to hang on the scale. A few halibut from the bar and outer bay.

The swell is less today but the fishing is slower too, so it kind of evens out. That didn't stop John Rosasco of Stockton from catching this 26# white sea bass on a jig. John was fishing at McLure's and landed a halibut as well.

There's a big, scary swell  making the bar break occasionally, and the weeds are bad in most places, but there are still salmon and halibut coming in. The salmon came from Ten Mile in the general vicinity of the Towers and from the outer bay near the south estero. Two boats fished the schools of bait near the estero; one limited on nice-sized fish and the other never had a bite. One striper landed on the bar. Halibut came from Ten Mile, McLure's and the bar, but great caution is advised in all three places due to breaking waves. No halibut is worth your life. This is the situation we get every couple of years when the swells the halibut bite happen at the same time. This is the halibut's chance to get even. Don't let them. If it seems like the fish are too shallow to be safe, they probably are.

The salmon were biting on the bar, off Bird Rock and off McLure's beach on Tuesday. On Wednesday, aside from a salmon on the bar, the bite shut down north of Elephant. The fish moved down to the Towers yesterday with boats fishing there landing from 1 to 6 salmon, some of them in the 20's. Today the swell is up and no boats have launched from here, so no telling if the fish are still there. There were a few halibut landed at the Towers and a couple of fish jigged up in the bay but nothing on the bar. The water is 57 to 59 degrees and brown and the needlefish are there, so there should be halibut. If only the fish knew that.

Vern Sasaki and Jerry Knedel caught these 22# and 30# halibut while drifting live bait on McLure's but they chose not to model them. They had Nathan Porter stand in for them. And yes, the weather is so nice that Nathan is wearing shorts. Where are you?

 Bob King caught this 20.5 pound king salmon while trolling bait with no flashers yesterday.

Gage Vogler reeled in this 13.5 pound "good fighter" while fishing with Lance Seppi. Gage said they were fishing on Ten Mile and caught their fish on "bag bait" without flashers.

Fall is here and most of the summer crowd has gone home, so the locals are reclaiming their old roosts. There are less boats on the water but the fishing is still decent with boats averaging half-limits of salmon this weekend. One boat had five halibut and two salmon from McLure's Beach yesterday.

The Best Of Times

If I had to pick just one month to fish then I think September may well be that month, its the time of year when the sun still has some warmth to it, the foilage on the trees is getting ready to take on its autumn colours, the air is filled with the strong aroma of Himalayan Balsam which for me evokes vivid memories of autumn fishing as a child. On top of that we can find both Trout and Grayling still eager to take our flies.

Such was my experience last weekend on possibly my most productive river this season. This small river which runs through Mid Wales was running slightly below normal level but with some very inviting deep pockets of fast flowing water which hold good numbers of large fish.

My favoured searching set up would again be the duo with a hi-viz Klinkhamer on a dropper and a #16 tungsten head bead on the point.

I had recently tied up some quill bodied nymphs and one of these as the point fly proved a big success acounting for most of the fish including many impressive grayling which found it hard to resist this little fly

Hook: Kamasan B170 - #16
Head: 2mm Black Nickel Tungsten Bead
Tail: Coq De Leon Fibres
Body: Stripped Peacock Quill
Thorax: Olive Dyed Squirrel

This potentially very productive time of year really needs to be taken advantage of as its all over too quickly and before we know it the reality of fishing in sub zero temperatures with numb toes and fingers for a couple of fish (if we're lucky) wondering what the hell we bothered to venture out for, will soon be upon us.

McLure's, the Keyholes, and the north end of Ten Mile had some decent salmon action yesterday with fish up to 21 pounds landed. The vast majority of fish were 25" to 27" long, but any legal fish is a good fish in my book. Just enough halibut were landed to prove that they still exist. The bar was marginally the hot spot with a few fish from the deeper holes. The rockfish bite was ok. A boat fishing in the bay (he wouldn't say where) landed a couple of nice leopard sharks.

Good sailing weather forecast for the weekend. Fishing, less so. The water temp outside has dropped 5 degrees since Wednesday. The mouth of the bay had a water temp of 51 and was clear. The only catching I heard of today was a couple of salmon from Abbott's Lagoon, and the two guys that caught the fish looked beat up and hypothermic. The National Weather Service's experimental pinpoint forecast suggests that it may be fishable near shore this weekend, but not comfortable.

If anyone is looking to fill their freezer with tuna and yellowtail, there are still two spots open for the Dillon Beach Tuna Club's charter on the 92' Shogun. It's a five day trip out of San Diego, October 20-25 2011, and will run $1743.65 (that includes Mexican fishing permits and 15% tip). If you are interested see Nate in the Landing shop, call (707)878-2244, or email him at longfin63@gmail.com .

The halibut are biting on the bar and on Ten Mile, not hot, but not too bad either. There has been a sporadic salmon bite in the Tomales Point to the Trees area. Tuesday there were quick limits there. Today the keyholes had a flurry of salmon activity, as well as on Ten Mile from Abbot's Lagoon to two miles north, 30 to 70 feet of water. I didn't hear of any big salmon but the time is right for a few trophies to be passing through.

The divers found halibut to 33# on the bar today, but the fishermen couldn't get them to bite. Some nice salmon were taken at McClure's and Ten Mile (north parking lot) again. Quite a few jellyfish on McClure's too, but that's really only a problem when you aren't catching.

Back On An Old Favourite

We all have rivers/streams that hold a special place in our hearts, well one of mine has to be the River Edw which is a small tributary to the River Wye and enters the river just downstream of Builth Wells.

I headed off there Saturday and having seen high levels in both the Irfon and Wye had hoped to find it with more water in but unfortunately it was still running pretty low.

The beat I fished was Aberedw, the lower of the four under the Wye & Usk Foundation roving voucher scheme, this beat is split into two sections and although the top section is relatively short it's definitely worth a visit with a couple of stunning looking pools.

Fish came instantly from the bottom of the beat and although mostly small fish these brown trout are just beautiful and totally wild. I like to think my stealthy approach when I walk up these rivers is as good as I can be but I think I would have needed to be invisible to realistically target some of the trout that were lying in the shallow tails of some of the pools. They caught wind of me long before I could delicately drop a dry fly on there noses and bolted upstream to warn the others.

I did manage to find plenty of obliging fish from many of the deeper, faster pockets that seem to have trout queuing up ready to take either a dry or nymph.

Fly life is also a bit special on the Edw with a steady stream of late season flies hatching throughout the day, coupled with the beauty and remoteness you experience here then it is easy to see why this can become one of those 'special' places.


Autumn Dun (Ecdyonurus dispar)



  Jim Stewart caught this 22 pound salmon while fishing with Dave Pile. It should have been a 23 pounder, but a sea lion tried to steal the fish from Jim but only ended up with a bite.
   There was a decent salmon bite at Abbott's/the Towers and some nice ones caught on McLure's. There were halibut on the bar, but also dogfish shark and a lot of weeds, so you had to earn the flatties. There were a few halibut caught on Ten Mile as well, with some of the salmon fishermen catching a halibut or two.

AJ caught this one today on Ten Mile. 24 pounds, caught on the troll.

Even when the conditions are bad, a good fisherman can still coax up a few fish. Here's two halibut from across the bay and a ling from Bird. Pictured are Fred Meyer, AJ Masters and Steve McKinney.

I'm sure most of you abalone divers have already heard about the die-off, but just in case you haven't, here's a link for more info: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110907/articles/110909674?p=1&tc=pg So far, it would appear that the abalone here haven't been affected, but I think it would be safe to assume that there may be different regulations regarding abalone next year.

Here's Scott Mason with a limit of salmon he caught while trolling last Saturday, 9/3. The big one weighed 22 pounds.

For those of you unfamiliar with some of my landmarks, here's a cheat sheet.

Good halibut bite on the bar and across the bay from the pier. Too bad the weather is making it unfishable. Outside there's a big sea and there's a strong south wind blowing straight across the bay making the drifts short and fast. There have still been some fish landed, though. Yesterday the Shut Up and Fish landed five halibut across the bay, three of them 20 to 21 pounds.

The last couple of days saw a nice salmon bite at the south end of Ten Mile, from the old Coast Guard lifesaving station down, and a better bite at Bird Rock. The Bird action only lasted for a day but it was close and steady, while the Ten Mile bite was a few short flurries. McLure's had some halibut and a few salmon as well, including a 26# salmon yesterday. Probably the best bet is still trolling between the Trees and outer red buoy in 40 to 60 feet of water, as close to the bottom as you can afford. The fish aren't stacked up in there but they are definitely passing through. There was a great halibut bite on the bar early in the week but it fizzled out by Wednesday when even the divers couldn't find any. A few were back yesterday but not like they had been. Catching bait has been quite a chore for the halibut fishermen, so be prepared to start extra early in order to catch enough. The rockfishing has been as slow as it gets for most people trying.

Most of the fishermen that worked the beach caught fish yesterday, mostly halibut but some salmon were mixed in. There are still a few salmon right out front, like the 23# salmon that was caught right by the outer red buoy. Tom Cook caught this 24# salmon, above, in the same area the day before.

Dave Prater of Stockton caught this 20# lingcod yesterday. While we've seen a lot of lings coming in this year, not many of them even approach this size. Dave finessed it with a 3/4 ounce jig on a light rod.

It is hard to believe that out of the 12 halibut caught by this crew, none placed in the tournament. I guess eating a lot of halibut is pretty good consolation. Pictured is Dave Prater, Brandon Kundert, Jim Van Ruiten and John Rosasco. Apparently, jigging for halibut works.

First Place and $1080 went to Aldo Freggario with this 26 pound flatty. The BBQ after was good fun and a nice way to remember our friends. There were many fish stories told, and a few of them were even true. A lot of people are looking forward to the 2nd Annual Tournament. 

 Second Place and $360 went to Harolyn Nelson with this 19# halibut from the bar.

 The 1st Annual Ivan "Doc" Hayes and Charley "2Duck" Kundert Halibut Fishing Tournament & BBQ is over and a lot of fun was had by all. Third Place went to Jerrie Carter with this 18 pounder. She won a Penn 320GT2 reel.

Yesterday saw some good salmon and halibut fishing for some and nothing for some others. Team Fogal landed 9 halibut and 5 salmon for 3 fishermen at the south end of Ten Mile, but according to the radio, so far today the boats fishing that hot spot are fishless. McLure's spit out a few more halibut and salmon yesterday, but the guys that limited on halibut there on Saturday didn't get bit at all on Sunday. Some nice salmon were caught at the Keyholes in 50 to 60 feet of water. The boats that trolled down Ten Mile until they found fish seemed to do OK. There's about 30 boats from here out looking today.

There were some nice salmon and a few halibut taken today. Ten Mile Beach, from the north parking lot to just north of Abbott's Lagoon, was pretty good for salmon. Fish were caught in 20 to 60 feet of water, especially at the color change. The bar and McClure's had some halibut action and a few salmon were hooked in the area too. The rockfishing recovered today as well.

Belay the last report about a bite at Abbott's - it was over before I reported it. The rockfish didn't bite today, only a few salmon, and high boat had 4 halibut that were caught on almost every beach we have here. Good luck tomorrow.

Very slow on the water today, except for a salmon bite at Abbott's Lagoon. The word on the radio and from the boat that returned from there was that there was a fairly consistent bite of small to large size salmon from the lagoon to the first parking lot. Since nothing else is going on, this looks like the best bet.

Here's a fish from last weekend. Derek Fairchild emailed this: " kinda late, but look what we found on the bar. 22#. 30' of water up the beach towards the esteros a ways. spinning herring with green hootchie. " Nicely done, Derek.

Well, the fishing should get better for the weekend because it can't get much slower now. There were two salmon landed here yesterday, one of them from Ten Mile, and no halibut that I heard of. Luckily there was a decent rockfish bite. The water is about 55 degrees and clear and there is some scattered bait around. Perhaps we just need a few more boats out looking.