Not too much catching going on with the salmon today. The rockfishing was pretty good for most of the guys that tried it. The Vogler family decided to go catch dinner and went out after work to try for squid. Above is Cameron, showing how to unhook a squid (and himself) from a sabiki rig.

This video shows the boat that is trying to catch all the spawning squid. With luck he leaves us a few. The squid were next to the outer red bell buoy, number 2, under the birds. For the record, it seemed like they liked the pink sabikis way better than the whitish ones. We caught 89 squid in about an hour of fishing.
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A couple of salmon landed today for the four boats that went out. The wind, so far, has remained offshore. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice but Monday's forecast calls for a 9 foot swell. At least there aren't any halibut on the bar to lure fishermen to their doom.

Not too much to report except for windy ocean conditions for the last few days. There's a big school of squid nearby that should have the fish boiling around it, but so far as I can tell the only thing to eat around there is the squid. They are tasty, though.

Summer Over...Thankfully!

The weather at last seems to be settled into what we expect for this time of year and river levels last weekend were perhaps a little low but with the implementation of a little more stealth than normal fish were definitely on the lookout for an easy meal.

On Saturday I headed off to the River Ithon and had the company of Steve...a mate who I used to fish alongside during my old coarse/match fishing days.

A midday start and a brisk walk down the river and we were soon connecting with some fish but the larger fish that this river holds were definitely very wary and not really showing themselves.

Both of us fished our way up fishing the duo style (Klinkhamer on a dropper with a small weighted nymph 18"-24" below). Persistence paid off and we had both ended up netting a couple of good quality fish along with the smaller ones, arriving back at the car with our lungs filled full of pure Welsh air and the scent of freshly baled hay from the fields...and of course the odd whiff of manure here and there!

This quality trout eventually calmed by Steve after putting on quite an aerial display! 

On Sunday I spent a few hours battling the much stronger winds a little further south on the River Irfon, a totally different river with faster flows...a true upland welsh river originating from the Cambrian Mountains.

The fishing was again a case of an extremely stealthy approach to get the best out of it and fishing was much tougher than the previous day.

All in all it felt like a good weekend to be out fishing and as I posted on this blog last year...I just love Autumn fishing...especially the back end of the trout season.

Here's Gil Mels and Ted Anderson with some more of Thursday's tuna. Yesterday's tuna mission was not as fruitful, with one boat catching five and another, returning at 10PM, with one. The weather was not good offshore 

Scott Alexander of Rocklin caught this 27 pound salmon yesterday while trolling.

Chase Conley of Healdsburg speared this 36 pound halibut on the bar today. There were a few others shot and seen on the bar by the group of divers. Fishermen scored a few more halibut off of Dillon Beach today, at least two of which were caught on jigs. Finally a few halibut to report.

The two boats that went for albacore today caught "as many as we could hold." The Due Regard reported two six way hookups. The numbers were N38 48 by W123 42. Salmon fishing was OK with fish coming from the Point/Bird area, 40 to 60 feet of water near the north parking lot, and a couple at Elephant. Again, no halibut that I heard of. Rockfishing was slow at Point Reyes.

Here's Rich Chapin, Andy Fisch and Herb Hansen with some of yesterday's tuna. They would look happier except that now they have to go clean 17 albacore.

The albacore guys caught today. I heard of 15 to 16 fish to a boat and 25 to 35 pound fish. 50 miles or so out, I didn't catch all the numbers but it sounded like 37 45 by 123 42 or so. Salmon numbers were not as good but were OK. The salmon were in the usual spots as well as a few in 30 feet off of the north parking lot on Ten Mile.

Good weather is forecast for the next few days, so if you haven't got your fill of salmon yet, here's your opportunity. They're still biting from buoy "2" down to the Trees in 50 to 70 feet of water, mostly on the bottom but some are coming up high now. It's typical late season action with nothing going on for an hour or two, then you get a little flurry of action, then nothing again. Keeping the hooks in their mouths is also challenging. Getting a halibut to put the hooks in its mouth is even more challenging this year. It should be prime time for halibut now but nobody told the flatfish. Lots of sand sole are on the beach, so maybe they could be tiny replacements. There's a few boats running for albacore tomorrow. Report to follow.

Mara Nursement caught this 20 pound (gutted) salmon on derby day. All Mike got was a cold saltwater bath from a breaker.

Paul Gross also landed a 20 pound salmon for the derby.

Terry Fogal is smiling because his salmon is half a pound bigger than the others on this entry. "Center consoles rule!"

Paul Kotko, Jake Showaker and Adam Kotko pose with the winning fish.

A wet Ron Johnson shows off his 19 pound (gutted) salmon from derby day.

Vic Shada finally found the fish later in the day but put three fish in the boat in 45 minutes just north of Bird Rock in 60 feet of water.

   The Merle Lawson Memorial Salmon Derby was held yesterday in some pretty rough water. The winners were: Jake Showaker, 1st place, 24 pounds; Roger Remington, 2nd place, 24 pounds; and Rich Chapin, 3rd place, 23.5 pounds. Tied weights went to the first fish weighed in, so Jake's early finish put him on top. About 25 boats fished in unpleasant conditions at best, with some of the boats scooping waves over their bows while trolling. Hooking a fish was difficult and actually putting one in the boat without going in the drink yourself was a major challenge. Due to the skill of the competitors (and a bit of luck) nobody got hurt and quite a few fish made it into the boats. There was a raffle at the dinner afterwards with prizes donated by Diekmann's General Store, Dillon Beach Resort, Outdoor Pro Shop, Roseberry Construction, and the Lawson family. Thanks to everyone that came out, and hopefully we can do it again next year.

Paul Page caught this 22 and this 19 pound salmon today while mooching in an undisclosed location. He caught them both early, then tried for halibut for three hours without a bite. A pair of divers speared two limits of halibut on the bar and saw another 5 fish, so the flat ones may finally be showing back up.



Craig Wilson of Colorado caught this 42 pound white sea bass yesterday while salmon fishing. Lots of salmon were caught yesterday as well, mostly in the Tomales Point to the Trees area in 35 to 70 feet of water, both by trolling and mooching. Mooching may have had an edge with a few more caught. I fished Ten Mile and saw 8 salmon jump (one was 20+ pounds) and caught 4 salmon to 26 pounds. The two "hot spots" were the north parking lot (3 salmon and a halibut) and the Keyholes. Elephant and the Keyholes definitely had more bait than anywhere else on the beach.

Newest local legend Nathan Porter now leads the big fish board with this 36 pound slug. Also pictured is a 26 pounder. The fish came on the troll south of the Trees in 50 feet of water and bit a purple label herring.

Travis Barton nailed this 20 pound salmon on Ten Mile yesterday while trolling 20 feet of water.

Bruce Schneider caught this white sea bass last year while fishing in 40 feet of water off the esteroes. Yes, this is last year's fish, but honestly, how many sea bass do we see around here?

Jeff LaLonde of West Sacramento caught this beautiful 33 pound salmon yesterday.

Mike Nursement caught this 22# salmon on a trolled glow-in-the-dark RSK with a herring.

Mike Pfiefle shot this 31 pound halibut on the bar on Saturday.

Today saw fewer boats on the water and fewer fish brought in. Of those fish, one was a 33 pound salmon (picture tomorrow) and three were halibut caught this side of Hog Island. The halibut were caught by one fisherman and he jigged them up in about a half hour.

Here's what some of those salmon looked like. These were caught Friday in the Tomales Point to the Trees area and ran 23 and 18 pounds. There was an 8 pound fish but that was one too many to hold so it didn't get in the photo. If you have fish pictures (preferably of fish caught near here) send them to lawsonslanding@gmail.com with a little info and I'll get them posted.

Some boats did well today, a few caught nothing, but most boats had 1 or 2 salmon. The salmon came from the usual places as well as off of Elephant and Ten Mile. The depths remained the same except that some of the salmon at Elephant were at the top and the beach fish were as shallow as you'd dare. A couple of halibut from Ten Mile.

There were some nice fish landed today but not as many fish per boat as yesterday. Jellyfish and seaweed moved in to "good spot" today making fishing a lot more complicated. The Keyholes had a few fish without the complications. Divers found a few halibut on the bar today. A boat out rockfishing the shallows near Tomales Point reported slow fishing but saw a few salmon on the surface and a pair of large great white sharks (do they come in any other size?).

No halibut that I heard about yesterday but good salmon counts. The salmon were, again, from the buoy to below the Trees and especially on the reef edges in 50 to 70 feet. If you're not catching and not losing gear then you need to get closer to the bottom. I'm not just saying that because we sell gear (well, maybe a little) but because it works. Greens, glow-in-the-dark and UV seem to be killers on the baitholders. Flashers and dodgers will work but in my opinion are too expensive to leave on the bottom. Luckily, the fish will bite without the shiny stuff.