It’s a great relief for commercial crabbers to finally be able to get out and start earning some money catching Dungeness from our Northern California waters. Sadly, with no salmon season last year and severe restrictions in 2023, an increasing number of commercial operations have gone out of business. The outlook for a 2024 salmon season looks bleak. We’ll take a good look at salmon possibilities for 2024 in another column soon, but suffice to say the numbers of Sacramento fish returning to spawn is abysmally low. It does not look good for either commercial or sport salmon season in our area this spring.

Recreational crab anglers are now allowed to resume using traditional crab pots, as the number of humpback whales feeding in our area has dropped. Catches of Dungeness are really good right now in Monterey Bay and on up the coast to Half Moon Bay and Marin County, perhaps because of reduced pressure on the biomass of crab so far this year with no commercial fishing and recreational anglers limited to hoop nets or snares.Local charter operations running “crab and ‘dab” trips are going to find it a lot easier to get limits for their clients of the tasty crustaceans. Sand dabs are plentiful in the 120-250 foot depths, and easily caught using sabiki rigs tipped with squid bits. The tasty sole are small, but there is no bag limit. Anglers targeting the sand dabs commonly return with 20 or 30 fish , which make for fine table fare. Larger Petrale sole can be found in those same areas and caught with the same gear, though they are not as numerous. 

The coming weekend weather looks a bit iffy. Forecasts from midweek indicated rain is expected both Saturday and Sunday, which isn’t a problem for fishing. Strong southerly winds and a combination of wind waves and a large swell can make things messy though, and make for tough fishing as well. At a certain point, it becomes a safety issue, but the fish usually stop biting before conditions get to that level.  Fishing from the beaches is getting better and better as we move into the gut of winter. Barred surf perch are the main prey. They are getting bigger and more numerous at most beaches ringing Monterey Bay. We are seeing an uptick of small stripers caught in the surf as well, usually close to the central bay rivermouths.

Mark your calendars for February 3,2024. The Santa Cruz Fly Fishing Club is holding its annual Wild Caught Salmon Dinner event, held this year at the Pajaro Rod and Gun Club. The event is a yearly favorite, with good food and friends, as well as hundreds of raffle items.