Starting with salmon, after a month of "fits and starts" both the ocean and the salmon are becoming more reliable with reports from party boats and private boaters of a fish and a half per rod on kings and (sadly) more then guys care to count on silvers/coho.
I spoke with one private boater who claimed to have caught and released 40-50 silvers between him self and two other skiffs. That said, I can't emphasize enough the importance of shaking those silvers off the hook without boating the fish as they have a notoriously poor ability to coagulate their blood which causes them to bleed out like hemophiliacs, even if they appear to swim off unscathed. That said, the top baits are 5.5" apex lures in "police car", and "watermelon", green R.S.K.s and clear F.B.R.s both baited with green or red size herring. Most action seems to be centered around dux and the N buoy.
Halibut has been a little tricky this year however in the last two weeks several reports spoke of 1-2 fish a rod in the 10-20lb range drifting live bait and a handfull of giant pacific halibut in the 30-50lb range that have wandered into the bay. Best spots are Red Rock,
Salmon and Halibut are great and very tasty, but the thing that gets me SUPER PUMPED is the striped bass action. Most creeks and sloughs in Marin and
The big boys (those stripers which have moved out into saltwater, feeding voraciously and reaching 25-45 lbs) are on the beaches, Fort Point, Elephant Rock, and Crissy Field, and demand real striper tackle - surf rods, 50-65lb braid, big Pencil Poppers, serious iron like 2-4oz Kastmasters or Hopkins. Here in Marin, look to Stinson Beach where they have already stuck a dozen fish in the 25-35lb class, or Muir Beach, where perch anglers find themselve alone and unable to keep the big stripers off their rigs.
The weather is looking pretty good for this weekend, so get out and enjoy!
