Shelter Cove:
Trent Slate of Shelter Cove Sport Fishing had a great day on Friday, May 2nd above the 40/10 line with an incredible total of 54 ling cod to 18-pounds, keeping 7 limits of the toothy fish. One angler caught and released 20 lings by himself. They landed limits of rockfish consisting primarily of coppers and reds, and they added a 17-pound Pacific halibut as a bonus. He added near limits of crab and said that they weren't were he thought they would be and had to spend some time to locate them. There were a total of 5 Pacific halibut to 52-pounds landed on Friday among the few boats that made the run up the coast. The winds came up on Saturday and Sunday keeping him from making the 17 mile run up the coast. He has an open boat on Saturday and room on Sunday of this coming weekend.

Shelter Cove Halibut
The Pacific Halibut season opens on May 1st. Captain Trent from Bite Me Sportfishing will be running his popular pacific halibut trips starting then. Rockfish is open north of the 40/10 line now and the waters south of here open June 1st. Reservations can be made at 707 923-1668

No boats ventured out of Ft Bragg this weekend due to the weather and because the local waters are still closed to rockfishing until June 1st. Lots of ab divers will be descending on the Mendo coast this week to take advantage of the big spring tides. The weather forecast calls for a moderate swell and high winds most of this week so use caution and don't do in the water if conditions are beyond your ability.

Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Areas On Hold
The Department of Fish and Game announced on Saturday 4-26 at an informational meeting in Ukiah that the Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Areas will NOT come into effect this season. We are not sure why the sudden about face but public outcry, lack of public notice and the lack of accredited science behind the closure is likely the reason.
They have stated though that once the by-catch is met the entire North Central rockfish season will be closed. Last year the season was closed early due to the high incidences of private boaters retaining yelloweye. It is up to us sport anglers to learn how to properly and consistently identify yelloweye rockfish if we wish to have a full season. Shelter Cove and Ft Bragg anglers do see some of the higher incidences of yellow eye rockfish and fish that are both released or brought to port do count against the overall by- catch. Once roughly 1800 yelloweye are recorded the rockfish season will be closed.

Pictured above are a couple of pictures of both adult and juvenile yelloweye rockfish. Note the rounded pectoral fins that are often pink with black tips. The juveniles can be easily IDed by the broad white strips down the laterally line and from the cheek to the body below the eye and below the lateral line. The DFG also has additional pictures posted at their website and we urge everyone to have colored pictures of rockfish on board their vessels at all times.
The easiest way to avoid any yelloweye by-catch is to fish shallower waters. Yelloweye are most often found in deeper waters and the depth restrictions increased to 180 feet of water last season was a big part of why more were slowing up in anglers bags. This year with the restrictions moved back into 120 (or less) feet we should see lower catches but if sport anglers stay inside of 80 feet they will see even fewer. Also try to stay off the bottom by a few turns (most YE are resident fish that rarely stray off their home pinnacle) and concentrate on catching school fish like blacks, browns and blues along the edges of the even shallower kelp beds. The bottom line is that it is up to us to keep the by-catch down if we want to have a full six month fishery.  I expect that we will see YRCAs in the future but if we can bring the by-catch down to sustainable levels we could avoid them all together.
Mike Aughney

New Abalone Tags
Have any of you tagged an ab yet? I and a couple of friends took advantage of the weather window to punch a few tags off our abalone cards today. What a poorly thought out process theses new tags are. After about 20 minutes in the water it took us over 15 minutes to fill out our punch cards, date and tag both the card and the tags and attach the tags to the abs. I brought along zip ties to help with the process and they were too large and I had to borrow some from another diver. With wet, cold hands (that I tried to dry off the best as possible)  the ink still ran and was illegible. The type of paper used for the tags instantly clogged my pen so I also had to borrow a pen. If I had been stopped I would bet I would have been cited due to my punch card not being "properly filled out." Even if I had filled out the tag legibly it is doubtful that the date and time on the tags would have been legible by the time I reached my truck due to the water and slime that the abs are throwing off on the hike back. In the rain it would be IMPOSSIBLE to fill out that tag as required.
I support what F&G is doing to stop poaching but this new punch card system is a joke and will only lead to 100s of ethical anglers getting huge fines and will do nothing to stop poaching. If you want to take more abs than allowed you can just buy a whole new annual license and a new punch card. With no centralized computer system they will never know and when they bring new system on-line I would bet that unethical anglers if caught will get off and just claim they "lost their card and had not punched any abs". How would a F&G warden in the field ever know? We all want to see the poachers nailed but this new punch card is not the answer. The answer is to widen the "green line" and have more wardens in the field. After all wasn't one of the reasons for the punch card in the first place was to help pay for more enforcement? The cards will bring over one million dollars to the department this year why not hire a few wardens with those funds and have them concentrate on the large poaching rings that wardens claim take more abs than the 32,000 ethical sport abers combined.
I would bet that many of you will be cited this year and I would bet that most of those citations will be for not over limits, short abs or anything of the like but improperly filled out punch cards. This is just another example of the lack of thought and process of F&G. Why not sell individual tags only through the F&G regional offices and have them recorded as being sold to you? They could imprint all the info on a zip tie and wardens could check that info from the field. One name, 24 individual tags max and no trying to fill out a tag shore-side with wet hands. The department will have to first get a centralized computer system in place. They should see what other states like Alaska use for their systems with a centralized website where anglers can buy all their tags and licenses and info is collected and stored. This information would make a wardens job easier and possibly lead to some larger poachers getting busted instead of ethical, wet handed anglers wasting a day in court.
A few tips to keep you in the good graces of the wardens and out of court. Bring along some of the narrow (1/8th) X 4" zip ties. The tags are quite small and the larger zip ties will not work. Store a small towel or a few paper towels in a zip lock bag to dry off your hands prior to filling out your punch card. The fine point pen I brought along was not the best to use. A ball point is a better option. If it's raining filling out the tags would be impossible. If you can't fill out your tag when you exit the water I would at least attach my tags to my abs and immediately fill out when you return to your vehicle. Store your license, tags and two pens in a dry zip lock bag, close it securely and then place this into another zip lock bag. Though not following the letter of the law it's the next best option. Poaching is a huge problem and wardens need as much help as possible. If you see something suspicious call the DFG Cal Tip line. The number is on your fishing license.
Mike Aughney