Friday, May 14, 2010

Blowin' Away


For some reason Bob Dylan's "Idiot Wind" is stuck in my head. I'm sure it's because I'm sick and tired of this windy weather pattern that's dominated April and May. It's starting to cut into my fishing time, and that's more than I can countenance, to be sure.

From my perch here off the water, I've been reading all the fishing reports from San Francisco Bay and environs. Halibut are in and they're biting for the trollers. On the other hand, every report from drift fishing anglers says: skunk. That's because the wind has been southernly this week, or opposite of the daytime tidal flow. They're drifting their bait right by their prey...who are busy looking the opposite direction!

Halibut are primarily ambush hunters. They behave just like wild trout in a stream, looking upstream (or up-current in the case of the halibut) ready to grab any morsel of feed that comes their way. There are those rare magical times when the tide swings are small and the water is clear that the halibut will come out of concealment on the bottom and chase bait up through the water column. These times generate plenty of ink in your outdoor press, and often overuse superlatives in epic style. (Guilty)

Duly shorebound, SturgeUrge and I wait for the forecast to favor our endeavors. The WeatherDude on Channel 2 has been hyping the models all week...the same models that hit the last two storms a week out...twice. He's saying another storm next Monday...our usual fishing day...Grrrr

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