Conditions were fair and vis was 10-15'.
Now the bad news: so many of us were having so much fun that in order to fit everybody in we had to rent several more campsites which has put us over budget. Having fun is what the club is all about so we made it happen. Our treasurer has suggested that we forgo an upcoming campout in order to catch up this deficit. I think it is a worthy suggestion. A couple of alternatives would be to do a day dive in August or September or go to Monterey. Or folks could help pay for the next campout. We can decide this at the next meeting. Currently we do not have a reservation anywhere for September. I have been investigating camps in the Fort Bragg area but it gets pricey. There are individual sites available at Van Damme State park and we could put that together. I would also like to suggest possibly a Doran beach campout which has a lot to offer including Halibut, Ab and fun diving as well as Salmon fishing. Also it not so far and we have been on the North Coast even more than usual this year.
I look forward to seeing you all at the picnic on July 5th. I may not make the Manchester Campout as duty calls but it should be a blast!
I am sponsoring a Tomales Halibut Dive which is scheduled for the 28th of July. We will meet at Lawson's Landing at 12:30 PM for the afternoon tide. Call me if you are interested. See you out there!
--Jock Doss
Everyone should bring some firewood and a dish besides fish for the Saturday Potluck. Bring your bodies, your gear, and let's all have a great time!
The Anchor Bay campout saw quite a turnout for the REDs this year, with about 7 campsites being occupied. Although the wind was howling there was no swell in the ocean. VP Mike Mendoza was the only one to show up with a boat, and he decided to hit arena rock on Saturday due to the promising conditions. Mike, Bob O., Charles, Jed and his two friends Chris and Dave loaded up and headed for the harbor.
A slight comedy of errors ensued while trying to get out of the harbor, as one diver forgot their weightbelt, one of the boat lift straps was missing and the battery was dead in the boat so it wouldn't start. After handling all these items we finally headed into the waves. The ride was a little bumpy but not bad since there was almost no swell. Once we anchored I could tell it had been a while since we had last dove as Mike jumped in without his weight belt and my tank fell out of my BC when I hit the water. Anyway, after all the fooling around we had an incredible dive. The vis was 40 foot vertical and about 25 horizontal. The rock was as beautiful as ever and the scallops were plentiful, several nice lings were seen although we all decided to leave the guns on the boat for a change. That was a smart decision in the end because it turned out that lings were closed at that time anyway, although we received conflicting info from fish & game. Speaking of which, I am going to try to start a new section in the newsletter for game regulations, especially in the spring when there are so many short term closures. Several club members have been reprimanded and/or fined already this year for abalone card violations and salmon violations. Since we have so much experience in this club this should not be happening. See ya at the beach!
--Jed Douglas
Rockfish - open, Limit: Ten in any combination of species, except: bocaccio-two; canary rockfish-one; cowcod-zero.
Size limit: None, except no bocaccio may be taken or possessed that is less than 10 inches in total length.
Lingcod - open, limit two, 26 inches total length
Greenling - open, limit ten, 12 inches total length
Halibut - open, limit three, 22 inches total length
California halibut taken from or possessed aboard a vessel south of Point Arena (Mendocino County): Fillets must be a minimum of 16 and three-quarter inches in length and shall bear the entire skin intact. A fillet from a California halibut (flesh from one entire side of the fish with the entire skin intact) may not be cut into half fillets. However, a fillet may be cut lengthwise in a straight line along the midline of the fillet where the fillet was attached to the vertebra (backbone) of the fish only if the two pieces of the fillet remain joined along their midline for a length of at least two inches at one end of the fillet.
Fish that May Not be Filleted: No person shall fillet on any boat or bring ashore as fillets the following fish: cabezon, kelp and rock greenlings, California halibut north of Point Arena (Mendocino County), and any species of flatfish, other than California halibut, including Pacific and Greenland halibut, tonguefish, sole, turbot, flounder, and sanddab, and salmon, striped bass and sturgeon.