HMB FISHING REPORT: Tuna on the Cricket; Hungry Circle of Pelicans

Midday on Friday at , Half Moon Bay: had a steady stream of customers interested in buying one of the 150 albacore tuna Webb brought in from up north — off the coast of Fort Bragg, to be exact.

Webb had his trusty fishing partner by his side — Cricket the dog.

"I should be collecting Social Security now, but I can't just sit home and do nothing," he said. "I'd rather be out fishing."

The tuna is selling for $3.50 a pound.

"Salmon isn't biting anymore, but tuna is," Webb said.

Rivera said that Webb will go out for one more trip to catch more tuna. The two then will start prepping their gear for the that starts in November, he said.

Back up at the fish cleaning station at the harbor's promenade, a crowd of pelicans were surrounding S.H. Chan (visiting from Taiwan), Peter Ni (a Fremont resident), Tony Wu (a Union City resident), and another friend who drove in from the East Bay to do some sportfishing.

Chan reported that their trip that morning was a success. "Each of us caught our personal limit — 10 each," he said.

Cleaning a compact blue cod, Chan said that he also caught two vermillion rockfish. His friend caught a variety of rockfish as well, he said.

The men were circled by pelicans on all sides while lined up at the station cleaning their fish. At 6 o'clock, a few were perched on the roof of the restroom structure. At 8 o'clock, perhaps the largest of all was sitting back and watching patiently. At 10 o'clock, a pair sat on the railing, looking at the fish with interest.

And another pair of pelicans at 5 o'clock — the boldest of all — waddled less than a foot next to the men, begging for some scraps.

While Chan and his friends tried to wave them off a few times, the pelicans refused to budge. A few times, one of the pelicans almost nipped at Chan's pants — presumably to make a point.

Chan and Ni threw a few scraps of fish remnants towards the pair as well as over the railings into the harbor, where a cluster of even more pelicans had converged below.

There was a quick flurry for the fish as it fell into the water. Even a few seagulls tried for the prize, but were quickly outmanuevered.

For photos of Webb's albacore tuna, Chan's vermillion rockfish, and the pelican crew, see the photo gallery in the media box to the right of this story.

To receive news feeds about Half Moon Bay and the unincorporated Coastside between Montara and Pescadero, visit Half Moon Bay Patch on Facebook and "like" us here. Follow us on Twitter here.