April 2 came with great anticipation for salmon anglers. The weather predictions were rough along the California coast as anglers prepared to venture out. Monterey Bay proved to be the best spot for salmon and weather.
National Marine Fisheries announced the season to open in federal waters, 3 miles offshore, several weeks ago. Most parties involved believed the state would follow suit, although the formal decision from the California Department of Fish and Game and the Pacific Fisheries Council did not come until Friday, April 1. The delay in the process did not deter anglers from getting prepared or excited.
The season opened for salmon Saturday from Horse Mountain to the Mexican border. The legal size for sport-caught fish is 24 inches, and the regulation for gear restrictions remains the same.
In Santa Cruz, some anglers reported early limits Saturday as they steamed into port with their two-fish-per-person limits. Moss Landing and Monterey also kicked out some salmon. The rest of the California coast suffered from high winds and rough ocean conditions. It is typical for the Monterey Bay to produce fish early in the season, while Half Moon Bay, Bodega Bay and San Francisco fishing gets better for salmon as the season progresses.
“We had a nice showing of salmon,” reported Captain Jimmy Rubin aboard the Becky Ann, “and people seem very interested in fishing this year.”
Captain Jimmy is starting to book up and has pulled his crab pots to put all his efforts into salmon fishing for his charters.
“We had four salmon on the opening day, and one fish was 30 pounds,” he added.
That is a large salmon for this time of year. Many boats reported “shaker salmon,” which means they were too small to keep and must be shaken or released off the hook unharmed.
Many businesses had suffered from last year’s closed salmon season and are happy to see the interest back in the fishery and local economy.
Todd Fraser, at Bayside Marine in the Santa Cruz Harbor, reported, “The salmon are still being caught in the Soquel Hole and near Moss Landing in 200 to 280 feet of water.”
Top baits have been trolled anchovies or herring. Fish are also reported on spoons and hoochies trolled behind flashers. A few boats even had success while mooching, a technique of drifting baits with lighter tackle.
Ken Stagnaro, aboard the Velocity, uses mooching as his tactic to catch salmon and did well the opening day.
“We had lots of action today on our first salmon trip,” Stagnaro said. “The total was 12, and we had to release over 20 salmon that were too small.”
The sign of salmon and small fish looks promising for healthy stocks of fish this year and next season.
Mike Baxter has fished in the Monterey Bay Area since he was a boy and has been a licensed charter boat captain for more than 15 years. Contact him at
ca************@ya***.com
. He also hosts a fishing show on radio station KSCO (1080) from 7:06 to 8 p.m. Thursdays through September.
