Rock cod season is under way, halibut are biting — but most anglers couldn’t care less, as salmon fishing sizzles.
It is starting to appear as if National Marine Fisheries’ prediction of more than 800,000 salmon expected to return this year is true. Salmon are being caught from sport and commercial boats in high numbers from Shelter Cove to Santa Barbara.
Local rockfish season began in our waters May 1, and fishing has been good. Boaters have been getting five to 10 fish per person on recent rockfish trips, and lingcod have been common as well.
The best area this time of year is closer to the Santa Cruz, where the water is calmer, clearer and warmer. Rockfish have also been caught from Lighthouse Point to Davenport Landing.
Halibut have started their inshore migration, with calmer swells and warmer water. Schools of anchovies, sardines and even a few herring have been caught for use as live bait.
Fishing for bottom fish has been decent, but it does not compare with the hot salmon bite that has continued in the bay. Limits of salmon are more common than not. Private boaters, charter boats and commercial salmon fishermen have been getting their share. Commercial fishermen have been catching 30 to 100 or more salmon a day with a nice grade of fish.
The wholesale market is holding up with the quantity of fish, and buyers are paying $5 to $6 a pound, while consumers may pay two to three times that from the docks or at markets. These fish are fat and have been feeding on krill, and the meat is bright red and worth every penny.
“We are fishing with spoons,” reported Capt. Jimmy Rubin aboard the Becky Ann. “These fish are aggressive and hot.”
He and his guests have been getting early limits of salmon — two per person — on every trip lately. The best action in the Monterey Bay has been near the Pajaro Hole, which lies on the north side of Moss Landing Harbor.
With strong reports of salmon as far south as Santa Barbara and a bay full of baitfish and krill, our salmon season should last many weeks to come as more fish migrate this direction.
– 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 20 years. Contact him at ca************@***oo.com. He also hosts a fishing show on radio station KSCO (1080) from 8:06 to 9 p.m. Thursdays through the end of August.
