It’s a busy time on the Monterey Bay with rockfish, halibut fishing along with boats heading offshore for albacore. Even whale watching has been great! There are so many choices you have to fit your fancy on the bay right now.
I had the recent pleasure to fill in as captain aboard the Velocity for the 4th of July weekend and we had a great time catching rockfish and whale watching. The rock cod fishing on one twilight trip was some of the best fishing I have seen in a long time. We had 30 limits of rockfish in a couple hours and most of them were good-sized. We caught most within a few miles of the harbor.
The whale-watching trips had calm seas and included great sightings of blue whales and Risso`s dolphin.
It was good to get some time in the wheelhouse and a few more hours of sea time running the charter boat. The thing I miss most doing that fulltime is the people; it was great to spend time with the passengers while going out for whales or rockfish, the happy faces make it so enjoyable.
The first few boats headed out for albacore with calm weather and warm water within 40 miles of shore. The fleet of six boats found no albacore but that news will change soon, I am sure. The first few albacore have already shown up along the Oregon coast and it is only a matter of time before they are caught here.
Salmon remain tough to catch in Monterey Bay. There are still a few salmon caught in Avila and Morro Bay as those fish slowly head north. There have been small waves of salmon moving through the bay. One day they show up in Monterey, the next day at Soquel Hole in Santa Cruz. Salmon fishing remains very good from San Francisco to Eureka. If you haven’t got your fix of salmon, you may have to go north.
Rock fish, lingcod and halibut are the top picks lately as white seas bass continue to elude fishermen.
I hope you have a chance to fish on the Monterey Bay or local fresh water spots soon.
– 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************@ya***.com. He also hosts a fishing show on radio station KSCO (1080) from 8:06 to 9 p.m. Thursdays April through the end of August.
