Last week we mentioned the large number of commercial salmon boats anchored up in Santa Cruz for the commercial season opening. Boats from as far away as Fort Bragg and even Oregon were here to capitalize on the consistent king salmon fishing sport anglers had enjoyed since April 1.

Just as in real estate, right after location, location, location comes timing, timing, timing. Fishing stayed good for a few days then slowed way down for all the salmon fishers on the bay. Commercial fish buyer Jeremy Strieg from Harbor Pride Seafood says commercial poundage this week is a mere fraction of the prior week’s catch.

Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine speaks daily with private boaters fishing out of Santa Cruz. Fraser notes a decline in the salmon catch rate as well saying on Wednesday, “The salmon fishing was slow for most of the anglers but there were a few caught here and there. The best area was around the Soquel Hole on the edges of the canyon.”

It remains well worth it to go out and give a try for salmon though. Just ask Trenten Black, who skiff fishes from Capitola Wharf before school most days. He returned Wednesday with a beautiful 10-pound king, caught in relatively shallow water. Capitola Boat and Bait manager Ed Burrell reported, “Trenten caught the fish in 110 feet of water with 80 on the wire, using a gold spoon. He got the one keeper and hooked three shorts.”

Halibut reports are still very scarce. This is most likely due to the continued swell action and our water remaining on the cool side. Inshore temps hovered around 56 degrees last week. Once the surge drops and we inch up just a few degrees, we’ll see the flatties return. For those who have an insatiable hankering for halibut steaks, try heading to San Francisco Bay. There are tons of halibut in SF Bay right now, and they are biters. Captain Jay Yokomizo on the New Huck Finn reported on Tuesday, “Today we had another great day on the water with our 15 anglers. We had 13 halibut up to 14 pounds and nine striped bass to 10 pounds.” This report does not reflect all the action on the boat. The ratio is probably three to one of shakers versus keepers, for both the halibut and the stripers.

Rockfishing is picking up despite our continued high swells. On the north side of the Monterey Bay, the fish are slowly moving in to the shallower water. Best bet is still the deeper reefs from 70-120 feet. Near Monterey, it is full-swing rockfishing. Chris’ Fishing Trips continues to use live bait for daily lingcod limits, and posts an average of ¾ rockfish limits as well. Kayak anglers fishing Del Monte Beach and Carmel Bay this week did well on black, blue and calico rockfish, as well as small, but legal lingcod.