The month of May has been somewhat challenging for Monterey Bay anglers. There are plenty of fish, but weather and sea conditions have been less than kind. A continuing combination of large swells and high winds made many days uncomfortable or even impossible for fishing. The latest weather forecast indicates things are settling down at least in the short term. The coming weekend looks very good for fishing with light winds and a gentle swell predicted.

In poor conditions, bigger boats have an advantage. Charter trips dispatched from Chris’ Fishing out of Monterey Harbor continue to report big bags of rockfish and lingcod for their clients. Last week the Caroline posted half to full limits of rockfish on all their trips, as well as limits of lingcod. Launching from Moss Landing, the Kahuna claimed “easy limits” of rockfish and lings on Tuesday while fishing inside the bay, according to Kahuna Sportfishing owner Carol Jones. Stagnaro’s Sportfishing in Santa Cruz had similar results this week. Ken Stagnaro reported, “The last full day cod trip on Legacy was a great trip. We fished in deeper water, around 200 feet, but the extra cranking was well worth it. We got limits of big rockfish and almost limits of lingcod for 15 people. They had lots of big reds, coppers and trophy-sized yellows! Big ling was about 13 pounds.”

Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine gave and overview of midweek fishing. On Wednesday, Fraser said “The wind was blowing hard by 9:30 today so there were not many boats to get reports from. There were some fish (salmon) caught near Moss Landing and the west side of the Soquel Hole.” Fishing on Tuesday was a bit better, according to Fraser who reported, “There were a few salmon caught near the Soquel Hole and near Mulligan Hill. The wind was not bad today this morning but it did blow in the afternoon. The rock fishing was good for the anglers near South Rock. Striped Bass are being caught near Marina on SP Minnows.”

We have good news for the smaller skiff and kayak anglers. Inshore fishing is beginning to heat up. Ed Burrell from Capitola Boat and Bait reports decent sea conditions for anglers fishing nearby kelp beds and out to 80 feet of water. The Mile Reef and Capitola Reef have begun to produce good catches of brown and blue rockfish, lings even a few halibut. Burrell himself got out on a rental skiff and returned from a nearby reef with two blue lings, caught using a live sardine and live kingfish. He also reports good perch fishing from the Capitola Wharf. A number of large-size black, rubberlip and pile perch were hoisted over the railing this week as well as an occasional legal (18-inch or more) striped bass.