Salmon fishing in the Monterey Bay is slowing down noticeably. But, fishing for rock cod and lings is steadily improving, and halibut are starting to show. Meanwhile surfcasters fishing from the beaches are finding good numbers of perch and striped bass.

Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine reported on Wednesday, “The fishing for salmon remained slow for the few boats who tried for them.” Fraser last reported salmon caught in the bay on Sunday, saying “there were a few caught at Pajaro.” Since then the pickings have been slim. Even the commercial boats have been getting mostly skunked. Seems like the big school moved north, towards Half Moon Bay.

Following the salmon schools, Captain Tom Joseph from Fish On Sportfishing has been launching from Princeton Harbor the past couple of weeks and has had some success. On Wednesday Joseph said,” Today our private party of three boated two nice salmon with one going 16 pounds. We had plenty of chances but the fish were not sticking today.”

Kahuna Sportfishing is concentrating on the Carmel and Big Sur area. Owner Carol Jones shared her clients’ success story of Wednesday’s trip aboard The Kahuna. She reports, “Beautiful day on the water with flat calm conditions. Our 21 anglers caught limits of lingcod to 19 pounds and near limits of quality vermilion, copper and assorted rockfish plus a bonus: Two nice petrale sole.”

Launching from Santa Cruz Harbor, Captain Chris Victorino took Stagnaro’s Sportfishing clients to a productive location this week. Victorino reports, “Saturday's seven-hour cod trip was great. 28 fisherman aboard Legacy landed near limits of good quality rockfish and 28 lingcod while fishing up near Davenport in 180 feet of water. Big coppers and some reds and canaries were most of the catch.”

And, finally, the halibut are beginning to show in shallower waters. Capitola Boat and Bait honcho Ed Burrell counted a few nice halibut caught by private boats and skiffs in that area this week. Todd Fraser at Bayside also mentions success for anglers near the Mile Buoy bounce-balling fro the big flatties. According to Fraser one boat returned with three fish caught while trolling in that area.

Dedicated surfcasters are reaping rewards right now. Any of the beaches on Monterey Bay can provide good surf fishing for perch and some are kicking out striped bass as well. Most stripers caught last week were undersized, but a few reports came in of bass in the 20-pound range. Anglers are catching the stripers using poppers, SP Minnows, KastMasters, HairRaisers and bait.

The surfperch are numerous. Best bait includes live sandcrabs, Gulp! two-inch sandworms, motor oil grubs, and bait such as shrimp or mussels. Quite a few walleye surfperch were caught from the near-shore troughs this week, as well as the larger harder-hitting barred surf perch. Try fishing just behind the shorebreak for best results.