Things are beginning to heat up in the Monterey Bay fishing world. If we follow the trajectory established so far in 2017 we are looking at a possible epic fishing season.

Inshore waters are still rather cool for this time of year, hovering just under 60 degrees. This has kept most rockfish and large halibut outside in deeper water. Best bet for big flatties this week was fishing from 55 to 70 feet of water. Hot spots encompass the Mile Buoy area on down to Pajaro. Anglers launching from Capitola are having good luck on halibut near the SC3 Buoy, just off Pleasure Point. Kayak angler Ken Marple fished that area Monday and returned with two good-sized halibut for his efforts. Marple went back the next day to the same spot, this time rigged for salmon. He and his partner both caught limits of king salmon while trolling a Krippled Anchovy behind a flasher.

Yes, king salmon are back. Even in shallow water. Who knows for how long, but they are here now and many of them are of the large variety. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine has reported a good number of fish caught in the 20-30 pound range. “Salmon are still being caught in front of the Santa Cruz Harbor up to Three Trees in 120 feet of water. The majority of the salmon are being caught 80 feet down.

Monterey boats have found the salmon near Point Pinos in 200-300 feet of water. Chris’ Fishing Trips sent out a couple boats to mooch salmon last week, but the count was low for their anglers drifting bait. Seems like the trolling technique is still the way to go for kings. Ed Burrell from Capitola Boat and Bait warns us to “look close at your fish, sliver salmon are showing.” Silvers may not be retained under any circumstances.

Experts advise us to release the fish while still in the water. Any handling can affect the skin and scales of these fish and foster infections. Check your fish I.D. chart carefully to be sure you can tell the difference between a king and a silver salmon. Avoid the hefty fine for illegal silver salmon. King’s have black gums at the base of their teeth, the gums at the base of the teeth are white on silvers. Kings have spots on both lobes of their tailfins, while silvers have spots on the top of the tailfin only.

For rockfish and lingcod, the usual spots are producing well. Go Fish Santa Cruz had limit-style fishing this week on local reefs. Owner Beth Thompson reported, “Captain Jimmy took the Miss Beth to the Natural Bridges area where the bite was hot for big rock cod and ling cod. Every time they landed a fish the next one was bigger. By 10:30 they had 6 nice lingcod and a variety of rock fish and were ready to come in.” Similarly, Chris’ Sportfishing in Monterey posted their usual limits of rockfish as well as averaging one ling per rod fishing near Point Joe and Carmel Bay last week.