Local marine weather and ocean swell conditions settled down this week, which resulted in a marked catch rate increase for the nearshore bottom-dwelling fish. Salmon fishing was very good last weekend, though the fish seemed to to be on the move during the latter part of the week.

Beth Thomas says Go Fish Santa Cruz Charters enjoyed a few days of limit-style fishing near Mulligan’s Hill before the bite tapered off. On “We went catching again. The salmon bite is on. Our charter caught seven nice salmon up to 20 pounds, had four shakers and lost two fish. We fished at Mulligan’s again using purple haze hoochies and gold spoons. It was t-shirt weather.”

“It may be time to go up the coast and look for salmon near Three Trees and Davenport,” says Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine at the Santa Cruz Harbor. On Wednesday, there was a different tale to tell, according to Fraser. “There are limits being reported near Mulligan Hill as of noon. The fish are being caught in 160-200 feet of water. The majority of the action is coming near the bottom. The wind was down all morning and the swell is small. There was a boat yesterday who had his limits on the east side of the Soquel Hole,” Fraser reported.

A salmon limit was also reported by one boat fishing near the Pajaro Hole on Tuesday, which supports the idea of bait and feeding salmon slowly working their way north. This is a typical pattern for king salmon in the Monterey Bay during springtime. Depending on the feed available, don’t be surprised if a good bite develops next week near the Soquel Hole, or even further north towards Davenport or Pigeon Point.

Meanwhile, calm conditions are bringing halibut into the shallows and putting rockfish back on the bite. In Monterey, Chris’ Fishing Trips is concentrating on the groundfish and posted limits of rockfish and limits of up to 50 lingcod on all of their trips this week. Chris’ has mostly been fishing the rocky areas between Monterey and Carmel Bay.

Santa Cruz groundfish anglers are doing well near South Rock, off the West Cliff area and the 80-120- foot reefs up the coast towards Davenport. An increasing number of halibut are showing from the West cliff area and the usual springtime spots near Lighthouse Point, SC7 and the Mile Buoys.

Next week’s fishing weather looks very good, especially for early-morning go-outs. Friday and Saturday nights may have some gusty winds, but the swell remains small with mild winds expected during the early part of the week.