One thing ever remains the same in fishing. It will always be changing. Happily, for Monterey Bay anglers this week the change is definitely for the better.

Fair skies and calm seas encouraged anglers to get out on the bay to pursue the variety of species available right now. Blustery overnight winds created some bumpy mornings, and afternoon winds sent anglers scurrying back to their berths at the harbors. But, most every day had a few hours of decent fishing time. And the catch rate is going up in these parts.

Chris’ Fishing Trips from Monterey often sends out two boats per day. Their daily fish counts can be a bit deceptive. While continuing to record full limits of rockfish and lingcods on the majority of their trips, they don’t always mention the increasing quality of fish being caught. Using live bait might be their secret.

Yesterday, Troy Stokes from Chris’ said, “We’re using live squid in 300 feet of water off Cypress Point for lings. Seems like there’s more lings than water around down there! We fished Carmel bay today today but seems you can go anywhere and catch rockfish. We’ve been going down the coast too, for bigger groundfish like coppers and reds. Actually the guys got a few good vermilions around here this week as well.

Santa Cruz anglers are finding the deep-water rockfish in 240 feet of water on the reefs off Davenport. There are plenty of fish biting in the shallow reefs from 120 in as close as 40 feet near Natural Bridges and along the West Cliff area. Schoolie rockfish are beginning to show in the area between the Mile Buoy, Black’s Point and the Santa Cruz Harbor, while bigger ling cod are mostly lurking on the outside of the Mile Buoy in 70-80 feet of water.

Halibut hunting is heating up. After a few weeks of undersized or barely legal flatties being caught from calm beaches near Santa Cruz, the larger females are now starting to filter in. 50-70 feet of water is the most likely depth to find the bigger flatties, but don’t be surprised to see them up close to kelp beds in 35 to 40 feet in the next few weeks.

Salmon fishing got even slower this week as the fish are moving fast. The king salmon are scattered now and finding the bait might be the best bet for finding the fish. The best bite of the week took place on Wednesday, uphill near Pigeon Point in 200-300 feet of water. The Miss Beth from Santa Cruz found salmon limits for their clients on Tuesday in that area, which was full of krill and feeding humpback whales. The fish were biting on cable-baited anchovies behind double- ought silver flashers.