Saltwater fishing seems to have hit its summertime stride this week. The weather and sea conditions have been cooperative, especially for those who launch at pre-dawn’s first light when the seas are calm and glassy. Most days, the wind has come up by noon.

Rockfish and lingcod are the most abundant target these days, though plenty of halibut are still being hooked. On the southern end of Monterey Bay, Chris’ Fishing Trips continues to post “full limit” reports for rockfish they are catching near Point Pinos, and down the coast towards Point Joe and Carmel. Tuesday’s trip also saw 22 lingcod caught for 20 anglers aboard the Check Mate. The trip also yielded a 200 rockfish limit for the lucky anglers who fished that day.

The Kahuna out of Moss Landing also fished the Carmel area last weekend. Saturday’s trip to Carmel returned with 260 rockies and one ling cod, while Sunday’s sojourn found 10 lings to go with that day’s rockfish limits.

Private boaters report Moss Landing had a lot of weeds and jellyfish in the water, making for difficult fishing. Boats that traveled up the coast towards Pajaro, however, did find clear water and hungry halibut in the Pipeline area, caught mostly while bounce-ball trolling hoochies behind a dodger or flasher.

Halibut are on the menu near Santa Cruz as well. Reports from Capitola, the harbor area, and West Cliff indicate a strong presence of flatties for those who know where to look, and what to use. Most halibut hunters are employing the bounce-ball method, but drifting live bait can also produce good results. And, there’s plenty of live bait available. Huge schools of anchovies are grouping in shallow water near Capitola, the Santa Cruz harbor, and near the Santa Cruz Wharf. The baitballs are in shallow water, so jig them up before heading out to the fishing grounds.

Live bait has been the key for Tom Dolan with Mega Bite Charters lately. Dolan has been fishing the area in front of Santa Cruz, on up to the Wilder Ranch area, and getting limits of quality rockfish for every trip. On Wednesday he reported, “Flat calm seas and perfect weather with no wind. Got out to the Jurassic Park reef and it was pretty much non-stop action for our six anglers. BIG fish too. Brought home 150 pounds of pacific snapper including a seven-pound red and lings to 15 pounds. Live anchovies was the ticket!”

It was pretty much the same story for Go Fish Santa Cruz Charters. The beautiful Miss Beth has been working deeper reefs to the north of Santa Cruz, finding big fish and plenty of them. Owner Beth Thomson gleefully reported on their weekend trip saying, “Here we go again. Another great day of catching. Captain JT and Deckhand JP took the clients to an area where they found a school of lingcod. Nice ones. They caught limits of a variety of rock fish – 50 of them.”