From Sportfishing
Fish Report for 7-31-2009
Santa Cruz Sentinel Fish Report
7-31-2009
Allen Bushnell
Last weekend's south swell brought expected results for inshore
fishing; things got very slow. This week's weather is improving and
looks to be comfortable for the next few days. Fishing should
improve with a falling swell and light winds forecast. Fishing
should improve along with the conditions.
Area anglers had a frustrating weekend due to the aforementioned
weather and seas. Those who did make it out for rockfish or halibut
had a tough time finding any fish willing to bite. When a strong
swell moves through, the halibut tend to move to deeper waters and
the rockfish hunker down on the reefs. Both species get lockjaw, so
scores were low over the weekend. As this week progresses, we saw
the bite for both varieties improve. Local reefs such as Adam's Reef
near Capitola and South Rock off Lighthouse Point both produced
rockfish including a few limits. An increasing number of lingcod are
in the mix as well, and we should see more lings caught over the next
couple months as they come inshore to spawn.
Mike Schell from Bayside Marine was happy to report a few nice
halibut weighed in at the shop on Thursday. Most were caught in the
usual halibut grounds in front of the Harbor, near Pleasure Point and
outside of Natural Bridges on the flat sandy areas. Weekend weather
conditions were particularly harsh offshore. A 5-foot south swell
mixed with nine-foot northwest seas, and layered with winds up to 25
knots made albacore fishing all but impossible last weekend. Most
sane anglers kept their boats at the dock. Those who ventured forth
turned around and beat it back to safe harbor before halfway to the
tuna grounds. The weekend looks promising for albacore; though the
south swell had the effect of pushing the warm water breaks to the
northwest, and further from our harbor. According to Schell, the
tuna water is now located near the Pioneer Seamount, some 70 miles
from Santa Cruz, and reports indicate the albacore fishing is
"spotty" as of Thursday this week.
On the bright side of things, our local waters are still chock-full
of bait. The bait balls are thick from five to 50 feet of water. We
are still seeing jumbo sardines mostly, with a good mix of small
mackerel and jacksmelt. Boccie Boy Bait has managed to locate some
small anchovies as well, and is holding full receivers at his spot at
the end of "S" Dock at the harbor. The one species that seemed
unaffected by the weekend swell is striped bass. The striper bite
has been steadily improving over the past few weeks, and they
continue to bite well along the beaches south of Capitola.
Successful anglers are using KastMaster lures, or flylining live
sardines for the stripers. Ed Burrell at Capitola Boat and Bait
weighed in a good number of stripers this week, including one 28.5-
pound lunker caught from the Capitola Wharf on Thursday.
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