Monterey Bay anglers are getting into the swing of things finally. Rockfishing is improving and though salmon stays slow, the halibut are beginning to bite.

Kenny Stagnaro from Stagnaro's Sportfishing checked in this week with good reports of local rockfishing. "We went up to Ano Nuevo looking for salmon on Saturday and ended up fishing for rockfish. In just a few drifts, we got half-limits of Bolinas and Reds as well as nine lingcod to 12 pounds." Tuesday the Velocity fished local waters off West Cliff for a full limit of Bolinas and Reds, and three lingcod. Stagnaro is sending their second boat, The Princess, down to the south side of the Bay. The Princess is reporting limits of mostly schoolie rockfish including olives and blues along with some Reds and Copper rockfish. Reel Sportfishing's Gerry Brookes fished the South Rock area on Tuesday and caught full limits of quality rockfish for his four clients. "Thirty out of the forty fish were Vermillions, weighing up to seven pounds. Last week we caught a vermilion that weighed in at 12 pounds," Brookes said.

Brookes was one of the few skippers last week that managed to find some salmon. On Friday, he netted seven fish while working the area outside Davenport in 320 feet of water. Brookes said the conditions were decent, though no bait or other evidence of salmon was apparent at the time. "We were trolling straight bait and just happened to find the fish. Four of them weighed in over 20 pounds." Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine reports very few salmon caught for the week by private boaters. "The weather has been very rough, though a few fish were caught near the Soquel Hole, and I heard of at least one caught just outside Moss Landing Harbor," Fraser said.

Fraser had very good news on the halibut front. "Hot Bobby" Hirsch and a companion caught five flatties in the flat sandy area near the Harbor, trolling squid. Ed Burrell from Capitola Boat and Bait reports two legal halibut caught from the Capitola Wharf, and one ten-pounder brought in on a skiff this week. Many undersized halibut have been caught from the wharf this week according to Burrell. Mark Dingler at The Angler's Choice Tackle Shop has been fielding numerous reports of striper action on the beaches between New Brighton and Manresa. Dingler recommends using pencil poppers, hairraisers, Krocodiles or KastMasters for the bass.