A flotilla of private and charter boats left the Santa Cruz Harbor at dawn last Saturday, looking for the year's first salmon catches. Many were successful, but some were not. The bite was rather slow Saturday, as anglers searched for fish, trying to troll up a strike or two in the deep waters from Pajaro to the North Coast. Reports indicate Sunday was much more productive.

Tim Obert from Ultimate Charters summed it up. "Saturday was a search mission and Sunday was a slayfest! We fished north of Davenport and experienced wide open fishing on our new charter boat- the 40-foot 'Irish.' We started with two triples and then a quadruple hookup. We had customer limits within an hour, and full crew limits as well for a 14 fish total! We fished In 290-340 feet of water and all fish were caught 60-100 down, using glow crippled anchovies behind sling blade dodgers."

Captain Jimmy Charters managed four king salmon for his clients on Saturday, then hooked seven and netted five Kings on Sunday. Gerry Brookes on the Doble had a slow day on Saturday but found redemption Sunday. "We ran up the coast about 10 miles found nice schools of bait, and fish. We ended the day with eight nice Salmon to 13 pounds for our four anglers. Fishing is different every day."

Mother nature stepped in on Monday and delivered gale-force winds effectively shutting fishing down. Since then the wind has been backing off, but most charter boats had to postpone booked trips for safety reasons. A few private boaters got out after Monday's big blow, and continued to find fish. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine received a good number of reports from private boaters who got out early for fish. "The wind has been a challenge so far this salmon season but there have been a few nice days as well. The Salmon are still being caught near the edge of the Soquel Hole and up near Three Trees. The salmon continue to bite best in the early morning."

Fraser adds that at least one white sea bass was picked up caught near Pajaro on Thursday, and notes good indications of action on the inside near Natural Bridges (whales and baitballs). Fishing in close has the benefit of calmer water and might result in early season halibut, especially for those who jig up live bait.