Salmon fishing remains the top pick for area anglers. The bite is strong and the fish are getting bigger. In addition we now have open season for rockfish and lingcod, and halibut should be showing up any day.

Shawn Vogler from Captain Jimmy Sportfishing reported boat limits on Sunday for five clients aboard the Becky Ann. The fish ranged from 10-22 pounds and Vogler says most were caught near the surface, trolling anchovies 35 to 60 feet down. "There was a ton of birds pecking krill off the surface of the water. Our fish had krill and small baitfish in them. The water was between 51 and 52 degrees at the Soquel Hole." Vogler and Captain Jimmy got a repeat on limits yesterday. Five clients caught 10 fish, and they had lots more action, with six fish popping off the hook before getting to the net.

Private boaters did equally well, if not better this week. A quick walk though the harbor on Monday morning showed numerous crews already in at 9am and cleaning fish. A number of the fish were big, up to 25 pounds. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine fielded reports all week citing the improving grade of fish in our area, some weighing up to 30 pounds. "The salmon bite was on today with a bunch of anglers catching their limits. I fished today and ended up with 8 fish before 9:00. We caught all of our fish using big HotSpot U.V. Flashers and Krippled Anchovies. We fished the west edge of the Soquel Hole. The salmon were caught 30-60 feet down. The weather was flat calm all morning and the Salmon were on the bite."

Fraser also cites good rockfishing in the Natural Bridges area as well as South Rock for lingcod and schoolie rockfish. Rockfish season opened on Wednesday, and kayak fisherman Allen Sansano reported "clouds of rockfish" in 70-80 feet of water between the Mile Buoy and South Rock area. The water temperature near the Mile Buoy was 57 degrees yesterday, so we are very likely to see halibut in the shallows within a week or so. A groundswell from the south may be keeping the flatties deep over the weekend, but they are due, and conditions look good.

Commercial salmon season also opened this week in our area. Often the commercial boats travel further offshore and farther up coast than the sport fishers, but sometimes wind up in the same area. Remember to give the commercial boats plenty of room and show a little extra courtesy for the guys that have to make their living the hard way.