We are easing into more of a summertime weather pattern, finally. While afternoons can still get blustery with wind and choppy waves, most mornings will be very fishable, even for anglers heading out for salmon, or to productive groundfish areas further from port.


Saltwater fishing in Santa Cruz has remained remarkably consistent. Limits of rockfish and a steady catch of lingcod are keeping local anglers busy. Most reports are coming in from Natural Bridges down to Capitola and Cement Chip area, though we likely will hear more from the North Coast spots in coming weeks as the weather improves.


Jim Rubin on the Becky Ann worked his favorite spots near Natural Bridges this week. If anything, the fishing is getting better for Rubin and his clients. On Tuesday, they had 50 fish in the box before breakfast. Rubin reported, "We had a private charter with five great anglers who landed limits of beautiful rockfish (50 fish/100 fillets). The BIG blacks, vermilions, bolinas, blues and yellowtail were biting non-stop for our anglers. They also landed three nice lingcod from eight- 15 pounds. By the time we cleaned off the deck from the wide-open action and put all the fish in the cooler, we looked at our watches and it was 8:50 and our customers were ready to go in and get some breakfast." Doesn't get much better than that.


Anglers in the Capitola area are seeing more of the brown, or bolina rockfish. We even saw some warm-water exotics this week from Capitola. Camille and Crosby Dayton from Live Oak caught a triggerfish on squid from the Mile Reef area. The Mile Reef and Surfer's Reef have kicked out plenty of lingcod including some limits for skiff anglers. Capitola reports also feature a steady stream of halibut brought back to the wharf. They are seeing 20-plus pounders everyday. Again, the Mile Reef area seems to be the place to be, with frozen squid the preferred bait. Other live bait such as mackerel, kingfish or anchovies can be jigged up and used with great success for the bigger lings and halibut.


Rockfishing in Monterey was also very good this week. Chris' Fishing Trips is reporting daily limits of rockfish and the occasional ling cod limits as well, for anglers aboard The Check Mate, Caroline and Star of Monterey. Randy's Sportfishing is much the same with rockfish limits and a good show of lingcod on every trip. Both outfits scoot south around the corner towards Point Pinos, Point Joe and the Cypress Point areas that have been very productive all season.


Word is starting to trickle in of a fresh group of salmon coming into Monterey Bay. Reports of a scattered salmon bite in the Lovers Point area indicate kings coming around the corner to feed in the Monterey bay. Details are sketchy so far, but hopefully this will develop into a real salmon bite. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine says, "The salmon bite is scratchy but the fish are in the 20-pound range. The anglers are catching the salmon 75-150 feet down, using bait and spoons."


Bushnell can also be heard on The Let's Go Fishing Radio Show Thursdays at 8 p.m. on KSCO radio 1080 AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com