Fishing for inshore species has been very good for rockfish, and decent for the North Coast halibut. Die-hard salmon anglers continue to pick up the occasional king at the Soquel Hole. The offshore tuna hunters really struck it big last weekend, and the weather looks cooperative offshore for this coming weekend.

Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine fielded reports this week from anglers fishing the North Coast areas for rockfish and lingcod. Sadly, our favorite rockfish spot, Ano Nuevo, falls within boundaries of the new Marine Protected Areas. As of Friday this week, no fishing will be allowed at Ano Nuevo for the foreseeable future. A number of local boaters took the long trip this week and returned with limits of big, quality rockfish from that area. Other North Coast spots that produced well include Davenport, where Ken Stagnaro on the Velocity bagged limits for his clients on Saturday, and closer to Town, Natural Bridges has been producing full bags of rockfish and the occasional lingcod limit.

Halibut fishing has been rather spotty along our local beaches. Ed Burrell from Capitola Boat and Bait reports a few "near keeper" size halibut were caught from the wharf on Wednesday. The best spots last week for big flatties were the North Coast pocket beaches. Halibut were reported from those spots in the 20-30 pound range. Capitola could start to produce again soon. According to Burrell, huge balls of anchovies are in the shallows in Capitola. Some anglers are enjoying a catch of occasional barracuda in that area this week also.

Light winds and a stable current of warm, blue water created ideal conditions for albacore fishing last weekend. On Saturday, Skipper Gerry Brookes from Reel Sport Fishing capitalized on the situation, catching 43 tuna weighing between 15-34 pounds each. Stagnaro's Sportfishing sent the big boat Princess out to the grounds some 60 miles from Santa Cruz, and they returned with 100 fine albacore for the 11 anglers aboard.

The Pacific Fisheries Management Council and the California Department of Fish and Game announced last week an early closure to the rockfishing season. As of October 1, the season is closed from Pigeon Point to the Oregon border. While that leaves our area open (presumably) through the original November 31 closing date, it severely affects saltwater recreation anglers to the north. The logic behind this decision was based on quotas for accidental bycatch of canary and yelloweye rockfish being exceeded prior to the season's conclusion.