The big groundswell that rolled in last weekend put a damper on fishing for a few days. Since then we have received some very positive reports from a number of areas and a variety of species.

Taking things from north to south, traveling to the Sacramento River area is well worth it right now. Famed fishing guide JD Richey is busy with the fall salmon run, finding success nearly every day on his home waters. Richey reports, “I have been fishing the Sac every day, trolling for kings. Pretty steady...some nice fish over 20 pounds finally showing. Spinners and plugs. Sac metro area from Verona to Walnut Grove.” Richey also says many of these salmon are still bright silver, not many days away from saltwater.

Tom Joseph with Fish On Sportfishing launches from any of the ports in Monterey Bay as well as Half Moon Bay. Joseph reminds us, “Salmon season closes on October 31. We will continue to run salmon trips for those of you who would like to go. The bite has been up and down. I have been doing rock cod trips with limits of quality cod and lingcod.”

Rockfishing remains the primary pursuit in Santa Cruz as well. Stagnaro’s Sportfishing submitted a positive weekend report saying, “We have been getting limits on the 7-hour trips! Quality rockfish, including browns and reds. On the half-day (Friday) the swells affected the catch a bit. We'll be running rock fish/cod trips every weekend through the end of the year.”

Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine informs us private boaters are doing well on the local reefs and reminds that wintertime Dungeness Crab season is approaching quickly. On Sunday Fraser reported, “The South Rock area was good in 80-130 feet of water. The wind stayed down all morning and the swell faded through the day. Surf fishing remains good down at Rio Del Mar and Manresa. The rock crab fishermen are seeing some Dungeness crab so get ready for November 4!”

Capitola’s local reefs are still producing as well. The Mile reef is still kicking out bolina rockfish and the occasional lingcod, while Boomer’s Reef boasted catches of good-sized gophers and blacks. The salty Capitola Wharf regulars continue to find big game in the area. Glen Larson landed a soupfin shark in the five-foot region while Terry Parker managed to troll up a 27-pound halibut on Sunday.

Kahuna Sportfishing out of Moss landing has a winning strategy these days. They take the time and expense to make a long-range trip deep into the waters off Big Sur and Point Lopez. This remote area gets very little fishing pressure, which means quick limits and big fish. Skipper Brian Cutting says Tuesday’s trip provided “awesome fishing once again.” The fish count included 46 lingcod, 20 copper rockfish, 138 vermilion rockfish and 72 (other) rockfish.