The sea gods were benevolent this week. Conditions were very pleasant for the first week of rockfish season 2018. Afternoons got windy, but early risers found plenty of time to fish and plenty of fish to catch. Limits were the norm for most anglers.

In Monterey, private angler Matisse Selman went out on the Chubasco for a try at rockfish and lingcod. Selman did well, as did all the clients aboard that day. He reports, “I went out this morning April 4th with J&M fishing in Monterey. Super flat ocean! The whole boat limited and most people got at least one keeper ling. I got two nice lingcod. Great day.”

Chris Fishing Trips sent their Star of Monterey, Check Mate and the Caroline out on opening day for more limit-style fishing. They ran two boats daily for the remainder of the week. Troy Stokes from Chris’ is pretty satisfied with the results saying, ”We are fishing 200-280 feet of water off of Point Pinos and Point Joe. Water temperature is hovering at 55 degrees until you get below Carmel bay. A big temp break is there with 50 degree water in that area.”

Sounds like a good spot to look for salmon on opening day. Another good spot would be to the north of Monterey off of Marina. Commercial trawlers have bee netting in the area and scooping up hundreds of tons of anchovies this past week. Abundant food sources should attract and hold salmon in Monterey Bay.

Salmon season opens tomorrow April 7, and will remain open until the end of the month. A final decision about season duration and regulations will be decided by the National Marine Fisheries Council in mid-April. Savvy anglers with a taste for the rich red meat will get out now, while we have a chance at these beautiful and tasty fish.

Anglers from Santa Cruz had similar tales to tell. John Thomas from Go Fish Santa Cruz took advantage of nice conditions to fish some north coast spots, with good results. “We decided to check out the deeper reefs, and then come inside if the wind got too bad. Conditions turned out OK and we were back at the dock with limits by 11 a.m.” On Wednesday, Miss Beth recorded similar results. Thomas reported, “We fished today off the coast of Davenport. Andy and his family caught a variety of quality rockfish including coppers, vermilions, canary and browns. The water was nice. The wind stayed down until late morning. Everyone had a great time.”

Capitola Boat and Bait has more good news to share. Skiff anglers launching from the wharf are catching rockfish and halibut near the SC3 buoy, including one boat that returned with two flatties weighing in at 14 and 15 pounds respectively. Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine also notes an influx of halibut lately, saying, “Halibut continue to be caught by the anglers bounce balling in 50-80 feet of water near the Lighthouse. The shore anglers are still catching some nice fish near New Brighton and Rio del Mar.” By “nice fish” Fraser means striped bass as well as a number of halibut caught by the surfcasters in that area.