The wheel turns. Every year we have a slump in the fishing action in and around Monterey Bay around this time. Dungeness are getting skinny and more scarce, rockfish season is yet to begin, halibut are still out scattered out in the deep and surfcasting is only productive if you are a die-hard and willing to zoom around to find the right beach for that day. All indications, info and rumors point to a “No Salmon Season” year again. Return numbers on the Sacrament and Klamath Rivers are abysmally low. Most anglers do not expect any sort of saltwater salmon fishing in California for 2025. The decisions regarding salmon are being formulated right now by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council in meetings with West Coast State Fisheries Departments. We will know more at the end of March. Final decisions regarding ocean salmon fishing are scheduled for April 15.

Do not despair. For the old salts, this time of year and these conditions are merely hors d’oeuvres for the feast yet to come. Already, we’re seeing more surf perch on the beaches, and more congregation of perch schools at certain sandy beaches at certain times and tides. It’s the beginning of spawning season so the fish are hungry and aggressive. Plus, there are some jumbo’s in the mix! Anglers who hit the beach year round know the fishing just gets better and better as we move through springtime and into summer.

Many of the largest perch caught this time of year are gravid females. Perch give birth to live young, and handling them can cause premature expulsion of the new brood. Conscientious anglers will keep those big mamas in the water, maybe take a quick pic then set them free. Note that the surf perch limit is a total of 20 fish, of which only ten can be of the same species. Bag up a pregnant barred surf perch for dinner, and you may find an additional 20 babies in your bag when you get home. And yes, those babies would count against your bag limit if inspected by a DFW warden.

Rockfish season opens up for our area on April 1, 2025. For that month fishing is regulated towards shelf and slope rockfish only. So, the minimum fishing depth is 300 feet. A little farther to travel, and it involves more cranking up from the bottom but the deepwater rockfish are bigger and the bags fill more quickly once your skipper finds the right reef or rock pile to hit.

One of the favorite gamefish for Monterey Bay are halibut. The season for big flatties really gets moving in May and June, in the shallower waters from the beach to 60 feet. The big flatfish filter in from their wintertime depths over the next month or so. It’s absolutely worthwhile to troll or even drift live bait in medium deep waters at this time for these bigger halibut. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine at the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor is already reporting halibut being hooked just this week on the sandy flats near Pajaro. Fraser says the depths to target are 100-130 feet, and that anchovies and squid are doing the trick.