If you could only fish Monterey Bay once per year, this coming week might be a good time to do so. Though salmon season is closed as of last Friday, fishing for other varied species has been good and is getting better. Aternoons have been windy, but morning conditions are very fishable with little swell and glassy conditions.

Ken Stagnaro from Stagnaro’s Sportfishing is stoked. With two big charter boats in Santa Cruz Harbor, Stagnaro is reporting an uptick in an already productive rockfish season. He says, “Cod fishing has really been heating up lately. Legacy returned from their seven-hour trip with limits of big cod and 48 lingcod for 19 guys. On the half-day trip Friday they had near-limits of really nice yellows, blacks and some big reds for 20 people. Look for our new nine-hour North Coast trip to begin in in late July, which will run through September.”

With the renowned Captain Jimmy Rubin at the helm, the six-pack boat Miss Beth from Go Fish Santa Cruz Charters had a great outing on Thursday. Rubin recounts, “Today our charter went up the coast and found a it to be windy with rough waters. We came back down hill and caught some nice rock cod and lingcod. We did a couple in shore drifts and pulled in a nice halibut. Overall it was a fun and beautiful day on the Monterey Bay.”

Monterey rock fishing is much the same, with both Chris’ Fishing Trips and Randy’s Sportfishing posting scoring limits of rockfish and limits or near-limits of lingcod on most trips from Monterey Harbor. Moss Landing’s Kahuna Sportfishing is adding some spice to the fishing mix by hosting special halibut and white sea bass trips, inspired by the recent surge of spawning squid in the bay.

Anyone looking over the bay after sunset will notice numerous squid boats with their bright lights, working from Rio Del Mar down towards Moss Landing this past week. Carl Azevedo from Bocci Boy Bait Company says there are more than 30 squid boats in the bay right now. Each of these commercial seiners can load up to 30 tons of squid per night. With the pressure of all these big net boats, the squid will likely scatter, and most of the boats will move on looking for their next big haul. The squid spawns attract big white sea bass to our area however, and we are seeing an increase in the number of tanker bass caught locally in the past couple weeks. Using a flylined live squid, or a bounce-ball setup with squid are great ways to hook these hard-fighting fish. White sea bass can weigh up to 60 pounds and are the most delicious table fare.

Live squid is also a killer bait for the increasing number of halibut getting hooked recently. Natural Bridges, the West Cliff kelp edges, the Mile Buoy area and Capitola, all in 60-70 feet of water are productive halibut hunting grounds these days.

On a final note, Captain Tom Joseph with Fish On Sportfishing took an exploratory offshore albacore trip this week. Joseph found good conditions but no albacore yet. He reported on Tuesday, “Today I went off shore to take a look to see if I could find some tuna. Weather conditions were not the best. I found good clean blue water and nice temp breaks, but no life and no tuna.”