The wind took center stage during last weekend’s salmon opener. Only boats out of Santa Cruz and Monterey got out of the harbor Saturday and only one boat left the Gate on Sunday.

The best score came Sunday on the party boat Fish the Outer Limit from Sausalito which caught 10 salmon to 12 pounds for 12 anglers.

Captain Jim Robertson said he found cold, dark water outside Half Moon Bay in 300 feet of water. There was a fair bite throughout the day. “They came one at a time. No multiple hookups,” Robertson reported.

Robertson said all the salmon were filled with small pompano and smaller jack mackerel. Not normal bait for the water of Northern California.

The few salmon that were caught by the Monterey fleet had no bait in them, reported the operators of Chris’ Sportfishing and Randy’s Sportfishing.

“It was slow,” reported Chris Arcoleo. “We had anywhere from two fish on the slow boat to 9 for 26 on our best boat.”

Boats went to Santa Cruz and when there weren’t good results, came back to Monterey.

Boats stayed close to Monterey Sunday but didn’t fare much better.

The Star of Monterey had five salmon for 20 on Sunday. From Randy’s, the Chubasco had five salmon for 15 anglers and the Sur Randy had four for 15.

Hundreds of private boats plied the water around Soquel Hole on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday. There were so many boats, trollers had to maneuver around other boats to make their way, reported David Mein, who was one of the few anglers who caught a salmon.

Action was better Sunday. Anglers had some success off Pajaor and the Soldiers Club. Fish were caught 40 to 90 feet deep and from 120 to 200 feet deep.

Weather calls for better conditions by Wednesday and many party boats plan to venture out for the first time.