Yes, salmon season has opened in the Central Management Region. Those are our waters, stretching from Pigeon Point down to Point Conception above Santa Barbara. Our area opened earliest this year. Regions to the north won’t open until June. That means a lot of trailer boats full of excited anglers will be coming to Monterey Bay to get their salmon fix in. Many of those boaters were disappointed with the opener last Saturday. Weather conditions were very rough and the fishing was very slow. Salmon were caught however, and the fish counts went up as the week wore on. The season is scheduled open until August 31, though a harvest limit of 22,000 fish has also been imposed. Once we reach that number of estimated salmon caught in our area, the CDFW will make an in-season action, and shut it down. That might not take very long if the fishing gets good.

Saturday and Sunday saw more skunks than catches. Fish counts per boat were in the ones and twos, with lot’s of zeros. The best bite was near Mulligan’s Hill, just south of Moss Landing. Most salmon were caught near the bottom in 250 to 300 feet of water. As the week progressed, the weather got a bit better and the bite picked up to “mediocre” rather than “poor.”

Part of the problem is the extended ocean conditions in our area. All winter we’ve seen slightly higher water temperatures on the bay. This indicates a lack of upwelling, where cold, nutrient rich water rises to the surface as a result of stiff northwest winds blowing across the open ocean and shifting surface waters. Upwelling carries plankton up that supports the diet of baitfish as well as salmon. That’s why anglers call the cloudy brownish green water of springtime “good salmon water.” We’ve been running about three to four degrees Fahrenheit warmer than usual all year. A good northwest blow for a week or so could turn things around completely. The salmon are definitely here. You just gotta fish deep and be patient.

Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine tells us, “The best scores were coming from the edge of the Soquel Hole. The anglers who worked the edges down deep did the best. The scores ranged from 1-4 fish a boat. There were a few salmon caught in front of Moss Landing near the canyon edge. The anglers found a few limits around the Soquel Hole. There were a few decent scores in front of Moss Landing. The party boats from Half Moon Bay had some better scores near Pigeon Point. The majority of the action is still coming from trolling deep.”