Every year, we get to open one Sentinel/Herald Fishing Report with the phrase “Recreational fishing on Monterey Bay is now in full swing.” Today is that day for 2026.

We’ve had three weeks now of open salmon fishing.  Inconsistent weather hampered many anglers in their hunt for this most prized game fish in our area. Weather conditions held steady this week, allowing more anglers to spend more hours on the troll.

Since April 11 we’re allowed to harvest two fish per angler per day with a minimum size of 24 inches each. Minimum size will drop to twenty inches on May 15, 2026. The limits apply to all species of salmon except Coho (Silver), which are closed for harvest. So, we’re talking about King salmon, the largest and some say, tastiest of the salmon species.

Most days, boats are coming in with fish counts in the one’s and two’s, with some limits recorded here and there. The past week has seen many more fish caught, and many more boat limits recorded. Some of them are quick limits, according to Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine. Fraser reported on Wednesday saying, “Salmon fishing picked up today around the east edge of the Soquel Hole. There were anglers in the harbor by 8:00 am with four-fish limits.” Fraser notes “The salmon are on the move and there have been some caught on the west side of the Soquel Hole.There were a few salmon caught near Pajaro on the bottom.” Because of warmer than normal water temps, most fish have been staying deep. Anglers are fishing 200-300 feet of water, and the fish are near the bottom where the water is cooler and more likely to provide feeding opportunities. Big fish honors this week must go to Benji Bird-Robinson age six, who fished with dad, Sam on Sunday. Sam exclaimed, “WE were using a Krippled Anchovy on the bottom! He was excited then got kind of scared when it came on board. It’s a pretty big fish!

The deep areas are open for rockfish as well, and those heading out to 300 and 400- foot reefs are reveling in robust fishing with full bags of quality vermilion, chili peppers, bocaccio and even some more more rare varieties, such as the blackgill rockfish, now the new favorite-tasting rockcod for private angler Vincent Lee, who reported great success this week including deepwater black cod.

Inshore rockfishing might be just a tad slower and the fish a mite smaller. But, there are plenty of rockfish on the 30 to 70-foot reefs and limits are just a matter of putting in your time. As a bonus, many wintertime lingcod haven’t moved on out to deeper water yet. Plenty of halibut anglers are catching and releasing up to ten lions per day, whilst fishing for the preferred halibut.

And, the halibut are definitely in for the season. This is an “early year” for the big flatfish. The flat sandy areas, especially near some sort of structure like reefs and piers that host baitfish for food, are producing right now as they normally would in June or July. Plenty of halibut in the 10-20 pound range were caught this week, by anglers on private boats, skiffs and kayaks. A few flatties were pulled in by surfcasters, working their secret spots in sheltered areas with little wave action. Take care because there’s still plenty of short halibut in the mix. Handle gently to measure and release if there’s any question it’s legal. Halibut must be 22 inches to retain, and we are allowed two fish per day per angler.