SANTA CRUZ

Captain Tom Joseph 408 348-4866
 

October 03, 2012    Headlines
Salmon Slows/ Tuna & WSB

Monterey:

Chris Arcoleo of Chris’s Landing reported good rockfishing from the local reefs with 12 limits of quality rockfish on Tuesday 10-2. They are heading to Point Sur on Wednesday with another trip scheduled for Friday. They are rockfishing every day, and trips south to Point Sur are dependent on weather and interest. They have room on all of their trips. Arcoleo added that the white sea bass continue to hang around Monterey Bay despite the lack of squid, and boats are scratching out a few on a daily basis. Skiffs are also picking up a few salmon with boats scoring up to 4 or 5 on the Monterey side. The warm water has moved within 10 to 12 miles, and skiffs are landing a few large albacore at this close location, but the better scores are coming from farther out to 50 miles from the harbor.

 

Santa Cruz:

Bayside Marine in Santa Cruz reported warmer water around the Weather Buoy, but the color of water was still green on Monday. A commercial boat found 59 degree water, but he did not land any fish trolling from the buoy to the 451. They added, “The main water is straight out of Santa Cruz on the 123 line.” Salmon fishing inshore continues near Capitola and Black Point in 80 to 100 feet of water with trolled herring or anchovies on a FBR. Rockfishing is good near South Rock and Four Mile Beach, and the lingcod action is very good in 50 to 70 feet of water. Sea bass are still hanging around from Three Mile to Five Mile Beach in 80 to 130 feet of water.

Monterey
Chris Arcoleo of Chris's Landing reported good rockfishing on Sunday 9-30 at Point Sur for limits of rockfish and 20 ling cod for 30 anglers on the Star of Monterey. They also had a white sea bass trip out and hooked one before getting broken off. Arcoleo said, "The white sea bass bite has been funny with no one landing a fish on Friday until 4:00 p.m.; and after this until dark, the boats that stuck around landed from 4 to 5 fish." The albacore water has moved out in the 40 to 50 mile range, and private boats were reported to put in as many as 15 fish early in the morning. Chris's will run rockfishing trips every day with trips south to Point Sur on Wednesday and Friday, weather and interest permitting.

Santa Cruz
 Tom on the FishOn trailered up from Santa Cruz  to Half Moon Bay on Saturday 9-29 with three anglers. They took 26 SLUGS with a 24 pound average and fish to 38. He was working the jig gear on the inside water break  at 37.29 and 122.59. They got two on iron and said he they had had live bait could have easily held the fish which were swimming under the boat on several stops. To said there were some better scores offshore but the fish on the inside were much bigger. Tom has room all this week and the forecast looks great.

Monterey:

Chris Arcoleo of Chris’s Landing said the Checkmate went south to Little Sur on Thursday 9-27 for 3/4th limits of rockfish and 25 ling cod. It was a bit windy, so they stopped short on their way to Big Sur. They are heading south for rockfish on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with room on all of the trips. Sea bass fishing has been sporadic with a few fish here and there near the Monterey Beach Hotel and the breakwater. There are very good commercial albacore scores southwest of Monterey near the Davidson Seamount which is a 60 mile run from Monterey.
 

Santa Cruz Area Report from Allen Bushnell of the Santa Cruz Sentinel
 Once again fall is in the air. The circle turns, fish come, fish go and fish come back again. We can look forward to some crisp cool mornings and long windless days searching for that final bruiser halibut of the season. Or, perhaps we’ll be drifting the North Coast reefs, dropping big iron into jagged underwater holes, hoping to entice Ms. Lingcod into taking a vicious swipe at the intruder. Best of all, this fall we can fish the blue pelagic waters offshore where albacore tuna speed through the deep accompanied by other, more rare exotics.
Fall also brings waves- sometimes big waves. Such was the case this week when an unusually early northwest swell came steaming into town. The large swells have a tendency to drive halibut out to deeper water, and cause rockfish to hunker in their holes. This swell will drop by the coming weekend, and hopefully the bottomfish bite will resume.
Up until last Sunday, it was limit-style fishing for rockfish and lings in our area and along the coast to the north. Jim Rubin on the Becky Ann reports “Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Another week for great fishing! We had limits all week of big vermilions, blacks, blues and big lings and very good weather.” Sunday was particularly nice on the water with a low fog and nearly windless, glassy conditions. Gerry Brookes from Reel Sportfishing took advantage and shot up to Ano Nuevo, where the fish are bigger. “Its still epic. Nine nice lings to 12 pounds, limits of blues, blacks, olives, white bellies and nine big reds to seven pounds. I love fishing that place, you never know what your gonna catch.”
Prior to the swell, halibut fishing remained consistent in the 40-65 foot depths. White sea bass were hit and miss, with reports from the Mile Buoy area, Capitola, Aptos and Pajaro coming in during the week, but no apparent concentration of the bass. Squid was still the best bait for both bass and butts last week. A few lucky anglers also hooked into king salmon in those same areas. Savvy anglers hedge their bets by fishing with barbless circle hooks for any of the three species, ensuring any salmon will be legal to keep. Remember, after a salmon is boated only barbless hooks may be used, and one fishing rod per angler is the limit.
Tuna hunters also enjoyed some success last weekend. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine was happy to report decent albacore scores from the area offshore from Big Sur. “The wind was down yesterday and anglers were able to go looking for albacore. The scores ranged from 12-25 albacore a boat down towards the Davidson Sea Mount. There were some good scores of 25-40 fish at the Gumdrop (Seamount closer to half Moon Bay).
Bushnell can also be heard on the Friday Morning Fish Report at 6:45am on KSCO radio 1080 AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com

Monterey:
Chris Arcoleo of Chris’s Landing in Monterey reported excellent rockfish fishing on Tuesday 8-21 with 12 limits of rockfish and a single ling cod approaching 20-pounds. They filled their albacore trips for Thursday and Friday in a couple of hours, and they are also filled on their rockfish trips over the weekend. Arcoleo said, "We are hoping to run albacore trips on Monday and Tuesday once we can get a solid grip on the coming weather."

Santa Cruz:
Bayside Marine in Santa Cruz reported a good bite for anglers who remained inshore with good scores of halibut, white sea bass, and even a few salmon from the Mile Buoy towards Capitola. Another good area was near Pajaro in 40 to 70 feet of water for sea bass and halibut. The gamefish are hanging with the balls of squid. They added that ling cod action was great up the coast near Four Mile Beach and a few quality salmon were taken in 60 to 90 feet of water from the Mile Buoy to the Cement Boat. The water at the Weather Buoy is currently at 57 degrees, so fishermen may have to head out at least 30 miles to find the water break and albacore.
 

Monterey:

Chris Arcoleo of Chris’s Landing reported good rockfishing from the local reefs with 12 limits of quality rockfish on Tuesday 10-2. They are heading to Point Sur on Wednesday with another trip scheduled for Friday. They are rockfishing every day, and trips south to Point Sur are dependent on weather and interest. They have room on all of their trips. Arcoleo added that the white sea bass continue to hang around Monterey Bay despite the lack of squid, and boats are scratching out a few on a daily basis. Skiffs are also picking up a few salmon with boats scoring up to 4 or 5 on the Monterey side. The warm water has moved within 10 to 12 miles, and skiffs are landing a few large albacore at this close location, but the better scores are coming from farther out to 50 miles from the harbor.

 

Santa Cruz:

Bayside Marine in Santa Cruz reported warmer water around the Weather Buoy, but the color of water was still green on Monday. A commercial boat found 59 degree water, but he did not land any fish trolling from the buoy to the 451. They added, “The main water is straight out of Santa Cruz on the 123 line.” Salmon fishing inshore continues near Capitola and Black Point in 80 to 100 feet of water with trolled herring or anchovies on a FBR. Rockfishing is good near South Rock and Four Mile Beach, and the lingcod action is very good in 50 to 70 feet of water. Sea bass are still hanging around from Three Mile to Five Mile Beach in 80 to 130 feet of water.

Monterey
 Chris Arcoleo of Chris's Landing reported good rockfishing on Sunday 9-30 at Point Sur for limits of rockfish and 20 ling cod for 30 anglers on the Star of Monterey. They also had a white sea bass trip out and hooked one before getting broken off. Arcoleo said, "The white sea bass bite has been funny with no one landing a fish on Friday until 4:00 p.m.; and after this until dark, the boats that stuck around landed from 4 to 5 fish." The albacore water has moved out in the 40 to 50 mile range, and private boats were reported to put in as many as 15 fish early in the morning. Chris's will run rockfishing trips every day with trips south to Point Sur on Wednesday and Friday, weather and interest permitting.

Santa Cruz
 Tom on the FishOn trailered up from Santa Cruz  to Half Moon Bay on Saturday 9-29 with three anglers. They took 26 SLUGS with a 24 pound average and fish to 38. He was working the jig gear on the inside water break  at 37.29 and 122.59. They got two on iron and said he they had had live bait could have easily held the fish which were swimming under the boat on several stops. To said there were some better scores offshore but the fish on the inside were much bigger. Tom has room all this week and the forecast looks great.

Monterey:

Chris Arcoleo of Chris’s Landing said the Checkmate went south to Little Sur on Thursday 9-27 for 3/4th limits of rockfish and 25 ling cod. It was a bit windy, so they stopped short on their way to Big Sur. They are heading south for rockfish on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with room on all of the trips. Sea bass fishing has been sporadic with a few fish here and there near the Monterey Beach Hotel and the breakwater. There are very good commercial albacore scores southwest of Monterey near the Davidson Seamount which is a 60 mile run from Monterey.
 

Santa Cruz Area Report from Allen Bushnell of the Santa Cruz Sentinel
 Once again fall is in the air. The circle turns, fish come, fish go and fish come back again. We can look forward to some crisp cool mornings and long windless days searching for that final bruiser halibut of the season. Or, perhaps we’ll be drifting the North Coast reefs, dropping big iron into jagged underwater holes, hoping to entice Ms. Lingcod into taking a vicious swipe at the intruder. Best of all, this fall we can fish the blue pelagic waters offshore where albacore tuna speed through the deep accompanied by other, more rare exotics.
Fall also brings waves- sometimes big waves. Such was the case this week when an unusually early northwest swell came steaming into town. The large swells have a tendency to drive halibut out to deeper water, and cause rockfish to hunker in their holes. This swell will drop by the coming weekend, and hopefully the bottomfish bite will resume.
Up until last Sunday, it was limit-style fishing for rockfish and lings in our area and along the coast to the north. Jim Rubin on the Becky Ann reports “Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Another week for great fishing! We had limits all week of big vermilions, blacks, blues and big lings and very good weather.” Sunday was particularly nice on the water with a low fog and nearly windless, glassy conditions. Gerry Brookes from Reel Sportfishing took advantage and shot up to Ano Nuevo, where the fish are bigger. “Its still epic. Nine nice lings to 12 pounds, limits of blues, blacks, olives, white bellies and nine big reds to seven pounds. I love fishing that place, you never know what your gonna catch.”
Prior to the swell, halibut fishing remained consistent in the 40-65 foot depths. White sea bass were hit and miss, with reports from the Mile Buoy area, Capitola, Aptos and Pajaro coming in during the week, but no apparent concentration of the bass. Squid was still the best bait for both bass and butts last week. A few lucky anglers also hooked into king salmon in those same areas. Savvy anglers hedge their bets by fishing with barbless circle hooks for any of the three species, ensuring any salmon will be legal to keep. Remember, after a salmon is boated only barbless hooks may be used, and one fishing rod per angler is the limit.
Tuna hunters also enjoyed some success last weekend. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine was happy to report decent albacore scores from the area offshore from Big Sur. “The wind was down yesterday and anglers were able to go looking for albacore. The scores ranged from 12-25 albacore a boat down towards the Davidson Sea Mount. There were some good scores of 25-40 fish at the Gumdrop (Seamount closer to half Moon Bay).
Bushnell can also be heard on the Friday Morning Fish Report at 6:45am on KSCO radio 1080 AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com

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5-day plot - Wind Speed at 46042

5-day plot - Wave Height at 46042
 

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