Day 2 – Salmon Season

Fishing for just about everyone on the first day of the salmon season was not nearly as good as the expectations.  Depending on where you were caught fishing had quite a bit to do with your luck, but for the most part, the majority of the anglers who fished off Santa Cruz, CA came back into the docs in the early afternoon without a single fish.  It was a shame in some ways, but the good news was the weather was pretty darn good for everyone.  There was plenty of sunshine, and the wind and the waves were not too out control.

To give a better idea of the sea conditions, for most of the boats who left before six o’clock Saturday morning, the stampede to the fishing grounds out near the Soquel Hole were just about flat.  Maybe not like a lake, but the ocean was very calm and was a great way to cruise over the ten mile run at the start of the season.  Later in the morning, the winds started to pick up a bit, and the currents started to play a part in the fishing, but overall weather was not a factor on day one.

Most fishermen were trolling around, pulling both hoochies, spin baits, and dragging dodgers and flashers as would be expected for an opening day of salmon fishing.  It was estimated that over 250 sport fishing boats left the Santa Cruz, CA harbor on Saturday in search of the salmon, and less than 85 salmon were reported to be caught come late evening.  There were some reports on undersized fish being released, however its very hard to verify those numbers.

As the fleet was fishing the area known as “The Hole”, much of the water is deeper than 250 feet, and there again were varying reports of the depths where fish were taken.  Some fish were said to be caught below the 150 foot mark, and some others were reporting fish quite a bit higher.  One thing that was for sure were the complaints of very large schools of jellyfish in the area.  The jellyfish are not usually a major problem, but they can definitely turn your baits into a cluster mess of jelly and the jellyfish can also get all tangled up in your down-rigger gear.  Just one of those nuisances of salmon fishing, but not the end of the world.

As for how we did, well, I’m sorry to say that we did not even get a single bite this opening day.  We did our usual mooching, which was droppin down to 100-200 feet some sardines that were threaded up with a nice hook on the end.  Depending on the time of day, we were using between 2-4 ounces to get everything down as the currents were changing rapidly, but that method produced no luck for us.  Many boats were passing us all day long with their trolling gear, but we did not even see a single net get dipped into the water.  So, quite strange to say the least.  Not what was expected, but maybe it was just us, and others had some much better luck farther up or farther down the coast.

Good weather was a great treat, and we’ll all be trying for some salmon again real soon.

April 7, 2012 – The Santa Cruz Harbor

Today is the day we have all been waiting for once again.  Another long winter without any fresh salmon in the freezer is coming to an end.  Saturday is the beginning of the salmon fishing season here in California, and for all the sport fishermen, that is the best news of the year.  But that’s not all.

This year, the fishing is expected to be much better than last year.  There have already, in the first few hours of the season been reports of many nice sized salmon being caught just off the coast in areas like Monterrey Bay, and especially in Santa Cruz.  Since we will be fishing ourselves out of Santa Cruz Harbor in just a few more minutes, I can safely say that there are hundreds of boats heading straight out or near the Soquel Hole to try and locate the fish.

Bayside Marine, one of the local fish and tackle shops here in Santa Cruz was booming with customers up until about 9:00 pm last night.  Although many of the people hanging around the tackle shop were pretty much loaded from sipping on beers all day, it was pretty impressive to see so much action all in anticipation for the opening day of the salmon fishery here on the coast.

If you start talking with the locals, you’ll get your usual mix of exactly how and what is the best way to catch the fish.  Conventional thinking goes back to what I consider to be pretty boring – trolling around some lures.  But, trolling for salmon, especially early in the season is the most common and popular fishing method.  People love to attach different lures, or hoochies to the end of the line.  And some people like using a flasher or dodger, which is thought to attract the fish as well.

But, for people like me, trolling around with your engine blasting out fumes all day is no fun.  So, like you’ve seen before from past years, we’ll be mooching with some threaded sardines once again and hopefully getting the chance to put a nice big pink fleshed salmon in the box(or two or three).

Salmon fishing regulations are largely unchanged since last year.  Each licensed angler is allowed to keep 2 fish, and the salmon need to be at least 24 inches in length.  No silver/coho salmon are allowed to be taken.  Only king salmon are allowed.  You can figure out which type of salmon you have caught by looking at the gums of the fish.  If the gums are white, that is a silver salmon and you must release it immediately.  If the gums are black in color, that fish can be kept as long as its 24 inches long.  More details about the fishing regulations can be located at the California Fish and Game Website.

Good Luck fishing this year, and hopefully we’ll see some 20 and 30 pound salmon on the first day!

Salmon Fishing Update:

Much of the best salmon fishing off the California Coast is happening right in Santa Cruz which is part of the Monterrey Bay.  There seems to be some great action for quite some time now just a few minutes ride by private boat or charter boat from the Santa Cruz harbor, and salmon are being caught with sardines and others from trolling lures in the 70-100 feet range.

Most of the salmon fishing has been the best while bringing your fishing gear down below the 80 foot mark, but for those of you who enjoy fishing much higher to the surface, there is always a decent chance you will get a strike up higher too.

With fishing conditions being very good so far in September, many of the party boats and private yachts have come back to the docks with averages of 1 salmon for every two people, and often the numbers have been much higher.  There have also been some larger than normal salmon caught over the past two weeks.  There was one confirmed 36 lb. salmon caught with an anchovy three miles off Capitola in 80 feet of water, and there have been numerous 20 lb. salmon reports over the past month too.

One suggestion would be to contact the local harbor master before you plan to leave your house to find out the local weather conditions.  It’s definitely worth the quick phone call to find out what might be happening on the ocean during your salmon fishing before you head out of the driveway.  And what a great way to head out if the harbormaster tells you the water is flat calm and no wind expected the rest of the day.

Good luck with your salmon fishing in September!

California Salmon Season 2011 has being happening for over 1 month now, and the early word on the salmon that have been caught is small fish.  The legal size that all the salmon need to be is a minimum of 27 inches in California per the Department of Fish and Game regulations.  This new size limit has been making it difficult for fishermen to make it home with something in the fish box.

There have been many fishing reports of boats catching 4-5 fish per rod, however, many times these same boats are returning with just 1 or 2 legal salmon fish.  Although the season is still very early and there is a great chance that this year the salmon might simply need a few more months out in the ocean to feed on sardines and krill and squid to fatten up and turn into a legal size fish, fishermen are still getting frustrated.

Last weekend in Santa Cruz, California, the weather was nice and sunny but quite windy and so the amount of boats who ventured out to fish was definitely less than the opening day fleet.  And when walking around the docks and the launch ramp in the early afternoon, it was fish story after story about small shaker salmon being caught.

There have been several years in recent history when the large 30 pound salmon were not caught off the California coast until well into the summer months, and there is hope that this is going to be the case again this year in 2011.

The salmon fishing up and down the coast has taking a tiny bit of a lull over the past week compared to earlier in the month.  The sea conditions have been hit or miss, often the ocean waters start acting up as usual in the afternoon, but there were two days last week when they were calm nearly all day long.  As for the salmon fishing, there is about a 75% chance you will catch a fish, so that’s about 3/4 fish per pole.  An even better chance your boat will have some smaller salmon or shakers.

The best places to catch the salmon right now is from out of the Santa Cruz Harbor.  Most of the fishing success is still taking place off the Soquel Hole which is just a few miles out from the harbor.   Anglers are catching fish mostly with trolling gear, however there has been an increasing amount of fishermen taking salmon with mooching gear using anchovies and sardines this week.  The depths continue to be relatively low compared to later in the year fishing.  Most fish are coming from depths of below 100 feet and often as far down as 200 feet.  Be sure to carry some proper gear to ensure you can get your lures and hooks down to those depths otherwise you will be struggling.

Farther down the coast in Monterey, there have also been some reports this week of the salmon fishing picking up, several of the charter boats out of Monterey have had anglers catch their two fish limit, and others of course did a bit worse fishing.  Make sure to check the weather conditions before you head out, there is always a chance that a gale of wind my blow by before you know it.

Saturday’s opening day of the long awaited Salmon Season for everyone in California was a great time no matter how many fish were caught big or small.  Not only was there relatively few problems reported, but the fishing turned out pretty good for most anglers.

As expected, the best salmon fishing and fish numbers that were reported was from Santa Cruz Harbor, where boats had on average just under 1 fish per person.  Considering how many boats were launched at the boat ramp and the number of local boats from the harbor that fished, it was quite incredible!

The overwhelming majority of salmon were caught at the Soquel Hole, which is just a 25-30 minute run from the mouth of Santa Cruz harbor.  The salmon were caught in depths of between 230 feet and 290 feet of water, and most of the actual fish were picked up between depths of 80-200 feet.  The most common fishing gear used to catch the salmon for opening day was a trolling rig made up of a salmon dodger or flasher, along with a hoochie which looks like a live squid.  Many of the fishermen reported large amounts of un-digested squid in the stomachs and intestines of the salmon they were filleting at the fish tables after wards.  Another common trolling setup that had success was dragging a dead sardine at slow trolling speeds of 2-4 knots.

In other parts of the California coast, the salmon fishing seemed to also be decent.  Many of the San Francisco Bay fleet headed north to Duxbury Reef for mixed results and the Half Moon Bay fleet also had some mixed results with occasional reports of large salmon taken.

The weather was slightly rough at different times of the day.  The wind would pick up at times in the early morning and then die off again and repeat that cycle.  The seas were  by no means calm, and large rollers up to 7 feet were reported.  Towards the end of the afternoon, the seas appeared much more calm compared to much of the early daytime, which is abnormal for this time of year.

 

Overall, the opening day of the 2011 Salmon Season was a big success with great fishing and few issues.  Sunday’s fishing should bring back some great stories as well.

It’s just 7 days until the official start of the Salmon Fishing Season Once Again in California

Here is some news from the local harbors:

Nearly every harbor that was contacted this week is expecting record amounts of anglers coming to drop their poles in search of the salmon.

• If you are planning on taking out your private fishing boat, please be prepared for delays in launching your fishing boat.  There is a very good chance that there will be lines many boats long of other fishermen launching in front of you.
• If you have not gone through and done a safety items check on your fishing boat, do that this weekend
• Purchase your fishing license early, there is always a chance that the physical licenses will be all sold out, and most people are getting them online. You can go to the California Department of Fish and Game Site to purchase fishing licenses. HERE
• Make sure you boat is registered for 2011, otherwise you can expect the Coast Guard to board your boat or more likely the local harbor patrol, they usually have a field day on opening days of salmon season checking for current registration and safety equipment
• Don’t go fishing without life jackets no matter what.
• Also, nobody ever knows what the weather conditions are going to be like when you are out fishing, if you want to get something that may very well save your boat and your crew, buy some safety flares

Most importantly, check the fishing and weather conditions so you know what to expect the day you go fishing.  Currently, the water conditions are very rough in many parts of the California coast, but the seas and the fishing is expected to be very doable come next weekend.

Be safe, and have fun at California’s Opening Salmon Fishing Day!

  

Everybody is hardly sleeping anymore it seems.  Whether you are talking about the young kids who are going to fish for their first time for ocean salmon off the California coast, or if you are talking about the old grandpas who are getting some wood once again before the fishing begins.  It is true, the Salmon Opener is just around your corners, so ladies and gentlemen, get ready to start your engines.

It has been such a long wait, and its just about through, the big question remains about where the best fishing is going to be for the start of the 2011 Salmon Season.  There are the usual suspects who think that the best fishing will be down deep in the deeper 200 foot waters, and then there are other theories right now that are starting about the bait fish and bait balls that have been tracked in much shallower water compared to usual for this time of year.

If everyone looks back to the most recent salmon opener, which was several years ago now, the best confirmed fishing was out of Santa Cruz Harbor, where most anglers on opening day caught just under a 1 fish per rod average of salmon.  The fish were also caught off the Soquel Hole for the most part, with the overwhelming majority taken by anglers trolling dodgers and hoochies.

Last Minute Salmon Fishing Season To Do’s:

• test out all of your fishing reels to make sure they flow freely
• set new fishing line on your favorite pole
• order your fishing gear before opening day, there are reports already of inventory problems with fishing gear
• buy your fishing liscense (either online or at your local fishing tackle shop)
• do some test runs with your boat, and make sure your battery is loaded up and engine is in good running order
• make sure you have life jackets for everyone who is going to fish with you
• buy bait, and throw it in your freezer, too many people I’m afraid are going to go baitless on opening day

Good luck to everyone who is going to take part in the 2011 California Salmon Fishing Opener

 

The California Department of Fish and Game has finally made their announcement that fishing for salmon is going to be allowed for all the sport anglers and fishermen who are wanting to put their fishing poles in the water this year.  It was a very long and drawn out process to get things all squared away, but the fish seem to be doing well and its time to go salmon fishing in April.

Several members of the Department of Fish and Game testified in Sacramento early last week and there were also many reports this week that the King Salmon that are out in the Pacific off the California Coast are well above the numbers they have been in the previous years.  It is thought that there might be more than 750,000 king salmon roaming the salt waters off the coast right now.

This is great news for all the local salmon fishermen who have been banned from fishing in recent years.  Along with the news, it is expected to be the biggest opening day of California Salmon Sport Fishing in history this year.  There has been a bit of a scare in some parts of the coast recently due to the tsumani warnings from a few days ago, but that has for the most part died down.  The harbors all along the coast are getting ready and the local bait and tackle shops are stocking up to fulfill the needs of the salmon fishermen as well.  You should start shopping around for frozen sardines and anchovies to catch the salmon with, because they just may be in short supply come April.

The Department of Fish and Game in California is holding an open meeting for the public to join in on.  It will be held on March 1, 2011 at the Sonoma County Water Agency.  The time of the meeting is from 11:00 AM until 2:30pm.  The meeting is meant to be a place for the public to talk about the upcoming decisions to open the 2011 Salmon Fishing Season.  The salmon fishery is right in the middle of a very complicated time right now.  There will be biologists presenting data on the recent salmon runs up the rivers, and there will also be information discussed from other members of the Department of Fish and Game.

Some of the positive news expected to be talked about involves the high numbers of spawning salmon that were recently recorded in the Sacramento River and Klamath River.  The actual numbers of salmon that were found were higher than what was previously expected, and the numbers looked to be a good sign that the 2010 salmon runs were at a higher level than in the previous years.  It is very difficult to estimate what is going to happen in terms of the opening of the 2011 California Salmon Season, but now the expectation is that come either April or May 1st, there will be a definite sport fishing season, but the exact parameters of the commercial fishing remains unclear.

Usually, the different groups who decide on the Pacific Salmon Fishing regulations and Salmon Seasons actually take much more time developing the commercial fishing rules compared to the sport salmon fishing.  The quotas and the time and locations that can be salmon fished are all determined by an international mixed organization group of professionals who literally spend their life thinking about the salmon.

If you have interest in the future of the salmon fishing in the state of California, you are encouraged to visit the Salmon Fishing meeting with the DFG.  It will be an open forum for anyone interested party to raise their questions about the salmon season.

California Salmon Fishing Outlook for 2011

It is a gross understatement to say that the anglers are excited for some more salmon fishing this year.  It has been way too long since a normal fishing season has taken place, and the fish boxes have been sitting empty for months now.  There is still a bit of paperwork to go with the California Department of Fish and Game, but things are still getting closer to a new fishing season.

The Current Salmon Stock Levels

According to the most recent reports from the rivers and the river mouths, the salmon levels are higher than they have been in years, and the water levels are looking very good too which will mean great swimming up river later in the year.  What is still in question are some of the rules and regulations for commercial and sport fisherman.  There are several different unconfirmed reports that the legal daily catch limit for sport fisherman may go down to 1 fish per person.  That is not the best news, but that is still better than no fishing at all.  The quota and catch limits and sizes for commercial fishing is also way up in the air at the moment.  Some of the difficulty in determining these numbers is based on the unknown number of commercial fisherman who will actively be pursuing the salmon in 2011.  With the salmon season being closed for so long, nobody knows who is actually still fishing.  To make matters worse, many of the commercial fisherman are so hard to get ahold of via phone or email, it is left as a big guessing game.

Plenty of Food For the Salmon to Feed On in the Ocean

For those of the fishermen who are really wanting to catch a monster trophy salmon off the California coast this year, your dream has a good chance of coming true.  Researchers from the Marine Biology department at University of California at Santa Cruz have been studying the local krill and other salmon bait populations.  Their reports show huge populations of prime bait and squid off the California coast this year.  Much more than has been recorded over the previous 4 years.  This all brings the excitement level for fishermen to an even higher level.  The one hard part of the salmon fishing this year might be deciding on when to take your fish and put it in the ice box.  If you are only allowed one fish per day, and you want to catch an extra big salmon, you will need to make some tough decisions on when to throw back the fish or keep it.  That is a great fishing dilemma to have during California’s 2011 Salmon Fishing Season.

2011 Salmon Fishing Outlook:

It still is quite early, but the preliminary numbers on the salmon runs are getting everyone excited from Washington and Oregon down to California.  It looks like the salmon this year are finally coming back in big amounts.  The salmon counts have been exponentially larger compared to the last five years and this is definitely reason to get excited about the possible salmon fishing coming up soon.

The local departments of Fish and Game have not made any direct announcements concerning the commercial and sport salmon fishing seasons yet, but they are expected to start talking about the exact numbers they are seeing within the coming weeks.  As for locals who are more anxious than normal to hear the news, well, they too are excited.

For the past several years, the numbers of Pacific salmon has gone down to levels not seen before.  This had  many people concerned and worried that there would be some eventual never ending shut down of the salmon season.  But the fish and game people have somehow found a way to slow the fishing and now it is looking like the seasons might come back once again.

There have been tremendous efforts to farm raise and hatchery raise salmon and then to turn them into the rivers, however this does not always end up benefiting the fisherman or the fish and it is difficult to measure any of this success quickly and accurately.   In just a little while longer, everyone will have a much more clear view on the salmon fishing season for 2011.

Sacramento River limits

Kewsick Damn down to the Deschutes Bridge, the river is closed to all salmon fishing right now and for the forseeable future. But, you are able to fish for trout and keep one trout up to 16 inches long, either wild or a hatchery fish.

From the Deschutes Bridge down to Red Bluff Diversion Dam, the river also is closed to all salmon fishing until Oct. 9 through Oct. 31. After that, there is a limit of two salmon and two hatchery trout or steelhead. Note that on page 7 of the booklet there is a chart describing the differences between a plain rainbow resident trout and steelhead. The main difference is that the steelhead migrates to the sea and the resident trout sticks around in the river. If the resident trout gets to 16 inches, it is then classified as a steelhead no matter whether the trout migrates or stays at home.

***Make sure to inform your friends who are fishing for the salmon on the Sacramento of the changes that are going into effect.  It is a hefty fine for anyone caught breaking the fishing rules and regulations whether intentionally or not intentionally***

Below the Red Bluff Diversion Dam there is an open season for salmon from Oct. 9 through Dec. 12, with the same limits as the upstream section of the river. This extends all the way down to Knights Landing.

From Knights Landing to the San Francisco Bay, there is an open period from Sept. 4 through Oct. 3. Again, the same limits apply as upstream.

That’s right, its time to get your salmon gear together and make your way down to Santa Cruz or Monterey California to get your 2 daily salmon limit.  The fishing has been the best its been all year for several days now, and its not too far of a crawl to get to the fishing grounds.

Most of the anglers are choosing to fish salmon at the Soquel Hole which is just a 30 minute run for most boats from the Santa Cruz harbor.  If you are planning on coming from Monterey it will be a bit longer run to the fishing grounds.  And of course if you are making the trip by boat from Half Moon Bay harbor, it will be even longer again. The Soquel Hole is known for great salmon fishing because it is a collection pot for all types of bait fish with the massive depth changes it has.

The sea conditions the past few days have been relatively nice and calm compared to several weeks ago.  There has been a really nice calm feel out there early in the morning, and of course the afternoon winds have kicked up every single day so far this week, so get your fishing done early.

As the fish are now being caught closer to the surface, mostly between 30-80 feet of water, more and more people are stopping the trolling and opting to save some gas and energy with their mooching gear.  Of course, you won’t escape the numerous troll fisherman who are have tons of success with rigs like pulling a anchovy around or pretty much any other lure these days.

Most of the fish that are showing up at the docs in Santa Cruz have been in the 8-14 pound range, with 20 pound fish coming in daily as well.  Good luck, and if you are going out for the whole day and don’t catch anything, we’ll, better luck fishing next time.

The Salmon fishing has been luke warm still in the Monterey Bay.  The bets have still been the Soquel Hole off of Santa Cruz with some anglers catching their limits of reasonable sized salmon.

The fishing a bit north in Half Moon Bay has continued to be less attractive to the small skiff fisherman, and many have opted to launch their boats out of Santa Cruz in search of a faster ride to the more productive fishing grounds.  But, this surely doesn’t mean that fishing has been a complete waste out of Half Moon Bay.  There have been a few limits of salmon reported there as well.

The fishing out of Monterey has been reasonable, just under one fish per rod on some of the boats, and of course some limits and some skunked salmon fishermen mixed in too.  Most of the party boats are dropping anchovies and sardines down to relatively low depths of 150 feet or more to find the salmon while on the mooching rigs.   Overall, there seems to be a very high percentage of fisherman trolling hoochies and all sorts of other rigs for the salmon.  One of the common lures last week was a yellow Crocodile lure.

This week coming up should have some decent days for getting out and making another stab at the salmon if you are still in search of your first fish of the season.   There were several reports of boats who kissed their first salmon of the season over the weekend, and if you are still searching, don’t get discouraged.

The 2nd Week of April, 2010:

Well, the salmon fishing has been decent for most people fishing near and around the Soquel Hole.  But, weather has started to take the fish counts down.  As the weekend went on, there wind and the waves and the rain made fishing conditions not worth it for many of the anglers, and the launch ramp at Santa Cruz harbor became a ghost town.  A big difference from opening weekend a week ago.

The overwhelming majority of salmon being caught from private fisherman is happening with trolling gear.  Most of these fish are being hooked at depths ranging from 120-200 feet down.  There was even a report of a kid fishing for halibut near the Soquel Hole bouncing a anchovy off the bottom who landed a keeper salmon (not confirmed though)

It’s too difficult to say what is working best, there is the usual mix of hoochie and dodgers/flashers and dead bait being dragged off the downriggers for the trollers.  And the few fisherman who are mooching are doing the typical sardine/anchovy rig with anywhere from 2-8 ounces of weight depending on the conditions.  If you asked me, mooching with anything over 6 ounces is not too much fun, especially if you are down deep.

So here’s the deal, we are all going to hope for some good weather these next few days off of the coast of California, and if that works out, there just might be some reports of some 30 plus lb. salmon next week.  If anyone has any reliable mile buoy reports for salmon fishing from either Monterey or Santa Cruz of even Half Moon Bay, please submit them via comments below.  There are quite a few smaller craft fisherman who are dying to know if they can just creep out of the channel and have some decent luck at catching their first salmon of the season.

The Salmon Season has officially begun in the Monterey Bay of California in 2010.Here is a video of the first salmon of the year caught off of Santa Cruz, California.

We left the Santa Cruz, California harbor at about 8:30 in the morning and were back at the dock at 11:30am with just one fish, but it was a nice one, and the first in two years!
What was the most amazing part of the day was the number of boats who went out looking for salmon. There were literally hundreds of boats out on the water according to California Fish and Game officials. The boats started leaving Santa Cruz Harbor before 5am, and were nearly lined up heading out of the channel until around 7:30 when it finally slowed down.

Here is a picture of the salmon that we caught in about 300 feet of water at about 10:00am Saturday April 3, 2010 off Santa Cruz.

As a bit of a follow up on how Half Moon Bay did with Salmon the first weekend, they did horrible compared to Santa Cruz.  Although I wasn’t up there, the reports are that the fishing was way less than one fish per rod, and more like 1 fish per 10 rods.  Also, the weather for the opening weekend was much nastier than down south in Santa Cruz.   So, if you are considering going fishing April 10th or 11th, my advice would be to fish Santa Cruz before leaving from Half Moon Bay.  The Soquel Hole was very nice to us, and to many other fisherman, and it sounds like the Soquel Hole might have been the best place in Northern California to be fishing for opening weekend of the Salmon Season this year.  If there are any other reports from Northern California salmon fishing trips, I will try to post them ASAP to get a better feel for what happened.  I am yet to hear anything from way up North at this point about the salmon fishing.

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Been a long time coming, but the Salmon Season is arriving this weekend on April 3rd, 2010!

Going to be going out on a 17 foot Boston Whaler out of Santa Cruz, California early on Saturday morning in hopes of hooking up with a few of the red meat fish.  It has been a few years for so many people to have the chance to go and do this once again, hopefully the weather will cooperate.

The latest reports from local friends along the Monterey Bay and Half Moon Bay parts of California is that the salmon are out there, so you bet my crew will already have the bait and gas ready when it comes time to go to bed on Friday night.  Our current plan is to head down to water a few miles off Moss Beach and to do some mooching with dead anchovies.  Mooching is fishing with the engine turned off with bait on a hook, and some weight to get the bait down to the desired depth.  This method is my favorite for salmon in the ocean as it allows you to feel the bite and set the hook on your own.  Also, it allows you to catch some sleep if you like with the hope of getting woken up by the sound of a fish pulling line against the drag.  Some people like using sardines for bait, and yet a very select few will use dead squid for bait when hunting for salmon.  I personally have never used the squid, but a few fishing buddies swear by it.

As for the fishing regulations, right now the rules for most of California are 2 salmon per person per day, and the minimum size is 20 inches.  Coho need to be thrown back to get those growing in numbers once again.

My hope is to be able to bring you all kinds of reports of how the action is and how things go down on the fishing side of things, if you have any great news to report on your end, feel free to comment it below.

Good Luck Fishing,

Fishing Feeds