Salmon season ended for waters below Pigeon Point on July 2. Lucky for us, a productive bite developed near the Soquel Hole over the weekend. Anglers were catching beautiful king salmon in the 8-18 pound range while trolling bait or hoochies near the bottom in 250 feet of water.

Should you have a salmon itch that simply must be scratched, it’s only a short drive up the coast to Half Moon Bay, where the salmon fishing has been wide open near Deep Reef, just outside Princeton Harbor and up towards Pacifica. Kayak anglers are launching from Lindemar and catching salmon while mooching or trolling in 60-80 feet of water less than one mile from the beach.

Locally the most promising big game is halibut. Anglers continue to report undersized fish brought up in the shallow water, with an occasional keeper. Even pier anglers at Capitola and Santa Cruz wharf have a good chance to catch a legal flatty right now. In deeper water, from 40-70 feet, the odds are much better to bring in a big halibut while bounce-ball trolling or drifting live bait. The usual flat, sandy stretches hold the big flatfish. Look for clean water without jumbled junk on your sonar near the bottom.

Go Fish Santa Cruz rolled the dice and trolled for salmon last weekend. Owner Beth Thomas reported, “We went catching again today. The salmon bite was hot. We fished the Soquel Hole and had five nice salmon by early morning. The clients were really excited when they had a double.” They also caught salmon for their clients on Sunday, a last hurrah before the season ended.

Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine posted good fishing news early in the week saying, “The fishing was great for the anglers who worked the west side of Santa Cruz. There were some nice rock fish and lingcod caught on Big Hammer Swim baits, shrimp flies, and Assault jigs. The halibut are still on the bite in front of the harbor. The anglers who are trolling near the Cement Ship to Pajaro are catching some big halibut. There were a few sea bass caught near Capitola. There were some bonita caught of the point of Monterey.” Bonita and white sea bass? Things could get interesting on the Monterey Bay in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, rockfish and lingcod catches remain very consistent. Most anglers on the charter boats are bringing home limits of rockfish and occasional limits of lings. The Kahuna, launching out of Moss Landing, has more Big Sur trips on their calendar and Stagnaro’s Sportfishing from Santa Cruz will be heading up to the wild coast near Ano Nuevo on this Sunday’s full-day trip.