Local weather is still a problem for area anglers, but the salmon fishing is slowly improving near Santa Cruz.

Despite 6-10 foot seas and very windy conditions most afternoons, Santa Cruz anglers are finally catching some salmon in their home waters. According to Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine, most boats are averaging zero to one fish per boat, but a few highliners are making the most of the salmon schools slowly filtering in to the Soquel Hole and Three Trees area. According to Fraser, trolling is the way to go right now, as the fish are somewhat scattered, and you need to cover territory." Fraser recommends trolling Kajikis or green Krocodiles 50 to 150 down.

Reel Sportfishing's Gerry Brookes found the fish near Pt. Pinos on Saturday, boating six salmon to 26 pounds for his clients. By Tuesday, Brookes was fishing the East side of the Soquel Hole, where he netted five beautiful fish weighing as much as 27 pounds each. Captain Jim Rubin worked the flats off Moss Landing on Saturday for four salmon and managed two fish on Wednesday at The Hole. "These are all quality fish," says Rubin. "They are eating krill, which makes them very active and the meat is very red." Rubin's big fish for the week weighed 21.5 pounds. Ed Burrell, on his days off from Capitola Boat and Bait searched the Soquel Hole area, working 300 feet of water. He boated three fish after trolling for hours in the area.

Just to try something different, Ken Stagnaro took the Velocity north to the Ano Nuevo area. Searching the area in nearly 400 feet of water Stagnaro says, "we found good green water, with krill and whales feeding, but no salmon. We finally found the fish on the inside in 200 feet of water closer to Davenport. We kept three fish for the nine we hooked. All of them went 20-30 pounds."

The weather forecast indicates very windy conditions for the remainder of the workweek, with winds easing somewhat for the weekend. The swell will still be up over the weekend, so boaters are advised to be careful and use caution if deciding to go out Saturday and Sunday.