Now is the time, folks. If you have any plans whatsoever to fish the saltwater this season, now would be a very, very good time to go!

Frank Ealy, owner of Capitola Boat and Bait and Santa Cruz Boat Rentals, checked in with a stellar report of the past week's fishing. "There's halibut and stripers all over the place in Capitola." Ealy credits the abundance of bait in the area for the hot bite. From the Cement Ship to Pleasure Point, not one on Ealy's rental skiffs got skunked this week. Jig up some sardines and flyline them towards the surf line at New Brighton for explosive striper action. The situation is much like last summer's striper bite in the area, but the fish are bigger. We're still seeing some "schoolie size" stripers in the mix, but a significant number of big-shouldered bass weighing up to 25 pounds are being weighed in on the Capitola Wharf.

Pier anglers using live bait underneath bobbers and targeting the shallow areas near the surfilne to the mid-way point of the Capitola Wharf are also pulling striped bass in.

Meanwhile, the edges of the Capitola kelp beds and areas surrounding nearby reefs continue to kick out halibut for anglers using live sardines, mackerel or anchovies, as well as whole squid and lures like swimbaits or MegaBaits. Rockfish and especially lingcod are congregating on the rocky reefs, and seem to be more than happy to hit the live bait or shrimpfly jigs. It is bonanza time in Capitola, so get it while it's hot.

Ealy also reminds us that salmon are also on the bite. It's a bit of a boat ride out to the Soquel Hole area, but get out early and troll with flashers, Apex lures, hoochies or straight bait and you have a good chance at landing a king salmon. There are plenty of shakers and Silver salmon in these schools, so treat the fish gently and check well for identification. Keepers are ranging from barely legal to the mid-thirty-pound range. Ealy himself bagged two kings this week that weighed in 20 and 23 pounds respectively, and lost a "hog" at the boat that would have come in well into the thirties.

Weather and sea conditions look good for the coming weekend. A decent-seized swell is in the forecast so be careful, especially when cozying up to the beach for stripers. Winds should be light, which means more hours for fishing, though an early start is always the best bet when fishing the Monterey Bay.

Tobias Farnsworth caught this halibut and striped bass flylining sardines off the New Brighton surfline.