After a brief lull, salmon fishing has again taken off in the northern part of Monterey Bay. Anglers working the krill piles from Moss Landing to the east side of the Soquel Hole are reporting fast and furious fishing, and early limits for most.

"I fished today and we had 8 fish by 11:00," said Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine. Fraser, on the Easy Money, was trolling 50-60 feet down and using a combination of hoochies, spoons or Kocodile lures behind U.V. flashers. "The salmon were fighting hard because they were high up in the water column. There are huge bait balls of krill boiling on the surface and birds working it with salmon under it."

Captain Jimmy Sportfishing reported similar success. Hearkening to his commercial fishing roots, Skipper Jim Rubin uses straight spoons while trolling, with no flashers. "These fish are so hot, we're getting some only 10 feet down, with early limits on every trip." The quality of salmon is improving as well. Most fish caught recently are averaging 10 to 15 pounds with a few shakers in the mix and the occasional 20-pounder reported caught.

The weekend weather could not be better with a dropping swell and light winds forecast through Sunday. These benevolent conditions are attracting halibut into the shallows, and the catch rate for flatties is also rising. Ed Burrell at Capitola Boat and Bait weighed in a few this week already, including one caught near Capitola kelp beds on a swim bait. Todd Fraser says the best halibut fishing is near the Mile Buoy and up along the West Cliff area. Depths of 30-70 feet of water are holding the flatties. Swim baits are obviously working well, but dead squid is a standby halibut bait, and live anchovies or sardines always work the best. Carl Azevedo at Boccie Boy Bait in The Santa Cruz Harbor is on the hunt for finfish to stock his receiver. So far, he has not seen much bait inshore.

Rockfish season is now open and good scores have been reported from the Capitola and West Cliff areas. Reports from North Coast spots such as Four Mile Beach and Davenport are scarce, most likely because most boats are catching salmon at the moment. Those areas have colder water and commonly fish slower this early in the season.

Surf perching remains an easy alternative, and the fishing can be very good once you find the right spot to cast your lure or bait. Celeste Donatini can testify to this, having landed a 4.3-pound barred surfperch earlier this week, casting the surf near Rio Del Mar. Donatini caught the monster perch on a Krocodile lure.