I would say that fishing is very good in Santa Cruz even though we don't have any salmon, halibut or white sea bass to speak of. That's right, rockfishing is the default. And, lucky for us, it is wide open right now, and has been since the beginning of the season.

The salmon have disappeared, according to Chris Arcoleo from Chris' Sportfishing in Monterey. He notes only one good day last week. "Sure, on Saturday the commercial guys slammed them and the private boats were in early with limits. The bite was at Mulligan's Hill. Since then, there's been nothing." Arcoleo is grateful for the ongoing rockfish bite. His boats the Checkmate, Caroline and Star of Monterey have been bagging daily limits of rockfish as well as half to full limits of lingcod, working the reefs close to Monterey and Carmel.

The story is pretty much the same on this side of the Bay. All the "usual spots" are producing good catches of quality rockfish. Reefs in Capitola, both near the kelp line, and offshore at the Mile Reef or the SC-3 Buoy, 30-80 feet of water outside Pleasure Point, the Mile Buoy area, Steamer Lane, South Rock, and all the Westside reefs out to 120 feet are very good places to fish for rockies and lings right now.

Curiously, halibut fishing is still slow. We are seeing an increasing number of the big flatfish come in, but nothing like it was last year. It may be the cool water temps, or the continuing south winds. Hopefully, when they do come shallow the numbers will be consistent with last year's decent halibut catch rate.

Just in case, here is a reminder that this year's salmon regulations prohibit fishing on Mondays and Tuesdays through July 9, 2013. This was the conservation tactic settled on for the 2013 season in order to protect winter-run Sacramento fish.

And finally, some feedback from our readers:

Don Ish hopes to remind surfcasters that the shoreline area from Natural Bridges all the way to Four-Mile Beach is closed to surfcasting. The area is all part of the Natural Bridges State Marine Reserve and allows no fishing from the beach to 200 feet out. Thank you, Don.

And, Don Hall, past president of the Santa Cruz Commercial Fisherman's Association clarified the official title to what we commonly refer as "The Mile Buoy." Also known to some as "the Whistle Buoy," Hall points out this marker is actually one of a series of buoys all along the coast, placed at the 60-foot depth, and technically should be called "The 10-Fathom Buoy." Thanks to you Captain Hall.