An exceptional trip on July 22 yielded 81 albacore for 10 anglers. The tuna are hitting live anchovies and sardines, according to Davis.

Nichole Bulifant of Morro Bay topped the jackpot with a 30 pound albacore taken aboard the Princess. Darby Neil bagged a 28 pound albacore on the Fiesta, while Chris Matson of San Luis Obispo took a 20 pound albacore on the Admiral.

The two day trips to the Big Sur coast continue to yield great shallow water lingcod and rockfish action. The 25 anglers aboard the two day trip on the Admiral on July 27-28 bagged 100 lingcod, 100 red rockcod and 400 assorted rockfish. Chris Forbes of Arroyo Grande nailed a 20 pound lingcod and Jim Smith of Chowchilla landed a 22 pound lingcod.

The 604 daily rockfish passengers caught 287 lingcod, 635 red rockcod, 4,826 assorted rockfish and 5 halibut. Pat Clark of San Miguel took big fish honors with a 17 pound lingcod taken aboard the Princess.

Monterey...
Albacore tuna and rockfish are providing the hottest angling opportunities out of Monterey now, although king salmon are still hitting in Monterey Bay.

"Fishing for salmon has been tough, with most of our boats picking up an average of 10-12 fish per trip," reported Chris Arcoleo of Chris' Fishing Trips "However, we now are catching tuna 25 miles southwest of the harbor." A recent live bait trip aboard the Tornado yielded 70 albacore to 20 pounds for 11 anglers.

"One salmon boat this weekend surprised everyone with the numbers of fish caught for the rough fishing conditions," stated Arcoleo. Thirty passengers mooching on the New Holiday boated a total of 37 fish to 32 pounds.

"All of our boats continue to find outstanding shallow water fishing off Point Sur for assorted rockfish," noted Arcoleo. "Anglers are using squid and shrimp flies to catch their limits of blues, yellows and red rockfish, along with a few lingcod."

According to Angelo Shake from Monterey Sportfishing, fishing live bait for albacore tuna has produced a solid bite fishing 25-35 miles outside the harbor. A recent trip aboard Deep Adventures III yielded solid 29 tuna for 15 passengers.

"We've been running to the Soldiers Club and Del Monte Beach for salmon, but the numbers are slowly decreasing to just under one fish per rod," said Shake. "One trip aboard the Deep Adventures this weekend produced 10 salmon and 9 fat halibut. They entices the fish using anchovies and squid."

Santa Cruz...
The albacore fishing is in full swing off Santa Cruz, where anglers are catching the longfins 30 to 40 miles from the harbor.

The Wild Wave's albacore trip on July 26 returned with 54 tuna with 17 people on board. "It was a real calm day," said Captain Mike Baxter of Shamrock Charters. "We went out about 33 miles and found some good tuna water."

The following trip, on July 28, produced similar fishing. The 16 anglers aboard the Wild Wave landed 56 albacore while fishing live bait 30 miles from the harbor.

"The albacore water was a little rough in the morning, but it laid down late in the afternoon on July 28," reported Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine. "The best scores by private boaters were 20-28 albacore, while most boaters ended up with 5-8 albacore. The root beer Zukers, purple Cedar Plugs, Jerry Garcias, Mean Joe Greens, and Mexican Flags were the hot lures. Some small bluefin are being caught with the albacore."

The rockfish action remains excellent. A trip along the Santa Cruz coast by the Sea Stag III on Saturday, July 27 yielded 19 lingcod and good bags of rockfish for 20 anglers. The anglers fished shrimp flies and bars in shallow water, according to Ken Stagnaro of Sea Stag Sportfishing.

Sunday's live bait trip by the Sea Stag III returned with 22 lingcod to 19 pounds and 3/4 limits of brown, red and black rockfish for 15 anglers. "We fished close to the kelp from Davenport to Scott Creek," said Stagnaro.

The latest salmon trip by the Sea Stag III returned with 6 chinooks for 6 anglers. "The fish were all big ones in the 17 to 20 pound class," he added. "We took all of the fish mooching off Soquel Point."

"The salmon fishing was great over the weekend of July 27-28," said Anna Christian at Capitola Boat and Bait. "The fish hit off Capitola in 40 to 85 feet of water. Steve Hanley landed the largest salmon, a 35 pounder, on July 27. Homero Cortez also nailed a 20 pound chinook off the Mile Reef."

Halibut are still being caught by anglers drifting anchovies off Capitola. Justin Harris bagged a 22 pound halibut off the Mile Reef on July 28, according to Christian. On the same day, Greg Brougham successfully battled a 15.8 pound chinook while mooching an anchovy.

Half Moon Bay...
Anglers targeting the San Mateo Coast for king salmon continue to struggle for fish, but the Pescadero area is providing excellent rockfish action.

"Your best bet out of Half Moon Bay is the rockcod bite off Pescadero," reported Steve Moniz from Huck Finn Sportfishing. "Boaters are pulling in limits of assorted rockfish while fishing lures and squid."

A trip aboard the Queen of Hearts on Saturday, July 27, produced solid action for 17 anglers. The fishermen landed a total of 170 assorted rockcod, 14 cabezon to 9 pounds and 9 lingcod to 23 pounds.

"It's been a hit and miss week trolling for salmon between Stinson Beach and Rocky Point," noted Moniz. "The best score we saw this weekend was 24 salmon to 29 pounds for 20 passengers taken aboard the New Captain Pete."

The latest salmon trip on the Queen of Hearts returned with 8 fish to 45 pounds for 9 passengers. Twenty passengers fishing aboard Ankeney Street boated 9 salmon to 30 pounds, along with a 12 pound striper.

"We had another productive week of catching whopper salmon, although we were unable to pick up our limits," reported Captain William Smith of Riptide Sportfishing. "The fish made up for their lack of numbers with their size. For the past week we have been averaging just over one fish per rod, with an average size of 20 pounds. With the fish moving closer to the beach, we are starting to see more of the boats mooching."

San Francisco...
If you want to catch a big chinook off the Bay Area coast, this is the time to do it.

"All of the fish we're catching are big ones," said Jacky Douglas, captain of the Wacky Jacky. "We're averaging one fish per rod, but we're filling up both fish boxes. Anglers are catching a lot of fish in the 30 to 40 pound range along the Marin County coast from Duxbury Reef to Muir Beach."

A trolling adventure off Stinson Beach by the Wacky Jacky on Sunday, July 28 yielded 19 king salmon to 34 pounds for 19 anglers. "Our smallest fish weighed 15 pounds," she noted.

On July 29, the Wacky Jacky had 18 salmon for 13 anglers by 10:30 a.m. The anglers trolled with anchovies off Stinson Beach.

Susan Hernandez topped the week's catches aboard the Wacky Jacky with a 45 pound king salmon, according to Douglas.

Emeryville...
Emeryville anglers continue to enjoy steady action on big king salmon off the Marin coast. Also, live bait trips produced mixed bags of halibut, striped bass and rockfish last week.

"Salmon fishing was excellent during the week and slowed to about a fish per rod over the weekend," reported Robert Taylor of Emeryville Sportfishing. "We also had a lot of big halibut and stripers caught off Seal Rocks."

On Thursday, July 25, the C-Gull II brought in 29 salmon to 38 pounds for 20 anglers. The New Seeker managed 21 salmon and 1 halibut for 16 anglers. The New Salmon Queen landed 34 salmon to 28 pounds for 23 people and the New Super Fish checked in with 17 salmon and 1 striped bass for 13 anglers and the Captain Hook nailed 30 halibut to 25 pounds for 20 anglers. The Dandy managed 3 striped bass and 3 halibut for 5 anglers.

The following day, the C-Gull II caught 22 halibut for 25 anglers. New Seeker managed 22 salmon to 30 pounds for 26 anglers. The New Super Fish nailed 9 salmon to for 14 anglers. The Rapid Transit bagged 7 halibut, 120 rockfish and 3 lingcod for 24 anglers. The New Salmon Queen checked in with 20 salmon to 28 pounds for 12 anglers and the Dandy bagged 1 halibut, a 25 pound salmon, limits of rockfish and 14 lingcod for 6 passengers. The Captain Hook scored 25 halibut to 28 pounds and 5 striped bass for 24 anglers.

Berkeley...
Anglers fishing out of Berkeley Marina this week reported steady action on big king salmon along the Marin Coast and live bait trips produced quality halibut and striped bass both inside and outside the bay.

"We had a few salmon limits during the week and it slowed to about a fish per rod over the weekend," reported Chris Nelson of Berkeley Marina Sports Center. "These are really big fish averaging 15 to 18 pounds and we're seeing fish in the upper 30's and low 40's just about every day."

On Sunday, July 29, the Golden Eye landed a total of 25 halibut and 1 striped bass for 25 anglers. The El Dorado landed 18 salmon to 31 pounds for 18 people. The Drifter checked in with 17 salmon to 24 pounds for 18 anglers. The New El Dorado III bagged 8 salmon to 25 pounds, 18 lingcod, 2 halibut and 80 rockfish for 32 anglers. The New Easy Rider nailed 17 salmon to 45 pounds for 24 anglers.

On Saturday, the New El Dorado III took 24 salmon to 30 pounds for 33 anglers. The El Dorado managed 18 salmon to 31 pounds for 22 anglers. The New Easy Rider brought in 17 salmon to 40 pounds for 19 people. The New Golden Eye nailed 41 halibut and 8 striped bass for 37 people. The Drifter took 7 salmon to 25 pounds for 13 people and the Taku landed a total of 15 salmon to 37 pounds for 11 anglers.

"We've been targeting striped bass along the Marin coast and on the rockpiles inside the bay," reported Captain Jim Smith of Happy Hooker Sportfishing. "The rockpiles are kicking out a lot of 8 to 12 pound fish on the incoming tide and we're seeing much bigger fish running 15 to 30 pounds when we hit them along the beach."

On Saturday, July 27, the Happy Hooker had a banner day with full limits of striped bass, 4 lingcod and 8 halibut for 23 anglers. The following day, they managed 37 stripers to 15 pounds, 8 halibut and 1 lingcod for 37 people.

Point San Pablo...
Point San Pablo anglers found steady action on a mix of striped bass and halibut this week with most trips producing at least a fish per rod or better.

"We had a solid week of fishing other than Sunday when the wind made things a little tough," reported Frank Miller of Fury Sportfishing. "We've been catching good numbers of striped bass at the Brothers and halibut at South Hampton."

According to Miller, the Fury scored full limits of striped bass for 6 anglers on Friday, July 26. "We were drifting live anchovies in 35 feet of water on the outgoing tide," he explained. "Saturday, we fished for leopard sharks in the south bay and only landed two fish for 12 people by mid day. We decided to switch over to striped bass and landed 9 stripers at the Brothers before we had to head home. On Sunday, we battled a lot of wind, but still managed to bring in 1 halibut and 16 striped bass for 16 people."

"We've been drifting the Berkeley Flats for halibut this week," reported Captain Chad Aho of New Keesa Sportfishing. "We averaged a fish or better per rod every day except for Sunday."

On Wednesday, July 25, the New Keesa had a fantastic day with a total of 15 halibut for only 7 anglers. Friday produced exactly a fish per rod with 17 halibut for 17 anglers. On Saturday, they checked in with 6 halibut and 4 striped bass for 9 anglers. Sunday was a little slow with 2 striped bass and 4 halibut landed by 16 anglers.

Richmond...
The king salmon bite outside of the Golden Gate has fluctuated from day to day, but persistent anglers are still averaging a solid one fish per rod.

"Salmon fishing has been good along the Marin coast from Rocky Point to Muir Beach," indicated Barry Canevaro of The Fish Hookers Sportfishing. "However, the action tends to slow during the weekend when there is more boat traffic."

Canevaro noted that the fish are gorging themselves on the abundant bait. "The average weight of the fish is from 23-25 pounds, with a fish over 30 pounds being caught on virtually every trip," he said.

Barry is enticing the chinooks while trolling Rotary Salmon Killers in glow-in-the-dark patterns behind dodgers.

"As the water continues to warm up, increasing numbers of albacore are showing just outside the Farallon Islands," explained Canevaro. "However, we need to wait until the weather calms down enough for us to get out."

Captain Mark Delnero of Fin Addict Sportfishing confirmed the drop off in action from the weekdays to the weekend. "One of my past week day trips produced limits by 9 a.m.," said Delnero. "Two of my buddies and I caught salmon to 27 pounds while trolling Rotary Killers near the Duxbury Buoy.

The bite started to slow on the following Saturday, but they still managed to boat two salmon weighing 15 and 19 pounds while trolling just off the Bonita Channel.

"This weekend was productive for halibut fishing along the Berkeley Flats," stated Captain John Paxson of Dreamcatcher Sportfishing. "We boated 10 halibut for a total weight of 100 pounds while trolling anchovies and dodgers along the bottom."

Paxon also experienced good salmon fishing. "My passengers landed 4 salmon for a total of 104 pounds," he noted. "The fish weighed 7, 22, 35 and 40 pounds. We caught the fish trolling between 45 and 47 pulls from Rocky Point to Stinson Beach."

Bodega Bay...
Bodega Bay salmon action is in high gear at press time with reports of huge king salmon hitting off the mouth of the Russian River and Tenmile Beach.

"It's been like a lake out here for the last two weeks and we've been taking limits of salmon almost every day," reported Shawna Harbarth of the New Aggressor. "The New Aggressor and Calico are both coming in with full limits today and they also had limits of fish to 43.7 pounds on Sunday."

According to Harbarth, the salmon have been thick from Ten Mile Beach to the mouth of the Russian River. "The New Aggressor has been mooching and the Calico has been trolling," she added. "During the week, the New Aggressor had 27 limits on Monday, 28 limits on Tuesday, 35 limits on Wednesday, 22 salmon for 15 anglers on Thursday and 18 limits on Friday."

On Monday, July 29, Harbarth received an early morning call from a private boater who was fishing past Cordell Banks near Fanny Shoals. "He already had five albacore in the box and said conditions looked very good," she explained. "We should be running our first albacore trip some time in August."

"Salmon fishing was excellent during the week and dropped off to a fish per rod over the weekend," reported Sophie Powers of Bodega Bay Sportfishing. "It looks like the bite is already back on track because the New Sea Angler had 25 salmon in the box before noon today."

On Saturday, July 27, the New Sea Angler bagged 21 salmon to 26 pounds for 20 anglers. The Pro Fishn't nailed 12 salmon to 20 pounds for 27 anglers and the Predator managed 14 salmon to 28 pounds for 14 anglers.

The following day, the New Sea Angler ran a rockfish trip that produced full limits of rockfish, 11 salmon and 3 lingcod for 31 anglers. The Predator brought in 13 salmon to 25 pounds and 2 halibut for 14 anglers and the Pro Fish'nt nailed 6 salmon to 40 pounds.

Fort Bragg...
Red hot salmon action continues for anglers fishing off the coast of Fort Bragg. While rough weather put a damper on things Friday and Saturday, limits were the rule the rest of the week.

"We had limits of salmon up through Thursday, then it slowed down a bit Friday and Saturday because of the weather," reported Rick Thornton of Anchor Charters. "Things have calmed down today and it looks like the bite is back on because we have three fish hanging right now!"

According to Thornton, the salmon have been showing straight out of the harbor in 20 to 50 fathoms of water. "The salmon have been running 12 to 18 pounds on average with a lot of fish in the 20 and 30 pound class," he added. "Rockfish action has also been very good. Last Thursday, we ran a salmon/rockfish charter and nailed 38 salmon, 30 plus lingcod and limits of rockfish including 30 big vermilions. The rockfish were taken in shallow water to the south off Colby Reef."

"Most of our salmon trips returned with full limits this week," confirmed Rick Shafer at the Noyo Fishing Center. "The salmon are showing in big numbers from the buoys north in 70 to 150 feet of water.

As for the rockfish bite, Shafer also confirmed easy limits of quality rockfish, mainly blacks and blues along with lingcod catches averaging a fish per rod. "Our last rockfish trip was on the Arm Candy. They caught full limits of rockfish and 6 lingcod while fishing Fish Traps and Super Flies off Juan Creek," noted Shafer.