Santa Cruz...
The Wild Wave scored big on Wednesday with 105 albacore! "The weather was rough but we had great fishing 5 miles out," reported Mike Baxter, captain of the Wild Wave. "We used big sardines for bait and the fish bit like piranhas. It can be really action packed and exciting catching 105 tuna on a sport fishing boat, with all of the people hooting and hollering. We are very proud and happy to be one of the first boats in the area to catch over 100 fish."

On the following day, the albacore were caught at 36'32/122'40 and 36'34/122'35. "I did not get any sport counts today because the wind was up in the morning and there were not many boats out," said Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine. "I did talk to a commercial friend of mine who was doing well and the water was nice. It looks like these next few days should be good for albacore."

Meanwhile, the halibut bite is still going on near 4 Mile Beach in 70-80 feet of water. "The average catch was 1-4 Halibut in the 10-30 pound range," stated Fraser. "There were some halibut caught near Natural Bridges in 40-60 feet of water."

The salmon bite was good for the anglers who fished in the Soquel Hole in 200-250 feet of water near the bottom. The salmon were in the 10-25 pound range. The numbers for the Hole were 36'50/121'54.

"Anglers landed a few salmon fishing in 60-80 feet of water near 4 Mile and near Soquel Point. The Rockcod and Lingcod fishing continues to be good for anglers fishing in Capitola and above Natural Bridges in 50-90 feet of water."

Half Moon Bay...
"We are in the typical yearly slow down for salmon fishing along the coast," said Peggy Beckett from Huck Finn Sportfishing. "Boaters will continue to pick up big fish, but the numbers will be down."

Recent salmon trips aboard the Queen of Hearts produced under one fish per rod. The Queen of Hearts' last salmon trip along the Marin coast yielded 7 fish to 35 pounds for 11 passengers.

On the other hand, shallow water rockcod trips are producing limits. Twelve anglers aboard Ankeney Street and 14 passengers on Queen of Hearts on the previous day nailed their limits of assorted rockcod, along with several lings to 8 pounds. The fish were caught fishing shallow water near Pescadero.

Berkeley...
The past weekend past didn't produce very good action for party boaters fishing for salmon off the Duxbury Reef, but heavy boat traffic was mainly the problem, according to Jim Holloway from Berkeley Marina Sport Center. However, on Monday and Tuesday, with minimal boat traffic, anglers caught limits while trolling and mooching.

Captain Robert Gallia aboard El Dorado fished the Duxbury Reef with 13 passengers on board, and they managed to take their limits of king salmon to 35 pounds.

"A few albacore boats are running out 37 miles below Sea Rock for tuna weighting up to 45 pounds," he noted. A recent trip by 12 anglers aboard New Golden Eye yielded 40 tuna to 45 pounds. "There were also a lot of fish being lost at the boat due to harsh wind conditions."

Over the August 17-18 weekend, rockcod anglers fished in 70-90 feet of water off Montara, where they picked up near-limits along with several lings caught on live bait. Boaters also hooked into a few striped bass and halibut during the rockcod trip.

Emeryville...
The salmon bite dropped off over the weekend to less than one fish per rod, but the action this week produced better than one fish per rod, reported Frank Salazar from Emeryville Sportfishing Center. Anglers targeting the kings are finding steady fishing this week along the Marin Coast.

"Pot luck trips for halibut and bass have been productive, but bass numbers are coming up short as most boats are only averaging 1-2 stripers per trip," said Salazar. "On the other hand, halibut anglers are picking up 1-2 fish per rod while fishing outside the Golden Gate along the Marin Coast such as Stinson Beach." Anglers are drifting live anchovies to entice the halibut and bass, he noted.

"There are albacore to be caught in our offshore waters, but the demand is not very high currently so we will continue to focus on pot luck trips for halibut and king salmon," Salazar added.

Richmond...
"Last week was absolutely fantastic for halibut outside the Golden Gate. The 6 anglers fishing with me just 3 miles below Seal Rock and picked up 12 halibut to 30 pounds," reported Captain Barry Canevaro of The Fish Hookers Sportfishing. "On the following day of fishing, my 5 passengers fishing the same area managed to catch 9 butts to 28 pounds. All the fish were caught drifting live bait on both tides."

The wind started to pick up late on Saturday, which forcing Canevaro to move inside the bay, according to Canevaro. "Hopefully, within the coming few days, the water will sharpen up and allow us to get out and fish for both halibut and salmon."

Fort Bragg...
The Rumblefish and El Patron are running out to Bear Harbor and Willy's Point for outstanding action for rockcod and lings, noted Don Akin of Noyo Fishing Center.

On Saturday, August 17, 29 passengers aboard Rumblefish bagged 25 lingcod to 22 pounds, along with their limits of assorted rockcod. El Patron also ventured out for rockfish and they found top notch action while fishing off Willy's Point. The 19 anglers boated full limits of rockcod and 16 lingcod to 25 pounds. The fish were caught using Mega Bait jigs.

"We have also been taking some big salmon on our trolling trips to Cleone Reef, but the numbers are scratchy from day to day," noted Akin. Twenty-one anglers aboard Rumblefish pulled in 20 fish while pulling prisoner hoochies in white and black.

Big fish honors go to Caroline Thompson, who nailed a chinook going 50.01 pounds. "This fish was a monster. Caroline is 71 years old and she mastered her fish to the boat with ease," explained Akin.

According to Randy Thornton from Telstar Charters, rockfish adventures near Caspar and several other shallow water reefs have produced 7-10 fish per rod, with most days producing limits.

"Our boaters are using jigs with teasers and chunks of squid to entice the rockfish," he noted. "The lingcod numbers, on the other hand, are difficult to predict. Some days we may pick up 5-10 fish and on others we will struggle to catch just one fish."

"The salmon numbers have also been jumpy with most days yielding one fish per rod, but the size of the fish is excellent," he stated.