Morro Bay/Avila Beach
Anglers fishing off of Morro Bay and Avila Beach are experiencing very good bottomfish action and things are only expected to continue improving.

"Guys are getting limits just about everyday and we are seeing a lot of quality fish," exclaimed Herald Levett at Portside Marine. "In addition to the rockfish, we've been seeing quite a few lingcod along with halibut to 25 pounds. There is no live bait available, so guys have been drifting with frozen bait. The frozen bait is working."

The story is much the same at Virg's Landing with anglers boating plentiful numbers of rockfish. For example, on June 6, the Harbor Pathfinder took out 48 anglers and they scored a combined total of 30 copper rockfish, 120 vermilion rockfish and 330 assorted rockfish.

Alex Cossaboom of Patriot Sportfishing in Avila Beach described the recent fishing as "very good".

"Our anglers are limiting on rockfish everyday, but we aren't just seeing rockfish. On our long range trips we are seeing a lot of lingcod up to 20 pounds. About a week ago one angler landed a 31 pound halibut," said Cossaboom.

Monterey/Santa Cruz
Whether you fish the local reefs off Cypress Point and Carmel or along the rugged Big Sur coast, the rockfish action is sizzling.

"We were back to the dock today by noon with limits of rockfish for 10 anglers," reported Brian Cutting, captain of the Chubasco at Randy's Fishing Trips on Monday June 8. "The anglers caught limits of yellowtail, olive, blue and vermilion rockfish while fishing shrimp flies and bars off Cypress Point. The fish averaged 1-1/2 to 2 pounds each."

A trip aboard the Chubasco to Big Sur on Sunday yielded limits of yellowtail, olive, blue and vermilion rockfish averaging 3 to 4 pounds each. "The best lure was a 10 oz. white Kings Tackle bar," said Cutting. "We hooked the fish in 180 to 200 feet of water."

On the previous day, the 15 anglers aboard the boat bagged full limits of rockfish averaging 3 to 4 pounds off Point Sur.

"Anglers are catching limits of rockfish every day," said Todd Arcoleo of Chris Fishing Trips. "The anglers fishing aboard the Checkmate today bagged limits of vermilion, yellowtail and olive rockfish while fishing shrimp flies and bars off Cypress Point."

On the weekend of June 6 to 7, the Star of Monterey, Checkmate and Caroline all reported in with limits of rockfish, along with several lingcod, on trips to Point Sur. "The average sack weighed 40 to 45 pounds," said Arcoleo.

Santa Cruz private and charter boat anglers are also nailing limits of rockfish. The 23 fishermen aboard the Velocity on June 7 fished for bottomfish off Davenport in 100 feet of water. They caught limits of assorted brown, black and red rockfish and one 12 pound lingcod.

Half Moon Bay
For Central Coast saltwater anglers the rockfish season below Pigeon Point has been open for a little over a month. For much of that time the fishing was rated as fair, but over the past week things have improved dramatically, with limits of quality rockfish being the rule.

"The weather has been great and the fishing is excellent," reported Sherry Ingles of Queen of Hearts Sportfishing. "We've brought back limits of big rockfish on our last four trips and we've also had some excitement with big lingcod. Over the last three trips our anglers have boated 24 lingcod to 27 pounds."

"The fish have been hitting a little bit of everything. Many of the lings came on bars, but shrimp flies and soft plastics are also picking up rockfish and lingcod. Green has been a good color the past couple days," said Ingles.

"When the rockfish season opens above Pigeon Point on June 13 we'll begin fishing closer to home and we expect the fishing to be very good, but it is hard to imagine that it will be better than the fishing we've had down south over the past few days," added Ingles.

According to Peggy Beckett at the Huck Finn Sportfishing Center, charter boats have only been running on the weekends.

"Our boats are only running on Saturdays and Sundays, but they've been doing pretty good," reported Beckett. "Our customers are getting limits of brown, black and red rockfish. We've also seen some lingcod and cabezon and one angler got a keeper halibut."

San Rafael
During the most recent series of small tides, anglers fishing San Francisco and San Pablo Bays nailed large numbers of halibut and some striped bass. The striper fishing is expected to pick up with the larger tides arriving at press time, while halibut fishing is expected to slow down.

Live bait drifters are bagging the halibut and stripers at Southampton Shoals, Treasure Island, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and Paradise Cay. "Most of the keeper fish are in the 7 to 9 pound range – you don't have to measure many fish," reported Gordon Hough, captain of the Morning Star.

Fourteen anglers fishing aboard the Morning Star on Wednesday, June 3 bagged 9 halibut and 4 stripers, while the 18 anglers aboard the boat on Thursday nailed 22 halibut and 8 stripers. "The stripers averaged 7 to 8 pounds and the larger ones weighed 10 to 12 pounds," said Hough. Nick Gassman of Los Gatos took the jackpot fish of the week, a 28.5 lb. pound halibut.

Twelve anglers caught 20 halibut and 1 striped bass on Friday, along with losing a lot of fish. "They were really biting that day," noted Hough.

The 21 anglers fishing aboard the Morning Star on Saturday took 23 halibut and 4 stripers, while the 14 people fishing on the boat Sunday reeled in 19 halibut and 2 bass.

"The halibut fishing seems to have picked up where it left off last year except the fish are on the average bigger," concluded Hough.

Point San Pablo
Charter anglers departing from the Point San Pablo Marina are now targeting halibut and stripers with live anchovies after more than a month of drifting with frozen baits.

"The fishing has been very good for most guys," reported Captain Frank Miller of Fury Sportfishing on June 7. "I haven't been doing as well as a lot of other guys, but I'm looking to turn that around today."

"There are huge numbers of both halibut and stripers in the bay at this time. Today I'm planning to hit, Angel Island, Crissy Field and Mel's Reef near Alcatraz. The first two spots are holding both halibut and stripers, while the bite at Mel's consists mainly of bass. We are fishing live bait right now, but prior to the arrival of live bait we'd been doing fairly well drifting with dead baits. For a week or so I was picking up good number of halibut right outside the harbor on frozen anchovies."

The majority of private boaters departing from Point San Pablo are still trolling for halibut with rigged frozen baits and are enjoying a good level of success while fishing a variety of different shallow water areas

Berkeley/Emeryville
It came several weeks later than expected, but live anchovies are now available for Bay Area anglers. As a result, most charter boats have put their trolling tackle away and are now drifting live bait for a mix of halibut and striped bass.

Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing has been putting his anglers on good to very good action while fishing various areas of the south, central and upper bay. On June 3 Smith's anglers boated 18 halibut to 15 pounds and added 24 stripers to 12 pounds while working the Berkeley Flats and parts of the north bay.

On his next trip on June 5 Smith's clients pulled in 42 halibut to 13 pounds and 19 stripers to 15 pounds while working the central section of the bay.

Captain Bob Wright has been running the Happy Hooker while Captain Jim Smith is vacationing with a fishing rod in his hand in Alaska. Wright has been achieving good results while drifting live bait in various areas. According to Wright, the water is clearing and good fishing is expected during the upcoming week.

Captains Joe and Joey Gallia of New Easy Rider Sportfishing have been targeting halibut and stripers with a high level of success. According to Joe, anglers aboard the New Easy Rider had been hooking solid numbers of halibut while trolling with dead bait. Now that live bait is available, their success is continuing while drifting various areas of the bay with live anchovies.

"The fishing is very good," reported John Perrodin of the Emeryville Sportfishing Center. "The halibut and striper fishing has been great over the past week, now that we have live bait."

"On Saturday June 6, we sent out 116 anglers and they scored 104 halibut to 21 pounds and 42 stripers to 20 pounds. On Friday we only had 43 anglers, but they busted 47 halibut to 19 pounds and 36 stripers to 17 pounds. The best action seems to be taking place near Angel Island," said Perrodin.

Bodega Bay
It's been a long time since the jumbo Humboldt squid disappeared from the waters beyond Bodega this winter. Since that time anglers have had little to fish for save for perch and crabs. That's all going to change when rockfish fishing gets underway on June 13.

Captain Rick Powers of the Bodega Bay Sportfishing Center is expectantly waiting for the season to open. "We can fish up to 180 feet deep this season, so we'll be hitting some spots that haven't been fished for well over a year and I think our scores will be great as a result."

"I'm expecting to see our lingcod scores climb this season with access to deeper water. Last season we got some good lings, but the numbers were off overall. We might just have a good lingcod season this year, which would be great after being off the water for so long," said Powers.