
Monterey Bay
Rockfish Enthusiasts Target Coastal Reefs
MONTEREY – Full limits of rockfish, along with a few lingcod, are the rule for charter boats departing from Monterey.
The 26 anglers aboard the Checkmate on July 5 landed limits of rockfish (260) and 2 lingcod. The 20 anglers aboard the Carline landed limits of rockfish (200) the same day, according to Steve Semler at Chris’ Fishing Trips.
The 21 anglers aboard the Checkmate celebrated the Fourth of July by bagging limits of rockfish and 7 lingcod.
The anglers have been fishing in less than 20 fathoms of water with shrimp flies, bars, jigs, swimbaits and Point Wilson Darts. Blues, blacks and vermilions are making up most of the rockfish bag limits,
The rockfish season will continue to run through Dec. 30, 2025. Here are the depth restrictions now in place:
May 1 – Sept. 30: 20 fathoms inshore fishery
Oct 1 – Oct. 31: 50 fathoms offshore only fishery
Nov. 1 – Nov. 30: 20 fathoms inshore only fishery
Dec. 1 – Dec. 31: 50 fathoms offshore only fishery
Salmon fishing was great on the opening day of the limited salmon season on June 7. The 25 anglers aboard the Checkmate came back with 46 kings, just four fish short of full limits. Fishing was much slower on the following day; the Checkmate checked in with 2 salmon, while the Caroline didn’t return with any salmon.
The quota of 7,000 fish was reached for the summer salmon season.
Rockfish action is also going strong off Santa Cruz. “The rockfishing was good near 4 Mile Beach in the morning before the wind came up,” said Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine on July 5.
“The halibut are still being caught near Capitola and Pajaro. The anglers reported a little better action on halibut since the swell dropped today. The halibut fishing was better in the 50-80 foot range due to the south swell. The wind did blow in the late morning. There were some striped bass caught near Rio del Mar and Manresa by anglers tossing out plugs, swimbaits and other lures,” he added
Stagnaro’s Fishing Trips is now booking 4.5 hour nearshore rockcod trips on weekdays and 6 hour rockfish trips on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as twilight trips on Saturdays. Their latest 4.5-hour rockfish trip yielded 70 rockfish and 5 lingcod. Their most recent twilight trip produced 98 rockfish, while their last 6-hour trip yielded 108 rockfish and 5 lingcod.