MORRO BAY... The anglers aboard the first two "long range" trips to the San Luis Obispo County coast by Virg's Landing since the rockcod season re-opened on May 1 found excellent weather and quality fishing.

The 21 anglers aboard the Admiral landed 398 rockfish and two cabezon on a trip from 6 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 5, according to June Davis of Virg's Landing.

The 113 daily rockfish passengers fishing during the week nailed 638 rockfish, 3 rock sole and 3 cabezon. Anglers fished a variety of shrimp flies, squid strips, jigs and bars for the bottomfish.

Daron Cassey of Templeton topped the week's bottomfish catches with a 4 pound cabezon, while Robert Danks of Oceano took a 4 pound rock sole. Both fish were taken aboard the Admiral.

Salmon fishing remains tough for anglers trolling anchovies, Krocodiles and other lures off the Central Coast. Joe Romley of Cambria bagged the largest chinook of the week, a 14 pounder, trolling aboard the Mallard.

SANTA CRUZ... The shallow water rockfish season opened on May 1 with tough weather conditions but a "great grade" of fish in Monterey Bay, according to Joe Stoops of Chartle Sportfishing.

"Our 4 anglers kept 22 vermilion and brown rockfish from 2-3 pounds, a 4 pound cabezon and released 7 lingcod, along with the assorted smaller rockfish," said Stoops. "We were confined to the Natural Bridges area in 90 feet of water because of the wind."

With the great weather arriving on May 4, Stoops was finally able to locate some salmon. "Our 4 anglers trolled up 8 salmon to 12 pounds while fishing in the deep off the Soquel Hole," he stated. "All of the fish were on top at 50 feet."

However, his anglers had a little tougher time boating keeper fish on the following day. "We ended up with 3 salmon to 20 pounds and released quite a few shakers," he added. "The action was off the Pajaro Hole in 300 feet of water, trolling bait at 45 feet. The conditions were great with high fog clearing at 1 pm with the light westerly breeze. "

The salmon mooching began to rebound on Wednesday, May 9 in Monterey Bay. The 11 anglers aboard the Wild Wave had 13 salmon on Wednesday and the same exact score the following day, May 10. The anglers mooched off Point Pinos near Monterey, about 22 miles from Santa Cruz, according to "Grandpa" at Shamrock Charters in Santa Cruz.

Four private boaters who tried the shallow reefs around Santa Cruz for rockfish on Monday found tough fishing on May 7. "They only landed 10 rockcod," said Schmidt.

Halibut fishing is on the upswing in the bay. "Five halibut were reported at 50-60 feet off Capitola on dead anchovies and Fish Traps on May 6," said Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine. "I believe the halibut are moving in now that the water is warming up. I also got a good report of rockcod outside the mile buoy at 65 feet, with a mixed bag of cabezon and blues there."

MONTEREY... The rockcod season in shallow water opened off Monterey on May 1, but rough weather prevented the boats from fishing. However, the weather calmed down on May 5 and 6 and anglers found great rockfish action along the Monterey coast.

"Twenty-five anglers landed limits of blue and yellowtail rockfish in just one hour of fishing on a trip we made to Point Sur on May 6," reported Donne Davis, captain of the Tornado out of Chris' Fishing, Inc. "Anglers found the top action using strips of fresh squid on single hooks in 60 feet of water."

On the previous day, the fishing was also excellent, though it took longer to take limits. The 18 anglers fishing aboard the Tornado bagged limits of blue and yellowtail rockfish fishing at 50 to 120 feet deep off Cypress Point.

"The salmon fishing has been tough over the past week," said Davi. "However, the fish being caught include a lot of big chinooks weighing 15 to 20 pounds. Moochers are taking the fish from the Soldier's Club to Asilomar."

"The salmon bite has been really slow," confirmed Pete Bruno at Randy's Fishing Trips. "We were catching limits every day until last week, when the boats began taking anywhere from 1 to 10 fish per day."

The Chubasco returned from a salmon trip on May 6 with 3 salmon for 19 anglers. The 16 anglers aboard the Sur Randy landed 11 fish the same day. "The fish are averaging 12 to 15 pounds, with some in the 18 to 25 pound range," he added.

HALF MOON BAY... After several tough days of fishing because of high winds, the salmon bite off Half Moon Bay is beginning to shift into high gear as the weather lays down.

"It was a grand day on Monday," captain William Smith of Riptide Sportfishing. "The sun was shining and the wind was down to nothing. The seas were calm and the fish were on the munch!! We had 10 limits of Salmon by 9:30 am. These fish were full of krill and were still hungry. Sunday was also a great day of fishing as well with boats having up to 35 fish! We were just a few fish short of limits on Sunday. With the prospects of the better weather this week we are looking forward to some great fishing!"

"After the wind blew through over the week, the salmon action picked up," reported Sherry Ingles aboard the Queen Of Hearts. May 6 was a productive day for the 24 anglers who caught 30 salmon up to 23 pounds. The next day was even better for a group of 8 anglers fishing aboard the Queen Of Hearts. "We had limits to 16 pounds for all 8 anglers," added Ingles.

The fish are showing at a variety of locations. "One day we found salmon out near the Deep Reef, the next day down at Pigeon Point, and then the fish would move out towards the Weather Buoy," stated Ingles.

Trolling has produced a consistent bite as the fish want a moving bait. "Mooching just doesn't produce a bite as well as when the fish are feeding on the krill," emphasized Ingles.

The rockfishing season is now open again. "Our first rockfishing trip was scheduled for Wednesday, May 2, but that was cancelled due to the winds that hit the coast Wednesday morning," reported Ingles.

SAN FRANCISCO... As is normal for the beginning of the live bait season, south San Francisco Bay continues to yield the top halibut action for party boat anglers and private boaters.

"The overall average has been one fish per rod, with some better and worse days," said Erik Anfinson, captain of the Bass Tub. "I had a trip on Monday that produced 5 halibut for 5 people. Jim McCormick also landed a 95 pound soupfin shark."

However, the halibut action on Saturday, May 5 was spotty. "Some boats did well while others didn't," said Anfinson. "We had a tough day, ending up with 2 halibut to 6 pounds."

The Alameda Rockwall is yielding the top action, though the Berkeley Flats are producing halibut also. A few stripers are showing in the catches, but the stripers haven't moved into the south and central bays in force yet.

"The party boats ended up with 5 to 10 salmon each while fishing the north side from the Farallon Islands to N Buoy from Thursday through Sunday," said Jacky Douglas, captain of the Wacky Jacky. "The weather didn't allow us to go south to the Weather Buoy area, where the action is better."

Most skippers are trolling, since the fish are scattered as they feed on krill. The top depth is 30 to 50 feet. The chinooks average 8 to 12 pounds, with an occasional fish to 26 pounds, according to Douglas.

EMERYVILLE MARINA.... Live bait action kicked into gear for anglers fishing out of Emeryville sportfishing last week. Halibut numbers took a big jump with most trips producing 1 to 3 fish a rod along with a handful of stripers.

On Wednesday, May 2, the New Huck Finn hit a red hot halibut bite and brought in full limits (27) for their 9 passengers. The Captain Hook was just shy of limits with 14 halibut, 1 leopard shark and a 10 pound white seabass for 5 anglers. The following day, the New Huck Finn bagged 29 halibut and a striper for 13 anglers and the Captain Hook picked up 6 halibut, 1 leopard shark and a striped bass for 7 people.

On Saturday, May 5, the Play-N-Hooky had a banner day with a total of 18 halibut to 20 pounds and 1 striped bass for 6 anglers. The New Huck Finn brought in 23 halibut to 20 pounds and 2 striped bass for 23 anglers. The Captain Hook checked in with 14 halibut to 25 pounds for 30 anglers. The Rapid Transit was the only boat targeting salmon and they caught 4 fish to 18 pounds for 10 anglers.

The action was also good on Wednesday, May 9. The Playin' Hooky came back with 12 halibut to 20 pounds and one 12 pound leopard shark, according to Frank Salazar of the Emeryville Sportfishing Center. The 12 anglers aboard the New Huck Finn ended up with 22 halibut to 18 pounds and one 8 pound striper for 12 anglers the same day. The New Salmon Queen fished off the San Mateo Coast and took 5 salmon to 6 pounds for 6 anglers.

BODEGA BAY... Salmon season is off to a bit of a slow start off the coast of Bodega Bay, but catches were improving at press time. Check Wil's Fishing Adventures for a fun-filled salmon report.

FORT BRAGG... Following a week of windy weather, conditions finally settled down in the Fort Bragg area and the salmon bite kicked into gear.

"We didn't make it out during the week, but the weather improved Saturday and we had limits of salmon for 12 anglers by 11:00 am," reported Rick Thornton of Anchor Charters. "We also ran a rockfish trip that same morning and ended up just shy of limits for 7 people."

According to Thornton, the salmon were straight out of the harbor in approximately 30 fathoms of water. "We were actually fishing off the mouth of Hare Creek just south of Noyo River," he explained.

"We were catching fish on anchovies and hoochies trolled 30 to 80 pulls deep. The salmon are ranging from legal size (24 inches) up to 24 pounds."

Rockfish season opened May 1 for the take of near shore species in 120 feet of water or less. "Brandon ran the rockfish trip on the Lady Irma II," said Thornton. "He ended up running north off Westport and catching blues, blacks and a few china rockfish."