Want to know how the salmon fishing is going in Monterey Bay? Just ask the guy who buys fish from the commercial boats. Jeremy Streig owns and operates Harbor Pride Seafood, buying and selling freshest and healthiest line-caught bounty from the sea. Streig reported on the progress of our season so far saying, “We had a surprisingly good start, especially as compared to last year. Salmon fishing was very good for the first eight days. We had two distinct schools in the bay for the opening week. In the last four days it has slowed down considerably. The commercial boats were averaging 40-100 fish per day at the start of the season. This week the average was more like five to 25 fish. The salmon are getting bigger however. The numbers at the beginning of the season had fish averaging around nine pounds. This week the average is up to 10 or 11 pounds with big fish weighing in up to 25.”

Last week we reported sport boats averaging about one fish per rod. This week, it’s closer to half a fish per rod. Quite a few skunks were reported since the weekend. The fish are scattered, and generally moving north. Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine reported last Friday “Fishing for salmon was good up the coast near Wilder Beach and Davenport. The salmon are moving up the coast daily. The majority of salmon are being caught on anchovies from 40-120 feet down.” A kayak fisherman’s report from Wednesday indicated salmon are still being caught off of Moss Landing. He was about a mile or two from the Moss landing Harbor entrance. “The low pressure may have turned off the bite,” Fraser said on Wednesday. He added, “Rock fishing was good in the deep water near Wilder Beach. Halibut are still being caught near the Mile Buoy and Capitola. Striped bass are still being caught near Manresa and New Brighton.

The majority of surfcast stripers caught for the past few weeks have come from below Moss Landing. It seems the closer to the Salinas river, the better chance for a linesider hookup. Barred surf perch have been AWOL lately, though we did see a few “slab” BSP’s caught by Glen Sales from Marina while throwing a Joe Baggs Swarter lure from one of his local beaches.