Monterey/Santa Cruz
Surf fishermen are nailing good numbers of barred perch and striped bass off the Monterey Bay State Beaches, while charter boat anglers are catching sanddabs and mackerel on the fishable days.

Djung Nguyen of Marina reported catching limits of barred perch while fishing south of Fort Ord, over the weekend of March 1-2, according to Jim Franco of J&D Auto Repair Gone Fishing. Twin Lakes, Capitola, Sunset and other Monterey State Beaches are producing lots of feisty perch also.

“A few stripers in the 5 to 6 pound class are being caught off Monterey Dunes and north of the mouth of the Pajaro River,” stated Franco. “The anglers are using Rebel Jumpin’ Minnows in bone colors.”

A trip aboard the Sur Randy on March 1 yielded an average of 12 sanddabs and 20 mackerel per person. “The 7 anglers fished Sabiki jigs, tipped with squid strips, northwest of Point Pinos,” said Pete Bruno at Randy’s Fishing Trips. “The weather came up early, so we had to go back in.”

Anglers fishing aboard the Caroline on March 2 experienced solid action on sanddabs outside of Pacific Grove. “The passengers took an average of 30 sanddabs per rod while fishing Sabiki rigs, but they didn’t catch many mackerel,” reported Chris Arcoleo of Chris’ Fishing Trips.

  Half Moon Bay
There isn’t much going on San Mateo County coast saltwater enthusiasts beyond crabbing and whale watching. To add insult to injury, so to speak, even those trips have been put on hold in recent days do to windy weather and rough ocean conditions.

“I had a crab charter scheduled for today, but we had to call it off due to high winds,” reported Captain Tom Mattusch on March 2. “On my last crabbing trip we ended up with full limits, but we had to really work at it. Crabbing is not very good, but if you have enough pots you should be able to get a limit.”

“We have been hoping to do some research fishing in deep water, but those trips are on hold until April 1 at the earliest,” added Mattusch.

The folks at the Queen of Hearts are ready to run whale trips, but so far there has not been much support from potential passengers and the weather has not been cooperating either.

The story is pretty much the same at the Huck Finn Sportfishing Center, with no trips having run and no trips success and expectantly awaiting the salmon opener, should the powers that be allow fishing.

  Point San Pablo
Sturgeon fishing is pretty slow in San Pablo Bay, but other options do exist. Leopard sharks are beginning to move onto the flats and anglers are now slugging it out with the hard fighting gamefish.

“We went out after sturgeon last week and we ended getting zero. Actually we got less than zero. We didn’t get any bites or anything. The sturgeon fishing has been pretty tough for us,” reported Captain Frank Miller of Fury Sportfishing on March 2. “We are setting on Hamilton Flats right now and we’ve got 3 big leopard sharks in the box.”

“The sharks are cruising in very shallow water. The area we are anchored in is only about 3 feet deep. It looks like the sharks are just beginning to move into the North Bay and at least some of them are moving up onto the flats where they are a lot of fun to catch.”

In water that shallow the sharks have nowhere to go when you hook them, so they sort of porpoise out of the water and it is pretty exciting. “Once we finish up with these sharks on the flats, we might move a bit deeper and take a shot at sturgeon,” said Miller. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

For the uninitiated, not only are leopard sharks strong fighters, but they also provide exceptional table fare. Leopards are commonly targeted with various types of natural bait, including squid, sardines, mackerel and midshipmen.

  Martinez
According to Martinez area charter boat operators, there are quite a few sturgeon holding in both San Pablo and Suisun bays, but the problem has been getting them to bite on a consistent basis.

“I had a pretty good day last Friday,” reported Jay Lopes of Right Hook Sportfishing on March 2. “That day my anglers boated a 52 inch keeper sturgeon and a pair of keeper striper while we were fishing up near the upper end of the Moth Ball Fleet. Eel and shrimp have been the best baits for me. It was pretty windy over the weekend and we didn’t have much luck, but before that we were picking up a fish everyday or so.”

“We got skunked on our last two trips,” reported Captain Jim Smith of Happy Hooker Sportfishing. “I tried fishing in Montezuma Slough, Suisun Slough and in the Benicia area, but we just couldn’t get any sturgeon to go. I’m marking big numbers of fish, but they are just not interest in feeding.

He added, “The water is pretty salty down here and I don’t think that is helping the situation. I’m thinking that if we got a big shot of fresh water it just might spark some action. It certainly couldn’t hurt.”

The most recent trip by James Smith, captain of the California Dawn produced one keeper sturgeon.

  Bodega Bay
The report from Bodega Bay charter skippers and anglers is that there isn’t a whole lot to report. Some charter operators are shut down as they await the opening of salmon season, should the federal government allow the season to open. Other boats are staying busy running whale watching adventures.

“We have not been doing anything,” reported Captain Les Fernandes. “I recently bought Will’s Bait and Tackle and changed the name to Fish On Bait and Tackle, but as far as charter boat fishing goes there isn’t much to say. The crabbing is slow and we have not been making an effort to crab as a result. Here at the store we are continuing to provide fishing tackle and bait. Once some fishing is available we’ll be book trips out of the store.”

“I got an interesting report from a shore angler recently that caught a limit of stripers while fishing bloodworms for perch off Duran Beach. The stripers he got measured 22 and 28 inches in length,” said Fernandes.

Captain Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sportfishing related that he is currently running whale watching trips .

  Fort Bragg
Salmon season on the North Coast above Point Arena opened back on February 16, but the opener was a quiet one with no fish being caught. Now, a little over two weeks later things have improved and it appears that a group of salmon has moved in the area. This is great news for salmon enthusiasts departing from Noyo Harbor.

“We located some salmon north of the Bodega Buoy while trolling this morning,” divulged Captain Randy Thornton of Telstar Charters. “We hooked two that we lost and landed one 14 inch shaker while trolling over 270 feet of water. One of the fish we lost didn’t seem to be big, although I’m pretty sure it was a keeper. The other fish was really big. It nearly spooled the guy that hooked it. It hurt to loose that one”