8/3 Santa Cruz- 1 sm rf

   10 am till noon out in front of light house from 38 feet to the end of the reef at 60 feet (about 1 mile out)- not much on the fishfinder-caught two small rockfish and  a sublegal cab all released. Maybe it's me, but it really seemed dead. I've seen that place totally wide open and gone back 4 days later to find it deserted, so whatever.
    A sw wind came up at noon so I plugged around the east side of the kelp, cowells, and on to weeds outside the boardwalk and castle, all for nada.

    The wind moderated at 2 pm so I fishtrapped the black point buoy for a while for one meal sized rockfish. A light east  wind came up later in the afternoon.
   

I agree that SC can turn on and off like a light, I wonder why?

Yep, timing seems to be everything there. Moon phases, tides, weather, bait, big fish party the previous night? good on ya for trying though. Time on the water is what matters most anyway.

  Google-fish + bladder + low pressure area- , for an article in Saltwater Sportsman about the effect of low pressure turning off the bite  and /or sending the fish to deeper water(or turning on the bite just prior). Their bladders expand when a low pressure system moves in causing discomfort.Good article!
 A minor low pressure system had just moved in at the time of this report.
   Besides all other factors, unless there is bait present, maybe it's like the African savanna and  all kinds of different rockfish munch all over one area then move on.
Maybe.
    If you fish fresh water, the opposite may be true. When I fished back east, one the best bites for bass occurred just as a front came in and the wind and rain would shake the bugs out of the trees and bushes, and wash worms from shore etc. , and the bass and sometimes perch would be just three feet from shore. Watch out for lightning. Mid storm and post storm were also good close to shore.