Santa Cruz/ Monterey rockfish(kayak) 8/14-15

A buddy and I are going  fishing Friday and Saturday down around Santa Cruz /Monterey  and have never fished around there. Wondering if anyone knew of any good launching locations and or fishing grounds that they would be willing to share.  I was thinking about just rock fishing, don't know if they're is much bait fish around this time of year. Camping most likely at the KOA , anyone's welcome, especially if you know the area. Is that herd of white sharks still in the area?

I was on the Santa Cruz municipal wharf Monday evening (about 6:30 pm), & saw anchovies aboil on the surface near shore with plenty of terns diving down after them. Also saw several guys working Sabiki's & landing the occasional mackerel. Hope the info's helpful.

There is a ton of baitfish around Mbay right now. Rockfish are easy...pretty much guaranteed to catch a bunch. But you can also try for halibut.
The launch in SC habor is pretty nice. And it's an easy paddle to the fishing grounds: I'd go around the corner NW towards the lighthouse or towards the mile buoy.
On the south side in Monterey, you can launch from the beach by MBK or from the harbor/jetty or further south towards Pacific Grove. The kelpbeds off Cannery Row can produce rockfish and occasional halibut.
I would suggest using a swimbait with a shrimpfly teaser (12" above the swimbait). Or an iron with a curlytail grub teaser. Tip the lures with pieces of squid. Lures or weights should be in the 2-5oz range.

TONS of bait in SC Harbor right now.  Local news station reported that the harbor just installed aerators due to the massive bait balls moving in & out of the harbor as of last night.

Shoooooot!  Sounds like it's time to go catch some bait!!!  Thanks for the intel guys!

I was in front of the SC pier last Sat (8/8/15) and my FF lighted up but nothing bite on my sabiki rigs, may be my hooks too big for the anchovies.  I had no idea what was down there.

Hoards of chovies

Yesterday, boils 20 yards from shore at sunrise around RDM.  Friend landed jumbo jacksmelt (16"+) that were tail wacking his surfcasted lure.  No dice on the target fish tho.

Id stay away from Monterey. Big carshow..Gonna be very crowded. Good luck.

I was also planning to hit those locations this Saturday morning "Early!"
Talked to a buddy and confirmed that its "THEE Carshow" in Monterey this weekend.
If you can't get in super early and out by 2pm, then you should stay away, were his words.
This will be my first time out on the yak so i wouldn't mind tagging along with you to SC or MB if you want to attempt it.
That is, if you don't mind a noob kayaker!
Saturday is the day for me and I would prefer to get out there super early...ie..like 6-630 ish if possible.
Need to be back in San Jose before 4pm.

If that works for you guys or anyone else, please shoot me a PM and I'll send you my contact info.
Otherwise, I may risk heading into MB and fishing off of Cannery.

Thanks,
David

As previously mentioned, the SC harbor is an easy launch and there are good prospects at lighthouse point. I was out there today, and there were lots of mackerel---halibut and lingcod love those things...

I was also planning to hit those locations this Saturday morning "Early!"
Talked to a buddy and confirmed that its "THEE Carshow" in Monterey this weekend.
If you can't get in super early and out by 2pm, then you should stay away, were his words.
This will be my first time out on the yak so i wouldn't mind tagging along with you to SC or MB if you want to attempt it.
That is, if you don't mind a noob kayaker!
Saturday is the day for me and I would prefer to get out there super early...ie..like 6-630 ish if possible.
Need to be back in San Jose before 4pm.

If that works for you guys or anyone else, please shoot me a PM and I'll send you my contact info.
Otherwise, I may risk heading into MB and fishing off of Cannery.

Thanks,
David

I mean no offense by asking this, but do you have the necessary safety gear to go out in? Just that you have so few posts, wanted to be sure you have things like PFD, wetsuit and hopefully a VHF at least. 

I was also planning to hit those locations this Saturday morning "Early!"
Talked to a buddy and confirmed that its "THEE Carshow" in Monterey this weekend.
If you can't get in super early and out by 2pm, then you should stay away, were his words.
This will be my first time out on the yak so i wouldn't mind tagging along with you to SC or MB if you want to attempt it.
That is, if you don't mind a noob kayaker!
Saturday is the day for me and I would prefer to get out there super early...ie..like 6-630 ish if possible.
Need to be back in San Jose before 4pm.

If that works for you guys or anyone else, please shoot me a PM and I'll send you my contact info.
Otherwise, I may risk heading into MB and fishing off of Cannery.

Thanks,
David

Super early @ 6:30    Limits by then!    SUPER EARLY, in kayak terms is "on the fishing spot" by first light. 

I take no offense when it comes to questions about my safety or anyone else.
To answer your question, I feel that I have the necessary equipment to be safe on the water and for those I'm with.
As mentioned in my intro, I am new to Kayak fishing hence the low post count.
PFD, Radio, whistle, flag etc...were my top priority to have checked off prior to even posting/replying to a hookup.
** forgot to mention the farmer john wetsuit and booties as well. Also, I've practiced capsizes and self recovery in my pool many times.

I do truly appreciate the concern/question.

Hope that helps.

Glad to hear it!  I once offered to take someone out for their first time, they showed up with no PFD, wearing board shorts, and didn't know what a vhf was.