Santa cruz 8/9-8/11

Anyone planning on being out in Santa cruz this week? I'm planning on fishing Monday- Wednesday, hoping to have someone else out there as there is saftey in numbers. Also any advice on area would be appreciated, it will be my first time in the area. Targeting halibut and rockfish unless I find evidence of salmon in the area. I will be on channel 69TIA

I was flirting with the idea of going to SC tomorrow (Monday). What time are you thinking of being out there? I was hoping to get there a little before noon.

Anyone planning on being out in Santa cruz this week? I'm planning on fishing Monday- Wednesday, hoping to have someone else out there as there is saftey in numbers. Also any advice on area would be appreciated, it will be my first time in the area. Targeting halibut and rockfish unless I find evidence of salmon in the area. I will be on channel 69TIA

I’d recommend you start heading towards the mile buoy which is a mile in front of the boardwalk. On that route it’s fairly common to get a butt. Pass the buoy and head west. There’s been a lot of red tide so I’d recommend staying 60-80’ of water. Most reef is under 60’ of water.  More sand is deeper. I’ve gotten several butts in front of the lighthouse around 70’ of water the last few years.
If you see Casper “the friendly white dolphin” he’ll point the bait out for you.

I'll be out on Wednesday for sure targeting halibut and rockfish. I plan to catch bait first thing then head west. Unloading gear at 0630 west harbor 

I am considering going, OTW 6am. I’ll confirm with you if I do.

I’ll be out there in a skiff tomorrow (Monday) 7 - 11. Will holler on 69.

I now have to work on Wednesday, so I'll be heading out tomorrow. Anyone planning to go out tomorrow and want to coordinate timing?

Report 8/9: The goal was to fish until 10am. I looked to catch bait, lingcod, halibut and try for salmon in that order if there was time. I went west passed the mile buoy and jigged up some smelt. I scored about 3 pieces and sent one straight down. Talk about getting  hit on the drop; my first lingcod of the day was on immediately  before I felt the weight bounce once! When I got it to the kayak I thought it was my PB but it didn’t quite crack 30”, great fish non the less. My smelt was injured but still moving and still good to go so I sent it right back down and within three bounces on the bottom my smelt got picked up again! This one was about the same size as the first which I was satisfied with so I gaffed it as well and moved on to halibut. I was with a buddy I met there and he limited on lings as well. It was only 7am and I felt my odds of getting a halibut was pretty good since I had the time. I tucked into the inside of the reef where it met the sandy bottom and proceeded to troll live smelt. I wish I could say I ended up catching a big halibut so I could have tried for salmon but with the red tide things were not looking good in any less than 100ft of water. The only thing I caught were snags which pretty much ended my trip right on time. I did catch a little bonus octopus that tried to eat my live smelt while I trolled. I am looking forward to having that as well.

I did catch a little bonus octopus that tried to eat my live smelt while I trolled. I am looking forward to having that as well.

Nice goatee...

Nice report and photo! Thanks for sharing

Great pic!  Nice work on the lings.

Solid lings and great report! 

7am with 2 limits of lings in SC, well done!

Nicely done Scat Fish!

well done and great photo

geez the red tide was so bad on Sunday evening. I finally got down to the harbor and saw what everyone has been talking about the past few weeks.

All clear up near county line though