- Part 4

2011 California Salmon Season Opening Day Fishing Results

santa cruz harbor salmon boats — Salmon Season Opening Day Santa Cruz 201

Saturday’s opening day of the long awaited Salmon Season for everyone in California was a great time no matter how many fish were caught big or small. Not only was there relatively few problems reported, but the fishing turned out pretty good for most anglers.

As expected, the best salmon fishing and fish numbers that were reported was from Santa Cruz Harbor, where boats had on average just under 1 fish per person. Considering how many boats were launched at the boat ramp and the number of local boats from the harbor that fished, it was quite incredible!

soquel hole santa cruz salmon — Salmon Fishing the Soquel Hole

The overwhelming majority of salmon were caught at the Soquel Hole, which is just a 25-30 minute run from the mouth of Santa Cruz harbor. The salmon were caught in depths of between 230 feet and 290 feet of water, and most of the actual fish were picked up between depths of 80-200 feet. The most common fishing gear used to catch the salmon for opening day was a trolling rig made up of a salmon dodger or flasher, along with a hoochie which looks like a live squid. Many of the fishermen reported large amounts of un-digested squid in the stomachs and intestines of the salmon they were filleting at the fish tables after wards. Another common trolling setup that had success was dragging a dead sardine at slow trolling speeds of 2-4 knots.

In other parts of the California coast, the salmon fishing seemed to also be decent. Many of the San Francisco Bay fleet headed north to Duxbury Reef for mixed results and the Half Moon Bay fleet also had some mixed results with occasional reports of large salmon taken.

The weather was slightly rough at different times of the day. The wind would pick up at times in the early morning and then die off again and repeat that cycle. The seas were by no means calm, and large rollers up to 7 feet were reported. Towards the end of the afternoon, the seas appeared much more calm compared to much of the early daytime, which is abnormal for this time of year.

Overall, the opening day of the 2011 Salmon Season was a big success with great fishing and few issues. Sunday’s fishing should bring back some great stories as well.

Only 1 Week Until Salmon Season Starts in California

It’s just 7 days until the official start of the Salmon Fishing Season Once Again in California

Here is some news from the local harbors:

Nearly every harbor that was contacted this week is expecting record amounts of anglers coming to drop their poles in search of the salmon.

If you are planning on taking out your private fishing boat, please be prepared for delays in launching your fishing boat. There is a very good chance that there will be lines many boats long of other fishermen launching in front of you.
If you have not gone through and done a safety items check on your fishing boat, do that this weekend
Purchase your fishing license early, there is always a chance that the physical licenses will be all sold out, and most people are getting them online. You can go to the California Department of Fish and Game Site to purchase fishing licenses. HERE
Make sure you boat is registered for 2011, otherwise you can expect the Coast Guard to board your boat or more likely the local harbor patrol, they usually have a field day on opening days of salmon season checking for current registration and safety equipment
Don’t go fishing without life jackets no matter what.
Also, nobody ever knows what the weather conditions are going to be like when you are out fishing, if you want to get something that may very well save your boat and your crew, buy some safety flares

Most importantly, check the fishing and weather conditions so you know what to expect the day you go fishing. Currently, the water conditions are very rough in many parts of the California coast, but the seas and the fishing is expected to be very doable come next weekend.

Be safe, and have fun at California’s Opening Salmon Fishing Day!

Only 2 Weeks Until California Salmon Season Begins

Everybody is hardly sleeping anymore it seems. Whether you are talking about the young kids who are going to fish for their first time for ocean salmon off the California coast, or if you are talking about the old grandpas who are getting some wood once again before the fishing begins. It is true, the Salmon Opener is just around your corners, so ladies and gentlemen, get ready to start your engines.

It has been such a long wait, and its just about through, the big question remains about where the best fishing is going to be for the start of the 2011 Salmon Season. There are the usual suspects who think that the best fishing will be down deep in the deeper 200 foot waters, and then there are other theories right now that are starting about the bait fish and bait balls that have been tracked in much shallower water compared to usual for this time of year.

If everyone looks back to the most recent salmon opener, which was several years ago now, the best confirmed fishing was out of Santa Cruz Harbor, where most anglers on opening day caught just under a 1 fish per rod average of salmon. The fish were also caught off the Soquel Hole for the most part, with the overwhelming majority taken by anglers trolling dodgers and hoochies.

Last Minute Salmon Fishing Season To Do’s:

test out all of your fishing reels to make sure they flow freely
set new fishing line on your favorite pole
order your fishing gear before opening day, there are reports already of inventory problems with fishing gear
buy your fishing liscense (either online or at your local fishing tackle shop)
do some test runs with your boat, and make sure your battery is loaded up and engine is in good running order
make sure you have life jackets for everyone who is going to fish with you
buy bait, and throw it in your freezer, too many people I’m afraid are going to go baitless on opening day

Good luck to everyone who is going to take part in the 2011 California Salmon Fishing Opener

Salmon Season Will Open April 2, 2011 in California

The California Department of Fish and Game has finally made their announcement that fishing for salmon is going to be allowed for all the sport anglers and fishermen who are wanting to put their fishing poles in the water this year. It was a very long and drawn out process to get things all squared away, but the fish seem to be doing well and its time to go salmon fishing in April.

Several members of the Department of Fish and Game testified in Sacramento early last week and there were also many reports this week that the King Salmon that are out in the Pacific off the California Coast are well above the numbers they have been in the previous years. It is thought that there might be more than 750,000 king salmon roaming the salt waters off the coast right now.

This is great news for all the local salmon fishermen who have been banned from fishing in recent years. Along with the news, it is expected to be the biggest opening day of California Salmon Sport Fishing in history this year. There has been a bit of a scare in some parts of the coast recently due to the tsumani warnings from a few days ago, but that has for the most part died down. The harbors all along the coast are getting ready and the local bait and tackle shops are stocking up to fulfill the needs of the salmon fishermen as well. You should start shopping around for frozen sardines and anchovies to catch the salmon with, because they just may be in short supply come April.