Charter operations and private boaters enjoyed decent conditions this week all along the Monterey Bay.

Deep water rockfishing has been the name of the game this month. A steady increasing legal bycatch of Petrale sole has been notable as well.

“Today, rockfishing was very slow,” said skipper Rodney Armstrong, of Santa Cruz Coastal Charters, on Tuesday. “All the fish are plugged with krill. But the sole did not disappoint. In my opinion the Petrale sole are one of the best eating in our area.”

On May 1, rockfishing will open for nearshore angling, while closing in the deep. Fishing from the 20-fathom line (120 FOW) to the beach will be open for the most common, and quite delicious seafood prey in the bay. This makes available more convenient areas for saltwater fishing, especially for more vulnerable craft like kayaks and small skiffs. Capitola Boat and Bait and their sister store Santa Cruz Boat Rental are ready to start renting skiffs from the respective municipal wharves in Capitola and Santa Cruz.

The timing ties in nicely with a current influx of California halibut, moving now to summertime shallows for feeding and spawning. We are already seeing a few catches of the big flatfish here and they’re most notably near the Santa Cruz Mile Buoy and the SC3 Buoy near Capitola, as well as the “Hotel” area in Monterey and the sand flats of nearby Del Monte Beach by the Monterey Harbor.

Halibut were reported caught this week by anglers drifting live bait or bounce-ball trolling in flat sandy areas from 40-80 feet of water. Though shallow water rockfishing is currently closed inside of the 300-foot line, it’s perfectly legal to fish for halibut in these shallow areas year-round. Be sure to release any rockfish, cabezons, greenlings or lingcod you might pick up while fishing for the flatties. Every vessel is required by the DFW to carry (and hopefully utilize) a descending device for unintentional bycatch rockfish.

Limber up those long spinning rods. We have some good surf fishing coming our way. Winter storms have passed now, leaving fantastic structure along most beaches lining our beautiful bay. We will likely see a few big swells again, but not the incessant high wave energy that occurred last winter. At this time, we believe that dawn or dusk fishing might be more important than chasing the high tides, Most big beaches of the central bay feature such dramatic structure that the fish can remain inside, within casting distance, while feeding. Sandcrab beds are growing, perch are getting larger and more numerous and a marked increase of striped bass reports are funneling in. We could be looking at a spectacular surfcast season this year. Fingers are crossed!

Allen Bushnell also operates Santa Cruz Surf and Kayak Fishing Guide Service. Please send any reports, pictures or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com