Open ocean salmon fishing last weekend generated quite a bit of anticipation and excitement. As expected, there were hundreds of boats fishing for kings on Monterey Bay for the “limited opening” on Saturday and Sunday.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife scheduled four open periods for this summer, with a numerical limit of 7,000 fish for all openings. Depending on your point of view, this could be good news or bad news. With the number of boats slamming the salmon last weekend up and down the coast, it would not be surprising if that 7,000 number was met or exceeded just this weekend. Which would mean none of the other planned king salmon fishing days would be available for the summer. For fall salmon fishing, the DFW has scheduled three or four weekend opportunities depending on coastal location. The numerical limit for fall fishing is 7,500 king salmon.

On Saturday, fortune favored those who prepared and launched in the early morning darkness. The weather was calm and beautiful with low seas and gentle winds. Boats spread out over the bay, some even heading north of Santa Cruz. Most headed to the deep canyon edges near Moss Landing. The bait, and the fish were most numerous towards Monterey, by Soldier’s Club and Mulligan’s Hill. Plenty of compact bait balls were there to be found in around 250 feet of water. Most catches were reported midway up the water column about 150 feet from the surface. The fish were beautiful, healthy, fat king salmon. A fish like no other both for the sport and for the table.

Many boats caught limits, some caught only a few fish and there were skunks to be had by a few unlucky anglers as well. Captain JT Thomas from Go Fish Santa Cruz reported in before 10 a.m. on Saturday. The beautiful Miss Beth was already tied up back at the Santa Cruz Harbor dock, and the message from Thomas was concise.

“Tied up at the dock around 9:30 a.m. with 16 fish, full limit for the boat including crew fish,” he said, before summarizing, “Definitely some fish caught, but lots of zeros, too.”

Sunday’s fishing was a very different story. Likely stunned by the massive fishing pressure on Saturday, baitballs scattered, and salmon became much harder to find. Weather conditions didn’t help with strong winds early in the day and seas that grew increasingly choppy as the day progressed. There were still some limits to be had, as a few experienced local fishermen proved. Many boats caught fish only in the ones and twos, including a couple of the big charter boats with 20 or more anglers aboard. There were many more boats on Sunday that came home trailing a civet odor.

Reports from harbors to the north indicate decent salmon fishing out of Half Moon Bay, San Francisco and Bodega Bay. But, nowhere was near as good as it was for us here in Monterey Bay, especially on Saturday. Nevertheless, the 7,000 fish retention quota for all areas may very well be reached or exceeded after this weekend’s salmon flurry. Remember, there were literally thousands of boats making their stab for what might turn out to be the only salmon fishing weekend of 2025. DFW won’t have a working number for a week or more, and July 5 and 6 are dates for the next scheduled fishing window.

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