Fish Report for 2016

Not fishing today but just wanted to give everyone a heads up of what we’re up to and some upcoming crab fishing news. MEGA-BITE has completed the retrofit for crabbing and our pots are waiting for the opener on November 5th. This year the limit per person is ten dungeness crabs. We will be running three different crab trips; Crab only, Crab and Snapper Combo, and JURASSIC PARK and Crab Combo.

Make sure you bring something big enough to take the crab home in. To give you an idea of how big your cooler should be, a five-gallon bucket will accommodate about 6 crabs.

Very nice day with the water flat calm and the sun out. Lt Cmdr Brighton and family of four, including a 5 and 6 year-old, had some pretty wild catching today. Fish were biting like crazy. Decided to keep only 40 of the biggest blues and olive pacific snapper. Must have let another 40 go to grow.

Perfect fishing conditions today and the fish were glad to see us. Right from the get go we started hauling in BIG olives and BIG blues and it was pretty much non-stop for a couple hours. Caught well over 90 fish and only kept six limits of BIG olive and BIG blue pacific snapper then we went in for our halibut/lingcod drift and nailed a nice blue lingcod. Great day.

Oh yeah, another trip to JURASSIC PARK. Weatherman cautioned us about the wind so we knew we had to get up there quick and fish hard. We stopped and caught sardines and jack smelt in front of Natural Bridges then high-tailed it to the island. There we were met with 14 mph winds but flat seas. Fished deep for about six lingcod then decicded to move closer to Franklin Point to get out of the building wind. Started nailing rockcod and finished up with a couple more lingcod, limits of blue, black, olive, copper and red pacific snapper. Long ride home with 20 mph winds but safe and comfortable.

What a great day and a great group. Pretty much steady action throughout the day with limits for all plus crew limits of quality black, blue, olive, brown and red pacific snapper to 7 pounds AND a nice lingcod AND a nice 12 pound halibut. Hooked over 120 fish and came home with 82 of the biggest fish. We have a JURASSIC PARK open load trip scheduled for Oct 9th and seats are still available. You don’t want to miss this one!

Weather stayed perfect and felt like we were in the Mediterranean. Air temp got up to 76 degrees with about a 10 mph breeze. The fish were biting pretty good and we came home with good size black, olive and blue pacific snapper.

We have now officially entered into our best weather season and it should be here for a couple months. The water was flat as a lake and the fish were biting throughout the day. We had to catch over a 100 fish in order to get the quality (size) we wanted to keep and also brought

Pretty nice water considering the wind storms we’ve had for past few days and the fish seem to be back on the bite. Came in with near limits of quality olive, blue and brown pacific snapper.

Wind storm has passed and the fish are still a bit unsettled. Not many fish today but we did bring home a nice 16 pound lingcod along with an assortment of olive, blue and brown pacific snapper.

Fished local today. The water was as flat as a pancake. Very slow bite throughout the day with a little burst toward the end of the trip. Landed two nice cabezon and five+ limits of nice olive and blue pacific snapper. Fish were a bit on the smaller side today and we must have tossed back a couple dozen. Threw back a short ling, missed a couple others and lost something HUGE (think 35 pound halibut) just under the boat.

JURASSIC PARK today. Water was flat calm all the way to the island and we got there the wind was pushing 15 mpg. Very fishable for about five hours then had to head home. Got some nice lingcod and six limits of quality blue, black, china and red pacific snapper to 9 pounds!

JURASSIC PARK again today. Water was very nice. We ended up getting 12 very nice lingcod and 6 limits of nice size red pacific snapper blacks blues and China’s.

Smooth water but the fishing was slow. Worked the area between Natural Bridges and South Rock but unfortunately only came in with half limits of pacific snapper.

Started out windy and a bit of a swell but the three fathers and sons stuck it out and good thing they did. The weather started to calm down and the fish started to bite! Came home with five limits of quality pacific snapper.

Another JURASSIC PARK run and what a great day. Water was pretty flat all the way up the coast and fishing was steady. The lingcod are still being a little shy but managed to bring home seven lingcod. The snapper bite was wide open and after catching over 150 fish we kept only 75 of the biggest blue, black, olive and china pacific snapper.

Absolutely perfect water and weather today and fun fun fun. Fish were feeding good today and we caught well over a hundred various pacific snapper today and decided to keep just enough for a few meals. Also brought home a couple nice lingcod to 12 pounds.

The wind was blowing hard today so we decided to fish closer to Santa Cruz rather than go all the way up to Jurassic Park. The fishing was good! Limits of BIG blue, black, brown and red pacific snapper. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride today.

JURASSIC PARK again but this time the results weren’t as good. The water was flat calm but the red tide came in and the fishing was really tough. Only a handful of lingcod but limits of quality blue, black, olive and red pacific snapper to six pounds.

JURASSIC PARK trip today and, contrary to the weather forecast, it was a perfect day on the water. No wind and no big swell. The fish were biting good too. 11 year-old Riley managed to land six lingcod by himself and brought another five to the boat that got away. Second place was dad with four lingcod in the boat and lost maybe six (not dad’s fault!), the rest of the action was pretty much solid with BIG blacks and BIG blues. Came home with ten lingcod to 15 pounds and 48 BIG pacific snapper for four people. Great day! We have gorgeous weather forecasted this week.

Nice and sunny today but that also meant there was some winds to contend with. Last night had high winds which incredibly change the water temps from 60 yesterday to a cool 56 today. Rockcod was slow for a few hours then we moved into some warmer water and the bite picked up. Limits for five of BIG olive, BIG black, blue and copper pacific snapper. No lingcod love today.

We had to stay local again due to the high wind forecast. We headed out to where we left off yesterday and the fishing lit up like never before. WOW, we must have hauled in well over 120 fish. We kept the biggest 80 for eight limits of some quality blue and olive pacific snapper. Tried for lingcod and halibut but came up blank. Weather is supposed to start getting better after tonight.

The wind picked up and fishing deep was no longer an option so we tried one of our secret spots in shallower water. WOW! Seems like the fish were waiting for us. Limits of BIG black, blue and olive pacific snapper.

Weather seems to be getting a bit of a chill to it but otherwise fishing was great! 3/4 limits of nice olive, blue, brown and red pacific snapper and five lingcod!

Went right back where we were this morning and the fish were waiting for us and the weather was perfect. Slower fishing with just half limits of some BIG olive, brown and red pacific snapper for four but did get lucky with six lingcod! Five year-old Aubrey brought in the first fish to get the bite started. 15 year-old Caleb got to play captain for a spell. What a great time for these youngsters and mom and dad of course. Live mackerel was the ticket for the lingcod.

Flat as a pancake water with no wind and no fog. Perfect conditions for great fishing and we had off the hook action with 3/4 limites of black, olive, brown and six BIG vermillion plus eight lingcod for six people. Jigged up live mackerel today.

Great fishing today but had to move away from shore to get the bite going. Six Limit plus crew fish of big olive, blue and red pacific snapper and one nice lingcod.

TUNA NEWS – There’s a four to ten pound bonita bite going on down near Moss Landing. Although these aren’t bluefin or albacore tuna they are fun to catch and they are tasty! Ever have Poki? By the way, NO Bluefin and NO Albacore have been sited within 100 miles of Santa Cruz. When they are sited Bayside Marine and/or I will let you know on our fish reports. I will also broadcast an email when the tuna have arrived so make sure I have your email address on file. If I don’t have your email, or you’re not sure, go to my homepage and enter it.

The weather forecast called for high winds up at Ano so we elected to fish locally. Got limits for six of blue and olive pacific snapper.

No confirmed tuna in the area. All we’re hearing is radio fish. I will update this report if the tuna show up and will send out an email to everyone we have an address for. If we don’t have your email address go to our homepage and add it.

Jurassic Park today and we were not dissapointed! We slammed the lingcod today for limits for all plus we released at least a dozen (some intentionally). Biggest ling 19 pounds. Then we went on to snapper and again pumped out limits plus crew fish of blue, black, copper, brown and BIG red pacific snapper to six pounds. Total at the end of the mayhem was 85 fish (18 lingcod + 67 snapper) that came to roughly 250+ pounds. Everyone is going to need a rest tonight. A lot of work and a lot of happy folks

Another sweet day on the water. Got limits of blues, olives, browns and red pacific snapper and one nice lingcod.

Best weather we have seen at Jurassic Park yet this year. We picked up ten nice lingcod and one was 20 pounds! We also got limits of blacks, blues, olives and red pacific snapper snapper. Also hooked a three hundred pound mola mola but it got away.

Another flat calm day on the bay. With early limits of olive, blue and red pacific snapper and one nice lingcod also threw back a couple of short ones. Then we tried drifting for halibut for a couple hours. Great day of fishing!!!

Flatest water we’ve seen all year and overcast. Great day with fish coming in non-stop, whale show and early limits of olive, blue and red pacific snapper. So early that we spent another couple hours drifting for halibut.

Another flat calm day and overcast with temps around 55-60. Picked up where we left off from last trip and the fish were waiting for us. We nailed limits plus crew limit of quality blue, olive, brown and red pacific snapper. Missed a couple lings too.

Wonderful trip with great people. Foggy all day and a crisp 55 degrees. Fishing was good with limits of olive, blue, black, copper and red pacific snapper and a lingcod for first timer 14 year-old Trevor.

Well, the weather changed for the worse and it was bumpy and cold. Ironically the temp was 97 in Los Gatos. Only fished for an hour before the party decided to pull the plug. Still brought home nice olive and red pacific snapper but not the haul we had earlier in the day.

I’m letting birthday girl Laura write this report. She was kind enough to offer to write the day’s fish report so here we go! “Best birthday ever!! A perfect double nickel day on the Bay. And talk about fish! eight different varieties, catches for everyone, and a monster lingcod for the birthday girl! Captain Tom and First Mate Greg delivered to make this a great family day. Our first trip on the Mega-Bite, but definitely not our last! Thanks Team Tom! Woohoo!!”. Now that’s a nice report Laura, thank you. p.s. Captain’s caveat… in addition we caught eight lingcod and brought home four lings to 15 pounds.

Perfect conditions for fishing with a touch of fog in the morning and overcast all day with a balmy 58 degree light breeze and a ton of fish! As soon as we dropped in it was game on and we kept hauling in fish and tossing back the tinies until we had limits of quality blue and olive rockcod. First-timer 14 year-old Matt got his first ocean fishing trip and also was highliner with a nice keeper lingcod! Live squid was the ticket today.

Jurassic Park trip again and this time the results weren’t as good. The wind was already pushing 15 knots and the water was bUmPy. Had a couple nice cabezon to 6.5 pounds, BIG reds and blacks but only a couple lingcod. Tried fishing a few spots down the coast to escape the wind without success.