Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz Fishing Charters

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

We report ALL of our fishing trips so you can have an idea of how the catching has been going. Click on any picture to get a better view.

May 27

May 27, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Local potluck today and we got lucky! Caught over 100 fish but only kept the best 60 rockcod, two lings that we let go to grow, and a very nice 15# halibut. Weather was perfect. Even got a little whale show.

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 25

May 25, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Beautiful weather for the holiday weekend. We still have openings if you want to get out on the water and have some fun!!!

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 23

May 23, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Our first halibut trip of the season and it was a great one! Hooked six halibut and kept three. Let the other three go back to grow. Also boated a nice lingcod. Wonderful group and a whole lot of fun!

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 22

May 22, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Out to the deep again with our family of first responders. Water was a bit bumpy and made fishing more challenging than usual. We caught fish on the ledge but opted to go up the coast and try for some ground fish. Put in a lot of time and energy but not as many fish. Fun guys!

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 21

May 21, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Out to the deep for another Jurassic Park venture. As soon as we dropped in our lines it was game on! We picked up fish throughout the morning but not the bite we’ve seen for the past week. Seems like a lot of current came into the area. Brought home a lot of reds, canary, green spots then came in closer to land to pick up some blues. Great time and even got to make use of the electric rod reel combos today. Fun trip.

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 19

May 19, 2023 by Tom Dolan

What a day at Jurassic Park! Out to the deep again and put in 170+ pounds of chili peppers and reds and petrale sole. Got a nice whale and dolphin show too! Water was challenging but our group of five handled it like pro’s!

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 16

May 16, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Out to the deep again and we whacked ’em good! Filled the boat with 150 pounds of chili peppers, green spots, canaries and other rockfish (pacific snapper), and petrale sole.

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 15

May 15, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Jurassic Park in the deep today and after landing over 170 pounds of fish all I can say is Wow. Long and productive day today.

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 13 – Afternoon trip

May 14, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Afternoon local potluck trip. Was breezy and slow at first then after an hour we ventured out into deeper water for a feeding frenzy of blues. We nailed four limits (40 fish) in less than 30 minutes. It was mayhem! Since we had limits of snapper already and still had time to burn, we came in closer to drift for lingcod and halibut. Absolute blast!

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 13 – Morning trip

May 14, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Ran out to the deep again today for another Jurassic Park trip. Our group of six had a great time pulling in fish from the get go! Came home with 150 pounds of ling and pacific snapper (rockfish). Great time!

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 9

May 9, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Incredible catching in the deep today with reds to seven pounds and chili peppers galore!

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 6

May 6, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Red Hot fishing in the deep today. 150 pounds of lingcod, petrale sole, reds to seven pounds, greenspots, canaries and a few more species.

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 5

May 6, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Today being Cinco de Mayo we figured we’d go for red hot chili-peppers. We whacked ’em good!

Filed Under: Fish Report

May 4

May 4, 2023 by Tom Dolan

Gorgeous day today for our local potluck trip. Our happy family from the Netherlands worked real hard for the fish to bite. Water is still cold so fishing was slow. The offshore bite seems to be the best bet for now until the nearshore water warms up. So… Jurassic Park seems to be the only game in town now.

Filed Under: Fish Report

April 26, 2023

December 28, 2022 by Tom Dolan

One more week and fishing season opens!!!

May 1st is the season opener for lingcod, rockcod a.k.a. rockfish, cod, or pacific snapper, and halibut. The local cod bite promises to be good again this year. If halibut catching is anything like the past few years, halibut bite should be outstanding!

Jurassic Park will be off the hook! We are especially excited that this coming season we will be able to fish in much deeper waters. These waters have been off limits to cod fishing for over 30 years! Should be very exciting with lots of big fish! Doesn’t get much better than going to Jurassic Park and fishing for Codzilla! If you want to see some deep lingcod action look at this youtube video from a boat up north a couple years ago. Skip the first 8 mins of the video to get to the lingcod action DEEP LINGCOD FISHING VIDEO (click).

We are taking reservations now for the upcoming season and available dates are going fast. To make your reservation, please visit Sign-up

Filed Under: Fish Report

October 6 (Last trip for 2022 season)

October 6, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Still getting our lingcod at Jurassic Park.

Filed Under: Fish Report

October 3

October 4, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Another great day at Jurassic Park.

Filed Under: Fish Report

October 2

October 2, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Jurassic trip today and it was a good one!

Filed Under: Fish Report

October 1

October 1, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Local potluck today and the fishing was slow. Probably our slowest day this year! A low system is in the area so the fish tend to slow down when there’s a low atmospheric system.

Filed Under: Fish Report

September 27

September 27, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Fishing report update for tuna – Bluefin have been around for a few days now with fish in the 100 pound class. Fish are as close as 10 miles to Santa Cruz! Looks like they’ll be here for a bit with all the warm water that got pushed up from the south. If you want to tackle a bluefin now’s the time to get on the boat!

Filed Under: Fish Report

September 17

September 18, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Ran up the coast for our Jurassic Park trip (deep reef not fishable with the high winds) and found some nice fish. Ended up with three nice lingcod and a lot of olive, canary, brown, blue, black and red pacific snapper. Fun and busy trip.

Filed Under: Fish Report

September 16 – Afternoon trip

September 18, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Another fun local potluck trip. Wind came up pretty strong and the water was a wee bit bumpy but the fish didn’t mind. We nailed the big canary, blue, black, brown, olive, and red pacific snapper.

Filed Under: Fish Report

September 16 – Morning trip

September 18, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Nice weather for our local “lingcod only” trip. Was able to boat a big lingcod and some rockcod. Not stellar but lots of fun.

Filed Under: Fish Report

September 4 – Afternoon trip

September 5, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Fun fun fun local potluck trip with our post-grad students from Stanford. Lots of fish, lots of laughs, and great memories. Betty is determined to get the big lingcod that got away. Go Cardinals!

Filed Under: Fish Report

September 4 – Morning trip

September 5, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Another great local potluck trip for our group from San Jose. Lots of fish and lots of laughs. Happy Birthday Alex!

Filed Under: Fish Report

August 28

August 28, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Headed up the coast for our Jurassic Park trip today with flat calm seas. After picking up some live bait we dropped in an immediately got lingcod. Finished up with good quality pacific snapper and lingcod. Gorgeous day.

Filed Under: Fish Report

August 26

August 26, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Went out to the halibut grounds but found no takers. Came back into the rockcod grounds and finished the morning with brown, blue, olive, canary and red pacific snapper. Happy folks from Wisconsin.

Filed Under: Fish Report

August 24

August 24, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Awesome local potluck trip today with flat seas and plenty of fish including Ramsey’s lingcod.

Filed Under: Fish Report

August 23

August 23, 2022 by Tom Dolan

This week’s weather calls for calm seas. Fishing has been very good for pacific snapper (rockfish, rockcod), lingcod and halibut. Good grade of fish too. Salmon and tuna are longshots at best. One boat went waaaay offshore and managed to pick up a few albacore (3?). The salmon have already moved up the coast and into their respective rivers for spawning.

Filed Under: Fish Report

August 22

August 22, 2022 by Tom Dolan

Happy happy family up from orange county. Local potluck today and the catching was non stop! Olives, blues, browns, canary, and red pacific snapper (rockfish).

Filed Under: Fish Report

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Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor
Dock “S” Slip # 22

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Email: tom@montereybaycharters.com

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