Anglers battle rockfish and lingcod In deep water off Monterey Bay Coast

MONTEREY - For the first time in over two decades, anglers are now able to fish the deep water off the Monterey and Santa Cruz County Coast for groundfish. Rockfish and lingcod season in the Monterey region opened May1 with fishing at all depths, allowing anglers to fish the deep water at the edge of the Monterey Marine Canyon and other spots that have been unfished for years.

“We weren’t able to get out on opening day, May 1, because of rough weather, but since then we have been able to fish and fishing has been great,” said Chris Arcoleo of Chris' Fishing and Whale Watching. “It was a terrific opening week. Anglers have been catching limits of rockfish, including near-limits of vermilion. We’ve been fishing at 350 to 400 feet deep on the edge of the Monterey Canyon.”

“”We’ve been catching some live squid that we’re hooking the lingcod with. For the rockfish, anglers have been using shrimp flies, tipped with squid strips,” Arcoleo added. “Experienced fishermen are doing well fishing with an array of bars.”

“Most of the fish we’ve been catching have been vermilion, canary and chiipepper rockfish,” Arcoleo noted. “We’ve been seeing quite a few chilippper rockfish 3 pounds and bigger in the catches, as well as vermilions in the 5 to 7-pound range. We haven’t been shallow water fishing since the season opened.”

Since anglers are fishing deep water now, they need to use rods equipped with reels to hold a lot of line to get down to the bottom. While the season is open at all depths through September 30, anglers will also fish shallow water when the wind prevents them from fishing in deep water.

Recent boat scores exemplify the fine fishing available now. The Check Mate returned with limits of rockfish (130) and limits of lingcod (26) for 13 anglers on May 2, while the Caroline came back with 130 rockfish, 2 lingcod and 10 petrale sole for 14 anglers the same day.

The Check Mate checked in with limits of rockfish (190) and limits of lingcod (38) for 19 anglers on May 3. The Check Mate reported limits of rockfish (200) and 25 lingcod to 30 pounds for 20 anglers on May 4, while the Caroline reported limits of rockfish (80), 9 lingcod and 6 petrale sole for 8 anglers,

Then on May 5, the 12 anglers on the Check Mate landed limits of rockfish (120) and limits of lingcod (34), while the 10 anglers aboard the Caroline bagged 75 rockfish, 9 lingcod and 1 one petrale sole. Information:  https://chrissfishing.com

The Kahuna sportfishing boat, under the new ownership of Nate and Angie Lackey, long time Santa Cruz residents, is back operating out of Moss Landing  Harbor.

The first official rockfish trip of the season will be on Saturday, May 13. according to Captain Joey Stagnaro, an experienced captain and Santa Cruz resident that I have fished with many times for rockfish and lingcod.

To sample the action at the new depths available to fish with the change in regulations, Stagnaro, deckhand Kevn Klein and owner Nate Lackey made a crew trip during opening week.

“We went 12 miles exactly west out Moss Landing Harbor,” said Stagnaro. “We caught limits of chilipepepers at around 360 feet deep and one keeper lingcod. Our bags of fish weighed 50 to 60 pounds. We used shrimp flies tipped with squid strips to catch the fish.”

“It brought back many good memories of the fishing we used to enjoy before the deep water was closed to fishing,” said Stagnaro. “The weather was flat calm. Besides fishing for rockfish and lingcod, we will plan to fish for halibut, bluefin tuna and albacore tuna this season:” Information: KahunaSportfishing.com.

The following is a summary of the new boat-based regulations for RCG species and lingcod in the Central Management Area between 37°11' N. latitude (Pigeon Point) and 34°27' N. latitude (Point Conception):

For nearshore rockfish, cabezon and greenlings: closed Jan. 1 through April 30, open at all depths May 1 through Sept. 30, closed Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.

For all other rockfish (shelf and slope species) and lingcod: closed Jan. 1 through April 30, open at all depths May 1 through Sept. 30. From Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, take of shelf and slope rockfish and lingcod is open seaward of the 50 fathom RCA line. Take is prohibited shoreward of the 50 fathom RCA line.

Anglers will need to identify rockfish species they catch and be able to determine if the fish is categorized as a nearshore or slope rockfish species, as different seasons and depths apply to each category depending on the Groundfish Management Area and month.

The RCG bag limit will remain at 10 fish in combination of rockfish, cabezon and greenlings, with sub-bag limits of not more than four vermilion rockfish, one copper rockfish and one quillback rockfish. Take and possession of cowcod, yelloweye and bronzespotted rockfish will remain prohibited.

To meet harvest goals, the recreational groundfish fishery is subject to in-season regulatory changes. For current recreational groundfish regulations, go to: the: CDFW’s Summary of Recreational Groundfish Fishing Regulations page.

Sturgeon Meeting May 16: The CDFW is holding a virtual public meeting on California’s white sturgeon fishery May 16, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. CDFW scientists will discuss white sturgeon biology, fishery history, current status and management and the challenges they face. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions about sturgeon and provide input on their present and future hopes for the fishery.

For more info and to register for the event: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Fishes/Sturgeon

This article originally appeared on The Record: Anglers battle rockfish and lingcod In deep water off Monterey Bay Coast