Monterey Bay, California, may offer the best marine fly fishing in the U.S. It certainly offers one of the most diverse fisheries, hosting a variety of species from early spring until late fall or early winter. Knowledgeable fly anglers have shots at kelp bass, striped bass, white sea bass, halibut, salmon, bonito, mackerel, blue sharks, thresher sharks, jack smelt, and surf perch. Depending on the month, many of the species can be available simultaneously.
It's possible to catch kelp bass over a rocky pinnacle a mile offshore and then move a half mile farther out to catch king salmon. A move to nearshore kelp beds or protected coves with sandy beaches could have you locking horns with a white sea bass, halibut, or striped bass. Whatever you are after in Monterey Bay, the fishing is exciting.
Kelp Bass
I took my first Monterey Bay fly-rod fish on a foggy day more than three decades ago. It was a hefty olive-colored kelp bass of about eight pounds, and it fought better than a typical largemouth and was a lot easier to entice. I probably landed more than 100 kelp bass that day, and I frequently landed doubles on the brace of flies I used. The fish were a mix of olives, blues, and blacks, all good size and eager to eat flies. On a brace of flies, two fat bass heading in opposing directions gave me an incredible challenge.
I'll always be grateful to my friend, the late Myron Gregory, a Western fly-fishing legend, for introducing me to Pacific kelp bass, also known as rock bass, in the early 1960s. I've never grown tired of catching them, because there are more than 50 varieties. All are true bass and similar to freshwater black bass in all the ways that count. The reef species season runs from June to late October, with August, September, and October being prime time.
Monterey Bay hosts several species of rock bass, but the most important are the olives, blues, and blacks. The vermilion rock bass, a flamboyant character, comes only to those willing to scratch the reef top with weighted flies and lead-core shooting-tapers. The Calico bass, probably the strongest of all the kelp bass, is an occasional added bonus found in the bay's southern regions when water temperatures push into the 60s.
Monterey Bay is one of the most diverse marine fisheries in the U.S. Fly fishers can catch kelp bass, striped bass, white sea bass, halibut, salmon, bonito, mackerel, blue sharks, thresher sharks, jack smelt, and surf perch. The vermilion kelp bass (top), also called a rock bass, lives deep among the reef rocks. The ling cod (left) is a deep-water predator that prefers big, meaty flies. Dan Blanton photos.
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Another bonus fish available to those who fish their flies deep enough to give them the bends is the ling cod, one of the ugliest critters to ever terrorize a reef. Ling cod are definitely the bad boys on the block. They seem to think with their stomachs, which means they are always hungry and no fly is too large. More than one fly fisher has had a 2-pound rock bass turn into a 20-pound ling cod on the way into the boat.
Three regions of Monterey Bay produce excellent fly fishing for these reef-dwelling species. One of the best, located within sight of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, is Santa Cruz reef, which stretches from Point Santa Cruz to Natural Bridges State Park, a distance of about three miles. The best fishing occurs over submerged pinnacle tops, ranging in depth from 40 to 65 feet.
Categorized as "bottom fish" by many anglers, rock bass are usually found within the first 10 to 15 feet of the water column, except on the brightest days when currents rage. Even then, many hover from mid-depth to 10 or 15 feet off bottom. On calm, overcast days hordes of bass feed on or near the top and eagerly take surface flies. The area is only a short run from the Santa Cruz small-craft harbor and an even shorter run from the Muni Wharf, where you can rent seaworthy wooden skiffs.
Another productive reef and kelp bed area that is easily reached is just east of the Capitola Pier, where boats can be rented from Karen Nevis of Capitola Bait and Tackle. The kelp beds to the west of the pier, off Soquel Point, are also productive. All of the above-mentioned species can be taken from Capitola Bay at various times of the year. A call to Capitola Bait and Tackle can keep you informed of what's being caught.
The Spanish Harbor area just outside of Monterey south of Point Pinos also offers excellent rock bass fishing. Since it is outside the protected bay, however, you'll need to watch the weather and water conditions.
White Bass
Shortly after World War II, Monterey Bay's white sea bass fishery went the way of its sardine population. Now, thanks to a white sea bass stocking program, we see many more of the fish (pictured below) in Monterey Bay. My friends and I have caught juvenile fish ranging from 24- to 30- inches long (legal size is 28 inches), and Jose Silva has landed some that ranged from 20 pounds to more than 30 pounds.
The fish love to roam the edges of the kelp beds. They often school in large holes or openings within the kelp, many of which are more than 300 feet in diameter, making them perfect nearshore targets for fly fishers. Look for them along the kelp in 15 to 35 feet of water from Point Santa Cruz to Natural Bridges State Park out of Santa Cruz, and from Soquel Point to Sea Cliff in Soquel Cove, almost within earshot of the Capitola Pier.
Whites love squid, and Monterey Bay is lousy with squid. The schools of fish we found would only take squid patterns fished deep (15 to 30 count) on lead-core shooting-tapers. They were as selective as any trout. My Sea Arrow Squid and Kate Howe's "Calimari" were deadly. Arming the flies with wire weedguards to prevent snagging on kelp fronds makes them even more efficient.
The fish are within reach of both private skiffs and rental boats during the months of April, May, and June, but sometimes they are around much longer. We are still learning about them. Keep an ear tuned for news of white sea bass.
Striped Bass
Striped bass terrorize bait on many of the beaches in Monterey Bay from Capitola to the mouth of the Salinas River below Moss Landing. The fish are available to anglers casting from beach or boat. Best time: late May through October, with June and July the peak of the season.
The water in Soquel Cove (from Capitola to Seacliff) is often extremely calm and can be alive with baitfish and diving birds. Great action is often found on beaches like New Brighton, Pot Belly, Seacliff, Rio Del Mar, Manresa, and Sunset.
One of my favorite striper beats is the South Jetty Beach at Moss Landing, between the south jetty and the Old Kaiser Pier. Bass in the 40-pound class, though rare, have been taken on flies in this beat. Stripers in the 20-pound range are not uncommon. I've taken them to 25 pounds on a fly by casting toward the beach from my center-console skiff.
California Halibut
Gill-netters and trawlers have devastated fish stocks along all of this country's coastlines. Where the netters have been voted out, however, suppressed fish stocks have recovered amazingly fast.
California halibut had gone the way of the eastern striper, Florida snook, and Texas redfish before those states kicked the netters out. Since California voters gave the commercial trawlers the boot, the California halibut, like those other recovering species, is making a comeback along the northern California coast. While usually targeted by gear and bait fishers, fly rodders get their fair share of "flatties," particularly along the traditional halibut beaches of Monterey Bay. Most fly anglers fish from a boat, although beach-bound casters score, too.
Halibut prefer sandy beaches and water ranging from 8 to 15 feet deep. They are voracious feeders that lie buried to their eyeballs in sand, waiting to ambush any hapless baitfish--or your fly--that swims by. While it is best to plow the sandy bottom with your fly, halibut will move a considerable distance for a meal. I've taken them from deeper water, nearer the surface than the bottom.
Excellent halibut beats include the sandy beaches found between Natural Bridges and Point Santa Cruz; at the Steamer Lane surfing area between Point Santa Cruz and the municipal pier; the beach west of Black Point; and all of the beaches between Capitola Beach and Sea Cliff, including those adjacent to both sides of the Pajaro River. South Jetty Beach at Moss Landing is also great halibut turf.
Salmon
I've taken many good kings and a few silvers on flies from Monterey Bay during the past 20 years. It's a fact, though, that you'll catch far more with a mooched anchovy than on the best flies. You can, however, take the great fish from the Monterey salt chuck with a variety of anchovy and squid flies. The best tactic is to use a Type IV to Type VI or lead-core shooting-taper, cast ahead of the drift, let the line sink to the level of the fish, and then just inch it along, almost mooching it. Takes are usually subtle but can be wrist-wrenching. While ocean salmon can be taken using faster staccato retrieves, more are hooked with the "no-retrieve" mooching technique.
The greatest opportunity to score on Monterey salmon comes during June, July, and early August, when anchovy schools are in shallow water trying to spawn, and salmon are hot on their tails.
Sharks
Shark populations worldwide have been pounded to all-time lows by commercial fishers for food, fins, and presumed cancer-abating medicines. Pacific blue sharks and threshers are no exception.
Despite declines, Monterey Bay is still famous for its productive blue shark fishery. Bob Edgley and Lawrence Summers pioneered fly fishing for the sharks in the early 1970s. Now it is not unusual to have 10 to 15 "smilies," as we call them, encircling the boat, biting the prop or chum basket or just cruising the chum slick looking for a meal. This is sight fishing that spawns elemental fear and stokes your fire for maximum fly-rod adventure. You can pick your fish, ranging from 30-pounders to 200-pound rod busters. It's a great way to tune up for fly-rod battles with billfish or tuna species. It's exciting fishing that won't cost the family fortune.
Summer through late fall offers the best time for shark fishing. The best area is at the edge of the Monterey Trench (just off of Moss Landing), the deepest subterranean canyon on the Pacific rim, in water depths ranging from 100 to 200 feet. Sharks are also caught off Santa Cruz or Capitola in the same depths, but you'll have a longer run.
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| Bob Edgely and Lawrence Summers are considered the pioneers of fly fishing for blue sharks. Here Edgely (left) holds a world record blue shark taken only a couple of miles from the beach at Moss Landing. Like the one pictured above, sharks can be gaffed through the mouth for capture and release, or cut free when the tippet hits the rod tip.
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Thresher sharks are plentiful in Monterey Bay, too. When it comes to aerial antics, they are right there with billfish and tarpon and give you a run to boot. While not as easy to hook as a blue, they will take a fly, particularly when they gang up on huge schools of anchovies that congregate close to shore for spawning during June, July, and August.
Some of the best thresher beats are in the Santa Cruz area inside of Mile Buoy, often just off the mouth of the small craft harbor, and just outside of Elkhorn Slough, at Moss Landing. Look for "jumpers," and when you see one, get there pronto and cast an anchovy or sardine fly armed with a single-strand wire bite leader and lots of flash.
Fish the fly slowly, occasionally letting it drop and flutter down like an injured baitfish. Threshers key on injured, descending bait and use their incredibly long tails as clubs to stun prey. An intermediate to Type II sinking shooting-taper, looped to 100 feet of Scientific Anglers/3M Mastery saltwater shooting line makes a perfect line choice.
Bonito
Some of the greatest fly fishing Monterey Bay has to offer occurs during El Nino years, when the bay's waters warm to the mid-60s. Taking advantage of this phenomenon requires a vigilant ear for news that bonito, jumbo Pacific mackerel, and Pacific barracuda are in. When this happens, cancel all other plans and head for the bay.
Bonito from 3 to 15 pounds are found where the bait is thickest, from near shore to a mile or so from the beach. Ditto for big Macs. Cuda run the shoreline, over sandy stretches, with the Capitola area producing some of the best bites. Short, single-wire bite leaders are a must for cuda but are not required for bonito and mackerel.
Jack Smelt
Tougher than any trout, Jack smelt thrive in the bay. They range in size from just inches to a couple of pounds and are a scream on 4- and 5-weight rods. They even take small, tan-colored dry flies.
One of the best ways to get into the fish is to chum them up with a block of frozen ground chum (anchovies, etc.). They are always the first to show in the slick when you chum for sharks.
Flies should resemble bits and pieces of chum, white or tan, #10 to #14. A tuft of white marabou around the hook makes a sufficient wet fly; a hank of deer hair tied caddis-style works as a dry. Large specimens take small streamers and bucktails.
Surf Perch
Surf perch run all the beaches from Capitola to Monterey. They feed on a variety of crustaceans, such as sand fleas, small crabs, and shrimp. Flies that work include simple, chenille-body comets, Buggers, and shrimp patterns. While somber ties take fish, bright red or orange ones seem to push their strike button best. Some anglers use sinking-tips, while others swear by fast-sinking shooting-tapers. Both work. A stripping basket is a must.
Monterey Bay is an incredible place for marine fly fishers, and it should only get better as current conservation practices continue. More than just a great water for locals, it's also a great place for family vacations to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row, Pebble Beach, 17-mile Drive, Fisherman's Wharf, many fine restaurants, Santa Cruz boardwalk, a famous roller coaster, and much more.
Located within two hours of major bay-area airports, Monterey Bay is easy to reach. It has many excellent hotels and several good campgrounds nearby, a couple of them are on good surf perch and striper beaches. The KOA Kampground at Santa Cruz Resort, (800) 562-7701, has campsites and cabins plus other facilities.
Tackle for Monterey Bay
For most Monterey Bay species, the perfect outfit includes an 8- to 10-weight rod armed with a Type IV to Type VI sinking shooting-taper or a Teeny 350 to 450 line for getting down to the fish quickly. A lead-core taper (Cortland's LC-13, 28 to 30 feet, with 50-pound braided loops) works well for dredging the reef top and when currents are raging. Use a floating shooting-taper or a weight-forward floating line for the surface. Shooting lines like the 30-pound Amnesia mono or Scientific Anglers Mastery .035" saltwater shooting-line work well.
| Dan Blanton's Punch Series (top to bottom) Lime Punch, Sabalo Punch, and Tropical Punch will catch almost any gamefish that swims in Monterey Bay or elsewhere along the Pacific coast.
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A marine-quality fly reel with a good drag and at least 200 yards of backing will suffice. The backing and drag isn't needed for rockfish, but it is necessary for the other species, which can rip off lots of line in a hurry.
Large white sea bass, stripers, and halibut require 10- to 11-weight rods, especially if you have to turn the fish from kelp beds or lift them off the bottom. For the sharks, you need at least an 11- or 12-weight outfit with a tarpon-size reel. They run long and then put you through a slugfest. You'll need a good drag, lots of line, and rod-butt lifting power.
For the bantamweights--jack smelt, mackerel, and perch--6- to 8-weight rods and floating, sinking-tip, and fast sinking lines get the job done.
Leaders
I recommend a modified saltwater leader system that uses 12-pound-test or stronger hard mono such as Mason. For sinking lines, start with a 3-foot butt section of 30- to 40-pound-test soft mono (a surgeon's loop at each end), looped to the line. To the leader end of the butt, loop a 3-foot class leader that has a doubled Bimini Twist loop at each end. Attach your fly to the remaining loop. I suggest rigging your fly with a short 6- to 9-inch bite leader of 30- to 40-pound-test mono. Tie the fly to the bite leader with a non-slip loop knot or improved Homer Rhodes loop knot. Form a surgeon's loop at the other end of the bite leader, and attach the bite leader to the loop in the class leader. This quick-change fly system works extremely well for all species without razor-sharp teeth.
If you want to fish two flies, attach a dropper leader to the butt section loop where the Bimini Twist loop attaches. Keep the dropper short to reduce tangling. None of the Monterey Bay species are leader-shy.
Sharks and cuda require short bite leaders of single-strand wire. Use a haywire twist to connect the fly to the wire and then use another haywire twist to attach a quality small black barrel swivel to the other end of the wire bite leader. Use a clinch knot, Trilene knot, or Palomar knot to attach the class leader to the swivel. For floating lines, use the same system, making the butt section longer for a total leader length of about nine feet.
Dan Blanton is a travel and tackle consultant. He lives in Morgan Hill, California.
