Santa Cruz Charter (not 6 pack) recommendation

[pjstevko]

I'm heading up to Santa Cruz next month with my in-laws to celebrate my wife's birthday and thought maybe I might be able to sneak away for a half day charter and am looking for recommendations of a good operation 

I was hoping to cross off a few more fish off my life list like halibut, salmon, white seabass or yellowtail....


Thanks

PJ

[Gfish]

What's a "6-pack"?
At the pier in Capitola there used to be a boat rental outfit that I always wanted to try. Some guys seemed to do pretty good. Probably those that knew where to fish.
Gfish

[Bryan Young]

What's a "6-pack"?

A 6-pack normally has accommodations for 6 to fish, plus captain and crew.

[David Hall]

Salmon in Monterey Bay is closed since July 15 this year.  It is still open in Half moon bay and if you think you mit make it up that far.  I recommend fishing with Khahn,  many members here have fished with him although he is a six pack charter.  For rock fishing out of Monterey they are all good. So anyone you can get on will put you on the fish.  They will run down south around Pt. Sur and fish the bottom.  There have been random reports of White Sea bass north of Moss Landing.  Capitals actually, but I do not think any of the big charters are targeting them right now that could change in a matter of days. 

[Fishy247]

If you plan on possibly rockfishing out of the Monterey Bay, I wholeheartedly recommend the Kahuna, out of Moss Landing. I worked on that boat for a few years and there isn't another that I would fish. The skipper is Brian Cutting, who used to run the Chubasco in Monterey. For salmon, I'd recommend Half Moon Bay, about an hour or so north of Santa Cruz. They've been whacking the kings for a while. For halibut or seabass, you really need to get on a 6-pack or smaller to have a realistic shot....

Mike

[pjstevko]

Thanks for all the advice and recommendations, I'll look into all of them...

The only problem with the 6 pack charters are the price......

I might just pull some ling and rockfish out of the freezer to cook while we're there instead of dragging all my crap up there....I guess I could always buy fresh fish there...

[SantaCruzMT]

Halibut and Lingcod have bee the best bet around here lately. I highly recommend the Megabite(6 pack)for Santa Cruz charters. The captain is a great guy who always seems to put you on the fish. Stagnaros also runs a sport boat out of Santa Cruz but I have never been on it. I also like the boat rentals on the Santa Cruz or Capitola wharf. You can see the reefs on google maps which is very helpful if you go the boat rental route. Good thing about that is if time is an issue you are free to stay out as long as you want. I haven't done much fishing down in Monterey but that would be another good option but the drive is going to be 45 min from SC and figure an hour on the weeekend.