Tried to get a walk-on spot on one of the Shamrock boats out of Santa Cruz, but my buddy and I were about 5 minutes late and the only 2 walk on spots were taken anyways. I asked 3 different respectable looking private boaters if they'd take us and the 3rd one (with the nicest boat) said yes. We gave him $60 for gas and already had bait and all our gear.
We tried mooching at Soquel Hole for 0 and kept hearing Fish-on over the radio, all in the Monterey area of 50, 41 (I think that was the #'s). After an hour we went over to those #'s and started trolling with downriggers, Hotspot Flashers, and Rotary Salmon Killers loaded with good anchovies set at 100 feet.
Mike the boat owner had earlier said maybe taking us would change his luck, well he got the first fish, a beautiful King in the 20-25# range. I almost farmed it with the net, then it broke the line on the other downrigger, we all thought it was gone, but it had already gotten tangled up with the line on that Downrigger and when it popped the release we thought we had another. Mike fought this one too and when we saw color we could see that it was dragging 2 Flashers. The hook of the second rod was through the swivel of the first rods flasher and everything was a massive tangle, but we got the fish and I netted it perfectly the second time.
The next fish was mine and it was a 14#er that came in with a good fight and no incident. After that we got 5 dinks and practiced "long distance release" on 4 others. The wind came up about 1:30 and the ride back was brutal but the boat took it well while we got pounded.

Tight lines,
Wade

Hey Wade.

Good to hear you got in on some kings. At least you didn't feed any to the local pinniped population. Haven't been able to head out just yet but am hoping for a good day like yours. What kind of rig do you use for mooching and trolling? I like an Ugly stick with a shimano charter special. The lever drag is really convenient.