In Monterey, private boats continue to catch halibut from 15-70 feet of water. DelMonte Beach continues to produce flatties, though the area near Sand City is holding more and bigger fish. Chris’ Fishing Trips reports full limits of rockfish on all their trips, with an occasional lingcod or halibut in the mix. Surfcasters are doing well catching striped bass from the steep beaches near Fort Ord and Seaside. Moss Landing’s Kahuna made it down to Point Lopez again last week for another bottom-fishing bonanza. Owner Carol Jones reported the 18 anglers aboard brought in full limits including 12 canary rockfish, 23 copper rockfish and 25 vermilions.

Saturday’s trip on the Miss Beth out of Santa Cruz reported similar success. Beth Norton reported, “Captain JT took the clients to fish a new area near Davenport. The clients caught limits of rock fish including canaries, browns, yellow tail and widows. The water was nice as was the weather.” 

Skiff anglers launching from Capitola Boat and Bait are having a ball these days. Ed Burrell’s report was short and sweet. He said, “Good week. Lots of halibut.” Due to its location tucked inside the bay, Capitola is sheltered and stays calm, resulting in slightly warmer water temps. This is probably the reason why we see more “exotic” fish caught there than most other locations around the bay. This week Burrell noted a sandbass caught on a live mackerel near Mile Reef by a trio of young skiff anglers. We also received a report of a rare juvenile black sea bass caught by a kayak fisherman. Black seabass is an endangered species and keeping one is strictly forbidden in California. Happily, this angler is experienced and very aware of the delicate nature of his prize. He treated the fish gently, removing the hook and releasing the fish in good shape.

Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine in Santa Cruz sounds hopeful this week. A dedicated tuna hunter, Fraser says a few boats will be going out to search for albacore again as conditions look good offshore. It has been a few years since we’ve had a decent albacore bite in this part of the state. Hope springs eternal, though. And, stranger things have happened. Albacore have been recorded showing up offshore as late as December in some previous years. Fraser adds, “The fishing remains best up the coast near Four-Mile and Davenport. There were good scores of halibut, rock fish and lingcod caught in 60-90 feet of water. The deep water is still producing big rock fish. The wind was down but there was a new south swell. The red tide is still hanging near Capitola and Pajaro.”