All cylinders are firing on the Monterey Bay fishing scene. Rockfish, including a great showing this year of school blues, are biting well on the shallow reefs of 40-60 feet. halibut are still moving in, but there’s plenty of small males who’ve taken up residence already. We need more big mamas. Very quiet rumors are circulating of white sea bass catches, mostly near the kelp beds. With prolific squid spawns occurring along the stretch from Moss Landing to the Santa Cruz Mile Buoy, don’t be surprised if we get some tanker white sea bass when the water warms a bit.

For Monterey anglers, rockfish is going strong as usual. Best reports of bigger fish are coming in from the Point Sur area, with Carmel Highlands following as a close second. The ling cod bite is improving with Chris’ Sport Fishing landing as many as 15 lings on a full-day outing in addition to the usual limits of rockies. Bigger halibut are finally moving into the shallows, inside of 60 feet, but the process is slow this year due to cooler water temperatures. Halibut fishing is getting better on the big sand flats that edge the Monterey Bay Marine Canyon and its offshoots. In between swell events, private boaters are able to fish just beyond the surfline for striped bass. Using swimbaits or flylining live bait, boat based anglers are casting towards the shore, or finding random blow ups in safer areas of 20 to 40 feet of water.

Surfcasting all along the 90 miles of Monterey Bay beaches is good and getting better. There are tons of smaller surf perch to practice technique, with the occasional giant amongst them to keep things exciting. Striped bass keep moving but we’re seeing an increase of schools engaging in feeding events as some fin-fish baits get closer to shore. Warming water will keep the catch rate curve ramping up, we predict.

Sandcrabs are plentiful. Savvy anglers are using their light perch rigs with sand crabs on a Carolina rig to catch big perch and also to attract any stripers in the area. This is a calculated risk. Hooking a striped bass on such light equipment is sometimes an “iffy” proposition. It makes for an exciting battle though, and is all the more satisfying when the fish is finally beached. We began to see some halibut caught from the beach near Seacliff recently, but a new south swell shut those efforts down early in the week. Once the swell drops, throwing white flukes on a drop shot rig is the proven technique for beachside flatties. They will also bite on a variety of lures including KastMaster and Crocodiles as well as whole squid, anchovies or herring.