If you have given any thought to going fishing on Monterey Bay this summer, now would be the time to go for it! With the exception of some windy afternoons, weather and sea conditions have been mostly mild and comfortable. A persistent but small south swell is promoting surf fish activity and further out, huge schools of bait have put all our regular species plus a couple “exotics” on the bite. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine may have said it best on Wednesday when he reported, “The ocean has come alive on the inshore waters. There has been a mix of halibut, sea bass, bonito, rock fish and lingcod being caught. The halibut and sea bass fishing has been good near Capitola. Bonito are being caught here and there by anglers seeing them boil. The west side of Santa Cruz produced some nice halibut today.”

Bonito are small and speedy tuna-like fish that bite aggressively and take off like little rockets once hooked. Casting into a feeding boil of bonito, or trolling lures near the surface are both proven techniques for catching bonito, which can range from two pounds up to twenty. It’s not unusual to get bonito in Monterey Bay when the water warms during summer, but they don’t necessarily hang around for long, so get them while you can. Many anglers dismiss the bonito as table fare, but caught, bled and iced correctly, they can be delicious either cooked or prepped raw as ceviche or poké.

Meanwhile, our “normal” species remain abundant all around the bay. Chris’ sportfishing and J&M Charters from Monterey both reported limits or near-limits of rockcod for all their trips this week, along with a few lings on each go-out. Santa Cruz charter boats report much the same, with an additional accent on halibut. JT Thomas recorded full limits of rockfish and four nice lingcod for his trip on Monday aboard the beautiful Miss Beth. Rodney Armstrong on the Knot Alone, another six-pack operation from Santa Cruz Harbor chimed in with a mid-week account saying, ““Yesterday’s trip we stayed local . The wind up the coast has not been nice. We had two nice halibut, two lingcod and limits of rock fish. Pretty good fishing out front still. Always nice to get some local kids out on some fish.” Halibut fishing is still going strong all around the bay, with catches recorded mostly from the 30-60 foot depths.

Sandcrabs are getting bigger, and so are the surf perch that eat them. Nearly every sandy beach on Monterey Bay hosts the barred surf perch and other varieties of perch. The trick is, you gotta find the right beach at the right time and during the right tide. Right now, incoming and outgoing high tide seems to be most productive for surfcasters slinging live sandcrabs, GULP sandworm baits or paddle/curly tail grubs. The central beaches of the bay, within ten miles north and south of Moss Landing can host giant moving schools of young perch. 20-40 hookups within a couple hours is not unusual lately. These fish are mostly small. Crimping down the barbs on your hooks is a good-sport move, allowing an easier release without injury for the growing fish. It also tests your skills as you try to bring the fish in. We’ve had reports of larger perch, but in smaller numbers from beach areas just outside the bay, north of Santa Cruz, and south of Monterey along the Carmel side of the Peninsula.