Powerful ocean swells are moving tons of sand along our Monterey Bay beaches this month. That is great news for perch anglers, as good structure starts to appear when the sand shifts. Deep holes, troughs and rip current channels are the perfect places to find feeding perch.

Lately the huge waves have made it a bit difficult for surfcasting, mostly because of sea grass, kelp and other marine detritus collecting along the shore. Within a week or so, this initial clearing of loose bottom matter will be completed and anglers can enjoy weed-free casting along most the beaches on the bay.

When anglers have found clear water lately, they are also finding plenty of barred surfperch. Ten-fish limits are not uncommon from the beaches south of Rio Del Mar on down to Seaside. For the past two months we’ve seen mostly smaller male BSP’s ranging from six to 14 inches. Now is the time the larger females start to make their appearance, so we can expect to see a lot more in the 15-inch and above class.

Just in time too, as the 12th Annual Sand Crab Classic Perch Derby is now accepting entries for its March 12 event. Entries are available at Bayside Marine in the Santa Cruz Harbor and online at www.sandcrabclassic.com. Deadline for entries is February 8th. As usual, all proceeds from this family event go the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project. Derby coordinator Mike Baxter expects a full roster of 300 anglers competing again this year.

The migrating sand sometimes has negative effects as well. Port Director Lisa Eckers released an update on Monday saying, “the recent winter storms and southerly swells have produced rapid and continual shoaling in the Santa Cruz Harbor entrance. Four years of drought have left massive volumes of sand and debris queued up for delivery along the California coast once the rains finally came. Breaking surf in the entrance, combined with shallow depths and extreme tides, has made passage difficult and inadvisable.”