Every fishing season shapes up differently, and this year is no exception. Here it is mid-July and the water temperature is still cool, while winds remain gusty nearly every day. Life must go on though. Halibut gotta spawn and rockfish gotta eat. So, we are nearly always assured of something to chase out on the big blue.

Halibut fishing in particular is heating up, especially in the Santa Cruz area. This past week saw an increase in reports of halibut caught near Sand City in Monterey, Capitola, the Santa Cruz Mile Buoy and along West Cliff kelp beds. Many of the flatties are of the large variety, likely big females eager to spawn. Halibut between 30 and 40 pounds were weighed in at Bayside Marine. Owner Todd Fraser reported on Wednesday, “The halibut fishing picked up today near the Mile Buoy and in Capitola. There were a few nice halibut caught on the west side of Santa Cruz as well.” Capitola Boat and Bait staffer Myron Larson used a live mackerel for a 31-pounder caught near the Mile Reef on Wednesday, and Fraser says many of the big fish are also biting on fresh squid.

We are seeing squid spawns popping up here and there along the coast, notably in 80-90 feet of water outside the Santa Cruz Mile Buoy. Jig up some live squid and you have a good chance at hooking a white sea bassAn increasing number of the big croakers are getting caught in that area as well as up the coast towards Four-Mile Beach. Make sure to bring your heavy gear and crank down your drag. White sea bass are hard to turn when they make their initial run.

Salmon season closes today, July 15. If you are not out fishing for them right now, you will have to wait for next year’s ocean salmon season to chase kings in Monterey Bay. Rockfish and lingcod are still being caught consistently on both ends of the Bay. Chris’ Fishing Trips in Monterey uses live bait on their bottom fishing trips. That’s why they continue to post lingcod limits in their reports, along with ½- ¾ rockfish limits on every trip.

And finally, though the succession of ocean swells may limit our odds so far for halibut, they work in our favor for beach surfcasting. There are still plenty of surfperch on local beaches as well as the more remote central Monterey Bay beaches. And, striped bass fishing remains very good from Sand City up to Rio Del Mar. Surfcasters using Pencil Poppers, HairRaisers, Krokodiles, swim baits and even Gulp! Sand worms rigged for perch continue to hook up stripers from the surf. Spear fisherman Jim Russell from Watsonville took it a step further this week shooting two 30-pound plus stripers just outside the surf on one of his local beaches.