Ocean swells went from big to huge this week before dropping down to merely big again. Other conditions were pleasant, but fishing slowed markedly for most Monterey Bay anglers. This was especially true for anglers pulling pots for Dungeness crab. Dungeness season opened last Saturday. Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine reported, “The anglers who did quick soaks on the crab did not get many crabs. There was one boat who had 11 crabs in 180 feet of water.” Fraser noted crabbing got better as the week progressed especially for those working pots in 200 feet of water near the Soquel Hole.

Boats working from Monterey Harbor seemed to be doing about the same on Dungeness during opening week. Chris’ Fishing Trips and Randy’s Sportfishing counted mostly limits of rockfish on their combo trips this week but averaged only 3-5 Dungies per angler. In contrast, Jay Yokomizo on The New Huck Finn out of Emeryville took his clients out of the Golden Gate on opening day and returned with full limits of 10 rockfish and 10 Dungeness crab for all aboard. There have been some daily crab limits taken here in Monterey Bay this week, most likely by particularly savvy anglers.

Rockfishing will stay steady especially when the swell is down. From Monterey, the reefs off of Point Joe and Carmel are always a good bet, and from Santa Cruz, the usual deepwater spots near Natural Bridges, South Rock and the North Coast area will provide good rockfish and lingcod fishing. We’ve not seen any confirmed reports of bluefin tuna caught in Monterey Bay this season, though confirmed sightings are on the rise.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife informed us of proposed changes to the recreational groundfish regulations for next year, the 2017-2018 fishing season. The regs are becoming more liberal in terms of legal fishing depth, but more constricted in terms of take. For the Central Management Area from Pigeon Point to Point Conception the changes include opening rockfish, cabezon and greenling fishing (RCG Complex) out to 300 feet of water. Current regs allow RCG fishing only to 240 feet. The bag limit on black rockfish drops from five fish to three fish per day and lingcod drops from three fish to only two. Bocaccio, currently limited to three per day, will be opened wide. We can keep up to 10 per day as opposed to the current limit of three. Perhaps most significant is the possible lifting the eight-year ban on canary rockfish. We can now keep one canary per day “since it has now been declared rebuilt,” according to the DFW. These are proposed changes only, but the DFW typically adheres to their projections.

If you did not get a ticket to the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project Albacore Feed in Castroville November 12, do not despair. Tickets will be available at the Recreation Center front door, 11261 Crane Street, Castroville. This annual benefit features tons of prizes and special auction items in addition to the succulent albacore dinner. All proceeds go to support steelhead and salmon in the Monterey Bay area.