Expect a stormy weekend. The forecast suggests perfect weather to enjoy while indoors, celebrating Christmas with the family. Rain, wind and big swells make fishing a dubious proposition until Monday at least. Happily, the past week featured fair weather, allowing boaters to get out for crab, rockfish and lingcod on the Monterey Bay.

From Monterey, the charter boats had mixed results. Chris’ Fishing trips reported limits of lingcod on the Check Mate Sunday with a bonus of 36 Dungeness crab for the 15 anglers aboard. On Monday, they counted 35 lings and 85 crab for 14 anglers. Rockfish counts were low both days for Chris’.

Kayak fisherman Alex Sigala paddled out Sunday near Carmel Beach. Despite a stiff offshore wind he found success while working the rocky area near Pescadaro Point. Sigala reported, “Found some shallow structure and started throwing a small swimbait on one-ounce jig head. Bam! Nothing big. Eight rockies and a sweet 17.5-inch cabbie. Released three lings no more than 18 inches. Catching all these fish on light gear was a blast.”

On the Santa Cruz side of the bay reports were much the same. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine reported last Saturday, “Rock fishing was great today up near Franklin Point and Ano Nuevo. Anglers caught limits of quality rockfish and lingcod. The wind stayed down all day on the local waters and there was only a small chop at Franklin Point.” Only a few boats are launching from the Capitola Wharf. Ed Burrell from Capitola Boat and Bait did record good catches for one of the Wharf regulars Glen Larson. Using swimbaits, Larson caught his limit of lingcod and retained about a half-limit of larger bolina rockfish.

Rockfish season ends on December 31. Coincidentally, our California fishing licenses expire at the end of that day. It’s a very good idea to purchase your 2017 license now, to avoid being caught shorthanded in those first few weeks of January. Licensing is available online from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The process is quick and easy, and all supplemental permits and cards are available online as well. We can print and use a temporary permit as our general license, but the report cards such as steelhead, salmon or sturgeon are only valid after they arrive by mail. So, do it now and stay ahead of the game.