After a week of fair weather and calm ocean conditions, the current forecast calls for building seas through next week. The forecast includes windy conditions over the weekend. Though open ocean winds are predicted to blow as high as 30 knots Saturday and Sunday, inside the Monterey Bay should be more calm. Crabbers working the coast north of Santa Cruz or outside Point Pinos towards Carmel would be smart to start early before the winds kick up.

Bottom fishing and crabbing both are still going strong in Monterey Bay. The charter boat Check Mate from Chris’ Fishing Trips in Monterey continues to record full limits of lingcod and near-limits of rockfish for their fishing clients. Launching from Moss Landing, but fishing closer to Point Sur, the Kahuna continues to target areas that have very light fishing pressure. Hence, the fish are bigger and more numerous. Owner Carol Jones reported this week, “We ventured down the coast today on an absolutely beautiful flat calm winter day. Sixteen anglers landed limits of rockfish and near limits of lingcod.”

This is the time of year lingcod move in for spawning in shallow waters. Capitola Boat and Bait manager Ed Burrell has seen quite a few rental skiff anglers returning to the wharf with lingcod. Burrell reminds us the “sure thing” for lings is always live bait. Anchovies, mackerel, sardines or kingfish can be jigged up in the immediate area. Rockfish continue to be caught from the nearby reefs and at least one halibut was reported caught near the Sponge Bob buoy this week.

Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine in Santa Cruz recommends heading north for rockfish and crabs. Fraser says, “The weather is still perfect here in Santa Cruz. The rockfish and lingcod continue to bite near Davenport. Wind and swells are down. Crab fishing is still decent for the anglers who are letting their gear soak. There were some nice crab caught up the coast in 200 feet of water. The weather is still flat calm!”

Charter boat operations in Santa Cruz confirm Fraser’s reports. On Saturday, Beth Thompson from Go Fish Santa Cruz noted “Limits for everyone today. First stop was to pull the crab pots. The crab are big this year. (Skipper) John Thomas and (Deckhand) JP then took the boat near Davenport. The customers caught a variety of rockfish plus four lingcod up to 12 pounds.” Tom Dolan aboard the Mega-Bite detailed Sunday’s successful trip saying, “Crab and potluck today with a bumpy water start. Got our crab then headed out for rockcod and lingcod. Nice catch of blues, olives, browns, canaries and red pacific snapper today. Nine year-old Jacob was our jackpot winner with over 23 fish!”

Surfcasting from the beaches remains steady if a bit slow. We need more major winter weather to shape up the beaches and create the nearshore holes and troughs the surfperch use as feeding grounds. A couple big rainstorms will also open up the Monterey Bay rivers, flushing out hungry striped bass currently trapped behind the beach sand berms.