Ocean conditions cooperated for local anglers last week, though the afternoon winds blew harder than the forecasts predicted. Fishing remains steady, and derby participants last weekend had a blast.

Autumn is definitely upon us, the fishing pattern has changed from summer spots to Fall locations. Rockfish can still be had near the kelp beds and other shallow water, but the deeper reefs are more productive. Ken Stagnaro on the Velocity has been working the reefs off Davenport in 90-120 feet of water, and finding limits of brown, olive and black rockfish for his customers there. Other charter skippers and private boats are taking the long ride to Franklin Point, north of Ano Nuevo, where the fishing pressure is light and the fish are bigger and more numerous.

The stretch of North coast between Lighthouse Point and Davenport is the halibut hunting grounds this time of year. A few flatties are being caught near the Harbor and outside of Capitola, but the better bet is to fish live bait for big females north of town this time of year.

A few weeks ago we were lamenting the lack of lingcod in our area. Sunday's "Who's Your Daddy" Lingcod Contest proved there are still quite a few. Walter Nash organizes this contest each September, and this year launched five boats to vie for the top prize. Top skippers were Jim Rubin on the Becky Ann and Ken Stagnaro piloting the Velocity. Darrell Davis from San Jose took top honors with a 20.5-pound ling caught from the Becky Ann. Local fisherman Tom Dolan on the Velocity followed closely in second place with a 19-pounder. Third prize goes to the biggest "non-ling" fish, and was won by Dennis Zack for his 32.5-pound halibut. The winning boats were fishing off the North Coast using live sardines provided gratis by Boccie Boy, the excellent baitman at the end of S dock at the Santa Cruz Harbor. Other boats participating this year included the Checkmate, Chubasco and the Kahuna from Monterey and Moss Landing. Special thanks go to Live Oak Caf?? for providing coffee and pastries for the contest, and to Michael "Zippy" Nelson, for serving as deckhand for the Derby process.

In other Derby news, the Kayak Connection Grandfather's Day Derby attracted 30 participants last Saturday. Launching from the Santa Cruz harbor, the kayak anglers competed for a brand new Ocean Kayak Trident 13 Angler Edition kayak. Fishing was slow near the harbor, but local Tom Teaford paddled to Natural Bridges where he trolled up a legal lingcod to take the contest and secure his new fishing kayak. Nathan Tsuji won the youth division, with a yellow fin rockfish. All proceeds from the Grandfather's Day Derby go to the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project.