Calm weather this week provided area anglers with the opportunity to get out on the ocean again to hunt for fish. Options are somewhat limited this time of year, but those who are serious can still find some action.

Stagnaro's Sportfishing is running half-day sand dab and mackerel trips at a reduced rate. Bring some light tackle and a bucket to hold your fish. On Saturday, Captain Ken Stagnaro says his twelve customers aboard the Velocity caught 200 sand dabs and 135 of the larger variety Pacific mackerel. Both these species are very tasty when prepared correctly, and catching them can be a blast.

The giant Humboldt squid are a continuing presence in Monterey Bay, and skippers are locating the schools without much problem. Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine recommends using the Ahi squid jigs for these behemoths, which range from 20-50 pounds each. Typically found in water thousands of feet deep, the squid have been caught in as shallow as 400 feet of water recently, according to Fraser.

Gerry Brooks from Reel Sportfishing and Jim Rubin of Captain Jimmy Charters went out together over the weekend with Willy Wilson, Danny Wilson and Robert Hirsch aboard Brookes' boat the Doble. "We left the harbor at 9:00 and had seven of them by 11:00. Everybody had enough, and went home with about 200 pounds of Humboldts," Brookes reports. Rubin tried again on Monday with the same crew and had similar results, returning to the harbor with 10 of the giant squid. The Humboldts are very edible and make good bait for the crab pots, according to Brookes. Both Reel Sportfishing and Captain Jimmy Charters will be running wintertime combo trips for giant squid and Dungeness crab.

We received no reports from the surfcasters this week, but Ed Burrell at Capitola Boat and Bait says the fishing was decent from the Capitola wharf over the weekend. "The water is clear and calm. People at the end of the pier were catching sand sole and kingfish, and those inside by the surfline caught a good number of barred surf perch," said Burrell. One of his skiffs hooked but lost a big thresher shark in the deeper water off Soquel last week.