Bluefin fever still grips most serious anglers in the Monterey Bay. A good number of fish were brought in this week including a few tuna weighing over 200 pounds each. The fish are more likely to be in the Davenport Fingers area rather than the Big Sur area right now. There are still plenty of skunks, and fish lost due to fate or inadequate equipment. Serious fisherman are tuning up their technique though. Planning a three or four-day succession of trips has allowed many to hone effective practices for finding, hooking and boating these giant tuna.

The early winter-type storm last week did not seem to immediately affect the concentration of tuna in the area. A little weather this week, and perhaps the falling barometer as we anticipate rainstorms in the following week may be a factor, as the big schools seem to be dissipating at this time. Tom Joseph on the Sara Bella reported success last week with a party of two. They landed on 64-pound tuna, and lost another due to “A brand New Shimano Telica ll gears freezing up after a two-hour battle,” according to Joseph.

Todd Fraser at Bayside Maine received no bluefin reports on Sunday whatsoever. In the days prior to the weekend, Fraser called it “hit or miss” on the bluefin for the past few days. The last day of decent reports was Tuesday. The water was flat and despite foggy conditions, bluefin up to and over 200 pounds were landed. Slow trolling live mackerel is still the best technique. Most are using downriggers from 40-150 feet down, and trailing the bait a minimum of 200 feet from the back of the boat. Fast trolling surface lures are still catching a few fish as well.

On the inside, fishing is still going strong. Monterey anglers kept busy with rockfish and lingcod mostly. Chris’ Fishing Trips from Monterey reported daily limits up to 200 rockies and up to eight lingcod on their Saturday trip. In Santa Cruz, Ken Stagnaro reported limits of rockfish for 18 clients aboard the Legacy. Alongside the big schools of mixed mackerel near Capitola are some tanker white sea bass. The bass are biting on live, fly-lined macks. Fishing after dark can be a great technique for these powerful and tasty gamefish. Remember the limit is tree fish per angler and teach must measure at least 28 inches.

Not limited to Monterey Bay, but vital for all California sport anglers is the latest message from those protesting the California Air Resource Board’s plan to institute draconian limits on charter fishing boats and other “harbor craft.” Essentially CARB intends to impose regulations that will drive many if not most small charter operations out of business. Thousands of lives will be negatively affected, and millions of income dollars erased if CARB goes through with the unfeasible plans requiring premature Tier implementation and enforcement for 'harbor craft," i.e., charter fishing boats, whale watchers and tour boats. Essentially, the regulations call for emissions equipment on all these small craft that either will not fit on the boats, or has not been invented yet. It is insane to impose these regulations without available, affordable technology available to hard-working operators. If you care about ocean fishing and all those who make it possible for us to enjoy the sport, send comments to: info@savefishing.com.