Caption: White sea bass stayed on the bite through the weekend, with fish up to 60-pounds boated

Weather was less a factor for anglers this week than in previous weeks, but the more high-profile species were harder to locate. Thank goodness for the ready availability of rockfish and lingcod, and the steady bite of North Coast halibut.

A few boats made it out to the warm tuna waters this week, according to Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine. Sadly, the albacore were mostly gone. Scores were low for those boats that did not get skunked, although one lucky crew brought in a bluefin tuna for their efforts. Jim Rubin from Captain Jimmy Charters says last week's high winds pushed the tuna water far offshore, so boats need to run 60-90 miles if they are looking for albacore. Most anglers are hoping the currents come closer before the season finally ends.

Rubin took advantage of the white sea bass bite in Monterey over the weekend. These are some of the tastiest ocean sport fish available, and Captain Jimmy managed to land two in the 40-pound range for his clients last Friday. Gerry Brookes from Reel Sportfishing had a carbon copy day in Monterey; two fish between 30 and 40 pounds for the boat. Since the weekend, rough seas may have pushed the fish offshore. We received no reports of sea bass caught in that area since the weekend. The squid spawn is still going on just offshore of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the latest reports indicate schools of barracuda are feeding on the squid and happily biting for anglers in that area. It makes us wonder what exotic species will show up next, perhaps Dorados?

Rockfish remain our mainstay in Santa Cruz. Local reefs continue to produce as big blacks school in the 100-120 foot depths, and the occasional lingcod is brought up from the shallower reefs. Plenty of bolinas and gophers can be found on the shallower reefs as well. Ken Stagnaro took a "half-day" twilight trip to the local reefs last Sunday, and bagged near limits. "We caught mostly blacks and quite a few vermillion," Stagnaro reports. This weekends mild wind forecast may encourage boaters to travel to the North Coast reefs for bigger, more numerous rockfish and cabezone, as well as the big halibut that still remain in the sandy pocket beaches in that area. Rockfish season will close on November 30 this year, and Dungeness Crab season opens for sport anglers on November 7.

Bushnell can also be heard with a live fishing report Friday mornings at 6:45am on KSCO radio 1080 AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com