Caption: Sara Clarke enjoys the afternoon serenity at the O'Neill Forebay while fishing for largemouth and stripers.

After weeks of frustration, the weather finally cleared enough to offer a few windows of opportunity for salty anglers in the Santa Cruz area. Besides the usual wintertime crabs and dabs, last week saw a number of white sea bass caught and the giant squid bite remains consistent. The Santa Cruz Harbor mouth is looking lots better, with depth soundings of 9ft in the main channel. Harbor officials still recommend mariners check with the Harbor Office before transiting the Harbor entrance, but the dredging process has well overtaken the sand buildup at this point.

Even the big charter boat Velocity can make it in and out of the harbor now. Stagnaro's Sportfishing took a fishing charter on the Velocity Sunday that resulted in an average of 20 sandabs and 15 white croakers for each of their clients. Gerry Brookes from Reel Sportfishing took a different tack on Sunday, and headed south to Monterey, chasing rumors of white sea bass feeding in that area. Brookes is known for his good calls. "They're still here," he chortled. "The bite turned on around noon, and we put in two nice seabass to 50 pounds."

Ed Burrell from Capitola Boat and Bait and Larry Roland fished the Monterey area on Tuesday and Wednesday. Burrell landed a 45-pound white sea bass Tuesday, but was skunked on Wednesday. "It's hit or miss, you just have to be there at the right time," according to Burrell. Curtis Williams and Dan Williams from Capitola also gave it a go and caught two or three fish each, weighing up to 50 pounds. Closer to home, Burrell says pier fishing is getting better in Capitola, with good catches of walleye perch from the middle of the wharf, and jacksmelt or kingfish from the end. Remember, the Sand Crab Classic is scheduled for March 20th, and we have only one week for signups left. Go to Bayside Marine at the Harbor or the Angler's Choice Tackle Shop for entry forms, or download from www.theletsgofishingradioshow.com. All proceeds from this annual derby go to support the hatchery and habitat restoration projects of The Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project.

Jim Rubin from Captain Jimmy Charters went deep this week. After picking up full limits of Dungeness crab for the four anglers aboard the Becky Ann on Monday, they headed to the canyon off Moss Landing and targeted Humboldt Squid. "We fished in 1,000 feet of water, and brought the school of squid to 50 feet from the surface. We ended up with 40 squid for the boat from 20-40 pounds each."

For a more sedate fishing experience, we received a great report from Alain Satre and Sara Clarke who kayak-fished the O'Neil Forebay last Saturday. Conditions were epic with no wind and glassy water. Using lures for trolling and casting, they caught a number of keeper striped bass and at one large mouth bass for their efforts.