Summer may be over but you won't find many local anglers complaining. Mid-September through October can provide some of the best saltwater fishing for our area, with plentiful rockfish and lingcod, big halibut off the north coast, albacore in the warm offshore waters and if we're lucky, white sea bass feeding on squid closer to shore. All summer and especially for the past few weeks, Monterey Bay has hosted huge aggregations of spawning market squid. Loligo opalescens is the technical name for these small cephalopods that often provide a commercial harvest from Monterey Bay. Important for us sport anglers, however, is the tendency for transient white sea bass to follow the spawning squid into Monterey Bay. The squid and the seabass have been holding between Seaside and Pacific Grove for weeks now, and those lucky enough to fish the area on the right day have reaped big rewards.

Many of the seabass caught recently are in the 30-50 pound range, with fish weighing 60 pounds not being unusual. These are huge, strong fish that not only provide a terrific battle, but also are considered by many to be the "best eating" fish in our area. Three fish are a daily bag limit for white sea bass and they must measure 28 inches, but undersized fish don't seem to be a problem locally.

John Thomas fished off DelMonte Beach in Monterey on Saturday. He and partner John Molina on the Fish Zombie returned to port with five seabass in the 30-50-pound range. On Sunday Jim Rubin from Captain Jimmy Sportfishing fished that area with two clients aboard. The lucky two anglers on the Becky Ann caught four sea bass total that ranged from 38 to 58 pounds.

Yesterday, Thomas and Rubin teamed up for a sea bass pleasure trip with deckhand Danny Wilson, his father Willie and yours truly. Thomas and the Wilsons are leading members of "Team Bayside" from the Santa Cruz Harbor. Conditions were not the best yesterday, with a stiff wind by noon and dark green water, but the boat managed one 44-pound seabass caught on fresh squid. Other boats in the area reported 3-5 fish for their efforts, though many were skunked. Speaking for myself, there are few fish that I've ever caught that put up such a blistering initial run or such heavy thumps as they are brought in close to the boat.

Ideally the sea bass bite will continue. Each day is different, but the main body of fish seem to be sticking around, and likely will be here as long as the squid are in the area. Bushnell can also be heard on The Let's Go Fishing Radio Show, Thursdays at 7pm on KSCO Radio 1080AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com

Caption:
Bushnell finally gets his first beautiful 44 pounder white sea bass.