Pleasant weather, calm seas and a variety of available species made for excellent fishing this past week. Anglers in Monterey are still chasing white sea bass while on the north side of the Monterey Bay, rockfish lings and the occasional halibut are standard fare. Along the sandy stretch of beaches between, perch fishing is picking up and the striped bass reports are increasing. The historic white sea bass bite in Monterey continues. As it has for the past 10 weeks or so, the bite is up and down with some days slower than others. The sea bass are feeding on spawning squid. The fleet is concentrating on the area off the "Hotel" near Seaside, or off Lover's Point, closer to Point Pinos. Find the squid and you will find the fish.

Sunday was a slow day according to reports from private boaters. Jim Rubin from Captain Jimmy Sportfishing concurs. "We put in our time, but only got one fish Sunday." Kayak fisherman Mike Suzuki put in nearly seven hours with fresh squid Sunday, and finally got a bite as he trolled his way back to shore. After a half-hour fight, he boated a 50-pound sea bass. Fitting present for his 50th birthday! By Thursday, the bite had picked back up. Darin Deluca found lots of action in the Lover's Point area, losing one fish but bringing two onto his kayak at 40 and 50 pounds respectively. More of a sure thing, local rockfishing remains steady. The deeper reefs off West Cliff are providing limit-style fishing for private boaters and the party boats as well. Rubin worked that area last Friday and caught limits for all five clients aboard the Becky Ann s well as two crew limits.

Veteran surfcaster Ron Martin checked in with a great report from the southern county beaches last week. Martin says the perch were off the bite, so he tried a white Peewee Salas jig and was rewarded with a nice 15-pound striped bass. Other private reports indicate a fairly steady striper bite in our area. As usual it's a question of being in the right place at the right time. For those who don't mind a bit of travel, Steve Carson reminds us that the Sacramento River is opening for salmon fishing in two key areas. Carson is best known as "Senor Tuna" and is director of the Penn Fishing University. A big game expert, Carson lives in Chico and keeps tabs on the local fishing as well. Salmon fishing will be allowed from the Deschutes Bridge downstream to the Red Bluff Diversion Dam from Oct. 9 to Oct. 31. The stretch of river from the Sycamore Boat Ramp downstream to the Highway 113 Bridge will allow salmon fishing from Oct. 9 to Dec. 12. In both cases, the daily bag and possession limit will be two Chinook salmon.

Bushnell can also be heard Friday mornings at 6:45a.m. on KSCO Radio 1080AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com.