Our first winter storm of the season kept most boats in the harbor this week. The winter swells and currents are just what we need to create good conditions for perch fishing, and the rainfall means our coastal streams will get in shape for the upcoming steelhead season.

The beaches from Santa Cruz to Monterey are the stomping grounds for wintertime surfcasters who get very serious about catching surfperch. Barred perch are most common, though a variety of perch species are available including rainbow, black, walleye and even redtail perch. Most anglers use a 7 or 8-foot casting rod rigged with a sliding sinker above a three-foot leader. Using light gear increases the chances of a strike, and makes the fight more exciting. The preferred lures are root beer or motor-oil colored grubs, and artificial pileworms or sandworms. Using a live sandcrab instead of a lure almost guarantees success in catching these feisty little gamefish. Casting into or even beyond the breaking surf and slowly retrieving your lure or bait is a proven technique when fishing the beach for surfperch.

For those who take more relaxed approach to surf fishing, a pyramid sinker below a dropper loop baited with a sandcrab, pileworm, shrimp, clam or mussel is another proven method of catching surfperch. Cast out your bait, put the rod in a "sand spike" pole-holder, and sit back in your beach chair with an eye on the rod tip. It works. Most important for wintertime surf fishing is locating the right spot to fish. Dedicated surfcasters walk the beaches, looking for deep spots and rip currents that indicate good feeding spots for the perch. Bait anglers target the same areas. Along the rocky part of our coast, try fishing between the cliff and the kelp line. These fish tend to school up, so when you catch one fish stay in that spot for a while and you will likely catch more.

Anglers who prefer "big game" can stay busy during the winter as well. Already, the sturgeon bite is starting in the northern part of San Francisco Bay. Reports from the Suisun area indicate a few sturgeon caught there last week, with plenty of "jumpers" sighted by anglers while they fished for stripers. The latest rainfall will help to muddy up the Bay, which brings in the bottom-feeding sturgeon. The bag limit for sturgeon is one per day, with a total of three for the year, and each fish must be longer than 46 inches, but no longer than 66 inches. A sturgeon report card is required by the California Department of Fish and game.

Your 2010 steelhead report card from last year will be valid until December 31. Usually, we don't see very much fishing for these sea- going trout until January and February in our local streams, but it is all a factor of how much water is flowing. A few more rainstorms could open up the San Lorenzo and Soquel Creek for steelhead to access. The local steelhead season stretches from December 1 through March 7, but only on Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday, legal holidays and opening and closing days. Remember, while we can fish for steelies, no retention is allowed. This a catch-and-release fishery only, and barbless hooks must be used.