Good weather and tons of bait in the Monterey Bay made for very good fishing since our last report. It has been phenomenal for some. Anglers capitalized on local halibut, rockfish and lingcod, king salmon and even the elusive white sea bass. But, no one was more stoked this week than local kayak fisherman Ken Marple.

Marple has been fishing from the kayak for about six years now, and is known for his long late-afternoon drifts along West Cliff, where he racked up impressive scores of halibut last summer. When asked his favorite spot today, he replies, "the entire Monterey Bay." So much of fishing success is determined by being in the right place at the right time, so when Marple got the message from a good friend about the white sea bass bite off Pajaro last Saturday, he loaded up his gear for an outrageously early launch at Moss Landing.

Hitting the water at 3:15am, and aided by his compass, gps and handheld vhf radio, Marple paddled over five miles to reach the fleet already working a pre-dawn sea bass bite at around 5:30am. "It was a spooky paddle. When it's glassy and foggy like that, you can't tell the difference between water and air." Marple runs bow and stern lights when paddling in the dark, and also wears a wetsuit and carries a SPOT locater beacon in case of emergencies. "If you're not prepared then you just should not be out there," the experienced kayak fisherman cautions.

Finally, around 5:30am, he spotted the small fleet of powerboats working the white sea bass nearly six miles from Moss Landing.

After locating a school of bait, he dropped in a whole squid pinned onto a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader with Gamakatsu circle hooks. "I got blasted almost immediately!" Marple laughed, "and had one white sea bass on the boat before 6am." He got number two around 7:20, and between 7:30 and 8:30 hooked three more. One was released, one spit the hook, and the third was kept, a true kayak-fishing trophy fish that weighed in at 43 pounds, and measured over 47 inches. Marple then called his buddy who was on a nearby powerboat and told him "I have the holy grail-three white sea bass in the boat at 8:30."

Other white sea bass catches were reported from Monterey, and off Pleasure Point. Salmon can be caught near the Soldier's Club, Mulligan's Hill, Pajaro, the Soquel Hole and a few were reported from relatively shallow water near the Cement Ship to Pleasure Point. Halibut scores remain steady outside of Capitola, and local rockfishing remains healthy, with limits being the rule for those that put in the time.