For many of us, Thanksgiving means Dungeness crab as well as turkey and "all the fixins." This year, the commercial season is stalled as crab fishermen are holding out for a fair wholesale price on their catch, which the big processing companies so far are refusing to pay. Hopefully the situation will be resolved soon, so our dedicated commercial crabbers can drop pots and start meeting the hefty expenses they incur in their risky business.

Weather and sea conditions continued to be challenging for anglers in the Monterey Bay last week. Luckily, the challenge was not insurmountable, with enough clear mornings with calm winds that enabled boats to reach productive areas.

Sport anglers have been taking crabs for a few weeks now, and most reports are very good. "We've been getting limits every day, averaging seven to ten Dungeness per pot," says Captain Jim Rubin on the six-pack Becky Ann. Rubin concentrates on the area just north of Santa Cruz, in 180-220 feet of water. He hosts up to six anglers on these trips, pulling pots early in the morning, then finishing the day drifting local reefs for rockfish and ling cod. "The big swells and windy conditions haven't shut down the bite, we're still catching limits by 10 or 10:30 every trip." Lately, Rubin has seen mostly blacks and yellowtail rockfish, with the occasional vermillion and lingcod in the mix.

Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine continues to field decent white sea bass reports from the Davenport area. "The scores are ranging from one to seven fish a boat drifting squid near the bottom in 90-130 feet of water near Davenport. The birds have been working early in the morning and that has been the best time to get the Sea Bass."

As winter approaches, rod builder Ron Martin has been testing the surfzone on the beaches south of Rio Del Mar. Using grubs on a sliding sinker rig, he caught and released a number of small barred surfperch last week at Sunset Beach. The big swells we've had this fall are building nice structure on the long sandy beaches, and it may be well worth your while to take a long walk with a casting rod this weekend. Or, work the rocky areas along the North Coast for the bigger black and striped perch feeding in that area. The lowest minus tides of the year are forecast for this weekend, an excellent opportunity for poke poling in those North Coast areas.

We are proud that most local anglers are fierce stewards of our resources. A good chance to "pay it forward" will occur on Saturday, December 3 when Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project volunteers will gather to clip fins on the hatchery fish prior to their release in our local streams. Please contact the MPSTP Hatchery Office at 831-458-3095 for details and directions to the Big Creek Hatchery.