Ho hum. Go out at 6am and catch a limit of fish for everyone on the boat by 9am. Yawn. If it wasn't so fun it might even be boring. The charter boats and private boaters from Santa Cruz may be getting spoiled, but no one is complaining about the stellar fishing we've enjoyed so far this season.

Rockfish are the mainstay. Astoundingly, the local reefs continue to be very productive even this late in the season. Jim Rubin from Captain Jimmy Charters had a "regular" day on Saturday. "We had four anglers catch full limits of blacks, blues and yellowtail rockfish, plus two lingcod. We were done by nine o'clock." Rubin could have repeated that report for the remainder of his trips this week, with the addition of a few halibut caught after the rockfish bags were full.

Gerry Brookes on the Doble has essentially the same to report. On Tuesday, they caught eight lingcod weighing up to 20 pounds each, on top of full rockfish limits. Tom Dolan on the Mega-Bite reports limit all week as well, with the inclusion of a few "Big" vermilions Sunday and a rare Tiger rockfish on Friday.

Salmon fishing has slowed and we hope a new school will move into the bay. A number of kings were reported caught last week, including a few in shallow water areas outside Capitola and near the Mile Buoy. Both those locations are also featuring a very productive halibut bite right now. The flatties are located anywhere between 20-70 feet of water, and are biting on fresh or frozen squid, tray bait herring or anchovies and a variety of swimbait lures. Squid are still actively spawning in some local areas, and a white sea bass or two could be in the mix.

When the offshore conditions cooperate, anglers are doing well on albacore tuna, according to Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine. Fraser reports tuna caught only 15 miles from the Santa Cruz harbor on Wednesday. Earlier in the week, the fish were much farther away. Bayside angler Corey Ragan took the long trip last Thursday with J.T. Thomas aboard Tim O'Halloran's boat nearly 50 miles outside "the dog bone" near Pt. Sur. They scored 32 fish, with a few caught as close as 22 miles from Santa Cruz.