A long-period south swell arrived over the weekend that roiled the shallows. Our warm tuna waters also moved further offshore, frustrating some local albacore hunters. The swell didn't seem to have too much affect on the inshore fishing, however, as the bite is still on for most available species.

We heard good news from Carl Azevedo at Bocci Boy Bait. He put four tons of anchovies into his live bait receiver at the Santa Cruz Harbor Monday. Azevedo has been disappointed with the bait situation all summer, and finally some decent anchovies have shown up. This is great news for albacore and inshore anglers alike. Everything bites on anchovies.

Ken Stagnaro had 23 tuna for 14 anglers last week on the Velocity. Mostly troll-caught fish, the crew just couldn't get the tuna to stay around the boat on the stops. Captain Jimmy Rubin found more productive fishing this weekend with 15 tuna for six anglers aboard the Becky Ann. Gerry Brookes did as well or better on Saturday. "The tuna are still here strong. Today I had three anglers that chartered the whole boat, and put in 22 albies to 32 pounds. We lost another half a dozen."

Since last weekend, the deep blue currents have moved further offshore. While some tuna were caught around 17 miles from the Santa Cruz Harbor on the weekend, by midweek the warm water was close to 50 miles away and the bite had slowed considerably. Weather forecasts for Friday are decent, but it looks to get blustery over the weekend for offshore fishing.

We enjoyed a good flurry of trophy fishing for white sea bass last week, right out in front of the Harbor. Those fish have moved off somewhere. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine fielded reports of "squid balls up the coast," so the sea bass might be in that area between natural Bridges and Davenport. It's worth a look.

Meanwhile in 50-70 feet of water from the Santa Cruz Wharf to the Cement Ship in Aptos, quality halibut remain on the chew. Most have been caught on squid, but they are also hitting a variety of lures and swimbaits. Using live anchovies can only improve an angler's chances of hooking a big flatty this weekend.

The 'chovies work equally well on local rockfish and particularly lingcod. These groundfish are available in the 50-70 feet of water range, but are gradually moving to deeper reefs as the season progresses. It's still limit-style fishing for rockfish in our area, and up the coast the fish are just as numerous, only bigger.

On a final note, we are still enjoying a decent shallow water salmon bite. Centered mostly near the Harbor, but also off Capitola, salmon are chasing baitfish and getting hooked by anglers trolling or mooching in 60-80 feet of water. Check the Fish and Game regulations for salmon, you can only keep them if you are fishing specifically for the species, and obeying the specific requirements.