Considering the time of year, we are still enjoying an astounding amount of fishing action in the Monterey Bay area. Anglers continue to catch limits of rockfish and lingcod from the local reefs, surfcasting is picking up and a couple more exotic species remain on the menu.

Ken Stagnaro from Stagnaro's Sportfishing reminds us bottom-fishing season will be closing at the end of December. Until then, the flagship Velocity will continue running half-day and full-day trips for cod, and you can expect to see some lingcod in the mix along with a wide variety of rockfish. When rockfish season ends, the Velocity will concentrate on shorter trips targeting delicious sand dabs from deeper waters. Jim Rubin from Captain Jimmy Charters continues to bag limits of rockfish for his clients as well. Wednesday's trip aboard the Becky Ann featured mostly blues, blacks and vermillion rockfish, but also included 30 big Dungeness crabs. Rubin will continue his sport crabbing efforts combined with sand dabs in January.

As expected, surfcasting for perch is picking up. Ed Burrell at Capitola Boat and Bait reports good number of calico perch on the bite from Capitola Wharf, and notes a few big barred surfperch caught closer to the beach. One can expect good perch fishing from the historically productive beaches south of Capitola, including Seacliff, Rio Del Mar and the more remote stretches towards Pajaro and Seaside.

Anglers hitting the beaches near Aptos might consider throwing squid jigs. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine reports a few hardy souls catching Humboldt Squid while casting from the sand. That could be an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

Big fish honors this week go once again to Mark Davis, pictured from Capitola. Despite dicey conditions, Davis went out Sunday from Capitola Boat and Bait, and returned with a 52-pound white sea bass. Yes, the sea bass are still here. Look for birds or bait, and you might have a chance at one of the giant croakers yourself.

If you are stumped about what to get for your angler's Christmas, a foolproof option is the online fishing license availability from the California Department of Fish and Game. We can purchase annual or short-term licenses as well as most stamps and species report cards through the service available at www.dfg.ca.gov/licensing/ols/.