Inshore fishing remains very productive along the shores of Monterey Bay. Salmon, halibut and a variety of rockfish are readily available, and an increasing number of white sea bass are being reported. Most exciting are reports this week from anglers who located schools of albacore offshore in the deep blue pelagic waters over 40 miles from the Santa Cruz Harbor.

A perennial albacore scout, Frank Idiano on the Sea Angel was first again this year to find and boat the fast-moving longfin tuna. Working near the Guide Seamount, the Sea Angel picked up 37 longfins both trolling and on live bait stops. Other boats found fish between the Guide and the 601 Buoy. Leroy Cross trolled for 17 albacore on his boat The Triple Cross in that area. According to Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine, anglers willing to do an overnight trip had the most success, as the fish bit in the early morning hours. Offshore weather may pick up over the weekend, not the best for offshore fishing. As always, double-check your boat, equipment and safety items when venturing that far offshore.

Inshore, we still have quite a few salmon on the bite. Trollers are picking up salmon in 100-130 feet of water from Capitola north to Davenport. Big jellyfish are still a nuisance for the trollers, but not quite as bad as last week. A good spot of salmon was also reported below Moss Landing, from Mulligan hill up to the canyon, according to Fraser.

As our recent south swell subsides, halibut action is picking up. A good number of boats are bounce balling or drifting bait near the Cement Ship and the Pajaro flats for good halibut scores, and the bite is improving near the Mile Buoy as well as the sandy stretches off West Cliff Dive in Santa Cruz in 50-60 feet of water.

Meanwhile you can't go wrong with the old standby rockfish. This has been an incredibly productive season for rockfish and lingcod in our area. Virtually every spot continues to produce good catches of fish from Capitola to Natural Bridges and on up the coast. Jim Rubin on the Becky Ann fished near Natural Bridges last Saturday. "What a fun group of anglers today. We targeted rockcod and caught 'em good. We landed limits for six anglers. 60 yellowtail, vermilions, blues and blacks, all nice quality fish up to four pounds."

It's been a very good year for the schooling black rockfish in particular. When you find one, there are usually plenty more around. In the past few weeks, we've noticed an increase of blue rockfish as well as an increasing number of the desirable vermilion, or red rockfish. Though local reefs are still producing well, as we move towards Autumn, it's a really good bet to fish further up the coast, towards Four-Mile Beach and Davenport for great rockfish (and halibut) action.