Happy New Year! As of New Year's Day, rockfish and lingcod season is officially closed in our area. Crabbing is still open, and there are a variety of fish still legal to catch from boats in the Monterey Bay, including the tasty sand dabs, flounder and halibut. The big halibut are more difficult to locate this time of year, as they have retreated to deeper waters, but sanddabs are easily available on flat sandy areas from 120-250 feet of water. Canyon edges area good place to pull up a passel of 'dabs, and they make for good, even gourmet eating.


Winter can also bring in the giant Humboldt Squid. Though we've not seen any yet this year, it's always a possibility they will show up in the deep water of the Soquel Hole and other submarine canyons of Monterey Bay. Weighing up to 40 pounds each, they can be a blast to catch and are quite edible, like "Super-Sized" calimari. The Humboldt's also make great bait, both for crabbing or frozen for fishing next spring and summer.


And, while rockfishing season is over for boats, we can still fish for them from the shore during the closure. This includes the historic practice of poke poling on low winter tides. Last week's "king tides" included very good minus tides, exposing reefs that rarely feel the sun. I joined a few friends for low-tide shenanigans on Wednesday.


Using a 10-foot bamboo pole with a wire tip and heavy line with a hook, we baited up some squid strips and proceeded to explore the undercut cracks and crevices on a local surfing beach. A few small rockfish were caught and released, as were some undersized cabezone. One of the young surfers working the reef caught a nice monkey-faced eel that generated some excitement from tide poolers and other onlookers.


For myself, I was not having much luck, hooking nothing for two hours. One promising hole kept drawing me back though, and eventually I was rewarded with a fierce rattle and a strong tug. It took some strength to pull this fish from the small round hole in the reef, but eventually it popped out. The fish turned out to be a 20-inch cabezone, well over the minimum size of 15 inches. This was a keeper for sure.


Winter is also a great time to hone your ocean skills, and the Santa Cruz Coast Guard Auxiliary has a number of opportunities coming up soon. Vice Division Commander Jane D. Smith informs us of three courses offered this month. "Boating Skills and Seamanship" begins on Wednesday, January 15, 2014; "Sailing Skills and Seamanship" begins on Thursday, January 16, 2014; and "Coastal Navigation" begins on Monday, January 13, 2014. Registration for any of these courses is next Wednesday, January 8 from 7-8:30pm, at the public meeting room, downstairs at 365A Lake Avenue at the Santa Cruz Harbor, near the boat yard, across from "S" dock. If you miss registration, you can show up for the first class and register then.