We have a little more that one week left to legally catch rockfish and lingcod from the boat. Despite the lateness of the season, fishing is still remarkably good.


The Becky Ann from Santa Cruz has been working deeper reefs just north of Natural Bridges, and as usual getting limits not only of rockfish, but Dungeness crab as well. "On Saturday we had six 6 Anglers limits of nice blues, blacks, reds and limits of Dungeness crabs. Another great day on the bay!" Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine chimes in with his private boat report, saying "The Lingcod fishing continues to be great from South Rock to Franklin Point. The bigger fish are being caught up the coast. The Rock fishing is great here near the Mile Buoy and South Rock. The Crab fishing is getting better for the anglers who are moving there traps around and finding small honey holes!"


Capitola is producing equally well with numerous rockfish of the black, blue and brown varieties, as well as plenty of lings. Best spots for lingcod in that area last week were Boomers, Surfers, and Adams Reef. The Capitola Main reef was a better spot for rockfish, and one fellow fishing outside the SC3 buoy returned to the dock with a 40-pound soupfin shark. Myron Larson who works the hoist at Capitola Boat and Bait got some fishing in last week, and was surprised to catch a 20-pound ling that "hitchhiked" on a 12-pound lingcod Larson was already pulling up!


Monterey boats are doing equally well. Greg Bauman from Santa Cruz took a weekend trip with Chris' Sportfishing and wound up with a bonus prize. "Got on the Christine out of Chris'. The lingcod were off the hook. Crazy amounts of lings and rockies. I got the jackpot with about a 12-pound fish. Crabs were scarce on our boat but their other boats did good. The water therapy was excellent. It was epic!"


Remember when the rockfish season ends, we can still fish for them from shore. There are a number of good spots up the coast where shore anglers can cast out bait or lures for decent-sized rockfish. A smaller hook and a change of bait can produce big ocean perch from those rocky north coast headlands and cliffs as well. Closer to home, the beaches are shaping up for surfperch, according to Tommy Lee Baker, who loves to fly-fish for perch. Baker provided a picture of a couple nice barred surfperch caught on the fly last week from "a beach south of Capitola."


Bushnell can also be heard on KSCO radio 1080 AM Friday mornings 6:45 with a fish report. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com, or visit santacruzkayakfishing.com.