Despite the large northwest swell that steamed in from the Gulf of Alaska this week, fishing remained consistent all around the Monterey Bay. Rockfish and especially lingcod are the most common prey, though a few halibut were reported caught last week from North Coast areas, and patches of spawning squid towards the middle shoreline of the bay have attracted a few white sea bass.


For a quick go-out, the Del Monte Beach and Lover's Point areas of Monterey are still producing decent scores of rockfish, as are the West Cliff reefs in Santa Cruz. For bigger bags of larger fish, heading down towards Carmel and Point Sur or north out of Santa Cruz towards Ano Nuevo is recommended.


Most die-hard anglers in the area are gearing up for one of the year's best events, which is coming up soon. At 6pm Saturday November 8, the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout project is hosting their Annual Albacore Feed. Working in conjunction with the Castroville Rotary Club, this will be the 37th consecutive year for this banquet. Famous not only for the delicious tuna dinner, the benefit also features door prizes, silent auctions, raffle items and project demonstrations of various efforts of MBSTP through the year. Tickets will be available at the door, and raffle prizes or donations are currently being accepted via https://mbstp.org/contact/.


Topping the list of goodies at the Albacore Feed this year are two casting rods and one fly rod, hand-made by Vic Meserli Custom Rods. The rods feature Diamond Black Rattlesnake pattern wraps, top-grade materials and are worth well over $800-$1000 each. Meserli will even inlay the winner's name if desired.


MBSTP relies on the Albacore Feed every year to help support its unceasing efforts to preserve and increase native steelhead and silver salmon in our coastal rivers and streams. Board Chairman Mat Rowley is proud to announce continuing success within the Project. "We have acclimated and released over one million young salmon into the Monterey Bay since 2010. Our marked fish are caught along the entire west coast from Santa Barbara to Alaska by commercial and sport fishermen."


Though current drought conditions are making a challenging proposition even more difficult, Rowley is optimistic. "We are meeting the challenges of rearing fish with minimal water supply. Our fish are healthy and growing well. To ensure that our valuable year-old Coho brood fish enjoy uninterrupted, high quality rearing conditions--we will truck them to Warm Springs Hatchery at the base of Lake Sonoma. They will come home to the hatchery when they are ready to spawn. This 'better safe than sorry' action may not be needed next year, even if the drought persists. A new water recirculation system is being installed that will reduce the water supply needs of our Coho brood-fish substantially."


Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com