Local anglers enjoyed another week of good fishing in the Monterey Bay area with success for salmon and rockcod anglers as well as a number of exotics reported both offshore and inshore.

The warm water currents offshore have been pooling for the past week. There is a vast area of warm water to the west of Monterey Bay holding albacore right now, and local boaters are taking advantage of this while the winds remain light. Todd Fraser from bayside marine reports numerous private boaters traveling the 40-60 miles to the tuna grounds and returning with scores of 10-40 fish per boat. Captain Jim Rubin took a pleasure trip to the area near the 601 buoy on Sunday aboard the Denali II. They hooked four albacore with jigs, and an additional eight on live bait. All the fish were in the 25-35 pound range, according to Rubin. Other exotics reported caught from that area this week included yellowtail, and a number of swordfish were spotted in the same area. The weather forecast calls for winds to remain light through the coming weekend. Serious tuna hunters should take advantage of this window of opportunity.

We have some exotics on the inside this week as well, according to Ed Burrell at Capitola Boat and Bait. Burrell reports a good number of barracuda schooling in the Capitola area and a few brought in by lucky anglers. Most of the barracuda measured in the 30-inch range. Anglers working from Capitola beaches have been hooking up three to four foot leopard sharks, and plenty of mackerel and a few short halibut were caught from the pier this week.

Rockfishing remains steady in our area, especially off the West Cliff reefs. The best fishing remains up the coast, however, with Ano Nuevo putting out fantastic scores of quality rockfish. Captain Jimmy Charters took a charter to Ano on Tuesday where they loaded up on lingcod and rockfish, including "the biggest olives I have ever seen," according to Rubin.

In the less-than-exciting department, the Marine Protected Areas enacted last year will go into effect after September 21. Ano Nuevo and surrounding areas will be off-limits to any commercial and sport fishing. In addition, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council is currently contemplating an early closure to the rockfishing season this year. The PFMC will be meeting today to determine if an October 1 closure is necessary due to the projected groundfish take being prematurely met for this season.