Red tides are not uncommon along our part of the Central Coast. The current algal bloom near Santa Cruz is more persistent than most, and apparently is making repeated circuits of the bay, driven by currents and wind. We expect the bloom to diminish soon, especially if we get increased winds or rain. The tide is not dangerous to humans, and does not have a negative effect on our fish or crab, except to make fishing more difficult.

Ken Stagnaro took the Velocity well away from the red tide area this weekend. On Friday, Stagnaro fished the south side of the bay, near Pt Joe. The 34 anglers aboard caught full limits of red, yellow and blue rockfish by 1pm. On Sunday, the Velocity fished the Scott Creek area for similar results. Twelve anglers aboard had their limits of reds, yellow, blues and copper rockfish again by 1pm.

Ed Burrell from Capitola Boat and Bait had better luck fishing more locally. Working the area from Natural Bridges, to Lighthouse Point and finally the Mile Reef area outside Capitola, Burrell caught and released two short ling cod, and kept a near-limit of black rockfish weighing as much as two pounds each. Burrell says the perch fishing has been slow off the Capitola Wharf this week, probably due to reduced visibility caused by the red tide.

The best report this week came from Captain Jimmy's Sportfishing. Jim Rubin hit the Davenport area on Saturday with four clients aboard. They returned with limits of rockfish, limits of Dungeness crab, three nice lingcod and a bonus 22-pound halibut caught in 65 feet of water with a drifted anchovy. Crabbing generally has been slow so far this season, with multiple pots yielding sparse returns, which makes Rubin's limits even more significant. Where is he placing his pots? The canny fisherman will not be very specific, but let us know he is fishing deep, placing his pots in 230-260 feet of water. That might be the ticket for improving the Dungeness scores this season.

Speaking of seasons, fishing from boats for rockfish, greenlings, cabezone and lingcod ends tomorrow, November 30. ??Shore based anglers can still legally catch and keep these fish in the RCG complex. We have no word from the California Fish and Game Department, but with luck, the RCG season will resume in May 2008. In the meantime, anglers can still target the prolific sand dab fishery in our area, and surfcasting for perch will heat up in the next few months. For the surfcasters, we received unsubstantiated reports of striped bass schools in the surfline by the Pajaro Rivermouth this week. It might be worth a few casts in that area to see if the rumors are true.