A persistent mixed swell continues to affect Monterey Bay fishing, especially in the inshore areas. Despite less than ideal conditions, a number of good catches were reported this week, and the weekend weather looks to be more benign.

Topping the list was a nice white sea bass caught by Tony Fischer that weighed in on the Bayside Marine scale at nearly 20 pounds. Fischer also caught a barracuda on his outing, making his local trip rather exotic.

Bayside owner Todd Fraser reported on general fishing conditions for Santa Cruz saying “The rock fishing started to get better now that the swell has dropped. The anglers found some nice rockfish and lingcod near Four-Mile and Natural Bridges. Halibut fishing should start to get better this week. Sea bass are still being caught near the Mile Buoy and Capitola in 60-90 feet of water. The sea bass are feeding on mackerel and there are some barracuda in the mix.”

Monterey has been affected less by the two-weeks of long-period swells. Kayak angler Ken Chitwood was fishing 60 feet of water off Del Monte Beach Sunday when he hooked up with a monster halibut that taped out over 40 inches and weighed 34 pounds and some change. Quite a feat from a 15-foot plastic boat! Other anglers have reported a sporadic halibut bite in that area, using live bait, frozen anchovies or trolling hoochies behind a dodger.

Surfcasters who put in their time are finding barred surfperch up to 14 inches, and striped bass up to 20 pounds. The perch are hitting on GULP sandworms as well as the classic motor oil red flake grubs. Stripers seem to prefer the Daiwa SP Minnow lately, though the usual pencil poppers especially in red and white are always a good bet for surfline stripers. These striper schools move quickly, following bait balls. The best beaches seem to be those on either side of Moss landing, up to Manresa, and down to Sand City. Best time for fishing them is dawn or dusk, or even nighttime fishing when the moon is out.