The recent Sand Crab Classic Perch Derby illustrated a healthy perch population all around the Monterey Bay. A fringe benefit of that massive perch hunt is our realizing how many striped bass are in the bay now. And, how widespread the schools of bass are. On Derby Day, stripers were reported caught everywhere from Del Monte Beach in Monterey, to the Santa Cruz West cliff area.

In the weeks since then, striper reports continue to come in, mostly from beaches south of Manresa and extending to Del Monte Beach. Most of the fish are dinks in the 14-17-inch range, but there are lots of them. Most anglers can bring home at least one keeper over 18 inches if they are in the right spot at the right time. The striped bass are hitting in the surf. Because the waves have been big, surface poppers are less effective. These fish will, however, bite a variety of lures including swimbaits, Krokodiles, SP Minnows and Rapalas. Double-digit catch and release reports have been common this past week, though the keeper rate remains low.

Stripers grow quickly, and these young fish, released from spawning grounds in the Pajaro and Salinas Rivers, may double in size by summer’s end. With luck, the numbers will remain in our area for summertime surfcasting excitement.

Dungeness crab fishing is still going strong all through the bay. Chris’ Fishing Trips in Monterey continues to post daily cookie-cutter reports of full crab limits for their clients as well as all the sand dabs their anglers may care to keep. Captain Joe Baxter reported success sport crabbing this week with his son, Shane. The duo were working 200 feet of water off Santa Cruz, and had no problem collecting full limits of big firm male Dungeness. Commercial Dungeness fishing will finally resume this coming weekend, as the levels of domoic acid in the crab has dropped to miniscule or undetectable levels all along our coast.

The Santa Cruz Harbor may be receiving Federal assistance soon to deal with the shoaling problem at the harbor mouth. Last week, the US Coast guard assigned a “Safety Zone” status to the harbor entrance. The original notice indicated the harbor entrance would be closed to any traffic beyond emergency services. This was quickly amended with the harbor issuing a notice that traffic will be permitted, albeit with conditions.

Essentially the Harbor Master has to approve any traffic. The amended statement from the Santa Cruz Port District includes, “The safety zone is closed to all vessel traffic, except as may be permitted by the Captain of the Port (COTP) or a designated representative. Vessel operators desiring to enter or operate within the safety zone must contact the Santa Cruz Harbor Master to obtain permission to do so. Vessel operators given permission to enter or operate in the safety zone must comply with all directions given to them by the Santa Cruz Harbor Master.

Persons and vessels requesting permission to enter the safety zone may contact the Harbor Master on VHF-9. In the event the Harbor Master cannot be reached persons and vessels may contact the Coast Guard Command Center at telephone (415) 399-3547.”