The story this week is all about rain. Finally we have received enough of a soaking rainfall accumulation that our northern coastal counties are no longer considered to be in drought conditions. Five to seven inches of rain fell mid-week at sea level, with bigger numbers recorded at higher elevations.

Waterfalls and rivulets that have been parched for the past four years are now booming in the mountains, while local creeks and streams are close to flooding. On Wednesday the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported Loch Lomond Reservoir in Zayante is full and spilling at 577 feet of elevation. That’s 2.8 billion gallons of drinking water! And, there is more rain on the way. This weekend’s forecast could include up to an additional 12 inches of rain for the mountains surrounding Monterey Bay, according to John Presleigh, director of Santa Cruz County Department of Public Works.

Big water flows have the effect of scouring our coastal streams, removing years of accumulated sand and silt while creating welcoming gravel beds and deep pools for anadromous steelhead and salmon. Nutrients wash downstream to recharge the nearshore waters promoting growth of the tiny plants and critters that are basic to the marine food chain. Flowing streams combined with big ocean swells serve to sculpt sandy beaches that hold feeding perch and striped bass. Combined seas this weekend are forecast up to 14 feet. We should see a very different coastline next week, in terms of shoreline topography and structure. Good news for surfcasting, which has been rather slow the past two weeks.

Last week also marked the end of the RCG (Rockfish, Cabezon, and Greenling) season. Dungeness crab remains open, and charter boats typically concentrate on “combo” trips catching sand dabs in addition to crab. On the last day of the season, Tom Dolan took the Mega-Bite out for a final trip. Captain and clients came home happy. Dolan reported, “East wind showed up again so things were a little bumpy today. Ran out to the crab grounds and as expected not many crabs and the shrimp count was a bit off too. Then came in closer to shore and fished for pacific snapper and lingcod. Brought home near limits of nice olive, blue, brown, black pacific snapper and three nice lingcod!”

Monterey boats reported similar results for the tail end of RCG season. Chris’ Fishing Trips from Fishermen’s Wharf in Monterey counted ¾ limits of rockfish and limits (69) of lingcod for the 23 anglers aboard the Check Mate on Saturday’s trip. Monday, Chris’ sent the Check Mate back out for Crabs ‘n Dabs and did rather well. The boat collected 600 sand dabs and 62 Dungeness crab for the 12 anglers on board. That is some seafood buffet!