Conditions have been a bit blustery across the Monterey Bay this week, especially in the afternoons. Most morning were very fishable with a few days allowing boats to go up the coast for some big rewards. The forecast for this weekend indicates winds and swell will be calming down.

It’s September and time for the North Coast halibut bite. Anglers from Santa Cruz who fished the right day have been reporting good catches of halibut from Four-Mile Beach up to Davenport. The bull kelp along that rocky coast grows out to 60 feet of water. Fishing just off the kelp is the ticket for finding the big fall flatties. Live bait, as always works best, though frozen anchovies, squid and even swimbaits can produce hookups.

Monterey charter boats continue to post limit-style reports. Mostly working off Point Pinos and down towards Carmel, Chris’ Fishing Trips has light loads during the week with plenty of fishing room along the rails. The Check Mate ran trips hosting seven to 14 anglers this week and recorded rockfish limits and up to 24 lings per trip. The Kahuna, running out of Moss Landing, fished the same area near Point Joe and also reported rockfish limits for all who fished their trips last weekend.

Though salmon season is closed in our area, Half Moon Bay has been mostly on fire for the past few weeks. It is well worth a trailer trip up to launch at Princeton Harbor for salmon limits. Skipper Tom Joseph from Fish On Sportfishing has been running trips almost every day. On Monday Joseph reported, “Today there was a lot of boat traffic, our party of four did manage to get six salmon to 12 pounds and dropped a few more that came unbuttoned.” Joseph’s two weekend trips produced limits of kings to 15 pounds for all aboard.

Frank Ealy from Capitola Boat and Bait has been busy all week renting boats and outfitting pier anglers. Ealy says the have seen a good number of halibut come in along with the usual rockfish and lings from nearby reefs. Most exciting was Monday’s report of a couple “regulars” that returned to the wharf with three white sea bass weighing 17 to 28 pounds each. Ed Burrell relates, “They called and said they were lost in the fog. I guess they were lost in the right place. Everything was working- birds, whales, bait. They threw out some Lazer Minnows and the fish bit with the rod in the holder.”