Monterey Bay anglers spent last week dodging the weather. Most mornings were fishable, but mid-week wind and waves kept most boats tied up at the dock. Saturday was not too bad on the water, but by Sunday conditions were like “Victory at Sea.”

A strong low-pressure system moved from the Gulf of Alaska and bringing much needed rain. Unfortunately for boaters, it also brought howling winds, huge swells and horrendous wind waves to the area. The National Weather Service posted at 9pm on Sunday that “Winds over the waters have reduced to 20 to 30 miles per hour with some occasional gusts up to 40 miles per hour tonight. These strong winds will generate very steep swell that result in hazardous conditions, especially for smaller vessels.” The NWS projected winds calming by Monday evening, but the rest of the story is not very reassuring. One of the largest October ground swells in memory paid a visit, and persisted to some extent for the entire week. NWS added, “A large west to northwest swell train with swell heights of 16 to 24 feet at 16 to 18 seconds moves in tonight. Swell heights to peak on Monday and bring hazardous conditions to the surf zone and near harbor entrances with breaking waves of 20 to 30 feet.” The stormy conditions settled down by Monday, though the swell remained big through mid-week.

The unprecedented bluefin tuna bite we’ve been enjoying held up all last week. Those fish are still here as of this writing. Our fingers were crossed that this major storm with wind, waves, swell and barometric pressure impacts wouldn’t drive the bluefin away. The location of low pressure and its consequent counter-clockwise rotation could  benefit tuna hunters, as the dominant flow offshore may have pushed more warm water towards our area. On Wednesday, Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine confirmed there are still bluefin in the area. He said, “There were a few boats who went out to look for bluefin. One angler came in with a 100-pound fish from about 12-15 miles out. The angler said he caught the bluefin 100 feet down on a mackerel.”

Chris’ fishing Trips in Monterey posted limits of rockfish for all clients aboard the Caroline and Check Mate on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and halibut fishing should pick up once the big swell dies down. Surfcasters should be delighted with results of this early winter storm. The big waves and nearshore northerly currents, plus runoff flow from our creeks and rivers moved a lot of sand. Wintertime-type structure is shaping up on all the beaches around Monterey Bay. Perch fishing is good and getting better and casting for striped bass always seems to improve when the Monterey Bay rivers break through to the sea.