"The fishing news for this weekend has to be the giant swell." So says skipper Mike Baxter who piloted Stagnaro's Velocity Sunday on a rock fishing trip to Ano Nuevo. "The wind was light, so we had glassy seas, but big rollers. It was pumping at ten feet off the North Coast. I tried a few of the deep spots, but nothing was biting. We finally found the fish shallow, just north of the island. We managed to catch about half-limits, but they were all high-quality black and gopher rockfish, topped off with an eight-pound cabezone." The swell ripped up a lot of kelp beds, according to Baxter, and put halibut off the bite. Though the swell inhibited inshore fishing, Baxter was quick to point out that offshore anglers had great success last weekend.

Fishing beyond the "dogbone," an underwater seamount roughly 45 miles southeast of Santa Cruz, many private boaters found smooth rolling seas. The deep blue water held big schools of hungry albacore. "They were able to catch as many tuna as they cared to keep," said Baxter. The fish were a mix of 10-20-pounders, though a few in the 25-pound range were reported as well. Mike Schell at Bayside Marine reported good tuna fishing from Thursday through Tuesday, depending on which day one was fishing. "Sunday and Tuesday were the best days with some boats reporting 60 fish."

Despite the big swell, Bayside weighed in a few quality halibut last week, most caught off the north coast pocket beaches. Schell advises to fish the sandy areas inside of one of the numerous points along the North Coast, or along the edges of the big kelp beds in 60-70 feet of water. Live bait is always the best for halibut, but frozen anchovies or squid, and lures such as Mega Baits or Fish Traps also work well for the big flatfish. In addition, Bayside fielded a few reports of White Sea Bass caught somewhere near the western edge of town.

As might be expected, pier fishing was slow in Capitola due to the heavy wave action. As the surf subsided through the week, catch rates improved somewhat, including a few small but legal halibut from the area just outside the Capitola Wharf. Bait is still plentiful in that area, though the schools have moved to deeper water and are not biting as well from the wharf itself. The bait balls are comprised mostly of sardines, with smaller anchovies and larger jacksmelt in the mix.

Bushnell can also be heard on The Let's Go Fishing Radio Show, Thursdays at 7 p.m. on KSCO radio on 1080 AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com