In Monterey, private boats continue to catch halibut from 15-70 feet of water. DelMonte Beach continues to produce flatties, though the area near Sand City is holding more and bigger fish. Chris’ Fishing Trips reports full limits of rockfish on all their trips, with an occasional lingcod or halibut in the mix. Surfcasters are doing well catching striped bass from the steep beaches near Fort Ord and Seaside.

Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine in Santa Cruz sounds hopeful this week. A dedicated tuna hunter, Fraser says a few boats will be going out to search for albacore again as conditions will be improving offshore. On Tuesday he reported,”I did not hear of anyone looking for tuna here today. There was a good bluefin bite 37 miles out of Half Moon Bay. I would not doubt there are some big bluefin in our area.” It has been a few years since we’ve had a good albacore bite in this part of the state. Hope springs eternal, though. And, stranger things have happened. Albacore have been recorded showing up offshore as late as December in some previous years. For those fishing closer to home Fraser adds, “The fishing remains best up the coast near Four-Mile and Davenport. There were good scores of halibut, rock fish and lingcod caught in 60-90 feet of water.”

High winds on Wednesday kept most anglers fairly close to shore. The wind is predicted to ease up from Thursday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday’s forecast looks ideal for offshore tuna hunters. Winds are predicted to be as low as five knots with a short three-foot swell. With both albacore and bluefin as a real possibility right now, this might be the best chance at tuna for the year. When conditions are nice offshore, 30-60 mile runs to find tuna are not uncommon from Monterey Bay harbors.

Monday September 30 marks the closing of nearshore waters for fishing the RCG Complex (Rockcod, Cabezon and Greenling) in the nearshore waters. Currently, we are allowed to fish the for rockfish from the beach out to 120 feet of water. On October 1, the nearshore is closed and the deepwater reopens for areas past the 50-fathom line, or 300 feet. RCG fishing can be wildly productive on the deep reefs. The fish  are numerous and usually larger than their inshore counterparts. The deepwater season will extend until December 31, 2024, barring any in-season changes by the DFW.