It's been windy on Monterey Bay, but anglers are going out and catching fish anyway. Most early mornings were bumpy but fishable last week while the afternoons were blustery, driving a lot of the boats in. While no individual species is red-hot right now, just about everything is available for the diligent angler.

Only the bigger boats have been making the foray to North Coast spots for rockfish. But even Stagnaro's Velocity turned back and fished the reefs closer to town due to conditions at least once last week. Ken Stagnaro reports "solid" fishing for a mix of quality brown and black rockfish caught while working the 80-foot reefs near Wilder's Ranch and Natural Bridges. On the few days he has made it up to Davenport, he found the fish to be a bit bigger, and the limits came a bit quicker.

We haven't seen a lot of lingcod caught off West Cliff or the North Coast lately. It may be all the lings are summering in Capitola. Ed Burrell at Capitola Boat and Bait reported a good number of the toothy lings caught in his area last week. Most came from the reefs near the "Sponge Bob" buoy, though a few were caught on other nearby reefs, usually in 25-40 feet of water.

Burrell himself finally took a Monday off to go fishing, and was rewarded with two nice halibut caught in 65 feet of water. One was caught on squid, and the other using a sardine, according to Burrell. Other skiff fishermen who worked the area near the SC3 buoy had similar success, with halibut up to 27 pounds reported caught this week. Other productive halibut spots last week included the flat sandy areas in front of the Santa Cruz Harbor, the Lighthouse Point area, and a few from the West Cliff flats. Best depths seem to be 35-60 feet.

King salmon fishing remains steady. When conditions permit, anglers are finding the fish from the west side of the Soquel Hole on up to the Three Trees area north of Santa Cruz. The fish are feeding on krill and biting shallow. Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine recommends using the U.V. Krippled Anchovies or Chrome Krippled Anchovies, trolling 40-60 feet down. Tim Obert from Ultimate Charters found success earlier in the week using spoons or hoochies, but did best later when he switched to the Krippled Anchovy with a U.V. Slingblade dodger. Big fish honors this week go to ten-year old Tommy Huston who brought in his first king with Ultimate Charters this week, a 20-pounder he should remember forever!