We have plenty of fishing action in Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay these days, even though salmon are mostly a no-show. Rockfishing remains robust, halibut are moving in, and we even have a very promising appearance of the random white sea bass.

Squid are starting to spawn in various locations of the Bay. Locally, we've had some good squid schools just outside the Mile Buoy. And, at least one angler was in the right place at the right time to hook a big sea bass on Monday. Ed Burrell from Capitola Boat and Bait says, "I just got lucky. I was fishing for halibut but put one bait 30 feet down. It felt like an hour, but was really around 20 minutes to get the fish in." The sea bass weighed in at 44 pounds. Burrell caught it with a live squid on 25-pound Maxima line with a 30-pound fluorocarbon leader.

Halibut have been slow to show this season, but we're finally seeing some flatty action. According to Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine, most successful halibut anglers are slow trolling with the "bounce-ball" technique, using bait or hoochie lures like the B-2 Bomber. While a few halibut have been reported just outside the kelp line near Capitola and the West Cliff area, most continue to be found in the deeper 50-60 foot areas. The long sandy stretches between new Brighton Beach and Pajaro are also producing a fairly decent halibut count lately.

Rockfish can still be caught from nearly all the usual reefs in our area. Particularly favored are South Rock, the West Cliff reefs and the myriad reefs up coast to Davenport, when the winds permit.

Ken Stagnaro reported full rockfish limits for everyone aboard the Velocity on Monday. "We had nice quality black and yellow cod. Limits were reached by 10am!" Personal observation suggests the Velocity didn't have to travel much beyond Lighthouse Point for those early limits.

With the scarcity of salmon in the local waters, Jim Rubin on the Becky Ann has also zeroed in on the rockfish and lingcod lately. "Wednesday was a great day of fishing! Five anglers caught limits of big blues, blacks, vermillion, and one ling cod weighing 12 pounds."

We have a high-pressure system offshore and winds are forecast for the weekend. Get out early and watch for the whitecaps. We may have small craft warnings on Friday and Saturday by noon. Even the overnight winds could be significant, which creates a nasty surface chop. As Dave Hurley always says "Stay safe and wear your PFD."