Sea conditions are settling down now, after a week of big seas and unfavorable winds. Despite the environmental challenges, fishing remained steady for the week, and the coming weekend looks very good for a variety of species in our area.


Local rockfish just won't quit. Since the season opened in May, it's been limit-style fishing more often that not, and last week was no exception. In Capitola, Ed Burrell from Capitola Boat and Bait counted a good number of limits from his rental skiffs. The prime spots seem to be Boomer's Reef and Surfer's Reef for a mixed bag of brown, black, kelp and vermillion rockfish, as well as lingcod up to 18 pounds.


The Mile Buoy and West Cliff areas are still producing according to Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine, though the rockfishing was better on deeper reefs last week due to the swell. Similarly, Point Pinos and Del Monte Beach in Monterey continued to provide limits of medium-grade rockfish with an occasional lingcod or big vermilion for lucky anglers. Best bet, when conditions permit, is traveling south from Monterey toward Big Sur, or north from Santa Cruz towards Ano Nuevo and Franklin Point. The rockfish in these areas get far less pressure, are more numerous and usually much bigger.


Halibut fishing seems to be slowing down as we enter fall fishing conditions. Most halibut this time of year are caught in 60-90 feet of water, off the small sandy areas on our more rugged coasts. Fraser specifically mentions Five-Mile Beach as a good spot last week, and that area would be a good bet for the coming weekend.


As for exotics, a few white sea bass were caught in our area last week, most notably a 55-pound beast brought in by J.R. Taraper of San Francisco while skiff fishing from Capitola Boat and Bait. The Sea Bass have not congregated this year as they did in 2013. This is likely due to the wide spread of spawning squid all along the coast from Malibu to Bodega Bay and beyond.


Local anglers are still dreaming of albacore possibilities. As Carol Jones from Kahuna Sportfishing says "We keep wishin' and a hopin' for those albies. The warm water is 130 miles from Moss Landing now. We need some more wind to change things up. We are staying optimistic, though, because it's only September." It can happen. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for luck.


Bushnell can also be heard on The Let's Go Fishing Radio Show Thursdays at 8 p.m. on KSCO radio 1080 AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com