Fishing in the greater Monterey Bay remained steady this week. If not necessarily the most exciting, we at least are enjoying consistency.

Tops on the list are surfperch. Any of the beaches stretching from Santa Cruz down to Monterey can produce limits of barred surfperch on any given day. Fish move, and conditions such as tide, swell and water clarity can all affect the bite so the hot spot yesterday could be slow today. Be prepared to move to a diffent location if your first number of casts are not productive. If you are dedicated, you can find the surfperch almost every day. Target the deeper pockets of water just behind the surfline, and especially any visible rips or side-shore currents for best results.

For boaters, sand dabs are most prolific this time of year. Sure, they are small, rarely exceeding 16 inches but if you bring home 20 or 30 of the diminutive sole, it's gourmet dinner time for the neighborhood. Sanddabs are famous as a high-priced delicacy being light, mild and scrumptious when prepared correctly. Dungeness crab are still on the crawl as well. While fewer crab are caught this time of year, and they trend a bit smaller, they are firmly on most diners' favorites list. Chris' Fishing Trips out of Monterey are concentrating on their hugely succesful Crab 'n Dab combo trips for the time being, and posting big numbers weekly. Last week saw the Check Mate bring home near-limits of Dungeness along with "buckets" of sanddab and mackerel for their weekend trips, and full limits (60) of crab on Wednesday's go-out.

Great news from the Pacific Fsheries Management Council was released this week regarding 2014 salmon escapement numbers in the Sacramento and Klamath River systems. The PFMC reported "about 212,000 adult salmon returned to spawn in the Sacramento River and its tributaries in 2014. About 10,000 adults returned to the San Joaquin, Mokelumne, Consumnes and other Central Valley rivers." This exceeds the fishery management goal of 122,000 fish and all but guarantees another April salmon opener this year. The "jack count" of 2-year old fish was promising as well, more than 24% higher than last year's numbers. PFMC projections estimate over 800,000 adult salmon are in the ocean now prior to the 2015 season.

Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine reminds us that salmon season's opening day will not be finalized until fisheries meetings in March are concluded. "We hope to see Salmon open on April 4 and possibly a April Rock fish opener," Fraser said this week.

Sand Crab Classic Perch Derby entries can be obtained at Fraser's Bayside Marine tackle shop at the Santa Cruz Harbor, and will remain available online for one more week at www.sandcrabclassic.com. The annual tourney benefits the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout project and is the largest surfcasting contest on the West Coast.

Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com