Private boaters are loading up on Humboldt squid with one private boater quitting after pulling up 41 squid between two anglers fishing the canton off Santa Cruz.  There are schools of these monsters all along the deeper edges of the canyon in 600 to over a 100 feet and are not hard to find, you just got to hook a few to pull an entire school up. Sometimes that is easier said than done but once you do get them p on or near the surface you can fill the boat rather quickly. Ly Tu said perch fishing with grass shrimp has been working from Sea Cliff to Marina Beaches for 2 to 3-pound barred perch. We are seeing a cold weather front pushing through the Bay Area marine waters Sunday 12-21 afternoon bringing light to moderate rain and winds. Winds picked up this morning with this front with the weather buoys reporting 10 to 18 knots of south wind over a very timid 4 to 6 foot swell this afternoon. Tonight the winds will clock around to the NW and Monday's forecast calls for NW winds 15 to 25 knots over a quickly building swell of11 to 16 feet. The weather this coming week with range from borderline to rough and from wet and cold to cold, dry  and windy as a series of fronts pushes through. As always check the buoy conditions before you go. Wind and swell graphs are at the bottom of all of our saltwater pages.

San Luis Obispo
Virg's Landing in Morro Bay will be running sand dab trips every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for $59.00. Whale watching starts December 26th with trips generally leaving by 11:00 a.m. Patriot Sport Fishing in Port San Luis had a bonito trip out on Sunday for 14 bonito to 10-pounds for 17 anglers. Rockfishing is over until May 1, 2009, and will run until November 15, 2009. They are also running whale watching and nature trips until rockfish season begins in May.

Over the next few months we will be concentrating our reports on our bay, delta and river fisheries. Ocean reports will be updated as news trickles in but other than scratch crabbing and squid there will few excuses to venture out on the ocean for the next several months. Please visit our other pages for fish reports over the winter.