Gusty winds continued to plague boat anglers on the Monterey Bay this week. Most mornings have been calm enough, but by noon things are pretty bumpy. The high-pressure system hovering over our area of the Pacific Ocean is weakening and the result includes small craft advisories, gale warnings plus a possibility of showers on and off through the weekend.

Chris’ Fishing Trips in Monterey has been diligent in sending charters out as often as possible. They continue to average about half-limits of Dungeness crab on their combo trips aboard the Caroline. The other part of their “combo” is fishing for sanddabs. These small soles are so numerous and easy to catch that owner Chris Arcaleo merely reports “lots of” in lieu of counting individual fish. There’s no size or bag limits on sanddabs while hook and line fishing.

Most sanddab anglers use five or six-hook sabiki rigs with #8 or #10 hooks tipped with squid bits. Adding a small weight to the top of the sabiki rig where it connects to the main line will help the rig lay flat on the ocean floor, and can result in more fish pulled in per drop. Look for them on the flat sandy areas in 120-240 feet of water, anywhere in Monterey Bay.

Many surfcasters prefer the two hours before and two hours after high tide for productive fishing. Dawn and dusk are also most productive, usually. This week’s tide table looks good for anglers who hit the beaches early, before the wind machine turns on. Typically, windy afternoons calm as sunset approaches. Timing sunset with a higher tide can be very productive. This week, winds stayed annoyingly stiff through sunset and into the night.

Reports from the Monterey side of the bay suggest feeding perch are more numerous on that side right now. But, plenty of perch were reported caught from the beaches between Watsonville and Santa Cruz this week, many in the 12-14-inch range. More than a few bonus stripers were hooked as well, by anglers using poppers or SP Minnow lures or as welcome bycatch while fishing with worms, grubs or live sandcrabs for perch.

Don’t forget our piers and wharves for perch and striper fishing. These are perfect locations to fish in a relaxed manner, or to bring the kids to get a taste of hauling their catch over the railings. Fishing from “manmade structures” requires no fishing license either, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife saltwater regulations.