A long drive paid off for a group of tuna hunters from Moss Landing on Tuesday. Jesse Lerma hosted a few friends, looking for the school of bluefin south of Monterey, where the New Horizon had done well last week. They found the fish southwest of Point Sur close to the submarine ridge known as "The Weenie." The boys were trolling small MadMacs, and returned home with eight bluefin weighing up to about 50 pounds each for their efforts. Other reports of smaller bluefin came from that area and spots north during the week, including Ronnie and Bri Clark from Los Banos. Clark reported, "what a fun day chasing peanuts. Go get 'em guys. Perfect day on the water, flat sunny and biting fish."

Aside from a few drops here and there, the forecast rain never developed early on in the week. Despite the low pressure, fish remain on the bite. On Wednesday, Todd Fraser from Bayside Marine reported, "The water conditions were perfect today. It was so flat a kayaker paddled five miles up the coast and got a seabass on his first drift. The seabass are still here in 90-120 feet of water. There was an angler catching rockfish in the deep who decided to troll for bonito after. The angler ended up catching three bluefin trolling 6 miles from Santa Cruz."

A strong southwest swell caused inshore rock fishing, and halibut fishing to slow down this week. Deep water rockfish are not affected by the swells, and continue to bite well. The big charter boats in Monterey report limits of rockfish for every trip. Chris' fishing trips also posted catching some of the fast movers, namely six bullet tuna (Small members of the tuna family. Very unusual for our area), two bonito and four bluefin tuna on Wednesday's trip aboard the Caroline.

On a more somber note, one of the best known and loved fishermen in the Monterey Bay area needs some help. Jojo Urbanic has been a fixture on the Capitola Wharf for over 50 years. You might recognize him as the guy wearing the ball cap saying "I clean fish for tips." He was always there on the wharf, offering a good hand and advice for anyone fishing off the pier, especially the kids. He welcomed me to fishing the Capitola area when I first arrived in 1983. Later, I was lucky enough to take out the fishing skiffs with him. No radio, no sonar, I would circle, following his directions and looking for the right spot to fish. He would cock his head, and it looked like he was sniffing the air like a hound on the scent of the correct reef. "Left, left. To the right! One more circle. Here!" We would drop for immediate bites. 

Jojo suffered a broken hip recently, and needs accommodations to his residence during rehab. Tina Williams, co-owner of Capitola Boat and Bait, has set up a Go Fund Me for Jojo. Any contribution is hugely appreciated. He's welcomed and helped thousands of visitors to the Capitola Wharf and the Village, it's time for us to give some back. Go online to https://gofund.me/fa1ff1303, and thank you.