Fishing Report: Island Yellowtail and Halibut In the Surf

It’s hard to believe with as warm as it was Wednesday that it will be as cold as is forecast for the weekend. Besides cooler air temperatures, windy weather is also on the way. That makes fishing form jetties and the rocks very dangerous, so please pay attention to current weather conditions.

Catalina Island

There continues to be some late season white seabass and yellowtail taken at Catalina Island using live squid for bait. Most of the fish have been taken on the back or weather-side of the island along with a few calico bass and lots of rockfish.

San Clemente Island

Captain John Ackley of the Westerly out of Long Beach Sportfishing was at San Clemente Island over the weekend. He said they arrived to wide open calico bass fishing around 3 a.m. until they limited out (10 bass per angler) before sunrise. They topped off with limits of whitefish and rockfish by 10 a.m.

Surf fishing

Captain Shawn Morgon from Big Fish Tackle in Seal Beach is reporting excellent surf fishing action for a variety of species. Morgon says there are still corbina being taken off Huntington Beach and Bolsa Chica. According to Morgon, the best bait has been ghost shrimp with 6-8 pound test and a carolina rig.

Fair numbers of yellowfin and spotfin croaker continue to be taken off Seal Beach with big sand crabs luring some croaker in the 2-4 pound class into biting. Halibut fishing has been good around the Bolsa Chica outlet with a 29-lb. flattie taken recently. Anglers using an umbrella net to catch live smelt for bait have had the greatest success. There has also been some halibut taken off Belmont Shores around 52nd and 56th place.

Palos Verdes anglers have been catching good numbers of opaleye perch on frozen peas along with a few sheepshead and bass off the rocks. Surf fishermen in the Santa Monica Bay have also had some good fishing. Fair leopard shark fishing off Torrance Beach using mackerel for bait, a few corbina off Redondo and Hermosa Beach and some good halibut fishing off Marina del Rey. Joe Bennington from San Pedro has been catching lots of halibut from the surf at Marina del Rey. He says live bait has been the key and that more times than not, he catches a flatfish there.

Rockfishing

Good bottom fishing has been the rule over most of Southern California again this week. Twenty-seven year old Ryan Klumper from Buena Park caught a 21-lb. lingcod recently on board the Freelance out of Davey’s Locker in Newport Beach.

Captain Andy Siratt of the Enterprise out of Long Beach Marina Sportfishing reports excellent fishing for 2-4 lb. vermillion rockfish along with good salmon grouper and other bottom grabbers.

Good fishing in the Santa Monica Bay also. The Redondo Special has been catching near limits of rockfish as have boats out of Marina del Rey. There has also been some fair to excellent lingcod fishing too.

Long Range Update

Pam Sharp from Torrance was on the Islander out of San Diego on a six day trip fishing in Northern Baja California. At Guadalupe Island, Sharp said they lost five out of every six tuna to the great white sharks that had surrounded them waiting for an easy meal.

Offshore, the fishing was excellent for 20-25 pound tuna. In a 45 minute stretch, Sharp said they put on 85 tuna. Yellowtail fishing at San Benitos Island was excellent. They group on the Islander landed 185 of the hard fighting jacks in the 20-25 pound class. Sharp won the jackpot on the Islander with a 88-lb. yellowfin tuna.

Toss Back this Saturday

The Belmont Shores based Sportfishing Conservancy is having a toss back day on the half-day boat Southern Cal out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach this Saturday. Anglers who release the most fish will be eligible for cash prizes and more. “Why not reward anglers for doing the right thing?” asked Sportfishing Conservancy President Tom Raftican. The trip leaves at 6:30 am and will offer anglers a chance to participate, free of charge.

Whales

Even though the blue whales should be gone by now there are still plenty around. Whale sightings have been common for the past week with more fin whales moving in along with minke whales and even some humpbacks.