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Sports

Fishing Report: Full Moon Heralds Bite

Get the latest fishing updates from Northern Baja California to the Channel Islands in our weekly report.

The squid grounds off Hermosa Beach continue to produce occasional big halibut as well as some large white sea bass. As the full moon nears and the tidal flows reach their apex, the bite may accelerate. It is during the high tides that we see some of the best white sea bass fishing.

Justin Horwath, who is just getting into fishing, was aboard the Highliner this week when he caught a nice 28-pound white sea bass fishing off Hermosa Beach. Not to be outdone, Horwath’s friend Danny O’Connor snagged his biggest halibut ever—a 32-pound flattie. Rick Pazjak decked his first white sea bass in 25 years of fishing.

Surf Fisherman Catch Corbina, Barred Perch, Thresher Sharks

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There is excellent surf fishing now around Bolsa Chica State Beach for big corbina. Shawn Morgon from Big Fish Tackle in Seal Beach said that corbina in the 3- to 4-pound class have been common. Morgon said that there are plenty of sand crabs, which are working great as bait, along the beach. There are also lots of barred perch.

Thresher sharks continue to be taken off the Huntington Beach Pier on live mackerel. There is also good perch and corbina fishing on the Huntington and Seal Beach piers, along with an occasional halibut.

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There is also improved corbina fishing mixed with barred perch around RAT Beach and the Hermosa and Manhattan Beach piers.

Calico Bass Biting off Point Vicente

Anglers are catching calico bass along the rich kelp lines off Point Vicente as well as around Rocky Point. There is also a very good chance for a big white sea bass and/or yellowtail. The fish are biting best on live or freshly killed squid and live sardines.

Anchoring just off the kelp line during high tides has produced some of the best bites. There have also been more halibut caught, too. Jimmy Bass from Tradition Sportfishing has been catching lots of big sheephead around Marineland Reef as well as some lingcod, perch and other rockfish.

“This has been a great year for action,” said Bass.

Catalina Island Producing Calico Bass, Barracuda

If you can live without white sea bass and yellowtail, the bite off Catalina Island has been very good. Excellent numbers of calico bass, barracuda, perch and rockfish make the island a great three-quarter-day destination. 

The Native Sun from Long Beach Sportfishing anchored near Catalina Island recently for good calico bass fishing and caught a few barracuda and some perch and rockfish. More important, skipper Gabriel Ceballos said that conditions were perfect: 71-degree water and lots of life.

The three-quarter-day Gale Force out of L.A. Harbor Sportfishing has been going to Catalina Island and having great calico bass fishing and lots of barracuda. Anglers are also seeing more and more yellowtail every day.

“Fishing has been very steady,” said Captain Chris Batts.   

Tuna Scarce in San Diego

Things can’t get much worse for tuna fishermen in San Diego. The season remains very slow for tuna, although a few nice bluefin tuna have been caught. The Fourth of July has come and gone, but there is still no sign of albacore anywhere near San Diego. Anglers and captains alike are hoping for a late season. 

Despite the lack of tuna, the San Diego local bite has been quite good with excellent sand bass and barracuda fishing off Tijuana, and some good calico bass and more barracuda off La Jolla. People have also caught a few yellowtail in the area.

Toronado Schedules Trip to Cortez Bank

There are some big yellowtail biting in the Cortez Bank area about 90 miles south of Long Beach, along with some 10-pound bonito and lots of great-eating rockfish. The bluefin tuna have been reluctant to bite.

The Toronado out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach has scheduled a 1 1/2-day trip that departs Saturday at 9 p.m. for Cortez Bank. The boat will return Monday morning. Captain Ray Lagmay said that if anglers miss on tuna and yellowtail, they are guaranteed a sack of rockfish. The trip costs $200.

Fishing Improves as Temperatures Rise

There is much improved calico bass fishing, along with more sand bass and a few halibut and yellowtail, in the area from Oceanside to Dana Point. Water temps are on the rise, which has the bass bite warming up. Thresher sharks are swimming offshore, too. 

Thresher Sharks Spotted off Newport Beach

Private boaters are still taking thresher sharks weighing more than 200 pounds in Newport and Corona del Mar. Ed Lambeth from Chino was coming back from Catalina Island on his sailboat when he saw three thresher sharks a half-mile west of the red buoy off Newport Beach. The sharks were lounging on the surface with their elongated tails sticking out of the water.

“It was like they were sun bathing,” said Lambeth. 

The sportboat Freelance out of Davey's Locker in Newport Beach reported catching their first tuna of 2011 at Catalina Island this week. It was a skipjack tuna, one of the less-targeted species but a tuna nonetheless.

Private boaters fishing the coastal kelp lines continue to catch many calico bass with some barracuda and an occasional big white sea bass in the mix.

Flats' Bite Inconsistent

It has been up and down on the Flats with some days of great barracuda and sand bass fishing as well as much slower days. The Westerly out of Long Beach Sportfishing had excellent sand bass fishing along with a few barracuda Tuesday.

Twilight trips have been producing some calico and sand bass along with an occasional halibut. One lucky first-time angler fishing on the Native Sun on a twilight trip caught a 24-pound halibut this week.

Channel Islands See Big Fish

Santa Rosa Island kicked out the largest California halibut ever taken last week at 67.1 pounds for Frank Rivera fishing on the Mirage. This week, the white sea bass bite has been off the hook. Hitting the three-per-rod limits of sea bass has not been uncommon on croakers, which have weighed more than 50 pounds.

Whale-Watchers Spot Big Blues

Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach treated a group of workers and their families from CabiClothing in Rancho Dominguez to day of blue-whale watching. The group began the day at theAquarium of the Pacific.

Eight-year-old Hector Medina and his 10-year-old brother Manuel from Carson didn’t want to leave the shark and ray touch tank. Neither did 77-year old Mary Guzman from Costa Rica.

“There is so much to see here,” said Guzman. “I just loved the giant tank with all those big fish.”

In the afternoon, the group headed out of Harbor Breeze Cruises and saw three magnificent blue whales about 10 miles from port. The largest creatures to ever inhabit the earth brought the group to their feet with excitement. The trio of leviathans, each about 80 feet in length, entertained the whale watchers for a good hour. There appears to be copious amounts of krill in the water, which should keep these fascinating creatures around for a while.

In the end one of the creatures took a deep dive, showing off its magnificent fluke for all to see.

“I will never ever forget the whales and will never forget the joy we all felt seeing our first blue whales,” said Ruth Guzman Jara.

Notable Catches

Mike Plossel from Laguna Niguel caught a giant, brightly colored Opah on the Searcher out of Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego on a recent trip. Opah, which are rarely caught by recreational anglers, remain an enigma. Almost nothing is known of opah biology and ecology.

The catch of a 1,119-pound blue marlin by Dave Albury shattered a 32-year-old Bahamas Billfish Championship series tournament record, and represented a new record for the Bahamas.

It also places local angler Albury into the elite club of fishermen to have landed a "grander," or a marlin weighing 1,000 pounds or more. Only a handful of granders are caught each year around the world.

 

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