Kelp Bed Fishing Slows in SoCal

Fishing along the Southern California kelp beds has slowed recently. Though the calico bass fishing has been good, it’s lost some steam and consistency. High tides and water temperatures over 65 degrees increase the probability of a good bite.

While fishing the Palos Verdes kelp beds, the Redondo Special caught 15 white sea bass earlier this week using live squid for bait. In addition, they have also caught some calico bass, sargo and a few halibut.

Boats fishing the kelps around San Clemente, Newport and Corona del Mar not only managed some good calico bass fishing, but anglers also caught several white sea bass. The white sea bass is a species that has a penchant for biting during full moon periods.

Baja water temperatures soar

Water temperatures near Cabo San Lucas and Baja California’s East Cape have soared to over 90 degrees in some areas. Anglers are catching dorado in the 8- to 12-pound class, as well as a few large tuna. Chucky Van Wormer took a 168-pound yellowfin tuna recently out of Hotel Palmas de Cortez in East Cape. 

As a side note, Tropical storm Greg, soon to become Hurricane Greg, is not expected to be a threat to any landmass. The center of Greg is expected to remain well offshore of the coast of Southern Mexico.

Tuna finally approach San Diego

The offshore tuna bite has moved into one-day range with several boats reporting excellent fishing. Floating kelp paddies—called hotels—have been holding dorado, yellowtail, yellowfin tuna and bluefin tuna. The Pacific Voyager radioed in Wednesday afternoon with 75 bluefin tuna in the 12- to 18-pound class. Most of the action has been located about 150 miles southwest of San Diego, but that's changing. Big schools of bluefin tuna were seen as close as 50 miles from Point Loma. The Aztec reported bringing 26 bluefin on board by noon Wednesday. Wednesday was the first day of good one-day tuna fishing, so it remains to been seen if this bite will have lasting power.

Sea Adventure 80 skipper Scott McDaniels offered this practical advice for catching more fish: “Watch to see who is catching the most fish and talk to the guys that are doing well, then copy their techniques.”

Thresher sharks still biting

Private boaters continue to enjoy prolific thresher shark fishing off San Clemente, Laguna, Newport, Dana Point, Corona del Mar and many other coastal zones. There have been numerous thresher sharks taken off the Huntington Beach Pier, too.

The most sharks can be found near bait schools. They swim through these bait schools and thrash their elongated tails back and forth, leaving their stunned prey floundering. It makes for an easy meal when the shark makes a U-turn to consume the helpless fish.

Never catch more sharks than you intend to eat, avoid taking large females, and use circle hooks to avoid shark fatalities. Check out PIER for more information.

Surf fishing good during grunion run

Most of the beaches are providing good surf fishing with corbina, barred perch and halibut biting during the present grunion run. Anglers have also spotted some spotfin and yellowfin croaker.

Using a light line is a must, and 6-pound test line with a quarter-ounce egg sinker has been deadly. Sand crabs, clams, ghost shrimp and Berkley Gulp have been very effective baits.

Calico bass caught off Catalina Island

There has been some very good calico bass fishing at times along with some barracuda flurries and a few yellowtail and white sea bass. The Tradition caught some nice quality sheephead and calico bass Friday using fresh dead squid for bait.

The Gale Force has had several days of catching the calico bass limit of 10 per angler this week too. Anglers also caught lots of perch, rockfish and sheephead to go along with it.

Quick bites

• The Stripper King Classic tournament is giving away thousands of dollars worth of quality raffle prizes including a $1,000 first-place prize from Last Chance Bait and Tackle in Hemet. Adult tickets purchased in advance are only $40 and kids under 12 are $10. Besides entry into the Aug. 27 tournament, you’ll gets a great lunch catered by Ojo de Agua Taquerias and a $5 raffle ticket. Proceeds will benefit Valley Wide Recreation and Parks and the Police Activities League of Hemet and San Jacinto. To purchase tickets in advance, call Last Chance Bait and Tackle at 951-658-7410 or the Diamond Valley Marina Store at 951-926-7201.

• An International Expert Consultation convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) agreed last week in Berlin, Germany on the first international guidelines for responsible recreational fisheries. Tom Raftican from the Sportfishing Conservancy in Long Beach was there. He said, “Clearly we are not alone at taking the high road when asking anglers to step up to better conservation and it is an honor to further work on guidelines with the international experts assembled by the United Nations.”