FISHING / DAN STANTON : Bonito Catch Is Improving

For the first time this spring, bonito have appeared in all areas.

Most of the schools of fish are small and anglers can keep 10 fish, but five of them have to be over five pounds and 24 inches.

New Image of 22nd Street Sportfishing found a wide-open bite off Catalina Island and anglers sacked a full limit. The boat’s total was 230.

Chuck Graham of San Pedro caught the largest, a 9 1/4-pounder, and topped that with a barracuda that weighed 10 1/2 pounds.

L.A. Harbor Sportfishing’s Sportking fished Rocky Point with success and scored with 190 bonito, a full limit for all anglers. Alex Gray of Wilmington caught the largest, a six-pounder.

Missing this past week have been the exotic species of fish. Yellowtail and white sea bass counts have slumped because of the changes in water temperature and the shortage of squid.

George Bogen, who with Farney Brown of Marina del Rey won the team event at the Marina del Rey Halibut Derby, caught a 16-pound, 8-ounce halibut on four-pound test line. The halibut may be a class record for four-pound test line.

If the International Game Fish Assn. approves the catch, Bogen will hold two records. In 1988, he caught a 14-pound, 2-ounce white sea bass on four-pound test line.

Crawdads have long been a favorite bait for anglers fishing freshwater lakes and streams.

Randy Long and Albert Alexander of West Los Angeles were fishing Santa Monica Bay for halibut and bass on Alexander’s boat, the Fishing Toy.

The anglers were using anchovies for bait and the fish were refusing to take the bait.

Alexander had brought along some crawdads leftover from a recent trip to Irvine Lake and decided to try them as bait on 4/0 hooks.

Although he didn’t feel a strike, Long knew he had more than a sinker on his line, so he reeled in slowly, bringing up a halibut--not on the hook but clinging to the crawdad.

Being a short halibut, Long released it from the crawdad and sent it back to the bottom.

Moments later, Alexander hooked a calico bass that weighed six pounds.

During a 17-day, long-range trip aboard the Royal Star, Mike Braswell of Long Beach caught a 178-pound yellowfin tuna.

South Bay Catches: Mike McGrath of Playa del Rey, fishing off Catalina aboard the Cheri, caught the whopper of the week, a 35-pound white sea bass.

Brian Walker of Redondo Beach, fishing aboard the Blackjack off Catalina, caught a 30-pound white sea bass.