FISHING : Anglers Find Area Is to Their Liking

Cabrillo Beach, with its kelp beds, has always been a favorite fishing ground for anglers with small boats.

A variety of fish can be caught, including many species of bass, perch, mackerel and barracuda.

Charles Harwood of Wilmington launched his boat Wave Hopper last week, put out a trolling line and was half a mile from the lighthouse when he got a strike.

The line moved toward the boat as he started to reel in, but whatever was on the other end had no pull or weight to it.

Harwood said that without warning his small boat was bumped by something mysterious. Then all of his 20-pound test line was peeled off the reel, which was on free spool.

After finally gaining line, he got spooled again to within inches of the end of the line.

Finally his line came free to the surface. Hooked was a half mackerel. The other half of the fish was being tossed in the air by a seal.

Local fishing continued to be good last week as yellowtail were biting at the rigs. Anglers also continue to catch sand bass.

Long Beach Sportfishing’s Phantom got into a hot yellowtail bite over the weekend, but only three fish--all more than 20 pounds--were decked. Many of the anglers lost fish because they were using light tackle.

Rocky Point and Santa Monica Bay catches have been improving with good-size halibut and sand bass being brought to shore. Barracuda fishing has slowed the last several days.

One of the largest half-day counts of sand bass reported was caught last weekend on the half-day boat Matt Walsh. The fish averaged eight pounds, and 272 fish were caught within two hours.

John Polomino of San Pedro returned Tuesday from a trip to Loreto in Mexico and said he caught mostly small yellowtail. But he did catch a giant squid that weighed 40 pounds.

Pat McInery was fishing two miles off the east end of Catalina Island and caught a giant squid that weighed 36 pounds.

Three Torrance anglers returned from a four-day trip to Mexico aboard the Red Rooster III and all three were jackpot winners.

Richard Schrader won the first-place jackpot with a 22-pound tuna. Bob and Judy Fisher were second and third jackpot winners with 21- and 20 1/2-pound tuna.

South Bay Catches--Bob Epstein of Harbor City, fishing at the rigs aboard the Hitless Miss using cut squid, caught the whopper of the week, a 33 1/4-pound yellowtail.

Brian Burres of West Los Angeles, fishing aboard the Happyman in Santa Monica Bay, caught a 29-pound halibut.

Steve Pieratt of West Los Angeles, fishing off Catalina aboard the Blackjack, caught a 26-pound yellowtail.

Tim Lockhart of Gardena, fishing aboard the Phantom at the rigs, caught a 22-pound yellowtail.

Joyce Gustar of Manhattan Beach, fishing aboard the Redondo Special at rocky point, caught an 18-pound halibut.

Freshwater Notes--Carson anglers Lee and David Armstrong and Victor Romero caught 11 catfish weighing 8 to 15 pounds at Lake Cachoma.

At Big Bear Lake, Neil Harrington of Lawndale used power bait and caught a 10 1/2-pound trout.