Outdoors: White seabass and yellowtail show at islands

Jim Niemiec

Good fishing conditions kicked in to produce a banner week of

fishing for the local sport fleet running out of Davey’s Locker, Newport

Landing Sportfishing and bay-based six-pack sportfishers.

There was a wide-open bite on white seabass this past week as boats

limited out early on seabass ranging in weight from 17 to 40 pounds. Most

of the action took place on the back side of Catalina Island with the

bulk of the catch coming on live squid fished with a sliding sinker rig.

There were also anglers hooking big croaker on white jigs tipped with

dead squid and few fishermen found hungry whites eager to jump on a

white-skirted jig head and a chunk of squid.

Anglers aboard the Pacific Star, the new deluxe sportfisher now

operating out of Davey’s Locker, had full limits on Tuesday and were

heading back to the beach early after topping off the catch with some

barracuda and calico bass.

One of the happy anglers on board this fast-day boat on a recent trip

was Bob Chapman, of Newport Beach, who decked a 38-pound seabass. Captain

Mike Bullard of Newport will be running the sport boat out to the islands

and channel water this season and has openings for two-day trips for the

albacore season when heading out to fish high spots in the outer waters.

The fast six-pack charter boats Bongos II & III and Captain Hook also

got into the seabass action at Catalina with most trips producing limit

fishing for all anglers on board. I was one of the lucky anglers that

fished with Captain Richard Ruffini of Costa Mesa on board the Bongos II

in action this past week.

Captain Ruffini waited for the seabass to get into a biting mood and

then moved into four fathoms of water, at a place the experienced skipper

called the “Junk Pile,” and the bite exploded.

Mike Contino, of Newport Beach, was one of the first to get hooked up,

followed by second mate Chandler Bell of Newport and then came this

angler who landed a 20-pounder croaker on 15-pound mono. The bite was so

hot that the captain put a jig out and got bit on the sink, while Orange

County angler Dennis Tossieng sacked a 22-pounder and Mike Shorsbree, on

a busman’s holiday from decking for Bongos Sportfishing, had a hot stick

and ended the trip by catching a 25-pound seabass.

When limits were accounted for, two other boats were called into the

bite and before we were heading home after handing off a couple of scoops

of live squid to the Pacific Star to help anglers limit out on seabass.

There are also breezing yellowtail showing on both the back and front

side of the island and as soon as the water warms up a couple of degrees

there should be good fishing for forktails, barracuda, calico bass and

bonito on the lee side of the island.

The best yellowtail fishing is taking place at San Clemente Island

where there are lots of schooled up yellows feeding along kelp beds and

off rocky points. According to Dean Plant, at Angler’s Center in Newport

Beach, the tails are big fish averaging better than 20 pounds.

The bite has been on and off depending on currents, but there are

plenty of fish around the outer island to produce some good scores for

skippers willing to anchor in tight and wait on the fish to move up a

chum line.

Along the coast, sand bass fish has been pretty good, with near limits

being posted on some half-day trips to the shallow water reefs off

Newport, Laguna and up along the Huntington Beach flats. These sandies

are legal, but on the smaller side of the scale, with most of the fish

being sacked weighing in the 1 1/2 to 3 pound class. Bigger sand bass

should move into hard-bottom areas along the coast later this month and

greatly enhance this fishery.

The first sport caught albacore of the 2001 summer season was landed

this past weekend. It was a fluke catch about 15 miles off the northern

coast of Baja by an angler fishing a kelp patty for yellowtail. The

longfin hit a jig that was dropped down under a school of yellowtail.

Water conditions below San Diego are good and schools of albies and

bluefin tuna could be within one day range before the end of the month.

According to Captain Buzz Brizendine, owner/operator of the newly

re-powered sportfisher, Prowler, operating out of Fisherman’s Landing,

this weekend could mark the start of the off shore blue water fishing

season. The Prowler will be heading out on scouting trips to the outer

waters in hopes of locating albacore, bluefin tuna or breezing schools of

yellowtail.

Locally, fresh water lake fishing is in a transition from cold water

fisheries to warm water activities. Trout are still very active at Irvine

Lake on lures and Berkley Power Bait, while Oso Lake has maintained

excellent bass fishing, the Santa Ana River Lakes will rely on stocking

channel catfish to keep their regulars content while fishing accessible

shore line and some of the nearby small public county lakes will be

planting small catchable catfish during the hot summer months.