FRIDAY MORNING REPORT & UPDATE

This is our bait and fish report for Friday 6/15.

The Receiver is currently loaded with perfect size sardines and healthy big chovies. We have several wells of cured bait for the private boaters, so stop by and see Martin this weekend. You can call him on Channel 11 or at (562) 455- 9928. He will be able to give you the lastest bait and fishing information all weekend long.

Long Beach Carnage is at Catalina and is jugged with squid. They plan to be there all weekend and have lots of bait, so if you're heading across give Paul acall on Channel 11 or at (562) 714- 8103.

We will be sending the Provider to Catalina to try for squid tonight, so if everything goes as planned, we should have live squid at the receiver for the weekend as well.
Call Martin to get an update on the squid early Saturday morning.

Now to the fish report...

CATALINA

The BIG news this week is the stellar fishing on big Seabass and giant Yellows at the island This bite is one of the best and most consistent bigfish bites that I have seen at Catalina in the last 15 years. The Long Beach Carnage is at Catalina with their tank plugged with live squid. We will have the boat there all weekend long, so make sure and call Paul on your way out. He will have the boat anchored just east of Avalon, so if you're headed across, swing by and pickup some live. There hasn't been much change in the location of the bite in the last week. There have been two areas ofs eabass biting well at the island. The most consistent bite has been at the backside east end squid grounds(just outside the V's). These fish have been biting inthe dark and at graylight, so if you get there before graylight, I would suggest anchoring out on the squid grounds outside the V's. There have been a lot of bigseabass (30-40 lbs) with some giant yellows (25-45lbs) in the mix. The 2 hot tickets for these fish have been the dropper loop rig with a couple of live squido n your hook and the heavy white jig with a couple of live or dead squid pinned on it. I have a word of advice to anyone who hasn't done this type of fishingin the past and that is to "FISH THE HEAVY LINE". When using a dropper loop, fish 40-60 lb test and a 6/0 -8/0 hook. When fishing the jig, use 40-60 lb test. Thefish will bite anything when they come through and the heavy line enables you to get the fish to the boat quickly. I know that it isn't as "sporting" as gettingthem on the light line, but... The area where the fish have been biting will be very crowded this weekend and you don't want to risk the seabass or yellowtail of a lifetime taking a bunch of line and wrapping you up on another boats anchor line. Here is how to set up to fish this area. Afterrounding the east end, motor west to the most westernV (you'll probably see the fleet) and meter around in 80-100 feet of water and anchor up on any bait thatyou find (there has been scattered squid in the area). Rig your rods with the set-ups described above. Youwill want to have someone chunking squid andmaintaining a slow but steady chumline (this helps thefish to locate your bait). Do yourself a favor andanchor your boat (don't drift). All of the big scores have come from boats that are anchored up. Also, be courteous to your fellow boaters. Try and maintain at least 100 yards from the next boat when anchoring upand don't crowd the boats that are getting bit. There is no fish aggregating structure in this area, so the fish cruise around gorging on squid. If you see boatsaround you getting bit, don't pull your anchor and crowd them as the fish will probably have moved off bythe time you reposition the boat. In the long run, you are much better off remaining anchored and keeping your chumline going. After the sun comes out, that area has been shutting off, so you may want to move intight to the island and check out the beaches and kelplines. There have been some good fish caught onthe beaches from Orange Rocks to the East End of the island. When fishing the beach, the most importantfactor is conditions, so make sure you have somecurrent and try to fish the tide changes. The other area that has been biting is the west endbackside. This area has been biting in the morning too, but if I were you, I would fish the east end bite as the fish are huge and you have a chance at a 40+ lbyellowtail as well. The fish at the west end have beenbiting at the usual spots and you can reference my post from 6/8 on how to set up to catch them. The calicos and bonito are still biting very well onthe frontside of the island. You don't need squid to catch these fish (sardines and chovies work great!).Most of the spots from the Isthmus to the west endhave been biting well, so check out your favoritekelpline or reef. There have been some smaller yellows on the frontside as well, so don't anchor too close to the kelp so you have a chance of landing a yellow if you hang one.

SAN CLEMENTE

The yellowtail bite at the island has turned back on with good scores of fish have been coming from both the frontside and backside east end of the island.These fish will readily bite the sardines and surface iron, but I would imagine that squid would probably work even better (no one has taken any squid over there in the last week or so). As far as locations go,the fish on the backside have been scattered from China Point up to Lost Point and are mostly in 80-150feet of water. Look for bird schools and meter marksto find these fish. the fish on the front side havebeen biting from the east end up to the middle of theisland on most of the normal reefs, ridges and highspots. The size of the fish have been mixed with lotsof 12-15 lb school fish and some bigger fish to 30lbs. If you are fishing the iron, mint and white hasbeen the most productive color.

COASTAL

The barracuda continue to be the best game in town.The fish have been scattered from the south end ofHuntington Flats all the way up to Rocky Point, butthe biggest concentration has been at the north end ofHuntington Flats and the east end of the HorseshoeKelp. If you're targeting the gar this weekend, Iwould suggest that you start looking for meter marksand bird schools as soon as you leave the east end ofthe breakwall and head down the beach in 80-120 feetof water. Sometimes the fish will pop up in the deeperwater, so if you're not seeing any life on the beach,you should bend it out and look around a littledeeper. The fish have been showing really well when they are around and have had a lot of birds on them,so don't pass up any big areas of birds that aresitting on the water as there may be fish under them.The barracuda have been biting the jigs very well withall the usual colors working well. Since my lastreport, the fish have started to bite the bigger jigs better with the 45 and 7X sizes producing the biggerfish. The hottest colors are black and white or black, purple and white, but the mint and white has been producing as well. If the fish are up boiling around,but not biting the jig, switch to a C size jig and try a really slow surface wind.

That's about it for this week...
Now get out there and catch some fish!
See you on the water...