WE HAVE SQUID AND FIN BAIT THIS WEEKEND!!!

It is Friday around noon and the long Beach Bait company receiver has TONS OF SQUID and LIVE FIN BAIT on the receiver. ANCHOVIES and SARDINES are cured and looking good. When you Head Out Check out MARTIN on the receiver (562) 455- 9928.
Thanks for the patronage....
UPDATE on Shirts: We have stickers and shirts on order. They should be in soon! Our new updated website should be finished soon as well- we will have photo contests and t-shirts availble there. Thanks- Happy Fishing!

The Long Beach Carnage is at Catalina and has full tanks of squid. They plan to be there all weekend and have lots of bait, so if you're heading across or you're across and run out of squid, give Paul a call on Channel 11 or at (562) 714- 8103.

NOW TO THE FISH REPORT.....

Catalina
Well, like all good things must, the big seabass and yellowtail bite at the east end has finally come to an end. There are still some scattered fish to be caught back there, but it's been 3 or 4 days since there have been any consistent scores. If you are planning to run to Catalina and will arrive before dawn (or if you're overnighting at the island), I would still make it a point to be set up at the squid grounds outside of the V's before dawn and fish it until at least an hour after dawn (longer if it coincides with a tide swing). If you are interested in finding out more about how to fish this area, please reference my report from 6/22. The calico and bonito bite on the front side of the island is getting better and better with more yellowtail showing up in the mix every day. Most of the spots from the Isthmus to the west end have been biting well, so check out your favorite kelpline or reef. Most of the better scores on yellowtail have come from the areas to the west. The yellows on the front side tend to cruise up and down the island following the deeper ridges that run along the frontside of the island, so remember to check some of the deeper ridges in 70-90 feet of water before anchoring too close to the kelp. If the fish are in the deeper water, you should meter them when you are checking out the spot. If not, they will sometimes find your chumline. Remember, it's early in the season, so give the spots you fish some time to build up once you anchor and start chumming. The most productive method to catch fish at this time of year is by flylining (sardine, anchovy or squid). If you fish with a sinker, you are going to catch mostly bass, which is a good thing, unless you are targeting yellows. If you anchor up and the bonito eat you alive, don't give up, just cut back on your chum a little and keep fishing. Often the yellows will see the bonito feeding and come in for a closer look. Almost every time that I've caught yellows on the front side in the last couple years, the fish were mixed with the bonito.

San Clemente

The yellowtail and white seabass bite continues[/B] with good numbers of fish coming from both the frontside and backside east end of the island. There have been some closures on the backside east end in the last week, but the boats that have fished there on the days that it's been open have done well on some nice sized seabass. There are some seabass on the front side of the island as well, but there haven't been the consistent numbers that have been coming from the backside. The yellows have spread out across the frontside of the island with schools of fish cruising along the island in shallow water. If you are heading across and want to target yellowtail, I would suggest starting at the east end and motoring west. Cruise just outside the kelpline and keep your eyes peeled for breezing fish and meter marks. You can also try slow trolling a sardine or mackerel as you cruise up the island. You need squid to catch the seabass, but he yellows seem to be in a transitional mode, prefeing squid over sardines one day and sardines over squid the next. The yellows are also eating the surface iron readily when you first slide up on a breezing school. If you're headed to Clemente, I would take a some squid and some finbait. If you only have the capacity for one or the other, I would take the squid.

Offshore

This is the first week that I've had something worth reporting about the local offshore scene. If any of you have the range and the interest, the Phantom fished Cortez Bank earlier this week for limis of nice size yellows (15-40 lbs). The yellows tend to hold out there at this time of year and love the squid, so if you make the run you should take some live squid along. There have been some scattered albacore, bluefin and kelp patty yellows caught in local waters. There have been reports of fish scattered from the 277 out to the butterfly and points south. It being early in the season, there aren't a lot of fish around, but the ones that are around can be found hanging around temperature breaks, so check your Terafin before you head out. If you do head offshore this weekend, you're probably going to do a lot of looking and not much finding, but you never know...

Coastal

The coastal bite seems to be in a transitional mode as well. Last week, the big schools of barracuda were replaced by schools of giant squid and that has things kind of mixed up right now. There are several areas where you can catch some bass right now.

Palos Verdes Penninsula

There has been a good bite going up there the last couple weeks, with lots of nice fish (to 6 lbs) being reported. If you do decide to fish these big bass, please keep only what you will eat and try to release any fish over 4 lbs so that it has a chance to spawn and sustain this wonderful fishery. Your best bet in targeting these bass, is to load up with a scoop of sardines and some smaller anchovies to use as chum. Head up the line and look for areas of cleaner water (doesn't have to be blue, just cleaner than surrounding waters). If you're interested in more information on how to fish this area, check out my report from 6/22. With the availability of live squid at our receiver, I would suggest that someone take some up to PV to try and catch a seabass. The seabass up the line are even more elusive than the ones at Catalina, but they are there to be caught. To target the seabass, anchor up on one of the major reefs or highspots (Vincente, Marine Land, KOU, the Barber Shop, etc...) and start a chumline of chunked squid. Timing is the most important factor in catching these fish. You want to be set up in prime position around the top or bottom of the tide swings. It takes some patience and practice to get your timing right to catch seabass at PV, but those anglers that put in the time, consistently catch nice fish up there.

Horseshoe Kelp

There have been some sandbass and calicos biting on the different spots on the horseshoe kelp. When fishing the horseshoe, the most important factor is finding and staying on top of fish aggregating structure. The key is to find a rock, reef, hard bottom or wreck that is holding fish. There are dozens of these areas scattered around the horseshoe kelp. If you don't know what they are, buy one of the books that has a list of spots in it (see your local tackle store) and punch the numbers into your GPS. Once you get to your numbers, don't just throw the anchor over and start fishing. Drive around a little bit (in circles) until you can find the structure on your fish finder. Once you locate the actual structure, position your boat so that your stern will be upcurrent of the spot and then drop anchor. I understand that this takes a lot more effort and there is quite a bit of trial and error with this, but the results will be worth it. Once you get the anchor down, start a slow but steady chumline and fish baits and plastics at different depths until you find the depth that the fish are biting best.

Izor's Reefs

The bass (sandbass and calicos) have been biting at the Izor's reef area as well. You can implement all of the same strategy for this as I've outline in the description of how to fish the Horseshoe Kelp, just be careful not to drop your anchor directly onto these spots. These reefs and made up of old building materials, so there is a lot of rebar sticking up down there and you will lose your anchor. If you want to fish these spots. Run to the up current/wind edge of the reef and drop your anchor in the mud above it and then scope back onto the spot.

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