BAIT AND FISH REPORT SAT 8/11

Good Morning! I would like to thank those who have sent in their photos so far, please continue to send us pictures of the fish you catch on Long Beach Bait Company bait to get your picture on our website and for a chance at great prizes. Please send photos to [email] longbeachbaitcompany@yahoo.com

This is our bait and fish report for Friday 8/10.

Our receiver is currently loaded with perfect size anchovies and great sardines!
The anchovies are about 80% hooksize bait with about 20% smaller chum sized baits mixed in. This bait is perfect for the sand bass and barracuda that are biting right now. As usual, Martin will be on the receiver all weekend and 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 when you talk to him.

Now to the fish report...

Offshore

The good news is that there are still some scattered albacore out around the Butterfly with the kelps between there and the east end of San Clemente holding yellows and dorado. The bad news is that the weather has been up on the outside and it is a long hard run to get to the fish. If this weather decides to cooperate over the weekend, that area would definitely be worth a look. Not a lot going on in any of the other offshore areas that are closer to home.

Catalina

The yellows and seabass are still biting on the backside east end (at the squid grounds). So if you're heading across and have some frozen squid on the boat, I would give that area a look early. You can refer to any of my previous reports during the last couple months for more information about fishing this area. Around the frontside of the island, the yellows are showing in good numbers and there have been a few decent scores on fish over there during the last week. There have been quite a few fish seen and shot by freedivers on the east end frontside of the island, but these fish have not been biting well. The fish that have been biting have come from the west end of the island. If I were running across, I would start looking at the Isthmus and work my way west. When fishing the yellowtail at Catalina, it is important to anchor your boat in such a way as to be able to land the fish you hook. If you are fishing a kelpline, make sure and anchor your boat far enough away from the edge of the kelp that you have a chance at keeping your fish from breaking you off in it. 100 feet is usually a safe distance and you can still cast your baits back to the kelpline from that far. most of the fish on the frontside have been caught in about 90 feet of water. if you don't see or mark yellowtail when you get to the spot you want to fish, try anchoring up and starting a chumline. The yellowtail will often show up after you've been anchored a while.

San Clemente

The yellowtail are still biting at Clemente. The bite has it's good days and it's bad days, but it is the most consistent game in town for yellowtail. If you're heading across, I would check out the area from Purse Seine Rock up to White Rock. There will be a lot of private and partyboats at the island this weekend, so the thing to remember is to try and stay away from the fleet during a picky bite. The seals tend to stick to the fleet and will eat you alive if you do get bit. There are several ridges running along the front side of the island at different depths. If the fleet is all bunched up in one area, I would drive up (or down) the island staying at the approximate depth that the boats are anchored in. While driving, you should watch the meter for schools of yellows cruising around. If you find a spot of fish, drop your anchor and start a chumline. If you meter lots of scattered fish, I would slow troll a mackeral and/or a sardine while you cruise around at 2-3 knots. You can refer to any of my reports in the last month for more info on the bite at Clemente.

Coastal

Palos Verdes Penninsula

The calicos are biting really well on the major reefs and hardbottom spots up the line. If I was heading up, I'd take some anchovies for chum and some sardines to use as hook bait. The bass are also readily striking the iron and swimbaits. Please refer to my report from 6/22 for more information on how to fish this area.

Horseshoe Kelp The barracuda have moved south onto the flats, but there are still lots of calico bass and a few yellowtail to be caught on the shoe. This is the time of year that some of the bigger "homeguard" yellowtail that live on the local rocks bite and there have been reports of 30 lb class fish being caught in the past week. These big fish are few and far between on the shoe, but you never know when you might get lucky. If you are fishing bass, and see any sign of yellows, I would try flylining a large sardine or small mackerel. If you need help finding spots on the shoe, you should pick up a spot locator book at your local tackle store. Once you find and anchor on a spot (position your boat about a hundred feet upcurrent of the spot), start a chumline of chovies and fish the sardines, swimbaits and iron. If you are on a spot that is holding fish, you should immediately start to get bit. The bite will get better and better as you sit there. If you carry a chum bucket, this is a situation where it works well.

Huntington Flats

The sand bass have finally started biting! If you are heading out this weekend, look for the fleet just outside of Bolsa Chica in about 70-90 feet of water. The sand bass and barracuda have been mixed together and have been biting well the last couple of days. The best bet is to anchor on a meter mark and start chumming. The sandbass will bite the chovies, small sardines, swimbaits and whams, so don't be afraid to try different techniques to get bit. There will be a lot of boat pressure down there this weekend, so do yourself a favor and try not to sit in the middle of the fleet. This is usually just a big headache with boats driving through your chumline or drifting by within casting distance. You would be better off looking for fish off the edges of the fleet and anchoring on those. If you are in the mud and can't get bit, try moving inside to the rocks and hard bottom areas near the inside Huntington Beach rigs. Check out Barge Rock, West Rock, Minature Rock, the Bubble Hole or Ribbon Kelp (see your spot locator book for more info). If you fish these inside rocks and see calicos up boiling around, don't be afraid to fish the surface iron as the bigger bass will often bite it in these areas.

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