FishDope.com Sample Fishing Report

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Friday April 17th 2009

Santa Barbara Area. Tony Vultaggio of http://www.sbsportfishing.com called in this afternoon. He guides Salt and Fresh water. He is on the water right now and reports that the rockfish in Santa Barbara have moved out of the deep and up in to the shallow water. 75-150 feet is the target zone right now. He is filling the bags with good rockfishing. Tonys crew got a 15lb halibut on monday in 40 feet off the beach at Camby's. On the freshwater side he had to brag about fishing Lake Casitas yesturday. Using live shad 17 Largemouth Bass to 10lbs in only a couple hours.
Tony also took a look at the Channel Islands at the begining of the week. He said lots of squid at Beechers on Santa Rosa Island. No seabass or yellowtail he saw or heard of caught yet. The water was very dirty at the island.

Marina Del Rey. Talked to a private boater that fished halibut this morning out of Marina Del Rey. He did not get his target fish but caught sandbass and sculpin as bycatch off the beaches down by Redondo. He said the sportboats in SMB have been fishing the shortbanks for rockfish the past month with nothing exciting to chase. The shortbanks are located at 33.54.96 118.33.17

Bait
Newport bait barge is now set up. They currently have Large Anchovies and Sardines. San Pedro Bait is the same.
Long Beach Bait Co. has Live squid and Sardines for the weekend.
Dana Point, Mission Bay and San Diego has 5-7" sardines
They are open 24/7. 310-217-7552 or Channel 11

The water on the backside of Catalina is down to 55F. The conditions are clearing up.
Bait was a full float. Ben Weston to the 3rd V. Hardly any dogs in the area.The Long Beach Carnage has a full load of squid and is sitting in front of Avalon. EDIT Long Beach Carnage is on the backside middle right now.11:26PM. Channel 11 to get a hold of them.
West Cove bit today in 15 feet of water up on the beach. White sea bass limits for the two skiffs this morning that were in the area along with an unnamed sportboat that was seen hooked up as well. The fish are running 12-20lbs. Johnsons beaches bit early today as well for the boats in the area.
Yellowtail have been roaming in the deeper water in West Cove as well but we have not heard of one landed yet today.
Bonito limits for the Freelance out of Daveys Locker. They were again fishing the K20 Kelp (33.23.046 118.21.512). Using sardines, squid, anchovies and the best ratio bite to land was the small chrome metal jigs like a 3" Crocodile. The Bonito are 1-6lbs.

San Clemente Island this morning bit well on rockfish. The water temp is cold at 54-55F. Boats still looking for Yellowtail. The last time we heard of yellowtail was earlier in the week. They have been up on bait and birds between Lost Point and China Point.

The kelp off Laguna Beach and Salt Creek kicked out a few bigger size White Sea Bass this morning. Spearfishermen have been chasing these fish for the last couple of weeks. The fish are deep in the kelp. Wolf packs of 5-8 fish are being seen by the divers. These fish are ranging from 40-65lbs. Water temp is also down in this area from earlier in the week.
There has also been nice size 20lb halibut coming in to the docks by private boaters along these beaches. Try 50-60 feet of water in the sand.

The Newport Pipe in 190-200 feet of water is wide open on Sulpin right now. The cattle boats were fishing the pipe this morning and loading up.

Brian Woolley of the Sum Fun http://www.danawharf.com reports slow fishing out of Dana Point. The 3/4 day boats have been fishing the Box Canyon area for sculpin and rockfish. Nothing really exciting to report. The water temp dropped 5F from these winds. An occasional Sand Bass is coming off the rocks right in front of the Harbor.

South of Dana Point from San Mateo to the Barn Kelp the Spear Fishermen have been pulling out random White Sea Bass. There hasn't been sea bass being hooked by fishermen in this area yet. The White Sea Bass are averaging 40-65lbs and are crusing the edges of the kelp.

Duane Mellor of http://www.seasonssportfishing.com fished Point Loma Kelp this morning. Duane reported in with a good catch of Calico Bass running 3-5lbs. Had an 8lbish Calico to the boat when it was grabbed by a sealion and ripped off. Duane releases all Calico Bass and it broke his heart to see a fish that size get eaten by the dog. He was fishing in 40-50 feet of water in the kelp pockets with a weedless jig covered in UniButter. Water temp in the area was 58.7 down from earlier in the weeks 60.5f. The water color is a nice inshore green and the fish are very active. The area Duane saw the most life was off the College area. Birds, bait and fish.

Ali on the Tuna Jihad just got off the water. He fished La Jolla Bull kelp south to the Pacific Beach Reef. Using live sardines and plastics. He caught 1 legal lingcod for the day. He said the water was very brown and dirty in the area. The lingcod was caught on a rock in 20 feet of water while fishing halibut. Ali said this morning there was barely any wind but this afternoon it started gusting 15-20 knots.

The North 9 mile bank / La Jolla Canyon was being worked today by shark fishermen. They reported a hookup and a couple knockdowns on thresher sharks. Earlier in the week there had been some threshers hooked in the same area that were running 60-80lbs. Also off Carlsbad Canyon and inshore on the buccaneer pipe there were thresher sharks hooked.

Coronado Islands. The fleet in the area focused on rockfishing most of the day in the deeper water outside South Island. Water temps have dropped in the area. There was a few barracuda and a couple bonito caught by the Sportboats today off the South Kelp Ridge while anchored up and chumming. Yellowtail still roaming the area but hard to get on top of.

Out of Ensenada the charter boat No Limitz with 3 anglers landed 4 yellowail 16-22lbs and 6 bonito 6-12lbs. They were fishing the North East End of Todos Santos Islands. Water temp is 52 F. They were using mackeral and jigs for bait. Conditions were good! 

San Quintin. Talked to Captain Kelly of K&M charters. Kelly said the wind blew hard the last couple of days and no one has been going out. He says there is a southernly swell forecasted for next week that will make getting out to fish impossible. He noted the water temperature has dropped in his area as well.

Thursday September 4th 2008
Offshore

Got some reports to put up from yesterday that were real good for a variety of different fish..Got a report from Rich of Tailwalker Sportfishing who had a spectacular day fishing offshore from San Diego..He started his day at the 302 getting the big slugs on the troll up to about 30-35 pounds..The fish came to the boat but the bait fish were smaller but still respectable at about a 15 pound average..They bit wide open for Rich and had their fill at the 302..They got down to a zone that has been producing and we have been talking about over the last few days which is about 7-10 miles due north of the 390..He got down into this zone and found a kelp that went wide open on the dorado and he got one bull that went 40 pounds..He said it was one of the biggest he has seen locally in a long time..The numbers for the kelp were 32 11 117 50 but they also found some fish along the 45-48 line so it appears that this whole zone is on fire right now..Thanks Rich for the report and contact Rich if you want to get out with him on his Parker for a day of fishing and he is hot right now so get on this immediately..

Joe (26grumpy) called me from his trip yesterday and he knocked the snot out of them again..He launched from Dana and came down the line kinda aiming a little inside of the SC buoy and found a kelp at 32 29 117 50 that was pretty wide and thick..The bait from the kelp came out from under the kelp to his boat and the tuna followed and it went stupid on the yellowfin for about 3 hours..They also had some big albacore cruise through for awhile and when all was said and done they were bloodied and battered and happy as hell!!! They started with 30 pound, then went to 40 and then cut off the jigs on the troll rods and they were chewing the 60 right on the corner of the boat..Joe is on fire right now and probably needs to get to the chiropractor after his last two trips..Thanks for the report Joe and congrats on a sick day on the pond..

Mike on the Tracker did a solo run last night trying to get in on the yellowfin that were right outside of North Island..The wind was up and he was getting soaked and couldn’t find the mammals and guys were very hush hush on the radio for some reason..I find it kinda weird that guys wouldn’t give out numbers at 6:30PM but that’s the way it goes..He did manage to find a decent little kelp and got a 35 pound yellowtail for his efforts..

As for todays fishing, it is going really well for tuna on the local banks outside of San Diego..One change is that the weather is up a little bit with some white caps but the fish are still biting and that is the bottom line..

Ali of the Tuna Jihad found a kelp early today at 32 35 117 46 and it has been full speed for him and his crew all morning long..He said that it was so wide open that the fish were still biting a mile from the kelp..That’s right a mile from the kelp..Speaking of a skipper on fire, this guy has had 5 trips in a row that have been nothing short of spectacular..Of course the curse was lifted a long time ago but for those that were wondering about the curse you can put that all to rest..Other boats have come in on the kelp and are catching as well..He has been working this same area on the last few trips and it has been producing every single time..Congrats TJ, you guys are on fire!!!

The 302 is on fire today for a mixed grade of albacore but the cool thing is that there are more and more of those bigger models showing up..Here are some numbers for today for the 302 and other spots that have produced;

The area up near Catalina has been showing more and more volume of yellowfin over the past few days..A buddy got into the yellowfin really good yesterday right near the upper cross which is 33 00 118 00..This area is right in the middle of 3 different banks which are the 289, 181 and the 209..There are also some good signs of fish out at the 289 and a little further west of there towards San Clemente Island..The 289 is located at 32 56 118 05..The other area to take a look at is the Slide which is just east of Catalina..There has been some swordies and marlin seen and caught up in this area as well as very good signs of yellowfin tuna..When you look at the map, you can see that this area has very clean and warm water that is ripe for the pickin’..The 209 has a few kelps with dorado on them but they have lockjaw so far today..

I got an email from San Pedro Bait company and they have excellent bait right now which is a mix of chovie and sardine..He indicates that all of the Long Beach operations are shut down till Saturday due to military operations in Huntington Harbor..He said that they have mackerel for sale as well…

Update 7:15PM

Inshore / Islands

There is a batch of cooler and off color water that has moved up the coast into the Pt Loma area that has really affected the bite at the Coronados, the 9 mile bank and around the point proper..This new water slowed the bite on the yellowtail down at the Coronados over the past few days and when you look at the SST it is almost a straight line down the 117 20 from Pt Loma all the way down past the 425 / 101 area..It will definitely slow down the tuna bite that was happening down at the 101, and more than likely the fish will just push out to the west and stay on the warmer side of that edge..If that cooler water pushes out even more, the tuna that are cruising around the 9 could get pushed out to the west as well..The fishing around Pt Loma proper has slowed as well but you can still put together a decent day on the calicos, bonito, barracuda and assorted bottom stuff..

La Jolla hasn’t been affected yet by this water as skippers are doing very well up there today with the Half showing a good volume of fish, northwest is biting as is southwest..The yellows are a nice grade as some are in the 20 pound range but there are some schoolies around as well..You can get them by sitting on the anchor and setting up a chum line or you can drift or slow troll the sardines at less than 2 knots are get them going that way...There are also some barracuda, bonito and calico bass getting caught up that way..

Channel Islands Update

A skipper fishing out of Santa Barbara Harbor reported on encountering a marlin that would not eat the jigs approximately 4 miles outside of Santa Rosa Isle on the SE side. The good rockfishing continues there along with some larger grade yellowtail and small to medium sized white sea bass catches at Eagle's Nest and Rhodes Reef. The live squid is the key so bring the squid catchers for daytime bait making or use the lights at night in 15 to 20-fathoms of water. The weather has been shaky so keep a close eye on it before you go out.. There are medium to large anchovies at the local receivers right now.

Offshore

Got a call from Ali from Tuna Jihad and got a detailed report from that kelp they found this morning at 32 35 117 46..When they first set up on it and started to drift it was all you want on the doritos..Mostly the little guys but they got two which were in the 15-20 pound class..But in classic southern california offshore fishing form, the tuna came through and it was game on for the next 3 hours..They caught and caught and caught and were still catching when they were a mile off of the lettuce..Ali called other boats in and Frank of the MoBetta told me that all the guys were catching and that he personally got a 30 pound albacore from that kelp..That is what is so cool about this bite right now cause you never now what is going to show up..It could be a marlin, different kinds of tuna, a swordie maybe even a big mako with all the blood in the water..Whatever the case this is some of the best action I have seen in a number of years so get on this bite before they bail the area..

There is a batch of porpoise that are biting this afternoon at 32 23 117 25 and a skipper is trying to get someone to come in and help him keep track of these porpoise cause everytime he gets bit he loses track of the school..Tough problem to have!!! They are also finding porpoise at;

The 209 picked up a little bit this afternoon with one skipper reporting finding the porpoise about 5 miles southwest of the high spot and was able to put about 8 of the yellowfin in the box.Same grade, same technique, etc…

The weather is on the rise as skippers are reporting snotty conditions out there this afternoon..Apparently it was nice this morning on the grounds but this afternoon it has turned windy and snotty..