Fishing Notebook : Marina del Rey Anglers Slate Final Halibut Derby of April

This weekend concludes the April halibut fishing derbies.

The Marina del Rey Anglers 14th annual halibut derby will benefit Scouting and marine conservation.

Fishing for $20,000 in cash and prizes will start at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and conclude with the weigh-in at 5 p.m. Sunday at Burton Chase Park.

Participants must fish within 5 miles of shore between Point Vicente and Point Dume.

The derby will be taped for “Hooked on Fishing,” a television show that debuts this fall.

On April 24 there will be an awards banquet at Marina Beach Hotel.

South Bay Catches: Charlie Azar of Wilmington, fishing aboard the First String at Catalina Island, had to use all of his angling skill to bring to gaff the whopper of the week, a 34-pound white sea bass.

Ginny O’Donnehue of Long Beach, fishing aboard the First String at Catalina with live squid, landed a 27-pound yellowtail.

Elaine Thompson of San Pedro, aboard the First String, hooked a 24-pound white sea bass that she had to coax off the bottom when it headed into the kelp.

Frank Salados of West Los Angeles, fishing at Catalina aboard the Sportking, reeled in a 21 1/2-pound yellowtail.

Joe Bishop of Torrance, on the half-day boat Sea Spray using an anchovy, caught a 21-pound halibut.

Fish Report: Catalina has been a hot spot the past several days with catches of white sea bass and yellowtail. Local fishing continues to improve with big bonito and bass.

At Marina del Rey Sportfishing: The Spitfire had a count of 15 halibut, 25 sand bass and 15 sculpin.

The Betty O got 12 halibut, 20 sand bass and 12 bonito fishing the bay.

At Redondo Sportfishing: The Sea Spray fished Rocky Point and chalked up 168 bonito, 24 bass and 2 legal barracuda.

The Redondo Special on the morning run fished Torrance Beach and returned with 160 bonito, 40 bass and a white sea bass.

The Blackjack fished Catalina and returned with 450 bonito, 2 yellowtail and a halibut.

At 22nd Street Landing: The First String, on a two-day trip, abandoned the halibut derby Saturday and headed to Catalina, returning with 8 white sea bass to 34 pounds plus 175 calico bass and 8 halibut.

The Monte Carlo fished Rocky Point and had a limit of bonito up to 6 pounds, plus 5 barracuda.

The Freedom fished Catalina and caught 220 calico bass, 27 sheepshead, 27 rockfish and 40 sculpin.

At L. A. Harbor Sportfishing: The Sportking headed to Catalina and rewarded anglers with limits of bonito, 17 barracuda, 10 sheepshead and an 11-pound yellowtail.

The Shogun fished Catalina and returned with 55 calico bass, 5 sheepshead and 41 bonito.

The barge Annie B got 125 bonito, 18 sculpin, 11 whitefish, 7 sand bass and 1,976 mackerel.

At Long Beach Sportfishing: The Victory fished Catalina and had a limit of bonito to 6 pounds, 11 barracuda, 151 calico bass and 15 sheepshead.

The Southern Cal tried the Marineland area and chalked up 166 bass, 30 bonito, 18 whitefish and 4 halibut.

The Aztec fished Catalina using live squid and limited out on big bonito, 65 calico bass, 9 sculpin and 9 sheepshead to 8 pounds.

News Note: Eighty anglers fished aboard the Monte Carlo last weekend to feed the homeless. More than 800 pounds of fish were donated to the Los Angeles Midnight Mission.