Fishing Notebook : One Ounce Separates Halibut Derby Winners

The annual Santa Monica Halibut Derby was a record-setter.

Michel Connery of Santa Monica won the derby’s first prize of $1,200 with a 29-pound, 5-ounce halibut he caught on a herring and 12-pound test line fishing in the big rock area.

Second place went to Gary Silverman of Venice, whose halibut weighed only one ounce less than the winner at 29 pounds, 4 ounces. It was good for $600.

The Santa Monica derby set a record with 14 fish weighing in at more than 20 pounds, 43 fish weighing 10 pounds or more and 643 total legal fish weighing 3,652 pounds.

The only derby record not broken was for heaviest fish, set in 1974 by Dolores Ray, who landed a 32-pounder.

The Marina del Rey derby held last Sunday was faced with a bait shortage but an artificial lure rewarded Kevin McCluskey of Santa Monica, who won first place with his 27-pound, 5-ounce halibut caught at big rock. His prize is worth $5,000 in long range fishing trips and fishing tackle.

South Bay Catches: Joe Comparsi of San Pedro, fishing aboard the First String at Catalina Island using a live squid, made a cast toward a yellowtail. When a white sea bass made a grab for it, Comparsi set the hook and landed the whopper of the week, a 31-pounder.

Stan Drake of Carson, fishing aboard the Sportking at Catalina, reeled in two white sea bass, the first one a 25-pounder. The second he hooked and landed just when the anchor was being raised and it weighed in at 29 1/2 pounds.

Jim Inackore of Hermosa Beach, fishing aboard the Shogun at Catalina, caught a 16-pound yellowtail using a jig.

Lupe Aguilar of Long Beach caught a 15 1/2-pound halibut fishing aboard the Southern Cal with a halibut rig.

Fish Reports: Action continues at Catalina for white sea bass and yellowtail for anglers using live squid.

The local scene has been good for bonito and bass. Most of the action has been at rocky point area.

At Marina del Rey Sportfishing: The Spitfire fished the twin roads and had a count of 35 bonito, 15 sculpin and 6 halibut.

The Happyman on the morning trip caught 37 bonito, 11 sculpin and 10 halibut.

At Redondo Sportfishing: The Sea Spray on the Tuesday morning run produced 285 sculpin and 87 rockfish.

The Redondo Special fished rocky point and rewarded anglers with 50 whitefish, 15 calico bass and 10 rockfish.

At 22nd Street Landing: The Monte Carlo caught 140 sand bass, a limit for anglers on the morning run, plus 36 sculpin and one sheeps head.

The First String fished Catalina and chalked up a good count of 88 bonito, 32 calico bass, 6 sheepshead, 2 halibut and one white sea bass that weighed 31 pounds.

At L.A. Harbor Sportfishing: The Sportking fished Catalina and 45 barracuda, 61 bonito, 46 calico bass and 4 white sea bass to 29 pounds went into the sacks.

The Grande 85 headed to Catalina and 13 yellowtail, 45 calico bass, 45 bonito, 20 sheeps head plus two legal barracuda made up the catch.

The Annie B barge at Barge Reef had a big weekend count of 4,000 white croaker, 1,400 mackerel, 12 sculpin and 8 sharks.

At Long Beach Sportfishing: The Victory fished Catalina and reeled in 41 barracuda, 210 bonito to 8 pounds and 72 calico bass.

The Southern Cal fished the Marineland area on the morning trip and all anglers had a limit of bonito plus 75 calico bass and one large halibut.

The Aztec fished the east end of Catalina and anglers reeled in 145 bonito, 77 calico bass, 12 sheeps head and one halibut that weighed 11 pounds.