Fishing Notes : Rock Cod Have Anglers Licking Lips

The winter rock cod bite has arrived for South Bay anglers. During the winter months, every angler has a chance to limit out on a genuine delicacy.

The fish that stimulates these grandiose claims is the rock cod that weighs from 5 to 35 pounds.

An impressive catch was seen over the weekend when the Southern Cal out of Long Beach Sportfishing headed to Catalina Island with 18 anglers and caught limits of high quality fish: grouper, cows and lingcod.

The jackpot was won by Richard Barton of San Pedro with his 29-pound lingcod. Barton said he fishes rock cod every winter and also takes surface fishing trips for winter yellowtail and bass.

Coming a close second for the jackpot was Gary Westbrook of Playa del Rey with a 28-pound ling cod.

Andrew Collier of Carson added to his limit with a 22-pound ling cod.

Gary Nishida of Torrance had his 24-pound cow cod float off the hook, but it was gaffed by an alert deckhand.

Bob Tyler of West Los Angeles, using a 5-hook cod rig with live squid and a 2-pound sinker, had three big lingcod attack his bait. It had taken him 25 minutes to bring the line up from the bottom and once on the surface it took three gaffs to deck the cods, with the smallest weighing 19 pounds.

Pat Whitaker, the resident rock cod captain of the Southern Cal, said the target this winter will be the calm waters of Catalina. With live squid in abundance, fishermen should catch the 15-fish limit of rockfish on most trips.

The third annual Fish for the Homeless aboard the Delux will depart from 22nd Street Landing at 9 Saturday night with all space filled. Tony Salas, one of the organizers, said a second trip is planned for Dec. 17 and reservations can be made at (213) 543-5088.

South Bay Catches:

Jim Pazque of Lomita caught the whopper of the week fishing aboard the Betty G at Catalina. With live squid, he landed a 36-pound white sea bass.

Dee Dee Cline of Long Beach, fishing aboard the Aztec at San Nicholas Island, brought to gaff her first lingcod. It weighed 19 1/2 pounds.

Bob Anderson of Long Beach, fishing aboard the Pacifica at Catalina, won the jackpot with his floating kelp yellowtail that weighed 19 pounds.

Eunice Paraves of Carson, fishing aboard the Sharpshooter at twin roads, caught a 15-pound halibut.

Fish Reports:

Light tackle surface fishing with live squid have resulted in anglers catching calico and sand bass.

The halibut bite in the Santa Monica Bay area completely shuts off one day, then bounces back the next.

At Marina del Rey Sportfishing: The Happyman fished Santa Monica Bay over the weekend and scored with 24 legal halibut, 45 sculpin and 20 sand bass.

The Betty O fishing shallow rock cod returned with 210 reds, 35 whitefish, 30 sculpin and 1 lingcod.

At Redondo Sportfishing: The Blackjack switched from surface fishing to rock cod at Santa Barbara Island. Anglers sacked 178 reds, 9 sheeps head and 1 lingcod.

The Sea Spray fished rocky point on a morning trip and chalked up 41 sculpin, 26 sand bass and 13 barracuda.

The Redondo Special on an afternoon trip to the bay caught 42 salmon grouper, 28 sand bass, 27 whitefish and 12 sculpin.

The barge Isle of Redondo found the mackerel eager to grab the bait and the weekend count totaled 140, plus 45 sculpin, 25 Spanish jack and 4 sand bass.

At 22nd Street Landing: The Monte Carlo fished Catalina and the live squid provided anglers with 60 blue perch, 32 sheepshead and 18 calico bass. Two anglers hooked black sea bass that were released.

The Freedom fished Catalina and anglers were rewarded with a catch of 4 yellowtail, 67 calico bass, 40 blue perch and 11 whitefish.

At L.A. Harbor Sportfishing: The Matt Walsh worked the rock pile area. Seven black sea bass were hooked but their forwarding address was return-to-bottom. Anglers kept 33 sculpin, 27 whitefish and 18 sheepshead.

The Outerlimits fished San Clemente Island and the squid were chased by yellowtail with 2 brought aboard. Anglers returned with 200 bull bass and 15 whitefish.

The Top Gun fished Catalina and chalked up 110 calico bass, 80 big sheepshead and 3 legal halibut to 15 pounds.

The Annie B barge using live squid had a weekend total of 1,110 queenfish, 1,121 kingfish and 166 mackerel.

At Long Beach Sportfishing: The Pacifica headed to Catalina and anglers bagged 64 calico bass, 40 bonito, 17 sheepshead, 16 whitefish, 1 halibut and 1 yellowtail.

The Victory fished the horseshoe kelp and had a steady calico bass bite with anglers bagging 48, plus 33 sand bass and 5 sheepshead.

Freshwater Report:

Fishing Santa Ana Lakes, Ken Matsui of Hawthorne caught a lunker rainbow trout using power bait. It weighed in at 12 pounds.

David Pauley of Wilmington fishing Santa Ana Lakes used garlic bait to land his 7 1/2-pound trout.

Anita Lipson of Torrance fishing Santa Ana Lakes used a night crawler to land a 7 1/2-pound trout.