Fishing / Dan Stanton : 13-Day Trip Yields Wahoo and Dorado, but Tuna Escape

There was excitement at 22nd Street Landing in San Pedro last week when the Deluxe returned from a 13-day trip to Clarion Island 200 miles off Cabo San Lucas.

Trolling for wahoo and dorado resulted in big catches.

On one stop there was suddenly a huge swirl of water as bluefin tuna broke the water.

Anglers dashed for heavier tackle, but the tuna refused the bait and fish weighing only 15 to 25 pounds were decked. Capt. Chuck Ellis said anchovy bait would have raised the catch.

Mike Odnell of Torrance, trolling with a mackerel, had a marlin strike. After a 45-minute fight the fish, estimated at 400 pounds, broke off.

Robert Gerber of Hawthorne hooked and released a 140-pound marlin.

Bob Milleson of Palos Verdes had a good catch of wahoo, dorado and tuna, as did Norman Woodruff of Redondo Beach and Delbert Marcus of Long Beach.

The total count of the long trip was 217 wahoo, 54 dorado and 14 tuna.

Joe Martinez of Wilmington, fishing from his boat the Antelope, brought to gaff a big halibut. Not possessing a scale, he headed to 22nd Street Landing and the flattie weighed in at 35 pounds.

Catches of spotfin croaker set the pace for surf anglers over the weekend.

Ray Hawks of Torrance fished the surf at Dockweiler Beach and caught a limit of four- to five-pound fish.

South Bay Catches:

Bret Janus of Long Beach, fishing Catalina Island on the Aztec, pulled a yellowtail out of the kelp and won the whopper of the week--28 pounds.

Frank Ivanho of Gardena won the jackpot aboard the Grande at Cherry Bank with a 27 1/4-pound cow cod.

Bob Taft of San Pedro, aboard the Topgun, brought a 20-pound yellowtail out of the rocks at Catalina Island.

Bill Merrill of San Pedro, fishing at Cherry Bank aboard the Explorer, won the jackpot with an 18-pound salmon grouper.

Gum Baiz of Hermosa Beach, on the Redondo Special at Twin Roads, caught a 15-pound halibut.

Fish Reports:

During the recent heat wave the higher water temperature was reflected in catches of barracuda and bonito from Horseshoe Kelp to Rocky Point.

Catalina anglers saw plenty of yellowtail but few bait-takers. Limits of bonito made up most of the island’s catches.

At Marina del Rey Sportfishing: The Spitfire fished the rock reefs and anglers caught 57 sand bass, four halibut and two bonito.

The Del Mar worked the Venice Beach area and anglers sacked 210 sculpin and 36 barracuda.

The Happyman tried the bay and returned from a half-day trip with 125 mackerel and five halibut.

At Redondo Sportfishing: The Southern Cal worked Twin Roads and claimed 244 sand bass, eight rockfish, four halibut and three mackerel.

The Redondo Special took a half-day trip to Hermosa Flats and anglers landed 23 halibut and 14 sculpin.

The barge Isle of Redondo was invaded by mackerel and fishermen caught 510, plus 120 rockfish.

At 22nd Street Landing: The Monte Carlo, on two half-day trips, chalked up 241 sand bass and 188 sculpin.

The First String on the last rock cod trip of the spring to Cherry Bank returned with 600 rockfish and 10 lingcod.

At L.A. Harbor Sportfishing: The Sportking worked Catalina and returned with 58 bonito, 16 barracuda, seven sculpin and three halibut to 10 pounds.

The Outerlimits scored at Catalina with 83 calico bass and three yellowtail.

The Annie B barge had a weekend count of 914 kingfish, 777 mackerel, eight halibut, three sand bass and one black sea bass, which was released.

At Long Beach Sportfishing: The Victory headed to Catalina and anglers chalked up 29 barracuda, 21 calico bass, 20 bonito and 10 halibut.

The Aztec fished the west end of Catalina and anglers claimed 45 calico bass, 30 sculpin, 10 sheepshead and one yellowtail.

The Pacifica worked San Clemente Island and anglers sacked 230 rock cod and 28 cow cod.

Freshwater Notes:

Jerry Sanders of Torrance, fishing Silverwood Lake, caught and released 218 pounds of striped bass. He kept only two fish, which totaled 39 pounds.

Arnold Tolson of Gardena fished Irvine Lake and used cheese to land a 3 1/2-pound trout.

Bob Adchio of Mar Vista tried Castaic Lake with power bait and caught a three-pound trout.