FISHING NOTES : Old Pork Rind Bait Method Still Effective for Saltwater Anglers

An old fishing method still brings good results, according to Henry Church of Wilmington.

Church has been fishing the ocean for more than six decades as a commercial fisherman with hook and line for albacore and tuna.

Now retired, Church fishes only for the sport and releases most of his catch.

Church said when he looks at an angler’s tackle box today he sees all different types of jigs, feathers and trolling gadgets.

Today’s saltwater anglers may be blind to the merits of using pork as a versatile fish catcher, he said.

To prove his point, Church said he used pork rind on a recent trip for sharks and hooked a mako during a slow troll. He estimated it to be 80 pounds.

Horsing it in, Church said the hook came out of the shark with the pork still on the hook.

Another one of his theories is when fishing deep water, pork rind attached to a hook will net more strikes than bouncing a jig on the bottom.

Church said an angler will find it very useful to carry some rind in his tackle box.

Tuna continue to be caught for quality, but not quantity.

Long Beach Sportfishing’s Aztec and Toronado returned last weekend with less than one tuna per rod. Yellowtail and rockfish made up most of the two-day Cortez Bank trip.

Tom Filbach of Long Beach was the jackpot winner aboard the Aztec with a 47-pound bluefin tuna.

Eric Krepinovich of Lomita and Jay Akahashi of Gardena each caught jackpot contenders of 35 pounds apiece.

Lomita fishermen Tom Simpson and Tom Marquez returned from fishing Buena Vista, Baja Mexico, and described the trip aboard the boat Mickey as one of the best they have had.

Simpson and Marquez caught sailfish up to 75 pounds and broadbill of more than 90 pounds.

Marquez said using cut bonito for bait, they hooked and released more than 60 dorado on the three-day trip.

Sonny Bennett of Marina del Rey worked Santa Monica Bay Monday in his skiff and drifted for a mile fishing for halibut. He said within an hour he had his five-fish limit.

Bennett said he used herring for bait with a halibut rig. The five flatties weighed upwards of 15 pounds.

South Bay Catches: Duane McCutheon of Redondo Beach caught the whopper of the week fishing aboard the Blackjack at Cortez Bank. He landed a 51-pound bluefin tuna.

Tom Herinance of Long Beach, fishing aboard the Toronado, caught a 50-pound bluefin tuna.

Jon Mojuharan of Hawthorne, fishing aboard the Vagabond at Benites Island, caught a 39-pound yellowfin tuna.

Roy Henderson of Lomita, fishing at Tanner Bank aboard the Pacifica, caught a 36-pound bluefin tuna.

Sally Gold of Gardena, fishing aboard the Hitless Miss at the horseshoe kelp, caught an 18-pound yellowtail.

Jack Chase of San Pedro, fishing at San Clemente Island aboard the Diawa, caught a 16-pound lingcod.

Fish Reports: Local fishing catches of barracuda have slowed, with bonito setting the pace for limit catches. Outer islands continue to be good for bass and yellowtail.

At Marina del Rey Sportfishing: The Spitfire fished the Sunset Beach area and had a catch of 55 calico bass, 31 sculpin, 15 sand bass, three halibut and two bonito.

The Del Mar half-day trip resulted in a catch of 189 sculpin, 32 calico bass and a halibut.

The Sumo rock cod trip to Redondo Canyon returned with 150 rock cod and four lingcod.

At Redondo Sportfishing: The Sea Spray worked rocky point for 176 bonito, 37 calico bass, 23 sand bass and two halibut.

The Blackjack returned from its day-and-a-half trip to Cortez Bank with four bluefin tuna, 425 rock cod and four cow cod.

The Redondo Special, on a half-day trip, returned with 38 bonito, 34 calico bass and a sculpin.

The City of Redondo half-day trip had a catch of 150 bonito and 96 rockfish.

The Isle of Redondo barge had a weekend count of 428 mackerel, 31 bonito, 28 rockfish and 19 sculpin.

At 22nd Street Landing: The First String fished the west end of Catalina Island and returned with 210 rockfish, 27 barracuda and four yellowtail.

The New Image trip to rocky point resulted in a catch of 220 whitefish, 78 sculpin and two yellowtail.

The Monte Carlo, on a half-day trip, returned with 56 bonito and 46 calico bass.

At L.A. Harbor Sportfishing: The Sportking, on a trip to horseshoe kelp, had a variety catch of 88 bonito, 48 calico bass, 25 bullet tuna, 11 barracuda and 10 rockfish.

The Matt Walsh, on a half-day trip, returned with 66 bonito and 12 bullet tuna.

The Shogun, on a two-day trip to Tanner Bank, had a catch of 72 calico bass, 71 sheephead, 10 yellowtail and five bluefin tuna.

The Outerlimits worked San Clemente Island for 150 rockfish and 50 sheephead.

The Annie B barge had a weekend catch of 756 bonito, 110 mackerel and three calico bass.

At Long Beach Sportfishing: The Victory fished the horseshoe kelp for 154 bonito, 83 bullet tuna and 39 calico bass.

The Toronado, on a two-day trip to Cortez Bank, returned with 11 bluefin tuna.

The Southern Cal, on a half-day trip, returned with 66 bonito and 42 whitefish.