FISHING NOTES / DAN STANTON : Anglers Use Squid to Catch Yellowtail

The South Bay sportfishing fleet has settled into autumn and winter fishing with some unusual sporadic surface action.

Yellowtail anglers hooked into a wide-open bite Monday.

L.A. Harbor Sportfishing’s three-quarter day boat Sportking and half-day boat Matt Walsh obtained tanks of live squid from the bait boat Pamela Rose. The Sportking headed to the horseshoe kelp and anglers started casting live squid toward the kelp. Within minutes, nearly every one of the 12 anglers had hooked a fish in the 15-to-20 pound range.

Anglers catching 20-pounders were Chris Williams of Lomita, Whitey Zimmerman of Long Beach, Tack Matsuhara of Gardena, Bob White of Gardena, Bruce Root of San Pedro, Mike Naode of West Los Angeles, Melanie Toshiyuki of West Los Angeles, Jack Rayfield of West Los Angeles and Pattie Bollin of Long Beach, who had a 10-fish limit in less than a half hour.

The Sportking returned early with 93 yellowtail and a 17-pound white sea bass.

The Matt Walsh returned with 29 yellowtail.

Big barracuda moved into Santa Monica Bay and the Sea Spray of Redondo Sportfishing had a 10-fish limit on each trip during the weekend. Capt. John Rudder said the scrappy barracuda gobbled bait and jigs.

With no storms in the forecast, tuna can be expected to remain at Cortez and Tanner Banks.

Although less than one fish per angler is being caught, anglers have been catching a variety of rockfish.

King Harbor Marlin Club members returned last week from a two-day trip to Tanner Bank. Dave Shoren of Manhattan Beach was jackpot winner with a 44-pound bluefin tuna. Hermosa Beach fisherman Rick Kim sacked a 39- and 38-pound tuna. Brian Merrell of Torrance caught a 35-pounder. Dennis Kocuten of Hermosa Beach caught a 21-pounder.

The Cabrillo Marine Museum’s third annual “Catalina Above and Below” overnight scientific expedition to Catalina Island will depart from L.A. Harbor Sportfishing aboard the Shogun at 11 p.m. Friday and return at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Events will include on-deck close-ups of marine life at night using the boat’s lights.

The highlight of the trip will be shark baiting to lure sharks near the boat for observation.

Information and reservations: Larry Fukuhara at (213) 548-7563.

South Bay Catches: Jim Brooks of Long Beach, fishing at Tanner Bank aboard the Aztec, caught the whopper of the week, a 52-pound bluefin tuna.

Larry Petrie of Torrance, fishing aboard the Blackjack at Tanner Bank, was a jackpot winner with a 51-pound bluefin tuna.

Dalen Sumoto of Long Beach, fishing aboard the Toronado, caught a 48-pound bluefin tuna.

Frank Matsuhara of Gardena, fishing aboard the New Holiday, caught a 31-pound lingcod.

Larry Corcke of Torrance, fishing aboard the Mary Jane, caught a 30-pound lingcod.

Shirley King of Harbor City, fishing aboard the Hitless Miss, caught a 18-pound halibut.

Fish Reports

Bonito and barracuda are providing most of the action. Yellowtail fishing is excellent when squid is available. Catalina and San Clemente islands are good for calico bass and rockfish.

At Marina del Rey Sportfishing: The Spitfire fished the bay and anglers caught 80 calico bass, 60 bonito and a halibut.

The Happyman half-day trip resulted in a catch of 30 bonito and 17 halibut.

The Sumo fished shallow rocks and returned with 175 rock cod and a lingcod.

At Redondo Sportfishing: The Sea Spray worked the bay and found a wide-open barracuda bite, Anglers caught 318 barracuda, 73 bonito and 32 calico bass.

The Blackjack fished Tanner Bank and returned with 220 rockfish and 14 bluefin tuna.

The Redondo Special, on a half-day trip, returned with 73 bonito, 11 calico bass and a yellowtail.

The City of Redondo, on a half-day trip, had a catch of 440 sculpin and 94 bonito.

The Isle of Redondo barge had a weekend count of 1,440 mackerel, 135 rockfish and 27 bonito.

At 22nd Street Landing: The First String worked Catalina Island for a variety catch--82 bonito, 50 calico bass, 37 sheephead and a halibut.

The Monte Carlo, on a half-day run to the Rockpile, returned with 128 calico bass, 39 bonito and 12 sculpin.

The New Image worked Santa Barbara Island for a catch of 450 whitefish, 97 sheephead, 87 calico bass and three yellowtail.

At L.A. Harbor Sportfishing: The Shogun, on a trip to Tanner Bank, caught 21 bluefin tuna and 100 rockfish.

The Outerlimits worked Cortez Bank on a day-and-a-half trip and returned with 11 bluefin tuna.

The Annie B barge had a weekend total of 310 bonito, 150 kingfish and two halibut.

At Long Beach Sportfishing: The Victory fished the horseshoe kelp and anglers caught 109 bonito and 73 calico bass.

The Aztec’s trip to Tanner Bank resulted in a catch of 201 rockfish, 10 yellowtail and four bluefin tuna.

The Toronado worked Cortez Bank for 91 rockfish and five bluefin tuna.

The Southern Cal, on a half-day trip, returned with 64 bonito and 38 calico bass.