FISHING / DAN STANTON : Young Anglers Enjoy a Dream Trip

The third annual West Los Angeles Dream Street Foundation trip was held last weekend aboard the Long Beach Sportfishing boat Victory.

Thirty-five boys and girls, many of whom had never been fishing, spent two hours on the water.

Mike Slavarda caught the first fish of the day, a four-pound sand bass. Wendy Newell caught the most fish, including bass, bonito, barracuda and mackerel.

At the end of the trip, the crew barbecued hamburgers and served drinks and snacks.

Upon returning to port, each youngster was given a Dream Street T-shirt and a wristwatch.

The trip was organized by Nanci Maver and Dottie Archibald. The food was donated by Captain George Xeno, who also makes his boat available for many youth programs during the year.

Warm water conditions--known as an El Nino--continue to spark a dorado bite.

Dorado, which grow to six feet and can weigh as much as 100 pounds, are members of the dolphin family, not to be confused with the dolphin mammal species.

Dorado are frequently found in warm seas off Baja California and Hawaii, where they are called mahi-mahi.

Avalon resident Jordon Lake caught the first dorado of the season off the Catalina Bank. The fish weighed seven pounds.

Marlin have also moved into the area. Rosie Cadman said 20 marlin have been brought to the Avalon weigh station thus far, including three on Sunday.

Roger Cumin, aboard his boat Ram Rod at Osborne Bank, caught a 118-pound marlin.

Bob David of Redondo Beach, aboard his boat Bottom Up, tagged and released a small marlin.

Three South Bay anglers returned Tuesday from a trip aboard the Rebel.

Torrance residents Marge Trullinger and Mike Gross and Long Beach resident Todd Phillips fished 85 miles out from Point Loma.

Trullinger caught her first-ever tuna--a 25-pounder.

Gross and Phillips also caught tuna. All three anglers caught yellowtail and dorado.

Local update: Anglers using jigs and live bait have been catching limits of sand bass on sandy beaches from the flats to Santa Monica Bay.

The barracuda bite remains good, with most of the fish being caught at Horseshoe Kelp and Rocky Point.

Three San Pedro residents caught their limit of bass in less than 30 minutes last week during a trip aboard the Matt Walsh.

John Ozaeta, Jack Haitar and Steve Cortez caught bass between six and eight pounds. Ozaeta caught the only fish weighing more than eight pounds.

Gabriel Mandoza of San Pedro said he was fishing for sand bass from his skiff at the flats when he ran out of bait. Mandoza said he had a carrot stick left over from lunch and decided to use it for bait.

Much to his surprise, Mandoza caught a sand bass, but it was short of the minimum length and was tagged, so he released it.

The Los Angeles Harbor boat Shogun returned Tuesday night from a two-day tuna trip.

The 35 anglers caught 87 tuna, including bluefin and yellowfin. They also caught yellowtail and 200 skipjack. The winner of the jackpot was Gardena’s Paul Abian, who caught a 37-pound yellowfin. Ryan Rogers of Torrance caught five bluefin and one yellowtail averaging 30 pounds.

Island update: Catches of yellowtail, dorado and tuna have been common for anglers aboard the area fleet.

Many of the fish have been caught beyond San Clemente Island.

Yellowtail are being caught in kelp paddies.

Long Beach Sportfishing’s Toronado, with 35 anglers aboard, returned late Monday with 200 skipjack, 43 yellowtail and five tuna.

Rob Merlo of Long Beach caught a 33-pound yellowfin tuna.

South Bay catches: Todd Phillips of Long Beach, aboard the Rebel about 80 miles out, caught the whopper of the week, a 65-pound big-eye tuna.

Aaron Sanchez of Venice, aboard the Del Mar at Rocky Point, pulled a 35-pound yellowtail from the kelp.

David Marsh of Redondo Beach, aboard the Blackjack at the Farnsworth Bank, caught a 28 1/2-pound yellowtail.

Bill Haines of Long Beach, aboard the Toronado off San Clemente Island, caught a 25-pound yellowtail.