A Surprise Is Lurking in the Kelp
Pulling calico bass from the kelp is a pleasurable way to spend a day, but toss in an occasional shark with sizzling speed and acrobatic moves and you’ve got one heck of a way to spend a day.
Such has been the case recently north of Marina del Rey, where anglers have been doing quite well catching calico bass and not too well (but they’re having fun trying) on thresher sharks feeding in the area.
“They were free-jumping right in front of the boat,” said Mike McCarter, 35, of Manhattan Beach after returning from a trip Monday aboard Marina del Rey Sportfishing’s Del Mar.
McCarter hooked one of the threshers, but trouble began when the fish sought refuge in the kelp. Then the fish took off on a sizzling run and sped toward the boat, creating slack in his line.
“I reeled and reeled to pick up the slack, but when it got to the boat--it was right there on the surface--it popped the hook,” McCarter said.
But it didn’t escape. Another angler cast a sardine in the direction of the fleeing shark and it couldn’t resist the offering. The angler fought the shark for 10 minutes on 12-pound test line before successfully landing it.
“Dressed out it was 60 pounds, so that was an 80-pound shark,” said Del Haas, who works at the landing.
Aside from the 80-pound shark, there were two misses--including McCarter’s--Monday on the Del Mar. Nearby, on the Happy Man, there were four hookups with threshers, all of which made quick work of the light line being used to catch calico bass.
Phil Campanella of Malibu Sportfishing said that anglers aboard the Aquarius are also encountering thresher sharks from time to time.
“Yeah, we’re seeing threshers,” he said. “Most of them are small, but we cut them up and give everybody pieces. And they do put on a show.”
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As for the bass fishing in the kelp beds off Malibu, “It’s really good right now,” said Rick Oefinger, skipper of the Del Mar. “They’re all two- to three-pounders, with a few fives.”
Seven people sacked 52 calico bass Tuesday aboard the vessel. And Campanella reports an excellent bite on sand bass and calico bass north and south of the pier.
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Last week’s full moon is being blamed for shutting off the white seabass and yellowtail bites at Santa Catalina and San Clemente islands.
Local vessels had trouble finding live squid and it reflected in the fish counts, which ranged from zero to one or two of either species a vessel each day.
Even with squid, which the crews of the Top Gun and Shogun managed to scare up for Tuesday’s passengers, anglers were unable to find any seabass or yellowtail, settling instead on calico bass and assorted bottom fish.
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It was fun while it lasted.
Barracuda arrived off the west end of Catalina in force last weekend, with boats returning to port with hundreds of the needle-toothed fish.
Anglers aboard Redondo Sportfishing’s Sea Spray accounted for 375 of the slender, but ferocious barracuda on Sunday.
“They slayed ‘em,” spokesman Mike Silva said. “It was an all-day pick. They finally ran out of bait and said, ‘We’re coming home.’ ”
But as if to say enough is enough, Mother Nature sent a strong current by way of Catalina, changing the conditions and sending the remaining barracuda on their way. The counts in the past few days have been significantly smaller.
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It’s not Waikiki, but what the heck, says the Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club, which on Saturday will hold its annual Le Petit Outrigger Canoe Ironman Classic.
About 500 paddlers forming six-person teams will race 45-foot long Hawaiian-style outrigger canoes from King Harbor in Redondo Beach north past the Manhattan Beach Pier and then southwest to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and back to King Harbor. At King Harbor, dancers in grass skirts will be doing the hula to kick off the awards ceremony at Moose McGillicuddy’s restaurant-bar.
