When Squid Leave, They Take Yellowtail Along With Them

There’s nothing quite like a yellowtail bite when the fish are in a feeding mood.

They strike with a vengeance and fight to the bitter end.

Trouble is, there’s only one sure way to put the fish in the mood: Throw some squid their way. And with water temperatures rising well into the 60s, the squid are moving on to cooler seas.

Most landings have already given up trying to catch squid to use as bait, but L.A. Harbor Sportfishing hasn’t. It has managed to put squid in the tanks and yellowtail by the dozens on the decks.

The Shogun and Top Gun have been matching impressive counts of the popular game fish, day after day at San Clemente Island. The two combined for 84 fish Monday.

“It’s the first thing (fishermen) ask when they call,” said Jim Peterson, owner of the landing. “They ask if we have squid.”

But Peterson might have some bad news soon.

“I’ve got to be very honest,” he said, “(Sunday night) we went and scratched a little bit (catching only a handful of squid).”

The Top Gun took some of the squid--and 26 hopeful anglers--to San Clemente Island on Monday night and returned to port Tuesday night with only 11 yellowtail. The Shogun, with the rest of the squid and 55 aboard, sacked only eight.

*

Squid or no squid, yellowtail or no yellowtail, the landings aren’t complaining, because barracuda that moved into local waters a few weeks ago are still breezing about the coast from Ventura to San Diego.

And the sandy bottom is covered with sand bass, which are biting at night, to the delight of the twilight fishermen. The fish have been coming up by the hundreds all week, and there seems to be no letup in sight. “There were a lot around last year at this time, but I don’t recall there being this many,” said Diane Peterson of 22nd Street Landing in San Pedro.

*

Not that there are that many around these days, but the white seabass bag limit changes from one fish to three, beginning today in waters south of Point Conception.

“They bite when the limit is one and shut off when the limit goes to three,” said Brian Lacroix, an employee at Redondo Sportfishing.

A few seabass have been taken near Catalina and San Clemente islands. And in most cases, one has been big enough to feed a large family, and then some. Frank Deutsch of Chino caught one of the largest of the week, a 37-pounder aboard Redondo’s Blackjack on Saturday.

Briefly

MEXICO FISHING--The so-called “guacamole water” has warmed and cleared somewhat, so the marlin fishing has rebounded off Cabo San Lucas. Most boats in the fleet are at least finding the acrobatic billfish, and some are even getting them to bite. Bill Verna, co-owner of L.A. Harbor Sportfishing, returned from two weeks at Land’s End on Saturday. Verna said the water dropped from 76 degrees when he arrived to 62 last week, but it was back in the 70s when he left. Verna spent two days seeking roosterfish along the beaches and saw several “large roosters,” but was unable to get any to bite.

East Cape: Striped marlin are sunning in the region, taking live bait and an occasional lure. But tuna and dorado are the prevalent catch. Few tuna weigh more than 25 pounds, and the dorado are even smaller, though there was one bull that weighed 55 pounds at the Hotel Buenavista scale. Sailfish have also moved into the area.

Loreto: The dorado watch is still on, and there have been some takers but few keepers because the colorful fish are averaging only 5-10 pounds. Fly-fishermen are having fun catching bonito to 12 pounds. Yellowtail fishing is fairly steady at the north end of Illdefonso Island. The hottest thing going? The weather. Temperatures are hitting 100 degrees.

MISCELLANY--The Del Mar out of Marina del Rey Sportfishing will be targeting sharks Friday and Saturday nights beginning this weekend. . . . A two-part seminar on local marlin fishing will be held at the Balboa Bay Club, with the first session tonight at 7:30. The second session will be next Wednesday. Cost is $50. Details: (714) 645-5000, ext. 177. . . . Raahauge’s Shooting Enterprise in Norco is holding a 10-hour hunter safety course Saturday that will enable hunters to get their mandatory safety certificate in one day. Cost is $30. Details: (800) 773-4868. . . . Fly-fishing expert and author Gary Borger will give a presentation at the Sierra Pacific Flyfishers’ June 23 meeting at 8:30 at Encino Glen. Admission is free, but the pre-meeting dinner is not. Details: (818) 789-1919. . . . Penn Fishing University will hold a free seminar on local fishing June 23 from 7-9 p.m. at Sports Chalet in Marina del Rey. Details: (310) 821-9400. Tackle representatives and long-range and local fishing experts will discuss the latest products and give seminars all day on June 26 at Yo’s Tackle in Gardena. Details: (310) 532-1376. . . . The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Passage Productions will begin a series of “educational cruises” to the islands aboard the 88-foot Condor out of SEA Landing in Santa Barbara beginning June 26. Cost is $65 for adults, $35 for children. Details: (805) 963-3564. . . . For The Record: The Mammoth Lakes Summer Trout Derby will begin Saturday. The Mammoth Lakes Visitors Bureau had inadvertently included a different date on a news release, a portion of which was listed here last week. Details: (800) 367-6572.