Island Dreamers Can’t Catch Up With Seabass

My assignment? To give some ink to the spring fishing scene at the local islands.

What I least expected was to get plenty in return.

Note to self: Be sure to list on expense account the price of one pair of shorts and one T-shirt, because squid ink does NOT come out in the wash.

It’s an hour before dawn Monday, and downright chilly at San Clemente Island, the southernmost of eight Channel Islands, 55 miles west of Long Beach.

Fourteen passengers aboard the Tracer are emerging from their quarters, one by one, like zombies, wearing the clothes they slept in, plucking squid from the bait wells, pinning the “squirters” to hooks and casting them out in a collective sacrifice, expecting great things in return.

But the white seabass, those giant silver croakers held in such high regard, aren’t having any of it. An hour goes by, then another, with not a single strike.

The fish have been hit hard at the island all weekend, a crewman explains. They’re highly sensitive to both fishing pressure and boat noise.

Another note: Advise against fishing for seabass on Mondays. Midweek, when pressure is much lighter, seems a much smarter choice.

Darkness has long given way to “gray light,” which has given way to a very gray morning, which is finally giving way to sunshine. Capt. Steve Thompson has guided the 57-foot Tracer, which runs out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach, to the island’s eastern shore, hoping for improvement.

Second skipper Ed Greta has passed out in his bunk, having taken his turn at the wheel during the six-hour run to the island. Deckhand Richard Utter is tossing squid over as chum, suggesting different weights and methods to improve the odds of getting something started. Galley cook Gafron “Gaff” Immel is filling the air with the smell of frying bacon.

The island, 21 miles long and 4 1/2 wide, is glistening beautifully, its lush grasses freshened by the morning dew. Its shores look so peaceful, so unspoiled. Yet, at times, they are anything but.

Atop a hill above Wilson Cove, barely visible, are telephone poles and wires, and windmills used to generate power. Beneath is a fairly vast military complex.

San Clemente Island, one of the most popular islands among Southland fishermen, is owned and administered by the United States Navy, utilized for tactical training. More than a dozen range and other operational areas are clustered within a 60-mile radius.

The Navy has an understanding with fishermen: When it’s time for target practice, clear out. Utter tells of the time a captain failed to understand the scope of this agreement. His boat was hit, it sank and “they settled out of court.”

True or not, I note: Suggest, emphatically, to take warnings issued by the Navy very seriously.

Thompson’s move, to an area a mile or so from the other boats, looks to be a brilliant one. A small calico bass is hauled over the rail. It’s followed by the first seabass strike of the day, then the second.

The first fish is lost after coming to color, an estimated 50-pounder that’s seen swimming slowly back into the wavering depths.

The second, hooked by charter master Earl McVicar of 976-TUNA, has pulled him across the stern, up the rail and back during a 10-minute battle that finally seems tilted in McVicar’s favor.

But then his quarry seems to gain a second wind. Line zips from the reel and keeps on zipping. Utter is the first to realize that a sea lion has grabbed the seabass.

McVicar has no choice but to use his palms to apply enough pressure to break the line at the hook, to keep from being spooled. The line snaps, McVicar falls back, cursing under his breath. Sure enough, a large sea lion emerges off the port stern, thrashing its prize atop the surface, attracting dozens of ravenous gulls from the island’s shores.

A similar fate then befalls a third seabass, the same whiskered culprit emerging in the same location, enjoying a second helping.

Worth noting: California sea lions are not only the nuisances fishermen claim them to be, they’re downright gluttonous and quite the gourmets. Seabass sells for about $15 a pound, so if those two the sea lion got each had 20 pounds of prime fillets, they would have fetched $600 at the market.

The late afternoon sun is soothing to the shoulders, which are being worked by mostly small fish. A 17-pound yellowtail caught by Frank Moore of La Mirada is the lone “exotic” prize in one of 14 mostly empty gunny sacks lining the bait tank.

The fishermen, by now, have resigned themselves to the fact that neither seabass nor yellowtail are going to cooperate.

The only drama, if it can be called that, is the calico bass contest between Michael Aaker of Redondo Beach and McVicar. Both are catching more than any of the others, by casting farther out, exhibiting more patience and setting the hooks at precisely the right time.

Aaker’s maintaining a narrow lead he holds until Thompson makes the call to reel in and begin the long and dreary journey home.

I note: When on one of these trips, it’s wise to watch the experts and do as they do. Calico bass aren’t seabass, but they’re far more prized and delectable than blue or blacksmith perch, which anyone can catch.

Having spent the night on a soft bed, I awoke Tuesday morning and set a course for the office, still planning to give the trip some ink. The first call to come in was from Pierpoint Landing owner Don Ashley, informing me that the seabass bite is back on, building along the windward shore of Catalina.

I’ll make note of it, I say with a sigh.

News and Notes

* Local saltwater: The seabass bite at Catalina peaked Wednesday, with most boats scoring quick limits of fish to about 30 pounds, and then adding a few yellowtail for good measure. The squid were thick in the area Thursday, perhaps too thick as the fish appeared full and not as interested in squid with hooks in them. . . .

The big news for the half-day fleet is the barracuda bite at Huntington Flats. Ocean temperatures are finally inching up, which might attract sand bass in time for the twilight-fishing season, which begins tonight at landings along the Southland coast. . . . Top catches: a 58-pound white seabass last Saturday off Laguna Beach by Irvine’s Zak Masri aboard the Western Pride; a 55-pounder speared Sunday off Palos Verdes by South Bay free diver Scott Susoff.

* Baja: Cabo San Lucas anglers are enjoying fair to good action on striped marlin and tuna, fishing mostly with live bait in the gulf. . . . In the East Cape region, the situation has improved dramatically as marlin have moved in. Tuna are being found in abundance beneath porpoises and dorado are being encountered offshore. Las Arenas Beach Resort captains report improved conditions as well. . . . Gene Allshouse at San Quintin Sportfishing reports a fast-warming ocean and the first wide-open yellowtail bite of the season off that northern Baja community, with fish to 36 pounds. Similar reports are coming out of Ensenada.

* Scuba diving: Those interested in being part of a world-record attempt can take part in International Dive-in Day on May 20. The Los Angeles-area site is Leo Carillo State Beach west of Malibu. At 8 a.m. divers at more than 100 sites worldwide will enter oceans, rivers and lakes in hopes of setting a record for largest group dive, and to support clean waterways. The event is open to scuba divers and snorkelers. Details: (619) 234-234-0345.

* Whale watching: The American Cetacean Society is hosting its first humpback whale excursion May 19, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., aboard the Condor out of Santa Barbara’s Sea Landing. Humpbacks and blue whales have been visiting the Santa Barbara Channel for the last several years, receiving little attention because of a public perception that whale-watching season ends with the passing of the northbound grays. Gray whales should be encountered as well. Details: (310) 548-6279.

* Hunting: Tag applications for pronghorn antelope, Nelson bighorn sheep, elk and deer must be received by the Department of Fish and Game’s license and revenue branch in Sacramento by 5 p.m. June 4. Applications for antelope, elk and bighorn sheep can be downloaded and printed from the Web site https://www.dfg.ca.gov/license/index.html. They must include a $6.50 per-person processing fee. Deer tag applications are available for advance purchase at DFG offices and sporting goods stores. Automated drawings will be held June 14.

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FISH REPORT, D12