Redondo Sportfishing closes its doors!
Long-standing landing on Redondo Pier has gone of out business, but boats Redondo Special, Highliner, Betty-G and Tradition to keep running 'on their own'
BY BRANDON HAYWARD
WON Staff Writer
REDONDO BEACH — Redondo Sportfishing owners John and Dee Devore have closed the long-standing landing on the Redondo Beach Pier. But the locked doors will have no effect on anglers — all the boats are still running, just on a slightly different program.
“It all came on so quick,” said Eric Hobday, owner/operator of the half-day boat Redondo Special on the landing closing. “But we’re running full-speed ahead, and nothing really changes except that we will be selling tickets on the boat.”
Whether the landing will re-open in the future is unknown, however, the good news is that the entire fleet of boats that ran out of Redondo Sportfishing will still be running trips. Only difference is that tickets will be sold on the boats on a cash basis.
Hobday said that the marina is working on getting someone in the office at what was Redondo Sportfishing to answer phones, but in the meantime anglers can call the boats directly for reservations and information. Anglers wanting information on the Redondo Special can call Hobday at (310) 896-6753; the number for the Tradition is (818) 855-9501; the number for the Highliner is (310) 918-5908. Contact details for the Betty G were unavailable.
Bait is coming from Larry Durr at In Seine. Hobday said that the live squid has been giving up good rockfishing, with some nice reds in the mix.
While nobody is currently answering the phone number that was Redondo Sportfishing, the number (310) 372-2111 is staying the same and it could be staffed in the future. In the meantime, call the boats directly for information and/or reservations.
SOCAL DUCK REPORT: Waterfowlers await more new ducks
Some refuges and duck ponds flooding
BY JIM NIEMIEC WON Staff Writer
WASCO – Sometimes even waterfowlers can get too much of a good thing.That was the case atKern County, which was hit with heavy rain and some areas were flooding.
"We had over 4 ½inches of rain on Sunday and it's still coming down hard right now (early Monday morning). There is some flooding in the valley with roads being covered in sheets of water. We are dumping as much water off the refuge as we can and even though things are a mess we should be huntable come Wednesday, but more rain could make things worse," said Kern National Wildlife Refuge manager David Hardt. One problem that hunters could face who head up to Kern to hunt over the next couple of shoots is that at lot of the valley could be flooded, thus allowing ducks to use open water on farm land rather than having to stick to the refuge. Not much in the way of weather over the weekend resulted in fewer ducks and geese shot at Wister, the Hazard Unit and Union Tract. There was no rain in the valley through the end of Sunday, but that could all change by mid-week, if, the massive "pineapple express" drops down and hammers Southern California with more rain. Unfortunately the storm pattern didn't push any ducks out of the Great Basin last week and numbers of birds have dropped on most refuges. Waterfowlers should be aware that state and federal refuges will be closed on Saturday, Christmas Day, but the state refuges that normally shoot the entire weekend will be open on Sunday.
Following record salmon run, Smith steelhead numbers look promising
BY BILL KARR WON Staff Writer
SMITH RIVER--The record-breaking fall king salmon run at the Smith River's Rowdy Creek Hatchery isn't the only thing anglers are thankful of this holiday season. Anglers are now celebrating one of the best starts to steelhead season on the Smith in several years.
Steelhead returns to the hatchery are substantially above normal. Through Dec. 18, hatchery manager Andrew Van Scoyk reported 98 steelhead back to the fish trap, compared to just 12 at the same time a year ago. "They've been almost all hatchery fish," Van Scoyk said. "It has been a lot for this early."
Hatchery workers normally don't weigh the steelhead that return to the fish trap, but two so far were so big Van Scoyk pulled out the scale. One weighed 20 pounds, while another was barely smaller at 19 pounds. "Both of them were really big hatchery fish," Van Scoyk said.
One big steelhead was reported this week, a 22 pounder caught by someone fishing with Mike Coopman, according to Martin.
A few salmon continue to enter the hatchery daily, but the run has tapered off in the past week. Through Dec. 18, hatchery workers counted 3,348 kings. That's well ahead of the previous record of 2,775 kings counted in 2009.
The number of adult females at the hatchery was almost three times as many as last year. While some of the fish were kept for hatchery production, most were released to spawn in the wild in Rowdy Creek.
"We should see really good fishing in the Smith River estuary for years to come," said guide David Castellanos. "The hatchery has really helped build the great estuary fishery in the Smith."
|
