I wouldn’t say that all eyes are on Catalina, but the island has been getting a little bit of coverage by those looking for early season seabass.

The only overnight boat running north of San Diego this year has been the six-pack Options out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach. The boat fished Catalina Saturday and Sunday. I talked to skipper Tino Valantine this morning (Monday) and here’s the short end of it: no seabass.

Here’s the longer end of it: Both trips fished the east end where the first two Catalina fish of the year were caught a little over a week ago. From there, they worked to the west, finding water as warm as 60.5 degrees. “The water was a degree warmer than it was when we were over there a week earlier,” said Valantine on his call to wonews.com. Still, with an eight foot lump, it was heading towards getting washed out along the back.

It’s still super early for white seabass at Catalina, but there’s a lot of island to look at for private boaters looking for a Magellan mission. There’s plenty of bait east of the Isthmus.