SOCAL SALT REPORTS

SOCAL SALT REPORTS: Santa Monica Bay offers up the best shots at bassin’ Western Outdoor NewsPublished: Feb 08, 2010

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SOUTH CAL SALT REPORTS MARINA DEL REY — Wind and weather aside, the best shots for calico and sand bass last week were in the Santa Monica Bay, where boats out of Marina del Rey Sportfishing and Redondo Sportfishing were able to pick away at the bass when the weather allowed. Things laid down enough by Sunday that Marina del Rey was able to get the New del Mar out on its half-day trips. The two runs combined for 25 sand bass, 5 calico bass and 25 sculpin. Earlier in the week there was some better bass fishing before the most recent weathers cells swept through. The Spitfire showed that the big Humbolt squid are in the bay when one of the giants showed up on a Wednesday 3/4-day trip that also had 11 anglers nab 42 sand bass, 28 sculpin, 10 perch and a pair of another bay exotic — triggerfish. On Tuesday the ¾-day on the Spitfire scored better than half limits on the bass when a super light load of 6 anglers came back with 31 sand bass, 7 calico bass and 16 sculpin. Redondo Sportfishing had a tough time getting boats out last week due to all the weather. On Thursday there was a nice pick on the bass. The landing’s new half-day boat, Coroloma, posted 32 sand bass and a calico bass for 6 anglers. The Tradition kept its good string of bass counts alive by landing 32 sand bass, 7 calico bass, 10 sculpin and 25 perch for 8 anglers the same day. Giant squid extend their range from Orange to L.A. counties DANA POINT  — “Where will they show up next?” is one of the questions that landing and boat operators up and down the coast are asking of the “invasion” of Humboldt squid around Southern California. The most recent landings to get the Humbolts in their counts were Long Beach landings, which had great action on the squid early last week before the weather got up and the squid got squirrelly and tougher to find. The landings to the south around Dana Point and Newport have had consistent squid counts, with only San Diego giving up more consistent — and bigger — counts on the squid. Dana Wharf Sportfishing had three boats fish on Thursday night when the weather wasn’t too extreme and passenger interest was high. An incredible 176 anglers fished out of Dana Wharf mid-week on Wednesday when the Dana Pride had 84 anglers land 111 squid, the Reel Fun took 34 anglers to 65 squid and the Clemente cruised 57 passengers off the dock for 135 squid. The biggest hit on the squid was Wednesday when a big load of 85 anglers on the Dana Pride turned in 411 squid. The Saturday trip wasn’t as fast and furious, but the Dana Pride ended up with 72 squid for 64 passengers. Up at Newport Landing, the Amigo posted 165 squid for 24 anglers Thursday night and the Patriot had 183 squid for 47 people the same night. The big hit was a Tuesday night trip that ended up with 346 squid for 65 folks. There hasn’t been as much focus on fin fish since the big squirters showed up, although a Sunday half-day on the Patriot turned up 21 sand bass, 10 sculpin and a thresher shark for 26 anglers. With better weather in the cards for this week, look for more big squid counts from Dana Point to Long Beach. New Seaforth keeps its squid dominance rolling Seaforth, H&M Landing and Point Loma Sportfishing all have squid trips in the books, but the New Seaforth keeps posting the huge numbers SAN DIEGO — There hasn’t been much news so far as catching something with scales goes, however, the Humboldt squid fishing continues to be great, especially on the New Seaforth out of Seaforth Sportfishing, which has been on top of the squid all year. “The weather was tough at times, but the squidding is still really good,” said the New Seaforth’s Brian Castleton to WON. Not much has changed on the squid front. Even the nights with weather have gone the same way as most nights this season: the squid start out deep, then they follow each other up towards the lights. By the end of the night — on the good nights — the squid are in plain view, shooting under and around the boat. Castleton said the biggest night of the week was a Wednesday trip that posted the biggest score of the week for any boat up or down the coast when 70 anglers put a whopping 550 squid on the deck. There were other big nights — in terms of both counts and passenger loads — throughout the week. One was on Thursday when both the Dolphin and New Seaforth ran twilights. The Dolphin scored 218 squid, while the New Seaforth ended up with 365 of the big inkers. The weather kept boats from fishing the Baja coast on 1 1/2-day trips over the weekend. In general, fishing for fin fish hasn’t been too popular, thanks in parts to the action on squid and the fact that rockfish are still closed in U.S. waters until March 1. H&M Landing’s Premier has been posting good squid scores as well, like Saturday’s trip with 32 anglers that had 250 on the squid. The Premier has been running its extended half-day trips pretty consistently during the week as well when the weather allows. Friday had steady action for the 22 anglers who ended up with 90 rockfish, 2 lingcod and a sculpin. Only one 3/4-day trip ran last week, due to weather (WON’s ¾-day trip on the Malihini had to cancel due to weather). The one trip to run on the Malihini last week had 9 anglers sack 90 rockfish, 4 bonito and a sheephead.