Long Beach Dusk Trips, and Encore by Giant Shark

Great twilight fishing last Saturday night on the Native Sun out of Long Beach Sportfishing as 24 anglers sacked up 75 sand bass and 78 fat sculpin. Rachel Chiu and her husband Kevin brought Kevin’s father all the way from Malaysia to make this trip. They had a ball and even though they didn’t catch a ton of fish, a group of anglers on board donated some fish and sent the trio home with a bountiful seafood feast.

The bite turned on around 10 p.m. when the vast majority of the fish were caught. Once again, a two-ounce leadhead tipped with squid was the best way to get a bite. Make sure you check out the attached video to see all the action. Lots of big sculpin and some nice sand bass made for some of the best surface action of the weekend. There is more twilight action this Friday and Saturday night, 6:30pm-Midnight. Reservations at 562 432 8993 or 424 237 0250.

Surf Fishing

Tim Rand from Long Beach loves to surf fish more than anything else. Maybe that's because he's so good at it. Rand and three buddies were fishing an undisclosed beach last Friday where they caught nine legal halibut and released over 40 short (less than 22-inches) of the fine eating flatfish in less than 2-hours. 

"I had the biggest and it was just under 15-pounds," said Rand. Rand attributes much of his success to fishing light tackle, using live bait and fishing the high tides. "We fish 8-pound test with a 10-pound test leader and a 1-0 mosquito hook," said Rand. Rand and his fishing posse take the time to catch live bait, mostly smelt and fish when the tide is high. 

On Friday, a huge school of big sardines came in to the area when Rand and his friends were fishing. Unbelievably, as the bait school came into the shallows, there were halibut clearing the water in pursuit of a quick meal. "It was crazy; they (halibut) were jumping out of the water," said Rand. 

While the light line results in more bites, Rand says that if you hook a fish over 30-inches in length, you will have your hands full. "They will bull you up and down the beach," said Rand who has also had a rod snapped in half. 

For Rand and his friends, surf fishing is not only fun, challenging, and economical; it can be very productive too. "Where else can you walk to a beach ago home with a meal for the family?" 

Barracuda

The barracuda bite jumped into high gear for Redondo Beach based boats as the best fishing of the year broke loose on Wednesday. The ½ day Redondo Special had over 90 barracuda for 25 anglers but that only tells a fraction of the story. “We lost over 50% of the fish we hooked because they were too darn big,” said Redondo Special galley cook Mark Zagha. “Our jackpot fish was a 13-pound monster caught by Time Warp (that’s his name) from Eagle Rock, “ said Zagha.  “We had another 25 barracuda over 10-pounds.”

That would make this some of the best barracuda fishing we have seen in many years in terms of the size of the fish. Warp reportedly broke two rods on this trip, lost at least 10 fish before taking his 10-fish limit of barracuda.

Jimmy Bass from Tradition Sportfishing said his ¾ day boat experienced similar this week. “We had an angler try to bounce a barracuda and he snapped his rod in two,” said Bass. “All I can say is that anglers should call for a gaff if they have one of the monsters.

Many private boaters were also into tremendous action on Wednesday too. Giant bird schools of the hard fighting gamefish were seen throughout the Santa Monica Bay.

Fishing with Phil will be on the Tradition out of Redondo Sportfishing this Friday for the same price of $60. There will be a free raffle, pro-staff on board to help you out and a new Phil Friedman Outdoors Video will be shot that you can be the star of. For reservations call the Tradition Information and Reservation Line at (818) 455-6566 or Phil directly at (424) 237-0250. It’s always a thrill to go Fishing with Phil!

Fat Halibut

Captain Gary Lacroix of the Highliner out of Redondo has seen some fat halibut taken lately too. “A couple of the guys at the marina have been catching some nice halibut lately. They have a small patch holding some very nice fish, several over 30 pounds,” said Lacroix.  “It is not a rumor either; I saw them come in with five fish, with two over 30 pounds.”

There has also been more white seabass taken by free divers out of the rich Palos Verdes kelp forests to over 60-pounds. In short, the Santa Monica Bay is going great guns and still has the potential for still more gamefish in the future.

As we previously shared:

Basking shark on Video
A giant basking shark was cruising off the bow of the San Pedro based sportboat Sea Anglers around 12:30pm on Saturday. "I just got word from (Sea Angler) Captain Greg Watson and we are headed that way full speed," said whale watch Captain Carl Mayhugh. "I think our whale watchers will be thrilled to see it."

Also in the area, about 7 miles from Long Beach, was the 3/4 day boat Victory out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach. "It was big," said Captain Mike Blue. "I am guessing somewhere between 18-25 feet." The Christopher out of Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach arrived on scene and treated their passengers to the incredible sight. 

The basking shark is the second largest living fish after the whale shark. While the sight of a basking shark may strike fear in to those who encounter it, it truly is a a docile creature. It is a slow moving and generally harmless filter feeder and has anatomical adaptations such as a greatly enlarged mouth and highly developed gill rakers.