Do you have a photograph of a fish you can’t identify? If so, we’re up for the challenge, and would welcome the opportunity to share your photo and its ID with an international audience of enthusiasts. (Whether published or not, we will personally respond to every inquiry.) Email your jpgs, as large/hi-res as possible, to: fishfacts@sportfishingmag.com.

Most U.S. anglers are familiar with various species of croakers as small bottom feeding members of the large family Sciaenidae — which includes redfish, black drum and white seabass — from surf or shallow inshore waters. In the Southeast, for example, spot and Atlantic croakers are available oftentimes in great numbers.

Angling enthusiast and IGFA representative Martini Arostegui is very familiar with such inshore croakers. But to catch some sort of small croaker in about 800 feet of water, well offshore of Buena Vista on the southern Baja peninsula, in the Sea of Cortez, was something of a shocker.

“My friends and I batted around a few potential species’ names, but with our 25-year-old identification guide, we were unable to positively identify it and figured it might not be listed in that book,” says Arostegui, who now lives in Seattle but grew up in Florida.

We turned to an expert for help on this and got a two-fer, since he invoked a second expert. Milton Love, a biologist at the Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara, knows his Pacific fishes. But this one gave him trouble.

“I hadn’t seen it before, and it was caught deeper than any published record for a croaker living in the Gulf of California,” he says. So he brought in Ross Robertson at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Robertson recognized it as the bigeye croaker, Umbrina bussingi.

Love says the species has been caught even deeper — from more than 3,000 feet of water — and is found from southernmost Baja to Colombia. It doesn’t get large, reaching only around a foot in length. The bottom dweller likely feeds on crustaceans, worms and small fishes. As common as croakers are worldwide, this is one species very few anglers have ever seen — or caught.

The post Fish Facts: Croaker from the Abyss appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

In many respects, when it comes to sport fishing, Southern California is a world of its own, offering anglers a number of distinct fisheries targeting different game fish in different ways.

What is known as the Southern California Bight encompasses nearly 300 miles of Pacific coastline from the border with Mexico north to Point Conception. (The bight includes another 150 or so miles of Mexican coastline as well, south of the border.) The offshore fishing here is productive, but heavily seasonal, being dependent upon critical water temperatures. For many of the popular, larger coastal and bluewater game fish — such as tunas, California yellowtail and white seabass — summer and fall are prime time, particularly for bluefin and yellowfin tuna because the bight sits pretty much at the northern end of their range. These species follow warming waters north.

Not so long ago, one could be forgiven for not mentioning bluefin tuna when describing SoCal fishing. They rarely came to the party here. That changed around 2015, a year marked by great numbers of bluefin, as well as a surprising showing of wahoo and even some blue marlin. Matt Florentino remembers it well. The hardcore offshore angler and AFTCO marketing director says that since then, the annual bluefin invasion has endured, and when the 20- to 300-pound tuna show up — typically by April and into October or even November — they become the main game in town for many fishermen.

The go-to offering for the biggest bluefin these days is a rigged flying fish dangled under a kite, often with a helium balloon in light wind conditions. While that’s hard for trophy tuna to pass up, Florentino says that pulling high-speed trolling plugs such as Madmacs 200 proved popular in 2022. When the bite’s on, throwing clear poppers and stickbaits into schools of bluefin feeding on baitfish at the surface is tough to beat. Early in the summer, he says, anglers on long-range boats fishing the bight off Mexico will drop knife jigs into 200 to 400 feet of water with heavy braid to hook bluefin. This is particularly effective at night.

Planning a Trip

The offshore excitement level really hits lift-off when mahi show up with the influx of warm water in summer and early fall. Some years, they’re almost absent, but in other seasons they’re temporarily abundant. Florentino cites the summer of 2022 as: “Insane for mahi locally! The best mahi fishing we’ve seen.”

California yellowtail remain enduringly popular along the SoCal coast, from schooling “firecrackers” of a few pounds on light tackle to grizzled old “mossbacks” of 40 pounds or more. Best fishing for these amberjack cousins starts in spring. Florentino suggests yo-yo jigging with metal jigs or dropper-loop bait fishing, but in summer’s warming waters, anglers go to surface iron jigs for fly lining bait such as mackerel or sardines.

The white seabass is a coveted game fish that can be encountered anytime of the year but particularly in spring when squid are spawning, especially around offshore islands.

Calico bass are the prized catch of nearshore reefs and kelp beds, becoming most active — as one might guess — in late spring and early summer (look for water temps of at least 62 degrees). Florentino cites the “three B’s” — bass, barracuda and (Pacific) bonito — as the mainstay of the popular local partyboat fishery, with California halibut often part of the mixed bag. This fishery in the spring of 2023 proved particularly good in the waters of the Channel Islands off the Santa Barbara and Ventura county coasts.

When to Go

Yes, there is something of a pattern here. That is, the warming temperatures from spring into fall mean lots of variety and plenty of action for anglers. While offshore fishing is generally on sabbatical in the winter, calico bass can be taken, though often around deeper structure, well out beyond their warm-water kelp-bed haunts.

Traditionally, winter was the time to go “rock codding,” as day boats took scores of anglers out to drop for a whole host of rockfish (Sebastes) species in many colors and sizes, both in relatively shallow waters and in much deeper waters. Typically, the toothy and tasty lingcod is part of these mixed bags, also. These days, the Pacific off Southern California is closed to all harvest of rockfish during that prime time, January through March. However, San Diego party boats regularly make forays south into nearby Mexican waters for great catches of rockfish — one of the tastiest fish in the sea.

Spring also means thresher sharks for enthusiasts who fish them just off the beaches. The action continues into the fall when smaller threshers hammer anchovies or other small bait. During the same period, small mako sharks (50 to 200 pounds or more) a bit farther out, offer an unusual sight-fishery off San Diego for fly-rod enthusiasts.

Helpful Links

In Southern California, private boats as well as charter and partyboats operate primarily out of the many landings found along the coast. An alphabetized list of landings can be found at socalfishreports.com/landings. Regulations change from year to year, so check the latest regs at wildlife.ca.gov/fishing/ocean.

The post Southern California Fishing Perfection appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

California’s state record swordfish was boated this fall by three dedicated and enthusiastic anglers. They like to think a fourth fisherman had a hand in their success, at least in spirit. Dillon Houston, Ezekiel Cruz, and Mason Karafa caught the swordfish on Oct. 27, a broadbill 68 pounds heavier than the previous California record.

They had spent the day fishing but not catching at La Jolla Canyon off San Diego. With the sun sinking in the sky, the moved to 9 Mile Bank, closer to the coast, where Houston — a co-owner of Brothers Sportfishing — last year met and became friends with Capt. Ron Ellis. A skipper from Santa Barbara who had relocated to San Diego, Ellis was lost at sea in February.

Help From a Friend

Houston, Cruz, and Karafa toasted his memory, dropped a squid-tipped hook nearly 2,000 feet, and within an hour had caught the 520-pound swordfish they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.

“We all looked at each other and said, ‘Capt. Ron had to have helped us do battle with that fish,’” Houston said.

The group fished from a 25-foot Davidson Bahia that usually sees bluefins, yellowfins, California yellowtail, mahi, and rockfish on Brothers Sportfishing charters. They only began swordfishing last year, so it’s no surprise they had never caught one this big. No one had, at least in California waters. The former state record fish weighed 452 pounds.

Using squid rigged on a J-hook and 12 pounds of lead, the group hooked up fairly quickly. After watching the rod tip intently for 10 minutes, Karafa jumped up and said, “we just got a bite,” Houston recalled. Karafa felt the rod come tight, and the 45-minute fight was on. A welder and son of a commercial swordfisherman from Chincoteague Island, Virginia, Karafa stayed on the rod throughout the fight.

They were able to unclip the sinker early in the fight, but the swordfish then sounded 900 feet (they watched it on the fishfinder). “When we got it back up, we saw it was a sword, and a big one at that,” Houston said.

The Challenges of Boating a Big Swordfish

The fish made a blistering run at the surface, then abruptly turned and charged the boat. As it thrashed near the stern and tried to spear the motor, Cruz attempted to secure it with the flying gaff, but the fiberglass pole broke on the fish’s bill and the gaff hook came out. The fish, meanwhile, got the line tangled around the motor.

Eventually the line was cleared, although the crew had to cut off three deep-drop lights to get the loop through the guides. Then, Cruz successfully gaffed the fish. Houston was at the helm and drove to the sword, the crew recovering line as they went. As they got close, it became apparent the fish was nearly finished. The flying gaff line had wrapped around the fish’s bill. With the fish expiring, “we gave it our all and it finally got it into the boat,” Houston said.

Along with all the other challenges of boating a record fish is finding a scale big enough to weigh it. Back at Dana Landing, the scale only went to 499 pounds. Phone calls were made and the group drove another half hour by boat to Chula Seafood at Driscoll Wharf, where the weight was recorded on a certified scale. The fish was processed, vacuum sealed, and split three ways, with plenty going to family and friends.

A Record Breaker

The record sword was caught on an 11/0 J-hook tipped with squid and tied to a 5-foot, 300-pound bite leader, followed by 200 feet of 100-pound mono, with 80-pound Izorline braid spooled on a Hooker Electric Shimano Tiagra 50-wide reel.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife certified the record Thanksgiving week. Big as it was, the record sword was only about half the size of the International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record. That fish, caught in Iquique, Chile, way back in 1953, weighed 1,182 pounds.

Houston noted the broken gaff, the combative fish, the tangles, and the sheer size of the fish, and marveled that the group prevailed. “It was insane, honestly,” he said. “Nothing was normal about the fish, from the start all the way to the end. If the stars didn’t align the way they did, we would have been fighting that thing all night.

“To this day, when we’re sitting having a beer, we say, ‘Thank you Capt. Ron for helping us find that fish,” he added. “We honestly think that even though he’s gone, we still feel like he’s out there. We honestly feel like if it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t have landed that fish.”

The post New California State Record Swordfish appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Ask Beau Leaman about beginner’s luck. The Santa Clarita, California, salesman was on his first fishing trip when he caught a potential world-record-breaking fish. Even more amazing, Leaman’s catch was of an extremely rare fish called an opah (Lampris guttatus). “It really was a blessing,” Leaman says.

Leaman was on an overnight tuna trip on the headboat Horizon out of San Diego, California. “I was with a group from church and some friends,” Leaman explains. Although this was Leaman’s first time on the ocean, he had experience trout fishing in lakes and streams. Leaman laughs, “I thought we were going to find some fish and cast spinning rods.”

Once he was on the boat, it didn’t take long for Leaman to realize he wasn’t in Kansas anymore. “I have never tried to sleep on a boat,” he starts. The rolly, noisy ride had Leaman tossing and turning. Up on deck, the scene was equally unsettling. 

The crowd was a mixture of families and first-time anglers, along with grizzled veterans you’d expect to see on a party boat. “There were guys with tattoos of fish and hooks,” Leaman marvels. He recalls one angler showed him pictures of a 300-pound tuna.

Leaman describes another angler pacing back and forth, staring at the ocean all night. “Holy cow, what kind of environment am I getting myself into?” he remembers.

When the boat stopped, Leaman had more surprises. “I didn’t know we were fishing with live bait,” he says. Leaman rented two rods: a lighter rod for live bait and a heavier rod for deep jigging. “The mates showed us how to hook the live bait and people in our group had experience,” Leaman says.

Still, Leaman spent a lot of time tangled with other anglers. At one point, he lost track of his fishing rod. “I was searching all over the boat looking for my rod.” Eventually he found his rod and marked it with a yellow ribbon. By late afternoon, the highlight of the day was a bonito Leaman hooked with another angler. “Nothing much was going on,” he says.

When the captain announced he was marking fish 30 feet below the boat, experienced anglers grabbed the light live-bait rods. Leaman decided to use his heavier jigging rod. “I figured I would warm up by jigging a lure from 300 feet,” he explains.

Leaman watched the depth-marked line leave his reel until his lure reached 300 feet. “I felt a bonk,” Leaman remembers. When he started cranking the reel handle, he found the line was stuck. “I thought I was snagged on a rock ,” he says. Leaman knew the water was too deep for a snag, so he continued to try to turn the reel handle. 

“I didn’t want to cry wolf,” he laughs, so he continued to struggle with the reel in silence. Eventually a friend asked if everything was okay. “The line was tight, but nothing was pulling. I felt steady, heavy pressure.” 

After other anglers confirmed Leaman must be hooked to a large fish, the crew started to buzz with excitement. In a few minutes, the captain was standing next to Leaman coaching him to fight the fish. 

At one point, the fish dashed to the bow and then ran to the stern. Leaman says, “The captain took the rod and helped me weave in and out of the other anglers.” Mayhem ensued with anglers yelling and shuffling while Leaman fought his fish.

When the huge fish surfaced, the captain yelled for gaffs. Four deckhands worked together to secure the big round fish and drag it onboard. 

“I was shocked,” Leaman says. A bystander remarked the strange fish looked like something engineered by the government. An opah is shaped like an angel fish with flat, silver sides mottled with shades of red and speckled in white spots. Sometimes these fish are also called moonfish.

“The fish had a huge eye and was covered in armor,” Leaman adds. Several places on the fish showed bites from cookie-cutter sharks. Leaman reflects, “There is so much grandness in the fish; I couldn’t help thinking of God’s creativity and power.”

Back at H&M Landing, the Opah weighed 188.6 pounds. The previous world record, set by Joe Ludlow in 2014 at San Quintin, Mexico, was 180 pounds, 12 ounces. Of course, the captain’s assistance and the shark bites could be ruled violations of International Game Fish Association rules, but the opah is still the biggest recorded rod and reel catch for this species. 

Leaman laughs, “My wife asked, ‘Why couldn’t you catch a normal fish?’” Leaman’s already shared the meat with friends and he’s looking online for opah recipes.

The post Rare Opah Catch Smashes World Record appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Best Time for California Yellowfin Tuna

Captain Andy Cates, of the Red Rooster III, says the season kicks off in September with 8- to 10-day trips to the lower banks including Potato Bank, Finger Bank and Morgan Bank. This is the land of giants, with the majority of yellowfin tuna weighing 200 to 300 pounds. “If you get a bite, it’s a big one,” Cates says.

The captain compares early-season fishing to big game hunting. He says anglers prepare for weeks for a shot at a true trophy. By January, the water on the lower banks cools down and the big tuna disappear. “We have no idea where they go,” Cates marvels.

That’s when he turns his attention to longer 15- to 18-day trips to the Hurricane Bank. Cates describes Hurricane Bank’s fishing as “action packed.” The bulk of the action is on 90- to 150-pound yellowfin. “Lucky anglers can get eight to 10 bites a day,” he says. 

The main goal of long-range anglers is landing a 200- to 300-pound cow yellowfins. Cates says February through April is the best shot at a trophy. In addition to tuna, Hurricane Bank offers top-notch wahoo fishing.

Cooler Water Temperatures Scared off Sharks

With the season wrapping up, Cates reflects on the trends he observed. “The water stayed cooler, so the fishing was better,” he says. Cates explains the cooler water discouraged sharks and presented a better opportunity to catch a tuna. 

In the beginning of January, Cates explained that the water temperature was in the mid-70s. As the season progressed, the temperature dropped to 72.5 degrees and the sharks disappeared. “It was absolutely brilliant fishing,” Cates remembers.

Hooks and Plugs for Tuna

Going toe to toe with a 300-pound yellowfin tuna requires the most advanced tackle. Cates says, “Lightweight and powerful rods and reels we use make it possible for anyone to land a cow.” The key connection is the hook, and Cates prefers the Trokar 619 series for strength and performance.

The hot lure for trolling for wahoo is the Nomad DTX. Cates laughs, “Everyone on the back of the boat has a DTX.” For the optimal action, anglers tie the swimming plug directly to the mainline. “Using wire makes the lure come out of the water,” he says.

Bluefin Tuna Fishing Heats up in June

As we interviewed Cates, he was preparing Red Rooster III for the last 15-day trip to the banks. When he returns, he expects San Diego bluefin tuna fishing to heat up. “Bluefin fishing is spotty right now but it should get better in June,” he says. 

Cates says the best bluefin action is at night, so he plans to bottom fish during the day and tuna fish at night. “We’ll catch 50- to 200-pound bluefin only 50 miles from San Diego,” he says. 

As for next season on the Mexican banks, Cates is hopeful. “If everything sustains and we don’t get a lot of warm water, I expect next season to rival this year.”

The post California Tuna Fishing Heats Up appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Have you tried California sight fishing in the surf? Are you up for a challenge? Trek the beaches anywhere south of Santa Barbara in the summer months to experience barefoot action for a croaker species as moody as a permit and strong as a redfish.

“Corbinas are every bit as difficult to target as bonefish or permit,” says California fly-fishing guide Glenn Ueda, who specializes in sight fishing this lesser-known species. “I like to call them the ‘ghost of the coast’ because most beach-goers don’t really know these fish are here. Plus, you might only get 5 to 10 legit shots in a morning of fishing, and they’re not always hungry.”

Make the most out of your trip by targeting the flattest beaches —stay away from rocky shorelines. “Set up with your feet dry on the sand, casting into 6 inches to a foot of water,” Ueda says. “Look out 50 feet into the water, nothing more, as any fish you see farther out aren’t willing to eat a fly yet.”

Corbinas ride the waves into the extreme shallows, looking for sand crabs to eat. They look like a mix of bonefish and oversized Florida whiting, with silver sides and a downturned mouth. Ueda says his average catch is 18 to 22 inches. He holds the 4-pound, tippet-class world record with a 5-pound, 8-ounce fish.

Ueda fishes in the mornings when the beaches aren’t crowded. An incoming tide during the full or new moon periods is an optimal window to target this species. “Look for structure like cross currents, channels, ditches, rips or troughs on the beach,” Ueda explains. “Corbinas use the deeper pathways to get onto the beach from the surf in search of mole crabs.”

Glenn Ueda’s Setup:

• Rod: 9-foot, 6-weight Orvis Helios
• Reel: Galvan Grip 6
• Line: Scientific Anglers SONAR Stillwater Seamless Density Sink 5/Sink 7
• Leader: 9-foot tapered fluorocarbon
• Fly: Surfin’ Merkin (tied with gray, mint green or pink EP Fibers)
• Stripping basket
• Sunglasses: Rose lenses in low-light haze; Copper lenses in bright sunlight

The post Catch California’s Corbinas in the Surf appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Daydream of big smallmouth bass, and your mind might drift off to the waters of northern Michigan or the lakes of eastern Tennessee. But today, you can add the desert impoundment of Lake Havasu to your dream list of prime smallmouth waters. And the scenery is breathtaking, with red-rock cliffs and cactus-studded shores serving as a stark counterpoint to the Havasu’s sparkling waters and great fishing.

Created in the early 1940s with the completion of the Parker Dam on the Colorado River, Havasu lies along a 45-mile stretch of the Arizona/California border in the Mojave Desert and offers approximately 450 miles of shoreline. While largemouth bass and striped bass served as the major attractions for decades, in more recent years, smallmouth bass have gained status as the darling species among bass-fishing enthusiasts. I had the opportunity to sample this great fishery with Suzuki-sponsored bass pro Dean Rojas.

Rojas has successfully competed in professional bass fishing since 1997. In 1999, he was named Angler of the Year in the B.A.S.S. Western Division. In the 2000/2001 B.A.S.S. season, he won the Lake Toho 150 event in Kissimmee, Florida. He followed that achievement with another win on the next stop in the circuit at the Louisiana Top 150 at Toledo Bend. That year Rojas placed second for overall season winnings of $333,940.

Rojas continues to compete as a bass pro in tournaments throughout the United States, but he lives in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and there’s a good reason he has chosen this location as his home base. “It’s a beautiful town,” he points out, “But I really wanted to live near a lake that would be a good training ground.”

Havasu provided the perfect waters in which to practice. At the time, bass fishing was only so-so, Rojas says, but that combined with a wide range of freshwater habitats helped him hone his skills for competitive fishing. “You can fish in shallow or deep water, in dirty water or clear, or around rocks or tule reeds,” he explains. “I needed to fish all of those bass habitats to round out my fishing skills.”

Smallmouth bass fishing improved over the intervening years, and today there’s a thriving population of the species known affectionately as brown bass. Today, the lake-record smallmouth bass stands at 6.28 pounds, caught in February 2017 by Sue Nowak. Rojas regularly catches smallies in the 4-pound range and even larger.

During our trip in late April, most of the smallmouth bass on Lake Havasu had reached their post-spawn mode, and were moving away from the shallows out to channel edges, drop offs, submerged brush and artificial cage-like fish habitats placed around the lake in the 1990s by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to help improve fishing.

“Smallmouth bass like to roam about and hunt for forage, rather than stake out a spot” Rojas says. “They like to cruise around ledges, rocks and artificial reefs in spring and summer.” We focused much of our effort on channels leading in and out of marinas and boat launch ramps, steep drop-offs along shorelines and points. Eight feet seemed like the magic depth during my trip.

Rojas uses the electric trolling motor on the bow of his Suzuki 250SS-powered Blazer 650 Pro Tour bass boat to cruise along these areas, many of which are visible in Havasu’s clear waters. Other times, he uses the Lowrance HDS-12 Live sonar to find such structure, then backs off to cast to the prime smallmouth habitat.

In this video, bass pro Dean Rojas describes how he rigs and effectively fishes drop-shot rigs for smallmouth bass on Lake Havasu. Jim Hendricks

The veteran bass pro employs a light spinning outfit and a drop-shot rig. This style of finesse fishing calls for using 6- to 7-pound-test fluorocarbon line and tying on a size 2, 1 or 1/0 Gamakatsu drop-shot hook with a Palomar knot, leaving a 14- to 20-inch-long tag line below the hook. The hook point should orient upward. To the end of the tag, Rojas ties a tungsten drop-shot sinker ranging from 5/16 to ½ ounce.

On my trip, Rojas used a 5-inch custom hand-poured plastic worm, rigged wacky style (pinned through the mid-section) to impart greater action, but the drop-shot also works well with grubs, fluke-style baits, and craw baits. The technique calls for casting out and working the drop-shot rig by lightly shaking the rod tip on a slack line, then pulling it a few feet and repeating.

Read Next: How to Catch Kokanee Salmon

The bite often proves subtle and light. Rojas calls it a pressure bite. “If you feel pressure, try not to swing hard,” he advises. “Just reel down as you might with a circle hook, as these drop-shot hooks are sharp and tend to set themselves.” If you swing with too much force, you can break the line on a large bass.

Our four-hour trip on Havasu with Rojas resulted in a number of nice smallmouth and largemouth bass, all caught using his drop-shot technique. Our bigger fish included a 4-pound smallie.

Smallmouth bass fishing remains strong throughout the year on Lake Havasu, though you might want to think twice about braving the oppressive desert heat to catch a smallmouth bass in summer. Temperatures can soar to 118 degrees F or more, giving new meaning to the expression, hot fishing. But whenever you go, Havasu can serve up superb smallmouth action, putting this desert impoundment on par with the famous brown bass waters of northern Michigan or eastern Tennessee.

The post Head to the Desert for Smallmouth Bass appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

A new study four years in the making by a team of marine fisheries and genetic scientists indicates that many more white seabass in California ocean waters emanate from the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI) hatchery in Carlsbad, California, than previously thought.

Presented at the Aquaculture 2022 conference in early March in San Diego, California, the preliminary findings contrast sharply with a 2017 study that suggested less than 1 percent of white seabass caught in California were from the Carlsbad operation, known officially as the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (OREHP). Researchers had based the previous findings on recovered coded wire tags that are routinely implanted in all juvenile white seabass at the hatchery.

In the new study led by HSWRI and a research team at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Ellen Reiber, a graduate student at the College of Charleston, used genetic markers recovered from tissue samples and archived otoliths (bones from the inner ears of white seabass) from hatchery brood stock and approximately 700 captured sub-legal-size fish (less than 28 inches in length) from the Newport Beach, Oceanside and San Diego coastal areas since the mid-1990s. A comparative analysis of the genetic markers found that 46.2 percent of the white seabass caught in these areas originated in the hatchery, as compared to only 7.4 percent of those fish having coded wire tags.

As a side note, among 50 adult white seabass collected from the commercial fishery in Mexico, 30 percent were identified as originating from the hatchery, but none could be identified as having a coded wire tag. These results suggest a major issue with the reliability of the coded wire tagging system for long-term identification of hatchery-reared white seabass, says Mark Drawbridge, senior research scientist for the HSWRI and a member of the team that undertook the genetics study.

“Obviously, a large number of the coded wire tags were either shed or lost their detection signal,” Drawbridge said. “We don’t know the reason, but we need to understand why—that will be a priority for our continuing research.” While still awaiting peer review and publication in a scientific journal, the eye-opening study is entitled Population Genetic and Stock Enhancement Tools for Conservation of the Overfished White Seabass.

Read Next: California High School Students Rear and Release White Seabass

“This new study changes everything,” says Wayne Kotow, executive director the Coastal Conservation Association of California and vice chair of the Ocean Resources and Enhancement Advisory Panel, which helps guide OREHP efforts. “While the impact of the OREHP had previously been panned as minimal, this study casts a far more positive light on the hatchery program.

“Anglers have always been suspicious of the results of the previous study, as it flew in the face of the great fishing for white seabass that we have experienced in Southern California for the past 15 to 20 years,” Kotow adds. “Now we know that those suspicions were more than justified. It feels like sweet redemption for those of us in CCA Cal who have always believed so strongly in the white seabass hatchery program.”

CCA Cal has served as key partner in the OREHP, particularly in tending the hatchery’s network of grow-out pens in harbors and bays along the coast of Southern California and Santa Catalina Island. Fingerlings are transferred from the Carlsbad hatchery to the pens, where CCA Cal volunteers feed and care for the fish until the white seabass reach about 9 to 10 inches in length, which is when they are released. CCA Cal volunteers also participate in the OREHP brood collection efforts.

Funded largely by sales of the Ocean Enhancement Stamp required on annual California fishing licenses for anglers fishing in ocean waters between Point Arguello and the Mexican border, the OREHP has released more than 2.5 million juvenile white seabass along the Southern California coast and Santa Catalina Island since 1986. The program was established in 1983.

The post Genetics Study Sheds New Light on California’s White Seabass Hatchery Program appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Few other fish possess the mystique of the white seabass, especially in the minds of Southern California saltwater anglers. The bright silvery croakers rank as one of the most coveted of all ocean gamefish on the West Coast. They can reach weights in excess of 60 pounds, and catching just one in a day of fishing triggers breathless celebration among a team of anglers.

The chances of catching one white seabass (the daily bag limit per angler from March 15 to June 15) or as many as three (the daily limit during other times) increases in spring and early summer as these fish follow the biomass of opalescent squid that, in most years, visit the waters of SoCal’s offshore islands such as Santa Barbara, Santa Catalina, San Clemente, Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa. Known as “candy bait,” squid become the preferred offering for these croakers in spring. In fact, on many days, squid—live, fresh dead or thawed frozen pieces—is the only bait that will elicit a bite.

Tanking Up

With squid serving as the lynchpin of a successful outing, white seabass anglers expend extraordinary efforts to fill livewells with candy bait. It’s called “tanking up,” and in years past, it often involved spending the night bobbing around on the squid-spawning grounds around one of the offshore islands.

Opalescent squid tend to spawn over sandy bottoms in about 120 feet of water, but they often rise to a light source. So boating anglers hang bright lights above and below the water to attract squid. Sometimes they form a floating school, allowing anglers to dip-net or use a crowder—a wide, flat fine-mesh net with a telescoping pole on each end. With a person on each pole, the crowder is lowered straight down, and then pivoted outward and lifted to the surface to corral the school before dip-netting the captives into the livewell.

In recent years, however, the growing popularity of this live bait has prompted a number of bait boats along the coast to net squid in purse seines and either sell it to anglers as they arrive at the islands or haul it back to ports along the coast so boaters can tank up before heading over the islands. A scoop consisting of two brails of live squid now sells for about $80.

Night Moves

An advantage of spending the night to catch squid lies in the opportunity to catch white seabass at the same time. The croakers sometimes cruise near the surface just outside the ring of lights used to attract squid, picking off stragglers that wander too far from the main school.

To catch these fish, anglers sometimes use floats to suspend a squid bait 6 to 12 feet below the surface. Using a Danielson EDF 1½ Easy Drifter foam float, attach a thin cord around the fishing line using a nail-knot to stop the line above the float presetting the depth of the bait. Tie on an Owner Aki Twist hook in a 7/0 to 8/0 size, and use a ¼- to 3/8-ounce egg sinker that slides down to the hook to keep the bait as vertical as possible below the float.

White seabass might also cruise below the schooling squid; astute anglers also drop white heavy metal jigs such as a 6-ounce Tady 4/0 with a single 8/0 Siwash hook with one or more live squid pinned to the hook. This replicates the spawning behavior of squid, and when dangled between the glow of the surface light and bottom, it can trick a croaker into attacking.

Gray Bite

Some of the best white seabass action occurs on the squid grounds in the morning twilight. During the time between the first inkling of light and sunrise, the croaker can feed heavily, often descending deeper to gobble up dead and dying squid off the ocean floor. This has led to a popular nickname for white seabass—gray ghosts.

To target fish in the gray, anglers drop their jig-and-squid combos deeper, and try to keep the jigs about 3 to 6 feet off the sandy bottom. This keeps the bait away from undesirable bottom feeders such as bat rays, guitarfish and leopard sharks.

A dropper-loop rig also works well in the gray. It consists of a 10-inch loop formed by a spider hitch about 4 feet above a torpedo sinker that’s tied to the bottom of the rig. Use the double line of the loop to tie on a 7/0 to 8/0 Owner Aki Twist with a Palomar knot and attach an 8- to 10-ounce sinker to bottom to keep the line as vertical as possible in the current.  As with a metal jig, place the sinker well above the bottom. If fishing multiple rods, stagger the lines at different depths with the goal of putting out a spread that will intercept any white seabass swimming under the boat.

Shore Patrol

Once the sun is up, white seabass often retreat to the shadows of the thick kelp beds that rim the islands. Daytime fishing these spots can pay off, especially on days when a good current sweeps the shore areas. A prime indicator is a milky-color break extending from the edge of the kelp along a sandy beach. The croakers feed along these breaks in depths from 50 to just 10 feet or less.

Anchor up to fish a nice-looking beach. Use a 3/8-ounce leadhead with a 5/0 to 7/0 hook. You can also use a ¼- or 3/8-ounce egg sinker that slides down to a 7/0 to 8/0 Aki Twist. Pin on one or more squid, cast toward the shore, and slowly work the bait back out to deeper water.

If fishing a kelp bed, the water is often deeper (40 to 60 feet). Anchor about 50 to 75 feet from the outer edge of the weeds. Using the same rigs as you would for the beaches, cast shoreward and let the current carry your bait downstream. At the same time, try to cover the water column using metal jigs and dropper loops to fish the mid-depths and bottom.

While you fish, chop up any left-over dead squid and put out a steady chum line. While this might not attract white seabass, it does draw other smaller fish, and sometimes the big croakers become curious and move in to investigate. If you do hook a seabass, toss out some live squid for chum, as these fish often travel in groups. If you can keep them around the boat, you might enjoy multiple hookups.

Read Next: Channel Islands Fishing Bonanza

Tackle Choice

In terms of tackle, serious white seabass anglers gear up with 8-foot medium-action rods and medium-size lever-drag and star-drag conventional reels spooled with 65-pound braid and a 10- to 20-foot topshot of 40- to 60-pound fluorocarbon line. The abrasion-resistant braid and fluoro better slice through the stalks of kelp should a white seabass bully its way into the weeds.

The technique works best if you back off the drag pressure a bit, if the fish finds its way into the kelp, so that the line can saw its way through. Once the fish clears the weeds, tighten up again and don’t back off until your croaker is on the gaff.

The post Gray Ghosts: Targeting the Elusive Southern California White Seabass appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

What does a lingcod eat? Anything it wants. These deep-water reef predators rule the bad neighborhoods where they live, feeding on octopus, sand dabs, rockfish and anything else they can fit in their cavernous, toothy maws. They readily attack prey seemingly too large to swallow, a reason they are often caught by anglers as “hitchhikers” literally lock-jawed onto hooked rockfish as they’re reeled toward the surface.

Savvy Southern California anglers know this and appeal to the lingcod’s ravenous appetite and aggressive nature by tossing super-size swimbaits. The technique has developed somewhat of a cult following: Small groups of swimbait aficionados gather in the bow of partyboats to “chuck the rubber,” while the majority of the passengers deploy dropper-loop rigs with 1-pound weights meant to carry live or cut baits into depths that can reach 300 feet or more.

The fall season—leading right up to the end-of-year Southern California groundfish closure in January and February—is probably the best time of the year to target big lingcod in this way. As temperatures cool, lings move into shallower waters and feed aggressively. Smart anglers venture out on skiffs and party boats to meet them, swim bait outfits in hand.

Make no mistake, plenty of anglers catch lingcod on live mackerel, live sardines or even whole or stripped squid fished on “shrimp fly” rigs. Large lings are sometimes taken this way in between reeling up vermillion, chucklehead or any of a wide variety of rockfish species.

But if you want to catch lingcod almost exclusively—and the largest ones on the boat—switch to big swimbaits. I say “almost exclusively,” because truly large rockfish of 5 pounds and up sometimes jump on these soft-plastic lures, as well, adding variety and quality to the equation.

Feed ‘Em a Mouthful

What do I mean by a big swim bait? Lure companies like Kustom Kraft, Candy Bar and Savage Gear have developed specialized lures for this technique, with beefy, sturdy plastic bodies boasting large paddle tails for maximum action and vibration. Up to 10 inches long, these tails pair with heavy, wedge-shaped leadheads sporting 7/0 to 10/0 hooks. Depending on the depth of the structure being fished, leadheads can range from 4 to 16 ounces. Some lures, like those from Savage Gear, feature molded leadheads designed for use with specific integrated tails.

Chucking the Rubber

Working a lure that must be retrieved can be a challenge when fishing craggy, rocky structure in waters up to 300 feet deep. Swim the lure as close to the bottom as possible for as long as possible. Partyboat anglers should stay clear of other anglers fishing bait rigs straight up and down.

The technique involves casting your lure from the bow or downwind corner of the stern. Toss it as far as possible and let it sink quickly to the bottom, then work the swimbait with a steady, medium-speed retrieve for about 15 to 20 turns of the reel handle. If you don’t get bit, freespool back to the bottom and repeat. As the boat drifts over and eventually away from your line, you will have to recast and begin the process again.

If the boat drifts too quickly, you might have to use a more vertical presentation. In those situations, I just wind quickly for about seven to 10 cranks, drop back and repeat. It takes some dedication to do this, but the reward is worth the effort.

At times, however, conditions just won’t allow for working a swimbait. When this happens, I switch to my second-favorite lingcod lure, which is a heavy metal jig. Fish these lures vertically and bounce them just off the bottom.

To create a large target worthy of attracting the attention of big lingcod, I replace the usual treble hooks with a large single siwash hook, onto which I thread a 6-inch plastic or Berkeley Gulp! grub.

Just Keep Grinding

New anglers trying to master the swimbait method must resist the natural impulse to set the hook. Lingcod often grab the lure by the tail and hold on, and if you swing the rod, you pull the lure out of its mouth (often ripping the tail off in the process). Instead, just keep turning the reel handle at the same speed until the rod loads up and the fish is solidly hooked.

If the fish lets go or comes off after a few head shakes, immediately drop the lure down a few seconds and start reeling. Lingcod hate to let any meal—even a fake one—get away. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sealed the deal after two or three re-bites.

Lings are also very competitive, and it’s not uncommon to have one or more free-swimming lingcod accompany a hooked fish on its way to the surface, ready to pounce on the lure should it become dislodged.

Trap Hook

To increase the number of solid hookups, I often rig my swimbaits with a simple trap-hook system. I loop an Owner 5/0 Assist Hook over the tip of the main hook and cinch it tight at the hook’s bend. Depending on the length of the swimbait, this provides a large trailing hook near the tail of the lure. I’ve caught plenty of big lingcod on the trap hook alone.

Maintain a slow and steady retrieve when fighting a big ling. They usually make a strong run toward structure once hooked, and after that, it’s usually heavy weight with just enough head shaking to rattle your nerves. If you keep steady pressure, lings usually stay fairly calm until they get near the boat.

Read Next: SoCal Lingcod Primer

Swimbait tails come in a wide variety of colors, and I’ve seen them all work. Shades of red and brown certainly match the natural coloration of juvenile rockfish.

Capt. Mike Nickerson of the popular Channel Islands-based sport boat Pacific Dawn likes a custom-poured tail he calls Blue Bass, the common name for the ubiquitous blue rockfish that populate these reefs. At the same time, I’ve caught plenty on gaudy colors like glow in the dark, chartreuse, pink-and-white striped and pearl white. I don’t think color is all that important as long as you work the lure effectively in the strike zone and maximize bites when they happen.

Tackling the Technique

It takes a specific style of rod and reel to effectively fish these heavy lures. Relatively stiff, fast-action graphite-composite jig rods of 8 to 8 1/2 feet work best for lobbing lures that might weigh up to a pound. Conventional reels can be either star or lever drag, as long as they hold 300 to 400 yards of 65-pound braided line.

Using straight braid with only a few feet of 40-pound test monofilament or fluorocarbon leader allows lures to sink quickly and keep you in direct touch with the lure and your fish. The short length of leader (joined with a back-to-back uni-knot) provides some added shock absorption and makes it easier to break off if you snag the bottom.

The post Using Swim Baits to Catch Big California Lingcod appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.