Author: Erik Landesfeind

It may have taken until August, but we’ve finally gotten away from the big tuna or bust mode we’ve been in this summer. While those bluefin are still biting, I’d like to spend most of today’s column talking about some of the other fishing options. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll start at the top and work my way down the coast. I spoke to Captain Larry Heron of Calico Hunter Charters this morning and he reported that there’s an excellent bass bite happening at Santa Cruz Islnand right now to go along with the 5 to 20-pound yellowtail…

There’s not one among us who hasn’t looked at the old photos from the Avalon Tuna Club and fantasized about being able to go back in time and get a shot at the leaping tuna that seemed so prevalent. That island and those fish were the crucible within which modern saltwater sport fishing was forged. Anglers like Charles Fredrick Holder, who’s catch of a record 183-pound fish in 1898 led to the formation of the Tuna Club, author Zane Grey, and “Tuna George” Farnsworth, namesake of the island’s biggest bank and developer of the kite trolled flying fish, drove advancements…

This is the second installment of the Cast and Blast Saga. If you missed the first part you can read it here. Still being on California time, and after having one too many cocktails the night before, I wasn’t feeling all that excited about going fishing when my alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. But after several minutes spent fumbling around my room I’d located my camera, sunscreen and a light jacket. I got out the door and most of the way to the dock before having to go back to the room and get my lunch which I’d been…

The big news this week is that the bluefin tuna have finally started to bite something other than just the kite again. The bite kicked off around the new moon when overnight boats found biting fish outside of San Clemente Island. The hook to land ratio the first couple days was pretty lousy due to anglers being ill-equipped for this grade of fish. In the days following that first flurry guys brought the heavy tackle and boats scored many fish over 100-pounds and several over 200. The fish have been biting best early with 3:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. being…

I think that it’s time to come to grips with the fact that the schools of big bluefin in our local waters just aren’t going to cooperate and bite for boats the way bluefin have in the past. So, if you’re expecting to go out, pull up on a sonar mark, throw some chum and have the fish come up biting in the corner, I’m pretty sure you’re going to have to wait until next year or maybe longer. That being said, the bluefin are biting really well for the guys trolling the kite with a gummy flyer. As you…

Part I: Culture Shock at the Cast and Blast A few months ago I received an email from my editor Scott asking if I’d like to attend something called the “Cast and Blast” media event. Attached to the email was a flyer promising an exciting three days of fishing in Crystal River Florida followed by an optional day spent traipsing around the wilderness and shooting wild animals with my choice of weapon. The trip sounded fun and I agreed to go, but having read too many Carl Hiaasen novels, I passed on the day of gun play, worrying I’d end…

Before I get into this week’s report, I’d like to take a minute to talk about a disturbing trend that I see developing, both in our forums, and on social media in general. While there are a lot of variations to the complaints I’ve been reading, the bottom line seems to be that many anglers feel that regular fishing is no longer good enough. If you’re one of those anglers that feel let down by, or angry with, this year’s lackluster fishing I’ve got something I’d like to tell you. El Nino is over! None of us wants that to…

The fish are biting well along the coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego. What you’ll catch depends as much on where you go as what decides to bite on any given day. Late last week 1/2 and 3/4-day boats out of Long Beach had barracuda scores in the hundreds. A few days later those same boats were loading up on big sand bass and filled up on sculpin on the days other fish didn’t want to cooperate. Private boaters have even more coastal options. I fished out of Long Beach on Monday with my friend Chris Oakes and we…

Enough bluefin were caught in the last week that I can no longer continue to boycott them in my column. I will point out though that the fish aren’t biting any better than they were, there are just more boats fishing for them with the only thing they will consistently bite, a trolled kite bait. As you can see from the photo above, taken aboard a ¾-day trip on the Liberty out of Fisherman’s Landing, even sport boats have been investing serious time trolling the kite. If you want a shot at a trophy bluefin, you’re chance to catch the…

As a form of protest against their unacceptable behavior I have decided not to report on the tuna bite that’s currently not really happening in our local waters. If you’re interested in fishing offshore this weekend I recommend taking a look at Fishdope to find out where the different sizes and species of tuna aren’t biting. This week’s report is going to focus solely on the fish that are biting. Before I get into this week’s report I’d like to share a funny story about the big seabass in the photo at the top of this article. My friend Eric…

With the BD Outdoors Yellowtail Shootout about a week away, it’s time to take a look at where this year’s winning fish might come from. A lot can change in a week or even overnight so regardless of what your initial plan is you’ll want to do your homework and keep a close eye on fishdope in the days leading up to the event to maximize your odds of connecting with the right fish. The event’s “lines in” format really opens up the playing field so we’ve got a lot of water to cover.  Thats where Navionics charts can really…

It’s a great time to be a bluefin tuna in Southern California. There’s plenty of warm and clean water, miles and miles of delicious bait balls, birds, dolphins and whales to interact with, lots of boats driving around and shoveling even more delicious bait onto your plate and very little chance of having any negative interaction with an angler’s line. Just swim around, gorging yourself on bait fish, and giving the fin to all those silly humans wasting their time and money to drive out to the middle of the ocean to watch you eat. My friend Craig Bark made…

After fishing Mexican waters on Saturday and US waters on Wednesday, I can tell you that there is an incredible amount of tuna offshore right now. After getting zero bites despite making hundreds of casts at boiling fish during those two trips, I can also tell you that it’s an incredibly frustrating time to be a tuna fisherman. An Instagram follower of mine summed it up best when he referred to the display the fish are putting on as “strip club foamers” where you can look but you can’t touch. But some fishermen have been lucky enough to be in…

Just about every sport boat captain that’s been fishing offshore this week has made the same report. “Not catching much but seeing lots and lots of fish.” What they’re not saying is that if these fish do decide to bite, things are going to be insane. I think that Captain Ryan Bostian of the San Diego summed it up best last week when he cautioned anglers to be ready to target fish from 4 to 200-pounds on any given day. While that may sound outrageous, on a recent trip aboard his boat, anglers caught everything from tiny kelp paddy yellows…

Rapala X-Rap Long Cast – Try These Calico Friendly Hard Baits I’ll be honest, I’m a little late in getting behind fishing hard baits for calico bass. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had them in my tackle box for years; I just rarely tied one on and fished it. As with many baits, my resistance to throwing one was mostly due to a lack of confidence in my ability to catch anything on them. It was standard non-confidence bait operating procedure, I’d tie one on, make a few casts, not catch anything and go back to fishing baits I trusted. After…

Well, Memorial Day weekend is upon us already and other than a few shots of early season bluefin, the season seems to be rolling along in a manner that would indicate things may be finally returning to normal SoCal fishing after that wild multi-year run. Are the fishing fireworks over? Your guess is as good as mine. The good news is that normal isn’t always a bad thing. Especially when normal SoCal fishing means biting yellowtail at multiple islands and school sized bluefin within range of 3/4-day boats in May. Since we’re kicking off the unofficial summer season, and we’ve…

Options After A Windy Weather Week We’re coming off yet another week of lousy windy weather and there isn’t a whole lot of exciting stuff to report. The good news is that we’ve got some good weather forecast for next few days, so the fish should bite better than they have been earlier this week. One thing to be aware of is that the water temps have likely taken a significant hit in most areas so I wouldn’t be expecting any miracles. Starting out on the inshore scene, the bass are biting for the guys that are targeting them. The…

This article is the second installment on targeting bass in our bays and harbors. So, if you haven’t already done so, I recommend reading the first article which can be found here. Once you’ve figured out likely areas to fish inside the harbor, you’re going to want to find the presentations that will maximize your chances of catching fish. The photo above shows what I’d consider a harbor starter pack. From left to right you have a creature bait on a leadhead, an Owner Sled Head ready for a Gulp! 6-inch jerk shad and a 5-inch swimbait on a weedless…

Well, the good news is that this week’s good weather lead to many boats scoring some nice fish. The bad news is that we’ve got a windy weekend ahead, with a late season rainstorm heading our way on Saturday night that will make for a rough ride to the tuna grounds. That being said, there are still plenty of options available for those who don’t mind fishing in the rain. Big bluefin like the one pictured above, caught on the Malihini out of H&M Landing are still around and biting occasionally but the majority of the tuna caught this week…

If you’ve been following the weather reports you know that the wind this week has been horrendous. Despite the adverse conditions, the boats that have made it off the dock have caught fish when the weather allowed. if you’re reading this on Friday, the wind is likely to be blowing steadily. The good news is that according to forecasts, the weather is going to come down and stay down for at least a week starting Sunday. As you can see on the Navionics Boating App, the wind is going to peak on Friday afternoon, with sustained winds of 20 to…

It’s spring time in Southern California and the fish are biting. Tuna down south, yellows and seabass at the islands, when the weather is good, you can take your pick. When the wind blows, as it often does this time of year your options are much more limited. Next time you’ve got the urge to fish and the weather doesn’t allow, try fishing inside the harbor, you might be surprised at what you catch. Every harbor in Southern California offers multiple fishing options, but few house the diversity of structure types that are found in Long Beach and LA Harbors.…

I’m excited to announce that I’ve partnered with Navionics to present a series of instructional webinars this year. If you’ve never attended a webinar, it’s a lot more in-depth and interactive than the normal live seminar. The webinar is structured around a Power Point presentation that allows you to view detailed maps and photos which help me explain some of my more abstract fishing theories. The webinar portal also allows viewers to send me questions in real time so I can adjust my presentation towards what attendees want to know. All of these things contribute to create a format where…

Seabass Yellows – Yellow Bass Fishing Tips “Right place at the right time today” was what the Aloha Spirit reported on Wednesday after landing seven quality seabass and a yellowtail for the day. This sentiment has been echoed by anglers up and down our coast this week as there are plenty of fish around but getting them to bite takes a little luck and a lot of good timing. These seabass and most of the yellows being caught in the Channel Islands are coming from the parking lot that is the east end of Anacapa Island. This area is about…

The seabass bite that happened on this week’s full moon reassured me that no matter how strange the fishing has been over the last few years, some things are happening on a normal schedule. As to those seabass, they bit really well in multiple areas for a couple of days and while the bite has dropped off a bit with the waning of the moon, there are still fish to be caught. The most consistent bites have been coming from Ventura County where both overnight and full day trips have been scoring both seabass and yellowtail. There are some fish…