Author: Erik Landesfeind

Expert white sea bass fishermen use a bunch of “secret” techniques and a million different variations of those techniques to get bit when the fishing is tough. I’m far from being a sea bass expert so I’m not privy to these secrets, but I’ve found that you don’t need to get too crazy with your gear to catch white sea bass. White Seabass Tackle Tips Most seabass trips start out fishing on the squid grounds, and regardless of which island you’re at, the techniques are basically the same. My favorite rig to fish these areas is a dropper loop tied…

Before I get into the meat of this week’s column, I’d like to make mention of a couple of extremely remarkable catches made last week. The picture above shows the smaller of two 50+ pound yellowtail caught aboard the Native Sun 3/4-day trip out of 22nd Street Landing. Captain Aaron Graham reported his passengers going two for two on these bruisers, one coming on a spinning rod and the other on 20# test, both in the middle of a kelp bed at Palos Verdes. Of note, these fish were caught in the same general area that I saw huge yellows…

As I sit here writing this on a breezy Thursday morning in late March, I can’t help but shake my head at just how many times my fishing predictions have been wrong over the last three years. Just when I think I’m finally getting a grip on what’s happening and what should happen next, the fish prove me wrong. Guess I’ll just have to get used to being wrong because there’s no way to fit this fishing square peg into my round hole of experience. If nothing else, I can predict that we are likely in for another wild and…

We’re on the back end of a windy week in Southern California and as I sit here writing this on Thursday morning I can see the leaves on the tree outside my window are still rustling but they’re doing it a little less than yesterday. The weather forecast is calling for another system to move through on Friday night and Saturday morning. I wouldn’t let it keep you from going fishing as the winds are forecast to be calm and the fish are already wet so a little rain shouldn’t hurt them. Despite the wind driven lack of reports over…

The Fred Hall Show in Long Beach is behind us but we’ve still got the Del Mar show coming up, so if you didn’t already stock up your spring yellowtail arsenal, visiting the show would be a great opportunity to get some deals on what you’ll need. As for me, I bought way too much tackle as usual and most of it is likely to spend the next couple years hanging on the already overloaded peg board in my garage. Something that will not end up in peg board purgatory is the new jigs I picked up as I plan…

Fish Bite Foggy Week – Fishing In The Fog Socked in fog was the name of the game for most of Southern California this week. What was the most persistent fog in recent memories kept many anglers off the water this week but the ones who did brave the limited visibility reported good fishing. There is fog forecast all the way through the weekend but the good news is that winds are forecast to be light across the entire Southern California Bight. As you can see from this screen shot of my Navionics Boating App, there will be ten knots…

Good Fishing Going In To Weekend As expected, the rockfish opener got plenty of boats off the dock this week and good fishing was reported from San Diego to Santa Barbara despite some locally windy conditions. The weather forecast is looking great for the entire SoCal Bight this weekend, so there’s no excuse no to get out and use some of that new tackle you bought at the Fred Hall Show last week. Let’s take a look at what’s happening. This being rockfish season, my go-to pick for the week is the Channel Islands. Overnight boats have been fishing the…

For the first time in what seems like several months, it looks like we’re in for a weekend of good fishing weather (Fishing Improves Weather Stabilizes). And based on the way the fish have responded in the recent weather windows we’ve experienced, I’d say the chances are good that the fish will be biting. So let’s take a look at some of your fishing options for the weekend. Since rockfish is open again, I’d like to start north and work my way south. I’m writing this article on the morning of the opener, so any rockfish that have found their…

Well, last weekend’s storm came through with the vengeance that was promised. High winds, heavy rains and extremely rough seas were the name of the game. I spoke with Captain Larry Heron of Calico Hunter Charters this morning and he said the weather stations on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands were reporting sustained winds of 60 MPH and gusts approaching 80. While it wasn’t nearly that bad down this way, you can see in this pic that was taken at the Long Beach breakwall on Friday afternoon, this storm was no joke. I also saw a video filmed by…

Though not a big fan of the term “Atmospheric River”, I prefer the old school “Pineapple Express”, I’ve got to say that I’m pretty impressed on the one that we’ve got bearing down on us as I write this on Thursday afternoon. While most of the reports are calling for a couple inches of rain along the coast on Friday afternoon and evening, if this photo sent to me by my friend Chris Husband is proven correct, we might be seeing as much as 5 to 7-inches along parts of the Ventura coast. There’s also some serious wind associated with…

Anybody else tired of this rain yet? I sure am. Especially after checking the long range forecast and seeing that while we’ll only have post-storm wind to contend with weekend, next weekend looks like it’s going to be a complete rain out. I know we need the rain, but it would be great if it could stick to falling midweek for the rest of the winter. Before I get into what’s been biting, I’d like to take a look at what we’ll be facing weather-wise this weekend. The rain from Friday’s storm may trail off into Saturday, but won’t really…

Well it looks like the yellowtail at Colnett weathered the big storms just fine as boats making the run over the weekend reported good to excellent fishing. Quite a few boats ran 1 1/2-day trips over the weekend and everyone caught fish. One of the highliners was the Pacific Queen who reported limits of yellows from 10 to 25-pounds for their 22 anglers. The Liberty also had good fishing and tallied 64 yellows with 100 quality rockfish to round out the count. For the most part these fish are being caught on yo-yo jigs but have occasionally been coming up…

There really isn’t much to report this week. In fact, other than the bass and sculpin that the 1/2 day boats caught in the last couple days there’s been little to no fishing done in Southern California since the middle of last week. But don’t let the lack of reports keep you off the water this weekend. The conditions are improving daily and with light Santa Ana winds forecast for the weekend, there are lots of good options available. As you can see by this wind forecast, the strong Santa Ana winds that are forecast to blow on Friday “should”…

I feel the need to preface this report with a disclaimer that anything you read below is no longer to be considered current information. The massive amount of rain forecast for the weekend coupled with strong winds along our inner and outer waters are going to have a lasting effect on conditions. This being winter, I’m sure that the sand bass, sculpin and rockfish will likely bite again once the weather returns to normal, but the yellowtail bite, along with the rumors of hold over bluefin, will likely be different or gone once the skies clear. For those of you…

Fish Bite Showers Maybe its because of all the rain we’ve had this week, but sitting at my desk on this gloomy Thursday morning I’m having trouble mustering the enthusiasm to write about the weekend fishing prospects. In fact, this weather makes me feel like just leaving the boat sitting in the driveway like I did last weekend. The problem is that, like last weekend, by Sunday afternoon I’ll be wishing I’d have gone and when I read my friends reports on Monday morning I’ll be kicking myself for not going yet again. Yes, it’s that time of year where…

I’m usually pretty good about regularly servicing my fishing reels. But in the wake of the multi-year fishing whirlwind that was El Nino, I’ve realized that that I hadn’t been maintaining my reels so much as keeping them on life support. After spending an afternoon feeling drags and checking for free spool I’d amassed a pile of over 30 reels that needed some sort of service. While I normally would have had that many reels serviced a couple of years anyway, the prospect of shelling out over $600 in labor, at $20 a pop at the local tackle shop, was…

Welcome to winter in Southern California where the fishing interest is lacking. The steady stream of rain showers that have been coming through every few days seems to be just the recipe to keep boats at the dock and anglers doing things other than fishing. The good news is that the fish are biting despite the lack of participation, so if you’re interested pick a day that it’s not supposed to rain and go fishing. With rockfish closed, sport boats in the Long Beach area are fishing sculpin with a side of sand bass when they can get off the…

As of the time of this writing on Thursday morning, there haven’t been any reports as to whether or not the bluefin stuck around the Tanner Bank through the Christmas weekend weather. The Oceanside 95 is scheduled to make a run out there tonight, so we’ll find out what, if anything, is happening on the bank. The bad news is that even if the fish are still there, we’ve got another round of storms scheduled for the weekend so the area will likely be unfishable until early next week. With the tuna out of the picture (for now anyway) the…

For the first time in what seems like a very long time, the air felt different when I left my house in Long Beach this morning. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what the difference was but there was a freshness to it that I hadn’t felt in the last three winters. Looking across the street I noticed the leaves on the trees looked cleaner, as if they’d finally been rinsed of the dozens of months of unusually dry and warm weather. Their trunks dark brown, almost black, looking finally re-hydrated after yesterday’s all day soaker. So, what…

If you’re like most private boaters in Southern California, you’ve probably targeted sand bass during their summertime spawn. At that time of year, catching sand bass is a pretty simple proposition. Head down to the flats, find the fleet of boats that’s always there and start fishing. But if that’s the only time you target sand bass, you’re missing out on the best part of the fishery. When not spawning in the mud, sand bass spend their time posted up on the rocks, reefs and wrecks that dot the coastline and if you do a little bit of prep work,…

As much as I’d like to be one of those guys that looks forward to spending a few hours tinkering around on their boat after work, it’s just not the case. The truth is that I rank boat maintenance right next to laundry on my list of things that I’d rather not be doing. This aversion to boat work coupled with the fact that my boat partner Matt and I don’t always treat our boat all that well (“drive it like you stole it” pretty much sums up our maintenance philosophy) led to several hefty repair bills the first couple…

Well, it looks like the bluefin tuna bite has finally ended. But the asterisks to that statement is that, the last couple years being what they have been, I wouldn’t be surprised if those fish showed up somewhere else tomorrow. As for the Tanner Bank bite, it sounds like the squid that the tuna had been feeding on dried up. There were some seiners out there wrapping it earlier this week but I wouldn’t blame it on them as they don’t have the capacity to wipe out that much volume. More likely is that the squid spawned on the full…

The bluefin tuna continue to bite for boats making the run to Tanner Bank. The Fortune returned from a trip there on Wednesday morning with 20 big bluefin for 14 anglers and boats report the fish are still biting at the time of this writing on Wednesday afternoon. This weekend’s weather forecast for the bank looks fishable but uncomfortable, so if you’re thinking about taking your own boat out, I’d double and triple check the weather before committing to the run. We’ve got a full moon coming up early next week and that could either improve the bite or send…

Last week I expressed concerns that the weekend’s storm might be enough to shut down the bluefin bite. Well, apparently it’s going to take more than a couple days of heavy wind to get these fish to leave town as boats got back on them as soon as the weather laid down enough to make the run. The Dreamer out of Pierpoint Landing was one of the first boats to make the run on Sunday and they were rewarded with nine quality tuna. Tanner Bank continues to be the hot spot for these tuna and as of Thursday morning the…