Author: Erik Landesfeind

Rockfish Dominate Counts Despite having our first real episode of wind in a while, the fishing remained pretty good for most of the coast this week. The forecast is for the weather to come down this weekend everywhere but the northern Channel Islands. So, let’s take a look at our fishing options. As I said, the wind blew most of the week in Ventura County and not too many boats made it off the dock. The ones that did were stuck fishing close to home and their results reflected it. Things are looking better for the weekend and most areas…

Fishing Equipment List Becoming complacent is probably the biggest stumbling block we face as anglers. To make matters worse, the more success we experience, the more likely we are to become complacent and as a result our level of success decreases. The sad part is that we often don’t realize we’ve become complacent until it’s too late. So what does this have to do with putting things together on the water? Well, to put it simply, the complacent angler often doesn’t put things together on the water. Rather than actively fishing, they’ll drive around with their head down, running to…

After reading some recent posts on our message boards, it’s clear that quite a few anglers are confused about San Clemente Island’s website and the Navy’s operating schedule. I don’t blame them; it’s a long run to make to find out that the island is closed. But just because it looks closed on the website doesn’t mean that you can’t still fish certain parts of it during different parts of the day. To start off, you’re going to want to visit the website at https://www.scisland.org/ Once there, you’ll want to click “Schedule / Safety Zones”. The next page that pops…

Spring Fishing Tips A weak front pushed through our area mid week but it wasn’t enough to keep the boats at the dock and it didn’t seem to put a damper on the fishing either. So, the unseasonably good fishing looks like it’s going to continue for at least another week. Add to that Friday night’s new moon and the yellowtail action might actually improve over the weekend. Speaking of yellowtail, let’s start this week’s coverage in San Diego where the fish have been on the bite. The Coronado Islands are producing some of the best fishing along the coast…

Fish Bite Tournament For the first time in a very long time, there were actually fish to catch during the Fred Hall Show, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the attendance. This year’s show was one of the best for most exhibitors and that’s good news because it means that people are getting excited about fishing. So let’s take a look at how you can put the new tackle you bought this weekend to work. The rockfish bite has been excellent for boats fishing out of Santa Barbara and Ventura landings and I’d be willing to bet it’s…

It’s Fred Hall week and I’m writing this before heading in for another long day at the show, so I’m going to keep this report short. Though dramatic for short periods of time, like the hail storm it brought to Huntington Beach, the storm we had earlier this week was milder than forecast. While it did keep most of the boats at the dock, the ones that did run scored on rockfish and yellowtail. Since it’s rockfish season, let’s start up north and take a look at what’s biting this week. Sport boats out of Ventura County had good scores…

The Fred Hall Show is coming to the Long Beach Convention Center this week. The doors open at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday and the show runs through Sunday night. For more information on show times and tickets, check out their website at http://www.fredhall.com/index.php. Visiting the show is a yearly tradition for most Southern California anglers and if you’ve never been before I highly recommend checking it out. While it’s impossible to cover all of the things worth checking out at the show, here are a few of my recommendations. First off, I’ll be working at the Batson Enterprises booth every…

Rockfish Opener Ventura Sportfishing If nothing else, the storm that’s forecast to blow through our waters over the weekend is a good reminder of just how favorable the weather has been this winter. It seems like this is only the second or third weekend we’ve missed due to weather since summer, so it might be a good time to catch up on boat work or tackle prep before the next long stretch of good weather. Speaking of which, when things do settle back down, rockfish will once again be open. If you’re heading out after the March 1st opener, please be…

This week has been just another week of good fishing in this crazy winter we’re having. Boats running to the Cortes Bank are still scoring bluefin tuna, though the bite has been hit and miss due to boat traffic. Captains fishing the bank this week reported that one or two boats would score fish while the others watched. While this isn’t all that fun for the boats that are watching, it’s not necessarily a sign that the bite is ending. I’d keep an eye on this bite to potentially improve as we come out of this week’s new moon phase.…

3 Steps Finding Fish – How To Catch Fish By Hook Over the last few months, I’ve spent quite a bit of time urging private boaters to drive away from the fleet and find their own fish. While it’s easy for me to suggest, I understand that it can seem like a daunting proposition to someone who’s never really tried finding their own fish. So, let’s break down this winter’s yellowtail bite as an example of the three steps you’ll need to take in order to find your own fish. Step 1 – Patterning the bite The first step is…

Bluefin Tuna And Yellowtail Continue Bite I’d really like to write about something other than yellowtail and bluefin tuna fishing, but there’s really not much else to talk about. I guess that’s a good problem to have in the middle of February. So, let’s take a look at what’s biting this week. The Santa Ana winds blew most of the week and that made for some hit and miss fishing. The good news is that the misses were due to the fact that it was too rough to fish and the hits came whenever the wind let up. That means…

Well, it’s the first week of February and the yellowtail and bluefin tuna are still biting. How crazy is that? I’m sure that sooner or later a storm is going to come along and throw a wrench in the works, but in the meantime there’s plenty of fish to catch. So let’s take a look at what’s happening. The Cortes Bank continues to produce lots of bluefin tuna for the boats making the run. The best trip so far was for 143 bluefin on the Tribute over the weekend. They went back out there during the week and had another…

Yo-Yo Iron Techniques If you take it down to it’s basics, fishing the yo-yo iron is about as simple as presenting an artificial lure can get. Just drop it to the bottom, wind like hell until the lure is back on the surface and repeat until you catch a fish or your arm cramps up. But like with every technique, there are variations to this basic presentation and they will often be the determining factor in whether you end up with a cramped up arm or a bent rod. Like with any fishing technique, the first and most important step…

Incredible Yellowtails Biting Everybody knows that the yellowtail have been biting along the coast the last couple months. But what most don’t realize is that there are a lot more yellowtail biting than there are reports of yellowtail being caught. This is partially due to the fact that it’s the middle of January and not a lot of people are fishing, but another reason is that not a lot of boats are going out looking for fish. I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again. There are so many fish along our coast that it’s as easy…

Not much has changed on the fishing scene in the last week and that is a very good thing. The yellows continue to bite up and down the coast and boats making the long run to Cortes Bank are still scoring bluefin tuna. At the same time, the bass bite along the coast is showing signs of improvement. The weekend weather forecast looks good so there are lots of great fishing options. Starting to the south, the 1 ½-day trips to Colonett have been loading up on the big yellowtail and rockfish. These trips normally start out fishing yellows in…

This being the middle of January, you’d think that the bluefin tuna bite at Cortes Bank would be the big news this week. If not that, then it would certainly be the yellowfin tuna that the Intrepid caught within 200-miles of San Diego. But the big news this week, as it was last week, and will probably be next week is the jumbo yellowtail that are biting along the coast. This week’s yellowtail hot spot has been the deep water off Box Canyon. There’s been a large influx of red crabs into the zone and they’re driving the yellowtail crazy.…

2015 started out with a bang with the first bluefin of the year being landed at 6:42 AM aboard Bob Hoose’s “Prospector” while fishing the Cortez Bank on New Year’s Day. Later that day, the crew of the “Provider” hooked and lost a striped marlin off the backside of San Clemente Island and multiple boats had hits on yellowtail up and down the coast. With unseasonably high water temps and good weather in the forecast, there’s no reason the bite shouldn’t continue through the weekend. So, let’s take a look at your fishing options. If you’re looking to catch a…

Another lunar cycle, another yellowtail bite along the coast. Captain Jeff Jones recently pointed out that the yellows weren’t only biting on the full moon, some months they were biting on the new moon as well. That certainly proved to be the case this month as yellowtail scores soared around last weekend’s new moon. Since this bite seems to be lunar cycle dependent, I’m going to keep my report short and recommend that you check recent counts before jumping on a boat and expecting wide open yellowtail fishing next week. If the bite does drop off by the time you’re…

A couple weeks ago, I wrote an article that warned of the potential for upcoming changes to recreational lobster regulations. Well, it looks like I was a little behind the times because on November 20th the California Department of Fish and Wildlife already began the process by creating a Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) that could eventually affect those changes. Though still in it’s preliminary stages, this FMP and others like it will determine the future of California’s fisheries. According to the report, “This FMP prescribes a harvest control rule for the California spiny lobster fishery. The harvest control rule serves…

Rainshadow Rods One of the questions I’m most frequently asked by readers is where they can check out some of the Rainshadow rods that I’m constantly talking about. Well, I can finally stop explaining that they can’t actually check out any rods locally because they’re only available online; because Batson will now be stocking a line of rod blanks and components in several local shops. You can find a shop near you in this article on BDoutdoors. There are so many Rainshadow rod blanks that even the pared down selection they are offering in local shops can be a little…

Full Moon Yellows And December Shortbill Spearfish This has truly been a strange year. The yellowfin, bluefin and yellowtail that were biting on the Cortes Bank last month have now been joined by a December shortbill spearfish. For months there have been schools of giant yellowtail lurking in the deep water along our coast and biting every full moon. The latest news is the striped marlin that was hooked by a 3/4-day boat fishing the beach out of Ventura on Monday. What’s next? I have no idea. Before I get into the details of what’s been biting, you should be…

This is the 170th article I’ve written for BD Outdoors. Is the number significant? Not really. In fact, I wouldn’t have even know how many I’ve written had I not saved the file of my first So Cal Scene as “SCS_1” and just kept going from there. So why am I even mentioning it? Well, for the first time in at least 100 articles there is no current fishing to report; an usually rainy week took care of that. I also just realized that the good fishing we’ve had during that time has kept me from writing about an important…

A Happy Thanksgiving is not something I thought I’d be wishing anyone in the same article I’d be discussing the best way to get in on the hot tuna bite, but it looks like that’s what’s happening. The season that just won’t quit has made it yet another week and promises to continue at least through the weekend. After that, we’ve got what looks like a significant storm heading our way. If the forecast doesn’t change, we’re going to get some much needed rainfall and we’ll have to wait and see what the wind that follows the rain is going…

Not much has changed this week for boats fishing Tanner and Cortes Banks. The bluefin, yellowfin, yellowtail and rockfish continue to bite for just about everyone that’s been making the run out there the last few weeks. That being said, Chris Dunn, the Fishing Weatherman is predicting some wind out there this weekend . That doesn’t mean the fish won’t bite, it just means that boats making the run aren’t going to be experiencing the grease conditions they had out there earlier this week. Boats from Los Angeles, including the Freedom and the Toronado, have trips scheduled in coming days,…