Author: Erik Landesfeind

Well, the long-awaited rockfish opener is finally upon us and, with good weather, this is a great opportunity to get back out on the water. But if you’re planning to head out, there are some regulation changes with which you’ll need to familiarize yourself. The bulk of these regulation changes center around the Cowcod Conservation Area (CCA), which has been a thorn in the sides of fishermen since its creation. Designed to protect cowcod after they were declared overfished by the National Marine Fisheries Service) in 2000, the CCA is a 5100 square nautical mile no-fishing zone covering Santa Barbara…

Good Weather Fishing Socal There’s no doubt about it, January and February are the slowest fishing months in Southern California. But just because the fishing is slow overall doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of opportunities to get out on the water and catch some fish. You just need to be a little careful when making the decision of when and where to fish. A good rule of thumb at this time of year is to fish during periods of stable weather, like the several days of offshore wind conditions we had over the weekend. The fishing may still be…

Last week’s column discussed the basic tackle you’ll need to target spotted bay bass in Southern California’s bays and harbors. If you missed it, I would suggest giving it a quick read prior to starting on this week’s column, as I will be making references to the lures and tackle it described while explaining techniques. Spotted bay bass range as far north as Santa Barbara Harbor, but the further north you go, the fewer spotties you are going to encounter. So it would be prudent to concentrate your efforts in any of the ten harbors or bays between Marina Del…

The vast majority of the messages I received from readers during the first year of writing this column all centered on the same thing. “I read your article and I want to fish for (insert species) and I was wondering if you could tell me which (rod and reel, lure, technique, location, etc.) I should try.” Spotted Bay Bass Tackle – California Bass While I’m always happy to answer these types of questions, the fact that I was being asked them indicated that I wasn’t including enough specific information in my column. So, this year I am going to give…

A couple of weeks ago, I came clean about how much I hate doing boat work. Well, I’ve got another confession to make — I rank taking care of my fishing tackle right above boat work and just below getting a root canal on my list of things I’d rather not be doing. That being said, it’s something that needs to be done on a regular basis and with the rainy weather we had all last weekend, I forced myself to tackle the mess that my garage had become over the last six months of nonstop fishing. I started the…

I’ve always found the BD message boards to be a good barometer of what’s happening on the So Cal fishing scene. I don’t gauge it by the reports that are, or aren’t, being posted, but on the amount of non-fishing related posts I see — especially those that flare into 10-page monster arguments on subjects like tipping on sport boats. While these types of threads are amusing, they’re usually a pretty good indicator that our members are getting restless due to a lack of fishing. The increase in the amount of dog-piling that’s been happening on the boards coupled with…

The Humboldt Squid have been biting full speed this week for twilight boats fishing from Newport Beach on down to San Diego. There have been 8- to 15-pound squid caught as far north as the Fermin Canyon off the Palos Verdes coast, but the most consistent action can be found further south. The San Diego fleet has been hammering the squid over the last week and the Seaforth Landing report says that “Capt. RJ Hudson has called in with 295 Giant Squid from Monday night’s squid trip aboard the New Seaforth. It’s as good as it gets. These trips depart…

The New Year has brought with it a lot of changes that California anglers need to be aware of. The most important to note is that the rockfish season is currently closed and will not reopen until March 1st. And when it does reopen, there will be changes to the regulations. Though still awaiting confirmation from the Fish and Game Commission, the rockfish changes include the following: • The maximum allowable depth to fish rockfish outside of the CCA (Cowcod Conservation Area) will be 50 fathoms (300 feet). This is a carry-over from the midseason change implemented in late 2012…

Socal Scene 2012 While organizing my computer files over the holiday weekend, I went through all of the fishing pictures that I took over the last year. As I flipped through them, I noticed that particular photos had strong memories attached to them, while others elicited no emotion whatsoever. After setting aside the photos I felt most strongly about, I realized that all of them told stories that reminded me of what fishing is really about. It’s not always about how many fish I catch or how big they are, sometimes it’s about putting down the fishing rod and picking…

If you’ve been following the fish reports on the BD message boards, you already know that many So Cal fishermen have put their boats away for the year and those who haven’t are spending their time either targeting rockfish or hoop-netting for lobster. But with the rockfish season beginning its two-month closure on December 31st, it’s time to start looking at some other fishing options. The most exciting of these options is the wintertime calico bass bite at San Clemente Island. I have to warn you though, if your idea of wintertime bass fishing entails a leisurely day of soaking…

The big news on the West Coast over the past weekend was the giant yellowfin tuna that Capt. Justin Fleck and the crew of the San Diego-based long-range boat Excel unloaded when they returned from a 16-day trip to the Hurricane Bank. Though ineligible for the world record, this 445-pound tuna, landed by John Petruescu, is not only the largest yellowfin ever caught on rod and reel, it’s also the fourth yellowfin over 400 pounds caught in 2012. This year of giant yellowfin tuna started off in January with a yellowfin caught off Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, by Ronnie Tegland. The…

Last week’s SoCal Scene talked about taking better fishing photos and it resulted in quite a few emails from readers asking for camera recommendations. My first inclination was to just rattle off a laundry list of the equipment that I use, but I decided against it because, while we all want to take good photos, not all of us have the same equipment applications or budgets. So, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the two main camera types. Before I get into specifics, I’d like to take a second to talk about megapixels — a buzzword…

The team at Boat Outfitters is always thinking up cool new products that help you maximize every inch of possible storage space on the boat. Their new Trolling Motor Drink & Gear Holder turns your trolling motor into a mini tackle station, which is absolutely brilliant since you spend so much time on the front deck when using the trolling motor. The unit clamps onto the shaft just below the head of the trolling motor and is designed to put everything an angler needs within easy reach. The unit has a rod holder, a slot for pliers, a tackle bag…

“Where is the money coming from?” were the first words out of my mouth when I spoke to Lyall Bellquist, who is heading up the Coastal Angler Tagging Cooperative (CATC), a new saltwater bass tagging program in Southern California. Those first words were quickly followed by, “And why were you tagging fish inside of the La Jolla closure?” This may sound like a confrontational way to start an interview about a new saltwater bass tagging program, but like many So Cal anglers, I’m still struggling with the post-traumatic stress disorder induced by the MLPA process and I’ve become quite skeptical…

The California Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) commissioners recently met in Los Angeles to finalize the proposed changes to California’s recreational saltwater bass fishing regulations. The meeting opened with the usual parade of public speakers, divided between those for or against changing the regulations, but all united in trying to get in the last word before the commissioners voted. The comments made on the day of the actual vote fell on deaf ears as the commissioners had already formed their own opinions about the regulations. Following a presentation detailing the proposed regulation changes, staffer Erica Jarvis characterized the proposal…

Catch Big Rockfish On Private Boat Like most private boaters, I got my start fishing for rockfish as a passenger on a sport boat. So when making the first rockfish trip on my own boat, it made sense to go to the same areas and fish the same way that I’d learned on the sport boats. That worked to an extent and we caught easy limits, but aside from a couple of decent-sized salmon grouper, the rest of our fish were pretty small — hell, some were barely big enough to fillet. Based on many of the reports I’ve read…

From November 1, 2012, through the end of December, the deepest California anglers will be allowed to fish for rockfish is 300 feet. This change was made to protect stocks of cowcod, and it may change back to 360 feet when the season reopens next year, but we’ll have to wait and see what the “experts” say about that. (For more information on the changes, read New Calif. Rockfish Regulations.) There’s been a lot of chatter on the message boards regarding these restrictions and the overall mood seems to be one of gloom and doom. I can certainly understand people…

California Rockfish Regulation Change As part of an ongoing effort to protect California’s cowcod stocks, the Department of Fish and Game has announced that on November 1, the legal depth limit to target rockfish will be changed from 360 to 300 feet. This is a result of a recommendation made by the PFMC (Pacific Fisheries Management Council) because the cowcod take is projected to exceed the federal limit established for the non-trawl sector, which includes recreational and commercial fixed-gear fishing. Although this change may not seem like all that big of a deal to most, it sets a very dangerous…

More and more anglers are making the switch from monofilament to braided line. The strength-to-diameter ratio of braid coupled with its lack of stretch makes it a better choice in almost every application. But braided line can be unforgiving and may not seem very user friendly to those used to fishing with mono. TUF-Line, however, is bridging the gap between the performance of braid and the ease-of-use that mono offers. TUF-Line recently released a new product called SuperCast which does away with some of the drawbacks of braided line. TUF-Line encapsulates the fibers of the SuperCast braided line in a…

“The white seabass are biting full bore right now!” That was the first thing Capt. Kelly Catain told me when I called him early this morning. “Yeah, I’ve heard,” I said. “That’s what I called to talk to you about.” After a brief pause to let me catch up with the conversation, Kelly continued, “No, I mean they’re biting right now — as in this morning! One of the boats already has six big ones onboard and my son Oscar is headed down to the zone as we speak.” The “zone” that Kelly is referring to lies along the beaches…

Do you remember the days before fluorocarbon leaders? I certainly do. I remember a day on the Mascot VI (which is now the Big Game 90) when we were fishing bluefin somewhere south of San Diego and every time we’d slide on a meter mark (this was in the pre-sonar days) we’d hang a couple of bluefin tuna and then spend the next half hour watching as the fish would steer clear of anything with a hook in it. The fish were all nice ones, in the 30- to 50-pound class, and Shawn Trowbridge, who ran the boat at the…

You’d never know it by reading the fish counts coming out of San Diego, but summer is over and fall has officially arrived in Southern California. The days are getting shorter, the air and water temperatures are dropping, and the bluefin tuna are making their yearly appearance at the Cortes Bank and Tanner Bank. Though not as reliable as the swallows returning to Capistrano, the tuna can usually be counted on to show up at these outer banks around the first day of fall and this year was no different as the Freedom out of 22nd Street Landing in San…

In last week’s column, I talked about the sporadic saltwater bass bite Matt Kotch and I found while pre-fishing for a SWBA tournament in Santa Monica Bay, California, and the need to remain flexible when choosing fishing areas and techniques. Well, we fished that tournament over the weekend and I was reminded that it’s a lot easier to sit behind a computer and preach about something, like the virtue of remaining flexible, than it is to actually be flexible when the pressure is on. We had what we felt was a strong game plan. We’d start by fishing for sand…

With Labor Day weekend come and gone, the kids are back in school and a significant percentage of the weekend warriors have prematurely wrapped up their fishing season. This is my favorite time of year. Sure the popular areas are still crowded on the weekends and there are probably going to be 10 boats to a kelp paddy again this weekend, but it’s a different world out there on the weekdays. It’s Time to Fish I took a day off last Friday to fish Santa Monica Bay in preparation of this weekend’s SWBA (Salt Water Bass Anglers) tournament and the…