Happy Friday Everyone! The good news is that we have expanded both the capacity and dock space on our receiver significantly. With the addition of 4 big net wells, we have doubled the receiver?s size which will make it MUCH easier for you to find a place to dock while we bait you out.
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During the offseason, we dramatically increased the size of the tanks on our bait boat as well. For those of you unfamiliar with the Provider, it was originally a single tank boat which limited the amount of bait it could hold. We gutted the entire boat and rebuilt it with 2 big tanks. At the same time, we reran all of the plumbing and pumps to give us better flow in the wells. This increased capacity and flow means that the bait will be in much better condition when it goes into the receiver, making for healthier and happier bait in your tank. That being said, our receiver is currently loaded with big healthy anchovies and perfect bait sized sardines. If you?re heading out give us a call at (562) 455-9928 or on Channel 11 on your VHF radio. If you need help finding our receiver, please check out the map on the ?Location? page of our website. We also have the Long Beach Carnage at Catalina this weekend. Paul is anchored in front of Avalon and is jugged with live squid. If you?re heading across, give him a call at (562) 714-8103 or on Channel 11 on your VHF radio. Paul normally heads around to the backside to catch more bait just before sunset (he?s usually back in front of Avalon by 4 AM). If you?re heading across after dark, make sure and give Paul a call once you come around the east end. He will be happy to bait you up even if he?s trying to catch bait. This is the Long Beach Carnage.
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It is a white boat with a red stripe and white lights. The Long Beach Carnage gives the biggest scoops and is the only boat to offer a frequent buyer card. If you don't already have a card, ask Paul for one when you get bait. For every 5 scoops of squid you buy, you get 1 scoop free! The frequent buyer cards do not expire, so if you have one from last year, bring it out and he'll honor it. On to the reports... San Clemente Island San Clemente has been plagued by wind and the cold water associated with it for most of the season. are yellows and sea bass to be caught there, but I don?t think that it will be worth the run until we get a few days of better weather so that the water temp can rebound. The fish that have been caught lately have come from the backside east end (between Lost Point and the East End) and last week, there were some fish on the west end backside as well. I haven?t heard to much from the spots on the frontside, but that is usually a fairly consistent area at this time of year, so I?d imagine that you have a chance there as well. Santa Barbara Island I don?t have any recent reports from SBI. Last I heard, there were some sea bass and yellows, but no one has been out that way lately due to weather. If you?re feeling adventurous, you can check it out, but Catalina is a much better bet. Catalina There have been some good scores of sea bass and yellows on the squid grounds in the morning over the last couple of weeks. Last weekend, there was a good bite there in the middle of the day as well (10:30 AM - 2:00 PM). That is unusual, but the boats that were in on the bite did really well. If your going to fish the squid ground bite, the key is to anchor up on some bait marks before dawn and put some lights out. The bait hasn't been floating well at all, so you should definitely buy bait (unless you have fresh frozen). The reason to put the light out is to get some bait under your boat which will hopefully act as chum once it gets light... Most of the fish have been caught in front of the Palisades in 90' of water. If you find bait marks in the 80-100' range, you should anchor on that. Come gray light, you'll want to have at least two rigs out. One on the bottom (dropper loop or squid and jig) and the other covering the rest of the water column. My advice would be a 1/8 to 1/2 oz slider (depending on current) or a 1/4 - 1/2 oz lead head with a big Owner hook. Pin a squid on this rig and cast it out then let it sink slowly to the bottom. Once you reach the bottom, retrieve the bait with long (slow) strokes of the rod followed by reeling in the slack that is created when you drop the tip. When you get the bait back to the boat, cast and repeat. NOTE!!! Be ready to kick the reel in free spool while you retrieve your bait as the fish will often grab it at the most inopportune time. If you get bit and pull the squid out of the fishes mouth, kick it in free spool and drop it back. More often than not, they'll come back for it. A lot of times the sea bass come through early and hoover all the dead and dying squid off the bottom (that is when the bottom rig works). Other times, they cruise up high (often with yellows) picking off the spawned out squid higher in the water column (that is when your other rig comes into play). One of our friends caught a yellow on the yo-yo at the squid grounds last week, so if you?re marking fish mid water column, it might be worth dropping your favorite scrambled egg yo-yo jig. The fish at the squid grounds have all big GIANT, with sea bass in the 30-60 lb range and yellows in the 25-40 lb range, so do yourself a favor and fish the heavy line. I would fish at least 30 lb line and preferably 40 lb. Our friend Jovan Gore was out last week and they got 2 sea bass and 2 yellows all on 40 and 50 lb test. These fish are not line shy...
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If that area doesn't bite, "go west young man!". There have been lots of yellows and sea bass to the west lately (check out your favorite spots) or look for areas that have the following 3 components; structure (kelp, rocks or hard bottom), junk thats biting (calicos, perch, spanish mackerel) and conditions (current and tidal movement). Once you find these things, anchor up in deep enough water that you won't get rocked or broken off in the kelp and start a chum line of squid chunks. Fish the light slider or lead head and keep an eye out for big fish on the meter. If you're catching a lot of junk and marking fish, give it some time, if not, move on to the next likely looking spot. There have also been some midday yellows on the front side in the Empire Landing area. These fish have been mixed with the bonito and bass and will readily bite a fly lined squid. A few have even been taken on the surface iron, so it might be worthwhile to have a jig stick on standby. If you still haven't managed any exotics by late afternoon (or your getting to the island in the afternoon), head back to the squid grounds or look for fish on the beaches to the east of there. There was a pretty good afternoon bite last week for big fish on the east end, but I haven?t heard any recent reports. Local Fishing Earlier in the week, the calicos and sand bass bite was wide open on the Horseshoe Kelp. It dropped off significantly yesterday due to lack of current (and a lot of wind on Wednesday night), but all indications point to it bouncing back today or tomorrow. The fish are biting on most spots, so check out your favorite rock or hard bottom area. The hot ticket has been to anchor on the spot and get a chum line of anchovies going. A chum bucket also works well if you lack the bait capacity to hold more than a scoop of bait. A flylined chovie or a chovie with a small slider has been to go to method. The fish have also been biting the swim baits an whams pretty well once they are up and biting. In case you missed it before, the key is to anchor and chum. Drifting over the spot will not produce because it takes the fish a while to get going. The barracuda are still to the north and south of us, but it?s only a matter of time before they get here. If you want to look for gar locally, I would check out the deep water off of Huntington Flats and the outside Horseshoe (105 area and outside of there). There are some bass biting around Palos Verdes, but the water is cold up there so if you?re looking for bass, I would check the shoe. That?s about it for this week. Good luck if you head out there and watch the weather if you?re heading offshore. Please email us the pictures of fish you catch on our bait and we will send you a Long Beach Bait Company sticker for your boat and put your photo on our website. Visit us at www.longbeachbait.com
This post edited by Provider 06/06/2008
This post edited by Provider 06/06/2008
