Just read this article. so the goats have been showing up on the coast, huh? hope the ghosts show up soon!!
Sheephead, Bass and Rockfish ChewingBy: Capt. David Bacon | 4/2/2008 12:00 AMLast updated: 4/2/2008 12:54 PMBoaters fishing shallow structure spots – such as the front side of Santa Cruz Island, Talcott Shoals off Santa Rosa Island, the west end of San Miguel Island (between the Marine Protected Areas) and along the mainland coast at Point Conception, Goleta, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and the southern Ventura County coast – in waters from 20 to 120 ft. deep, have been pulling up a surprising number of hungry sheephead. It’s interesting to note that, while sheephead are known to favor kelp bed habitat, the majority of catches have come from rocky reefs where they are crunching crustaceans. Effective baits have included shrimp, squid strips, busted-up mussels and crawdads.
Rosa Red – This tasty red was caught by Kevin Kim at Santa Rosa Island while fishing aboard Pacific Dawn out of Ventura. Early-season calico action continues to behave just like one would expect – sporadically. With so many days of gale warning winds around the islands over the past weeks, boaters have had plenty of opportunities to fish the coast. Calico bass have been hungrily responsive to baits and lures on some days and seemingly absent on others. The best times have been when water temps bump up a couple of degrees and a medium current is running at an angle toward the beach. That has been when rocks, wrecks and kelp spots have suddenly turned on.
Some of the hot spots for calicos have been the extreme southern Ventura County coast, the wrecks off Channel Islands and Ventura harbors, kelp spots along the Rincon, Carpinteria, Goleta, Ellwood and Naples Reef. The “sportcoats” have been chewing swimbaits better than live baits, although a medium sardine on a sliding sinker rig cast to the edge of a kelp spot has been difficult for them to ignore.
At the islands, the best action has been along the southern side of Santa Cruz Island where the water is usually a bit warmer. Boiler rock bassing along the north side of the same island is just beginning to turn on, though it probably will not be consistently good for at least another month.
Rockfish remain the mainstay of the local fish counts, but the variety varies with location. For example, when the weather allows venturing out to the front side of Santa Rosa Island, or to the deeper spots around Anacapa or Santa Cruz islands, reds, chucklehead and blue rockfish rule the day. At the very deepest spots – such as the 12-Mile – the mix of fish turns to bocaccio, starries, greenspotted and other deepwater species. Along the mainland coast, the rockfish catch typically includes chocolate bass, Johnny bass, sugar bass, chucklehead and reds.
While rockfishing, the catch count of lingcod throughout March was astounding. The season on lingcod didn’t open until April 1, so they could not be kept during March. Now that the season is open, there are plenty of big lingcod fillets on the tables of anglers. Large live baits and shiny jigs are what lings love to bite.
White seabass action has been spotty thus far this season. Many anglers tried for them when the weather allowed throughout March, and now early April is the time period most have their hopes pinned on. Thus far, the action has been all over the board both in terms of where and how. “Gray ghosts” have been caught near Willows, off Eagles Nest and in Bechers Bay.
Linear Mode
