Last week of rockfishing

Inshore: The local boats took advantage of some decent weather between fronts and found some decent bottom fishing for the anglers aboard. Entering into the last few days of rockfishing before that fishery closes on New Year’s Day until March 1, lots of reds, vermilions, sheephead and whitefish made it into Christmas gunnysacks over the holiday week. Considering no boats went out on Christmas Eve or Christmas, the counts reflect a good passenger load for the landings and catch total for this time of year. A few ‘homeguard’ yellowtails were picked up off La Jolla, but most of those in the counts came from the Coronado Islands or points south.

Outside: There has been a resurgence of good size yellowtail from 20 to 35 pounds on the high spots south of Ensenada down to the 240 area south of San Martin Island with many limits caught. These fish are eating the yoyo and flat-fall irons just off the bottom and have been a nice surprise for those anglers usually targeting the larger model rockfish and lingcod the area is known for in the wintertime. They are also biting well in the 40-pound grade further south toward the Asunción area, where one usually finds wintering schools of yellowtail outside of the cool water plume that dissipates around Viscaino Bay. The big yellowfin tuna are still haunting the Ridge and Hurricane Bank south of Cabo San Lucas with a few of the big cows over 300 pounds already reported early in this long-range season.

Dock Totals 12/23-12/29: 1403 anglers aboard 49 boats out of San Diego landings this past week caught 102 yellowtail, 32 calico bass, 25 sand bass, 8 bonito, 3,160 rockfish, 124 sheephead, 454 sanddab, 1 bocaccio, 6 rubberlip seaperch, 1 halfmoon, 154 whitefish, 16 lingcod, 1 cabezon, 4 halibut, 385 mackerel and 5 spiny lobster

Fish Plants: 1/9, Jennings, trout (1500), 1/10, Cuyamaca, trout (1,200)