Ocean Odyssey

The Ocean Odyssey captain and crew recognized for rescuing man overboard off the Baja Coast this past July.

Dock Totals 2/6 – 2/12: 934 anglers aboard 45 half-day to 1.5-day trips out of San Diego landings this past week caught 104 calico bass (60 released), 6 halibut, 218 lingcod, 145 lobster (121 released), 6 spider crab, 2,339 rockfish, 337 sand bass, 645 sculpin, 4 sheephead, 1 triggerfish, 76 whitefish, and 3 yellowtail.

Saltwater: Considering it is winter fishing, it has been a good year so far for the fleet fishing both locally and south of the border along the Baja coast. Locally, sand bass and calico bass have been biting well off the flats and kelp beds, while the boats venturing south to the high spots near the Coronado Islands down to off Ensenada have been mostly targeting rockfish and occasional yellowtail. With plenty of bait in the water, the latter might show in force one week and barely, if at all, the next. Sometimes good marks do not produce, but if you’re on an area at first light, the yellows seem to be more active.

Lingcod have also been biting well on the rockfish spots. Some of those lingcod have been around 15 pounds or so, but most are in the 3-to-5-pound range. Like yellowtail and tunas during summer and fall fishing out of San Diego, lingcod top the list of desired species during rockfish season. The ‘cod’ part of their name is a misnomer; lingcod are a greenling and are more related to kelpfish than rockfish. In fact, there are no true cod in our area of the ocean. Lingcod meat is often bluish-green when raw, but it cooks up white and firm with a texture that allows for just about any preparation, whether baked, fried, steamed, or grilled.

Lingcod are voracious predators, and occasionally will be caught with their prey still clamped in their sharp-toothed jaws. Their range extends from off the upper Baja Peninsula north to Alaska, and they can live up to 20 years and reach 80 pounds. Generally, the further north, the larger they are, though they are occasionally caught up to 20 pounds or so in local waters down to San Quintin. A friend just reported a 17-pounder off the 240 Bank near San Quintin, her personal best.

Female lingcod begin to reproduce when 30 inches long and three years old. They deposit their eggs under ledges and are rarely seen near their spawning grounds afterward. From there, male lingcod guard the nests for 8 to 10 weeks until the eggs hatch, keeping the feeding rockfish, starfish, sculpins at bay until the larvae have a chance to begin their lives feeding on zooplankton, including krill and larval crustaceans. Along with occasional finfishes, squid, octopi, and crab make up a good part of an adult lingcod’s diet, which helps give their flesh that firm texture and mild flavor.

My favorite lures for lingcod are large swimbaits and grubs in the 10-12-inch size with a lead head heavy enough to get it down into the 100-200-foot depths where they are usually found. They have a huge head and mouth when compared to their long, narrow body, just right for gulping down prey that only larger fish of other species would be able to handle. If using bait, a 10-inch mackerel on a dropper loop will work best. Whether bait or lure, keeping the presentation near the bottom is important. Though we cannot target them until March in California waters, boats fishing just across the border, including extended half-day runs, can. In Mexico, there is no minimum size lingcod and anglers can keep five fish. In California waters, anglers cannot target them in deeper than 180 feet, and the daily bag and possession limit is 2 fish, with a minimum size limit of 22 inches total length. (Though the California state record is 56 pounds, a legal lingcod need be only about 4 pounds.)

In the sportfishing news this past week: On Wednesday, July 28, 2021, the Ocean Odyssey, an 85-foot sportfishing vessel out of H&M Landing, was 15 miles off the coast north of Ensenada, their anglers aboard fishing for yellowtail on the drift. A call came in concerning a man overboard 12 miles to the south of their location and approximately 13 miles from the coast. Captain Rick Scott announced all lines in, and that they were going to aid in the search. Some three hours later, he spotted 27-year-old Alex Crosthwaite in the water.

Crosthwaite was an experienced free-diver who, upon seeing fish in the water while slowly under way, jumped in, expecting to get his gear from his father, but instead, not knowing his son had entered the water, the man at the helm kept going. Within minutes, he noticed his son was not on the boat, but in choppy seas he could not find him when he backtracked, so he made the MOB call to the Coast Guard. Being in Mexican waters, and with no other boats near, the odds of finding the lost man were slim and getting slimmer by the minute.

Crosthwaite was an avid swimmer, and after being in the water four hours, swam leisurely to the approaching Ocean Odyssey. That may seem somewhat innocuous, but in truth, spotting the man in such an expanse of rolling swells was miraculous. Regardless of swimming ability, eventually a person will succumb to hypothermia, even if in 70-degree water. Other hazards, including sharks, are a possibility, but the biggest danger when stuck in the water for hours on end is drowning due to cramps, loss of energy, or hypothermia. That Crosthwaite was in a spring suit helped, but his waterman skills and his ability to keep a cool head while saving energy were key elements to his survival.

This past week, the U.S. Coast Guard officially recognized Capt. Rick Scott & the crew of the Ocean Odyssey for their rescue of Crosthwaite, a Cathedral Catholic High School graduate. From the Ocean Odyssey’s co-captain Dina Grivetto, “This morning the captain and crew of Ocean Odyssey were recognized by the United States Coast Guard for the man overboard rescue that they performed on July 28, 2021. While they are being hailed as heroes, it’s a job that they train for, and one that is all in the line of duty. It is a very large ocean and finding that swimmer in the sea state presented was one in a million. The crew scans the water tirelessly every day looking for any irregularities, so searching for a person was literally what they were trained for. When the swimmer was spotted, the captain and crew’s man overboard training kicked into gear and he was quickly brought aboard safe and sound.”

Fish Plants: February 21 – Lake Jennings, trout, (1,500), February 24 – Lake Poway, trout (1,500), February 25 – Santee Lakes, trout, (1,500)