BY MERIT McCREA SACRAMENTO — On April 19, the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the regulations adopted March 26 by the California Fish and Game Commission which conforms our state waters regulations with those in federal waters which went active April 1. At this writing, Department of Fish and Wildlife staff is hard at work updating web resources to reflect the change. The basics are the waters from Point Lopez, Big Sur, south to the Mexican border are open all-depth for rockfish now. The vermilion sub-bag limit is now 2 fish from Cape Mendocino south to the Mexican borde ..read more

BY BOB SEMERAU VENTURA —In the fight game, you just must have a plan. And that plan will either knock ‘em dead or maybe land you on the mat. This year’s Western Outdoor News-Ventura Harbor Sportfishing-Rockfish Rumble (RFR) showed amazingly differing results for all the boats in the competition. Ventura Harbor Sportfishing owner-operator and legendary sportboat captain, Tucker McCombs, sent out three boats to go the distance and fight for a win in the 2024 WON RFR. Scheduled as an early season bout, the 2024 iteration of the WON-RFR, had boats fishing down to 100-fathoms, or 600-hundred-feet ..read more

BY KENNY PRIEST The statewide rockfish season opened April 1, but you’d be hard-pressed to find any type of announcement because the month of April is only open beyond the 50-fathom line, this falls under federal jurisdiction. Hence, the only notification that went to the public came from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And if you’re not signed up to receive email notifications or you don’t routinely check their website, you’re likely in the dark like most anglers. How it went down: Early morning April 1, NOAA, along with National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) sent ou ..read more

BY ALLEN “BUSHY” BUSHNELL MONTEREY— The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved the rockfish, lingcod and greenling (RCG) regulations for the 2024 fishing season, finally. Apparently one final submission and legal approval is due before the season goes into full official effect. Anglers in the Monterey Bay have been fishing “Federal Waters” all week, with the tacit approval of DFW. State waters stop at a line three miles from shore. Unfortunately, Monterey Bay like San Francisco Bay legally is a “closed bay.” This means state waters extend to the narrowest point of the bay. In ..read more

BY DAVE HURLEY SACRAMENTO– The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended Alternative 3 – Salmon Closure during the final days of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) meeting mirroring the opinions of commercial and recreational charter boat anglers. The department’s position is a significant change from early March. The PFMC meetings are being held in Seattle from April 6 to 11, and the final recommendations of the council will be forwarded to the California Fish and Game Commission in May. Marcy Yaremko, Environmental Program Manager, Marine Region (Region 7) presented ..read more

IRVINE – Bass Pro Shops today announced plans to celebrate the official grand opening of its new Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Irvine, Calif. with a special Evening for Conservation, open to the public, on Wednesday, March 27, 2023. Grand Opening Night’s “Evening for Conservation” To Support Local Organizations The outdoor and conservation company invites the Irvine and greater Los Angeles community to a special ribbon-cutting ceremony and weekend-long celebration for the conservation company’s new premier location, highlighted by fishing and hunting celebrity appearances, leaders in co ..read more

BY MERIT McCREA  SAN PEDRO/LONG BEACH — It was just a month ago, Valentine’s Day to be exact, when this writer went before the Fish and Game Commission to ask on behalf of the Sportfishing Association of California and SoCal anglers that they not change the halibut regulations to a two fish limit state-wide. That was what was being proposed. The primary reasoning was having a 2-fish limit wouldn’t change the SoCal catch because anglers seldom if ever reached an average of 2 halibut per rod for the entire boat anyway, and having the bigger limit was inspirational, just like the 10 dark goo ..read more

BY MIKE STEVENS POINT LOMA— Legendary sportboat owner/operator and long-range sportfishing pioneer Frank LoPreste announced on the Let’s Talk Hookup radio program that he was going to turn the helm of the iconic Royal Polaris to Captain Johnathan Yamate. Yamate is currently partners with LoPreste in that operation, but he will take over full ownership of the operation in two years. According to RoyalPolaris.com, LoPreste earned his captain’s license at the age of 21, and ran his first vessel in 1965.  In all, he has run ten vessels, including the Sport (1965-66), Sea Horse (1967), Fury (1 ..read more

BY DAVE HURLEY ALAMEDA – Just like the fictional character, John Rambo, in the 1980’s series of films, ‘First Blood’ was drawn on the Nor Cal bluefin tuna scene this past week. Single bluefin were landed out of Half Moon and Bodega Bays along with the 130-pound tuna brought in by the combined crews of Tanker City Fishing and the Codfather, both out of Alameda, Joseph Green, deckhand of the Codfather, said, “We have been planning this trip for close to a year as the plan was to head out around my birthday in late March. The first bluefin in 2023 came on July 1 by Captain Ross Corbett of Pacific ..read more

SAN DIEGO— California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) law enforcement uncovered a network of recreational fishermen engaged in commercial fishing businesses with no regard to limits, documentation or adhering to the highly regulated business practices of the commercial fishing industry. The investigation revealed more than 5,500 pounds of fish were unlawfully bought and sold for more than $26,000. Wildlife officers investigated David Haworth, 60, of San Diego, and Nicholas Haworth, 28, of La Jolla, who were buying and selling recreationally caught fish, failing to land fish (documenting ..read more