Coastal and island fishing has been fairly good for this time of year, thanks to an invasion of squid moving in off the Point Fermin region and Catalina Island. It is igniting a local bass bite, and there are sculpin, rockfish and halibut to be caught, as well.

Photo by: Daniel Greenberg
Long Ling -- Sven York of Costa Mesa recently caught this 7-pound ling cod off Newport Beach.

Off the islands, a few yellowtail and seabass are available to go along with a good calico bass bite, bonito are swimming around, as well, and productive bottomfishing continues.

The bait receivers in Long Beach and San Pedro have had plenty of live squid for sale, along with some lively sardines. The squid has improved the sand bass bite, and anglers have found a few calicos and halibut, too.

Sand bass have been caught in the deeper waters by anglers targeting wrecks and hard-bottom spots off the Long Beach area, as well as the Izors Reef zone, and out by the Horseshoe Kelp region. Anglers fishing shallower water off Palos Verdes have reported catching calicos, sheephead and whitefish, all on live squid.

Some keeper halibut have been caught by anglers targeting the bottom, near the wrecks outside the Long Beach breakwall, as well as inside the harbor.

The Huntington Flats zone has offered some catches of sand bass and a few calicos, for anglers targeting hard-bottom spots and small wrecks. A few thresher sharks have been caught and released in this same zone.

The Newport Pipe region, out in deeper water, has been consistent for sculpin, with a few rockfish and sand bass in the mix. There have been reports of a few halibut caught in the Newport Pier region, as well as the submarine canyon.

No live bait is available in Newport, so anglers are making their own just outside the harbor, getting smelt small mackerel and a few sardines. Mini macks have been the bait of choice for halibut.

From Newport Beach to Dana Point, anglers targeting kelp stringers and lobster traps have found calicos and sand bass. Those looking for halibut have had good luck along sandy beaches, in 40 to 80 feet of water.

The deeper rocks off the Laguna Beach area have offered some nice reds, salmon grouper and lingcod. The 14-Mile Bank has continued to kick out excellent bottomfish catches -- and so have the areas near offshore oil rigs.

Lobster seekers are still getting good results fishing the wrecks and hard-bottom spots off the Long Beach breakwall and inside the harbor. Lobsters seem to crawl around a lot during and after storms, foraging on all the debris on the bottom.

Over at Catalina Island, an influx of squid around the Isthmus region has produced a very good calico bass bite for anglers fishing the front side of the island -- targeting the boiler rocks and kelp stringers. A few of the sandy beaches have kicked out a some keeper halibut, as well.

Bonito fishing has been excellent, with big schools swimming from the East End of the island and all along the front.

A few yellows are out there, too. There was a report of a nice fat yellowtail that was landed by an angler fishing the Silver Canyon area with live squid. A few keeper halibut are present, too.

Rockfishing remains excellent off the deepwater rocks of the East End of the island, as well as the deepwater stones off the West End. Farnsworth Bank has also offered some nice red snapper, salmon grouper and a few lingcod. There still is a good chance of catching a homeguard yellowtail on the bank, for the anglers fly-lining live squid, or using a sliding sinker.

Hoop-netters have had some success targeting the rocky areas and kelp stringers along the front of the island, in 30 to 100 feet of water.

At San Clemente Island, winter yellowtail fishing has been good for private boaters who make it over and have live squid. There was also a report of a 40-pound-class seabass that came to gaff.

The yellowtail fishing has been mainly in the cove, as well as the China Point region, in 100 to 180 feet of water -- and all have been caught on live squid. The yellowtail up to the 30-pound class have been reported.

A white seabass was reported caught at 2:30 a.m., while an angler was fishing for calicos along the kelp line.

Calico bass fishing has been on fire, for anglers who have live squid. Most catches have been in the 3- to 5-pound range, with a few catches pushing 8 pounds.

On top of the calicos, sheephead are biting, too -- and a few halibut have been taken in the shallows. Out in the deeper water off China Point, rockfishing remains excellent for reds, boccaccios, salmon grouper and lingcod.

Another zone to fish for rockfish this time of year is out at the West End on the island, out by the 9-fathom spot. It is not uncommon to hook a few yellowtail that tend to stack up on the high spot. The key, though, is having live squid.