FISHING / DAN STANTON : Anglers Find Something for Freezer at 600 Feet

Now is a good time for anglers to fill their freezers.

Barring winter storms, the usually calm ocean makes it easy for anglers to fish at depths of 100 to 600 feet.

There are more than 50 species of deep-water rockfish that can be caught. Among the most popular are cow cod and lingcod, which are considered excellent eating.

Party boats from local sportfishing landings have been fishing off of Catalina and Santa Barbara islands for consistently good catches.

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Two more wolf eels have been sent to the Cabrillo Marine Museum. Over the weekend the half-day boat Monte Carlo from 22nd Street Landing was fishing in the same area where the Matt Walsh caught one last week and found the latest pair.

The three wolf eels remain in the museum’s aquarium holding tanks.

Museum biologist Jeff Landesman speculated it could be possible that the wolf eels, generally found in the colder waters of the Pacific, could have been at the deep area for years.

The wolf eels will be put on display as soon as they become acclimated to the aquarium and start to feed.

The King Harbor Marlin Club held its 23rd annual awards banquet Saturday.

Ray Hawkes caught the first albacore for the fourth consecutive year. It weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces.

The award for the largest albacore went to Frank Matsuhara. It weighed 24-10. Jack Terry caught the largest marlin at 182 pounds. Catching the season’s largest tuna was Dave Shoren with a 44-pounder.

Junior member trophy went to Geronimo Austin, who hauled in a 142-pound marlin.

Rowan Henry was awarded the broadbill trophy for his 129-pounder.

The club’s skipper-of-the-year award went to Stan Eckland with 675 points.

Redondo Beach fisherman Herb Mueller returned from a trip to the Smith River in Northern California where he landed nine steelhead that averaged 17 pounds.

South Bay Catches: Moon Son Kahug of West Los Angeles, fishing aboard the Spitfire in Santa Monica Bay, caught the whopper of the week, a 26-pound halibut.

Bill Beever of Long Beach, fishing aboard the Southern Cal, caught a 20-pound cow cod.

Ray Stone of Malibu, fishing aboard the Mirage, caught a 15-pound lingcod.

Mark Podell of Redondo Beach, fishing aboard the Redondo Special, caught a 13-pound lingcod.

Rick Henderson, fishing aboard the Reel Delight, caught a 13-pound white sea bass.

Hess Montiel of Wilmington, fishing aboard the Monte Carlo, caught a 12-pound lingcod.

Fish Reports: Calico bass and sculpin have been reported in all local fishing areas with anglers catching limits on most trips. Anglers fishing off the outer islands have been catching red rock cod and lingcod.

At Marina del Rey Sportfishing: The Sumo, on a two-day trip off Santa Barbara Island, hauled in 151 rock cod, nine lingcod and six sheephead.

The Spitfire fished the bay and had a catch of 325 sculpin and 50 calico and sand bass.

At Redondo Sportfishing: The City of Redondo, on a half-day trip, returned with 175 sand and calico bass, 25 blue perch and seven sheephead.

The Blackjack worked off of Santa Barbara Island for 240 red snapper and three lingcod.

At 22nd Street Landing: The New Image fished off of Santa Barbara Island for 177 rock cod, 119 whitefish and 23 sheephead.

The Monte Carlo, on a half-day trip, returned with 35 calico bass and 31 sculpin.

At L.A. Harbor Sportfishing: The Matt Walsh, on a half-day trip, returned with 94 calico bass, 23 sculpin and three halibut.

The Top Gun fished off of Catalina for 150 blue perch and 125 calico bass.

The Annie B barge had a weekend total of 290 kingfish, eight sharks and a halibut.

At Long Beach Sportfishing: The Southern Cal, on a half-day trip, returned with 88 rock cod and a cow cod.