Redondo yielded a number of small sea trout during the day and one splendid fish of ten pounds, so near the line that divides sea trout from sea bass that it might have passed for either. It put up a terrific fish on W. R. Phillip’s rod but he finally played it out and saved his treasure, being prouder of the capture than a father with his first son. It must be admitted Mr. Phillips had some excuse, too. Several fine bass were landed at Redondo. As usual the live bait contingent did the major part of the execution, but others who were busy with smaller game than trout and halibut did fairly well. —Los Angeles Times, September 7, 1903
The yellowtail, long and slim of body, are in quite another class of fish, and indeed they are the aristocrat of southern waters. They lead a strenuous life for the sharks love yellowtail above all other meat, and it is no uncommon thing for a fisherman to have a safely hooked yellowtail bitten squarely in two before he is lifted from the boat. In fact, I have seen this very thing done from the wharf at Redondo—one of the best points for shore fishing on the coast south of Santa Barbara—and a heavier hook, baited with the remaining piece of yellowtail and thrown back into the ocean caught the robber as he returned to see what he had left. —Harry H. Dunn, After Big Fish In The Channel, Western Field,February 1904
Eleven-Pounder Is Caught By A Redondo Angler
At last the great, great grand-daddy of the Corbina tribe has been gathered to his fathers and a nine days’ sensation among fishermen ended. After long years of piscatorial vicissitudes in which more than once he had formed temporary but entangling alliances with the leaders of briefly lucky bait butchers; after countless sessions of intermittent chase of the succulent sand-crab varied by occasional séances with the secretive clam, this silver-scaled giant last week fell a victim to the wiles of A. White of Redondo in the still waters of the night and under the seductive light of the full moon. His weight at capture was eleven pounds and two ounces, which is by far in excess of all known records for corbina in this vicinity. The Sunday preceding Harry Slotterbeck perceived a huge fish of some sort groveling slowly on the bottom; searching for food after the manner of corbina. From its excessive length which he estimated to be three feet, at least, Slotterbeck fancied he was watching a shark, but a white flash from the side caused him to look closer and hardly believing his eyes, he recognized a corbina of most phenomenal proportions. Calling a friend, he too pronounced it a grand “surf” fish. The pair tried to catch the prize but he was wary and cared nothing bait. They quit in vain. The moonlight and the quiet night helped Mr. White two days later, and in triumph, he carried away the huge fish after a prolonged, nerve-racking tussle in the breakers. The big fellow put up the tremendous fight that might be expected from a seasoned veteran, strong and well schooled by time in all the arts and wiles that make corbina popular with fishermen. Mr. White had a twenty-minute tussle with his prize and nearly fell off the wharf when he got to look at it. He describes the catch as having a head the size of a man’s and bearing all the evidences of extreme age, though it was strong enough in the water. How old a fish of such extreme size must be left to conjecture. Corbina of small size and ravenous appetites were plentiful Sunday at all points from Del Rey and Redondo to Huntington Beach. F. Seeberg caught nearly a dozen fine sized ones off the beach in Santa Monica the largest weighing 4 ½ pounds. At Redondo Harry Slotterbeck caught nearly two dozen “nippers.” —Los Angeles Times, August 30, 1904
Tonopah Man Catches a 140 Pound Jewfish From Wharf
Redondo, June 11,—Wharf No. 1 was well lined throughout the day and the fishermen and maidens were well rewarded for their efforts. Not only mackerel have been plentiful but bass, yellowtail and halibut have been caught from the wharves and yesterday a 140-pound jewfish was landed at wharf No. 1. Capt. William Wood of Topopah, who is sojourning here for the summer, was the successful angler. —Los Angeles Herald, June 12, 1905
[Wharf] No. 1 is 1,000 feet long; length of berth 325 feet; depth of water at outer end, 55 feet; inshore end of berth, 25 feet. —Lloyd’s Register of British And Foreign Shipping, 1907
Repairs on Wharf No.1 are progressing rapidly, but the passenger steamers still use No. 3 for landing passengers and unloading freight. —The Redondo Reflex, January 17, 1907
Yellowtail Galore — Schools of Squid Draw Almost Unprecedented Numbers of Big Fish
It has been years since yellowtail in such quantities as have been running for the past few days have been seen on our shores. Tuesday morning 475 were hauled in from Wharf No. 1 between ten and eleven o’clock… The water fairly boiled with fish and anyone with a line had no trouble in pulling out one big fellow after another. At times the wharf, especially the north side, was so littered with wriggling fish that it was almost impossible to walk. It is said that it is eight years since the squid have shoaled in here before… One man hooked 75 and Mrs. Goodrich, who is known to all old residents as one of the most indefatigable anglers, caught over twenty. The fish began coming in on Sunday gradually increasing in numbers until the climax was reached on Tuesday when they took to deeper water, though good catches were made yesterday a short distance out. On Tuesday a man who was not dragging one or more yellowtail along was almost a rarity on the streets. —The Redondo Reflex, October 24, 1907
Rod and reel enthusiasts report a fine run of fish and catching good luck today at the two southerly piers, Nos. 2 and 3. One man came through town on his way home, with over a hundred pounds of yellowtail and stated that he had left the rest of his catch because of inability to carry it. He had landed thirty-one of the big fish. On Pier No. 1 however, Spanish mackerel and smelt reportedly were the sole visitation of the finny tribe. —Los Angeles Times, November 28, 1907
Laporte Man A Fisherman— Caught 12 Yellowtails — One Day Weighing 15 lbs. Each
Mrs. J. H. Cissel is in receipt of a letter from her son, Lew W. Cissel, who is now at Redondo Beach, California, where he recently figured in a large catch of yellowtail. Mr. Cissel enclosed a newspaper clipping from the Los Angeles Times, showing a picture of the women on the pier and an article of the big “run.” The Times says: Redondo experienced a remarkable run of yellowtail yesterday. Twenty-four tons is a conservative estimate of the amount carried off Pier No. 1. A count at the Redondo fish market of the yellowtail that had been taken off the pier by 5 o’clock, when they ceased to bite, showed 2,500, and there were fully 500 more of the gamy fish lying on the pier at the time. These 3,000 fish weighed an average of 15 pounds each. Less than five tons of the enormous catch were handled through the Redondo fish market, and the balance were carried away by amateur fishermen who flocked to the pier when it was discovered that the phenomenal school had come. In every back yard in Redondo a group was to be seen cleaning fish yesterday, and along the streets were many of the prominent citizens with large fish dangling from their hands. Stores and shops were closed while the proprietors and clerks took an hour off and rushed down to the pier to enjoy the sport. Women left their baking, got out their husband’s tackle and hastened to the wharf. By 8 o’clock in the morning the one pier where the yellowtail were biting was crowded with fishermen and women. The carnival lasted practically all day. The arrival of the steamship Santa Rosa in the forenoon temporarily interrupted the fishing on one side of the pier, but with the departure of the vessel a greater crowd than ever swarmed to the fishing place. The presence of a myriad of squid about the pier was the cause of the inrush of yellowtail from the deeper water. The squid are the chief food for the larger fish, and an immense school of them had been driven close to shore. They took refuge under Pier No. 1 while the voracious yellowtail lurked about the edges of the wharf, devastating the ranks of their prey. The squid is a peculiar soft fish of a bluish color, and the school was so numerous at Redondo yesterday that it was only necessary to drop a fish hook in the water to snag them. While still alive they were fastened to the hooks, and thrown into the water to be snapped up by the waiting yellowtail. —LaPorte Indiana Herald, November 28, 1907
Wharf To Be Extended
The new pile driver now being completed in the shops of Los Angeles & Redondo railway company, will be the largest pile driver in Southern California.The new machine will be put at work early next week extending Wharf No. 1 or No. 3, several hundred feet to accommodate the larger passenger and freight steamers hat now visit this port on the line between Seattle and San Diego. —The Redondo Reflex, February 4, 1909
Redondo Beach, May 5.—This beach has been experiencing an unprecedented run of pompano during the last week. Sunday and Monday the local wharves were black with anglers, who came here for the purpose of enjoying the sport. Many fine specimens of other varieties have been caught, amongst them three sea bass which aggregated 1000 pounds. The largest of these is estimated to weigh nearly 500 pounds. —Los Angeles Herald, May 5, 1909
Redondo Beach, May 14,—Large schools of pompano are running at wharf No. 1 during early hours of each day, and many large catches are reported. The prize catches of the run this morning were made by Charles Clark and Ed Sheely, who caught several dozen each. A curiosity in marine life was a double halibut taken on the banks this morning by Charles Johnson. The fish was identical on both upper and lower sides. —Los Angeles Herald, May 15, 1909
Must Have License
The state fish and game commission is sending out notices to the beach fishermen that anglers cannot sell fish they catch from the pier or from boats unless they pay the commercial fisherman’s license. Many fishermen going down to fish for a few hours or for all day have caught more fish than they want for their own use and have been in the habit of selling the over-supply to the fish markets. This will now be against the law unless the angler has provided himself with a commercial fisherman’s license. The licenses are obtainable from the fish and game commission or their deputies and cost $2.50 per year for citizens of the United States and $10 for aliens. Some of the beach fishermen, particularly those at Redondo Beach are inclined to think that the ruling works a hardship. —The Redondo Reflex, June 3, 1909
Biggest Sea Bass Of Season
Harold Rampe, a fourteen-year-old boy, caught the largest sea bass of the season this morning from Wharf No. 1. The fish weighed 35 pounds. It is but seldom that sea bass are caught so close in or that they are of such a size. After making his big catch Harold calmly tied the fish to the wharf and threw it into the water while he proceeded to continue his fishing. —The Redondo Reflex , June 3, 1909
Big Bass Is Caught By Young Fisherman — Boy Has Real Sport With Light Tackle
Redondo Beach, June 5.—Harold Rempe, a 14-year-old angler of this city, had an exciting experience Thursday when he took in a sportsmanlike manner, with rod and reel, a 35-pound sea bass while fishing from wharf No. 1. Young Rempe was using a live bait and had just made a clever cast when he felt a sharp strike that nearly wrenched the rod from his hands. With a poorer outfit the youth would have lost his fish on the first rush. He applied his thumb break, but did not attempt to stop the fierce run too suddenly. Ignoring the gratuitous advice and suggestions of hand-line hacks and “pole” fishermen the boy played his fish is a mastery way, reeling in like a veteran on inward rushes and checking up with the brakes on the mad dashes away from the pier. When one persistent and garrulous meat hunter crowded in on the lad with shouts and gesticulations Harold said with all the dignity of his fourteen years: “If you will keep cool I think I can bring this fish to gaff.” And bring it he did. After about fifteen minutes’ play the big bass showed signs of giving up the fight and was soon alongside the wharf, where a drop gaff secured the prize. Older anglers on the pier and a score of others attracted to the scene congratulated Harold on his catch. They made him submit to the photographic ordeal. —Los Angeles Herald, June 6, 1909