At Redondo on wharf No. 1 the pompano are greatly in evidence, and with the exception of steamer days, when the sport necessarily ceases for a time, men, women and children constantly line the pier and dangle lines between the pilings. At number 3 wharf yellowtail and sea trout are taken occasionally, although they have not made their appearance yet in great numbers. —Los Angeles Herald, June 12, 1909
Big Run Of Pompano
Pompano fishing was the chief occupation Monday and Tuesday of all who could slip away from their sterner duties as well as the regular of the wharves, for pompano were thick in the water about Wharf No.1 and all who fished caught pompano as long as they cared to fish. Monday in about five hours Deputy Collector of Customs C. A. Sheldrick secured seventy-eight pounds, or about 400 fishes. Three and four on his line at a time were drawn up until at least he stopped only because he was tired. Fishermen from Los Angeles soon learned of the sport and each car from the city brought eager sportsmen who could be seen later leaving with well-filled baskets. —The Redondo Reflex, June 17, 1909
Sea Trout Running — Two Big Catches Made Yesterday
Fishing has been unusually good sport this week from Wharf No. 1. Sea trout are running in large numbers and anchovies, the bait used for the trout, are plentiful. C. Brandt, formerly of this city, came down from Los Angeles Wednesday and succeeded in landing the biggest sea bass that has been caught anywhere this season. The fish weighed 60 pounds and was caught with a rod and reel. Mr. Brandt had a half hour’s tussle with the big fish before landing it. Walter Rampe and Jack Watson caught a 250-pound jew-fish yesterday morning with a throw line. —The Redondo Reflex, June 24, 1909
Good Fishing At Redondo—Redondo, Oct. 12.—Spanish and greenback mackerel and yellowtail are running in great numbers here now. All three wharves are occupied by many fishermen. Some exceptionally large mackerel have been caught. —Santa Ana Register October 12, 1909
Fishing Good
Tomcod, which are said by old fishermen to be the forerunners of surf fish, have been running in great numbers about Wharf No. 1 this week. This means the opening of the spring fishing, which will no doubt continue good from now on. Tuesday James Todd, a police officer of Los Angeles, caught a gunnysack full of the tom cod, weighing about 150 pounds if fish. His catches were made by many from the wharf. A 400 pound jew fish was caught Wednesday by Charles Johnson, a local fisherman. —The Redondo Reflex, January 27, 1910
Take Tons Of Fish By Reel — Big Yellowtail Stacked at Redondo Beach
Excitement was perched on a hair-trigger at Redondo Beach yesterday by one of the most phenomenal runs of yellowtail ever seen in southern waters. Not only were there plenty of the big fish, but there were millions of them. The waters around the wharves fairly swarmed with them. Out beyond the wharves the sea was fully alive with them for more than a mile. At daybreak the cry of “yellowtail” rang through the downtown district of this town like a clarion calling troopers to war. The response was immediate. There was a rush for the wharves which were already well strewn with big yellow fellows that had been brought to gaff after fights such as for gameness and generalship in the water are only surpassed by battles with tuna. By 9 o’clock the wharves were lined with a forest of poles. The whole town had gotten the “yellowtail” fever by this time. Those who were unable to find room to cast, and there were hundreds of them, crowded the wharves all day and witnessed a miniature battle of Santiago, as hundreds of the big fish were putting up fights which made some of the old-time fishermen begin to think they had hooked Jack Johnson. Twelve Hundred Caught—The record for the day, of fish accounted for, is 1202. Of these 294 were caught on wharf No. 1; 154 on No. 2; 326 on No. 3, and 429 in skiffs around the wharves. The fish weighed between seventeen to twenty-nine pounds each. Averaging them at twenty pounds each, the total weight of yesterday’s catch was 24,040 pounds, or more than twelve tons. Of this enormous catch, which undoubtedly breaks some records, each fish was caught on a hook and line… The afternoon found nearly every business house in the city “gone fishing.” Even the schoolteachers could just as well have enjoyed the sport for all that was doing at roll call. W. T. Maddex, superintendent of the Los Angeles and Redondo Railway, whose Olympian Jove is a scientific yellowtail—one of those able-bodied fellows with a pull like a ward heeler, was absent from his office all day. To Maddex the singing of a reel is as sweet as the music of Aeolian harps, and the final gaffing, an honor shared by only chesty Toreador. His catch was four which averaged twenty-four pounds. At sundown he was still on the wharves admiring the big catches and making estimates on today’s crop. This Woman Scientific—To Mrs. W. J. Bell belongs the honor of the most scientific catches of the day. She brought to gaff three yellowtail with an eight-ounce rod and an eighteen-thread line. W. C. Eckert, a tourist from St. Louis, enjoyed the sport and went home with seven of the largest sized ones to his credit. He says the run was the largest he had seen in the forty years he has been indulging in the rod and reel sport. His fish ranged from eighteen to twenty-eight pounds. The record-breaking run of fish is attributed to recent storms at sea and the presence of phosphorescence in the waters at several other points on the south coast. Not only are the big fish in evidence, but the neighboring waters are fairly alive with anchovies, sardines, and schools of small mackerel, and the big fish always follow these smaller fish upon which they feed. Three years ago this month there was a large run of the same kind of fish, and at that time Redondo Beach was the seat of excitement. The run of yesterday, however, surpassed that of three years ago, as there seems to be no letup, and today’s catches will probably equal those of yesterday. The only letup of the sport yesterday occurred in the afternoon when a large seal joined in the sport, and, after getting his fill, started off toward the beach row where he has been “at home” for the past three months… A feature of the fishing yesterday was the fact that there was an endless quantity of fishing tackle which could be rented for the entire day for 25 cents for an outfit, which price did not prevent those in small circumstances from joining the sport. Those who employed the cheap tackles were as fortunate in landing the big fish as the expert with his high-priced outfit… It was not at all uncommon yesterday for a man who had just caught a large yellowtail to offer it in even exchange for a live bait, meaning a mackerel five or six inches long… Charles McGwyre and Dudley Wright, fishing for halibut on wharf No. 1, landed 49, the largest of which weighed 17 pounds. Hindus from the British steamer Iran launched the life boats and replenished their larder with about 1000 pounds of the fish, which they salted for a “rainy day.” Late last night the wharves were lined with fishermen, many of whom camped through the night in order to make sure of a berth when the battle is resumed this morning. Practically all of yesterday’s catches from the wharves were with rod-and-reel tackle. This is in marked contrast with the hand lines almost exclusively in use only a few years ago. Then the fishermen used an iron weight which, after letting out eight or ten feet of line, he would swing around his head in a circle till the acquired momentum was sufficient to throw the weight and attached hook out from the wharf. —Los Angeles Times, September 22, 1910
Seals Gorge On Big Fish — Heavy Run Of Yellowtail in Redondo Waters
One of the largest runs of yellowtail that ever swept into the bay at Redondo came to an end yesterday morning, when a gay young heard of seals and dolphins from the blue waters of Catalina Isle dashed in among the game fish and put them to rout. Sunday the run was at its height and every boat, launch and yawl was pressed into service and the piers at Redondo were literally black with fishermen and sightseeing tourists. It is estimated that 2000 pounds of yellowtail were caught at Pier No. 1 at Redondo Sunday afternoon. There was a corresponding number of pounds of fish caught at the other two piers near by… At the same time as the yellowtail were running so freely a tremendous run of sardines began. The waters surrounding Redondo were literally alive with the writhing, squirming little fish. They were everywhere and it became tame sport to catch them. Nets were lowered and raised as fast as strong men could handle them. They would be pulled out of the water a veritable mass of sardines. The fishermen would shake the fish as free as possible from the nets and return the nets again to the water, while they still contained hundreds of pounds of the little fish. Tourists who crowded the wharves could see millions of the little fish in the clear water and the sight was one long to be remembered. Boys armed with homemade nets would dip them into the water and bring them up almost bursting with the mass of fish they contained… Yesterday morning a crowd of enthusiastic anglers went to Redondo at an early hour to participate in the wonderful fishing, which they expected to last another day. Instead of the plentitude of yellowtail they saw little the little harbor dotted here and there with leaping black forms of seals. There were hundreds of them and they drove the yellowtail into deep water in an hour or so. At times the water was fairly boiling with the rush of the seals and a few dolphins as they gave chase to the fleet yellowtail. While the fishing was not as good, the sport to the onlookers was never better. It was a fishing match on a large scale, with the seals and dolphins acting as fishermen. The seals are thought to have followed in the wake of the yellowtail from their usual haunts around Catalina Island, and it is expected that after remaining at Redondo a few days they will again disappear toward Catalina. Yesterday the seals became so frolicsome after their first yellowtail that they came into the shallow water and seemed at times about to come out of the water onto the beach. The presence of such great numbers of sardines brought with them a vast flock of pelicans, which infested the waters around Redondo throughout the day. These pelicans together with the seals, dolphins, sardines and yellowtail, combined to form an aquarium of the entire bay around Redondo. The run of sardines is expected to last several days ad the fishing companies say that if they have luck they will secure the largest stock of the toothsome little fish they have ever had in the bay. —Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1911
Yellowtail And Sea Bass Taken At Redondo Beach — Best in Years
Sea fishing alongshore has held out rather better than usual thus far this month. January usually is about the best of the winter months for angling, and is featured in most seasons by a run or two of yellowtail, pompano, jack smelts, mackerel, or even corbina. These latter are usually “seen but not heard” flopping on the wharf at such times, as it is hard to induce them to accept bait in winter. Quite the best fishing of the week has been enjoyed at Redondo Beach, where yellowtail and sea bass have been taken, and no end of large sardines and small mackerel have been in evidence. It has been possible to have sport with the big fellows, or land a mess of small fry, as the fisherman willed. The fishing at Redondo formerly was the best along the entire coast, and after a relapse of a few seasons, seems to be coming into its own again. There have been spasmodic runs of yellowtail in which several hundred would be corded up on the wharf in a day, but the old-time sport at Redondo was not of this nature. Instead, there would be months at a time when the hand-liner, who still flourishes to a limited extent at that resort, could be assured of several yellowtail and a sea bass or two at any time he chose to go after them, and happened to strike a school of bait in alongside the wharf. The big fellows would be lying along its outer edges, readily responsive to the blandishments of a crippled live sardine artfully dangled from a clothesline within temptingly easy reach. —Edwin L. Hedderly, Los Angeles Times, January 24, 1911