Anyone Hunt in SoCal????

I am realativley new to diveing and went on my first night dive for bugs and i am hooked!!!
Was pondering spearfishing......What is GOOD to EAT??
I do a lot of beach diving in so cal.

Thanks in advance, the new guy

When did you do a dive for bugs, Cap?

i think he is baiting you, being that its not bug season in california. Answer at your own risk of plead the 5th, I don't want to know if you did something wrong.

The bug dive was back in january when it was rather warm here for a while.

I didn't get any ( they are ALOT quicker than i thought ) but the thrill of the hunt was addictive. Like i said before i am intrested in spearfishing but not quite sure what iws good to eat.
I like sword fish halibut thresher shark etc. nothing with a real fishy taste.
Any ideas of what is good and where to find it????

I just got back from a 3-day trip around the Channel Islands. One of the guys on the boat speared a 32 pound halibut and apparently, there were sightings of larger ones. Most of the hunters on the boat were bringing back seabass and sheephead.

Info on the trip here, just scroll down for a link to pics.

Your local dive shop will have info on hunting. Be sure to read up on the legalities of hunting. Most boats will report you to Dept. of Fish and Game if you bring back anything protected or undersized.

Halibuts have a great taste, Ling cod are good, too. New rules for ling are 30", 1 a day. Rock scallops are great, but nothing beats lobsters. Oct. 1st!

Back in my younger days when everything was plentiful inshore I think that I enjoyed abalone more than anything else. They were numerous off the cape that guards San Diego harbor, Point Loma. Depth about 15 feet. My CA buddies often took me along to a dive site near a bridge. It was illegal, I was told, but we loaded up on scallops clinging to the bridge. They used to make jokes about my double hose regulator. At night we had cookouts of abs and scallops till I was absolutely stuffed. When I got older I hooked up with some old high school chums and we dove the Coronados and points south. We caught 12 pound bugs on Sacramento Reef and speared 40 pound yellowtail and white sea bass off the Coronados Islands. Saw a great white there once. I dove some small islands off Baja, called San Martin, for 300 pound black sea bass and lobster. I had the vast advantage of expert knowledge. There is nothing that my buds didn't know about those places. For you, a person who doesn't like fish, I would recommend sheephead. We made tank dives to 40 feet off the Coronados. Sat on the bottom and stirred up some gravel, urchins and the like. The sheepies would come in twos and threes. Handspear action. Very tasty fish. The yellowtails have to be smoked. The white sea bass are for free divers only. Very spooky fish, remove snorkel from mouth before diving. Make thin slices, roll in Autry sea food flour (Food Lion) and fry in olive oil. Same for sheepies.
Pesky

CAPX28:

I am realativley new to diveing and went on my first night dive for bugs and i am hooked!!!
Was pondering spearfishing......What is GOOD to EAT??
I do a lot of beach diving in so cal.

Thanks in advance, the new guy

Click to expand...

I forgot to mention the kelp bass (calico). These tricky, elusive little guys are quite tasty. Free divers can take with hand spear if allowed. Otherwise, small gun. Typically, they inhabit the mid water column suspended amongst the kelp fronds.

CAPX28:

I am realativley new to diveing and went on my first night dive for bugs and i am hooked!!!
Was pondering spearfishing......What is GOOD to EAT??
I do a lot of beach diving in so cal.

Thanks in advance, the new guy

Click to expand...

Hey...Catalina has an abundance of areas with so many differrent fish. The west end is heavy in Bass and sheepshead. Most people dont know that if you steam sheepshead (too many bones to filet)...they are a "poor man's crab meat".....when season starts....the lobster are plentiful at the west end as well.

Very good place for newbies, I agree. There are plenty of sheephead to be speared in the kelp off Catalina. Pretty water as long as the swell is not running. I've seen small craft rip out their anchors . That's actually good as the bow can go under otherwise. Catalina is a nice, easy place to hunt, especially from a nice, big party boat. Make sure you are counted. Sometimes, divers get left out there.
Pesky

sessions:

Hey...Catalina has an abundance of areas with so many differrent fish. The west end is heavy in Bass and sheepshead. Most people dont know that if you steam sheepshead (too many bones to filet)...they are a "poor man's crab meat".....when season starts....the lobster are plentiful at the west end as well.

Click to expand...

Gotta go for the halibut! Ditto for lobster and scallops.