SALTWATER REPORT

Port Hueneme Sportfishing anglers reeled in some bragging-size fish recently on trips to the Channel Islands.

The Mirage on Monday featured two prize catches. Oxnard's Fred Brandt caught a 35-pound yellowtail with squid. Jeff Hass from Orange County caught a 40-pound halibut with squid.

Canyon Country's Mark Beagon caught a 15-pound sheephead with squid on Sunday.

Port Hueneme had an incredible Sunday, reports Gail Sechrist, the office manager. Seventy-six anglers on four boats caught 385 whitefish, 303 rockfish, 50 barracuda, one cabezon, four calico bass, 55 lingcod, 127 red snapper, 52 sand bass, one sculpin and 49 sheephead.

"They were catching limits of fish," Sechrist said.

Channel Islands Sportfishing Center sent out six boats with 153 anglers on Sunday.

One smooth-head shark was caught. Anglers caught 72 barracuda, 95 red snapper, 28 sheephead, 10 blue perch, 104 calico bass, one cabezon, 14 lingcod, eight sculpin and 384 rockfish.

Sixteen anglers on the Cobra on Saturday brought back 31 sand bass and 12 calico bass. The Gentleman had 44 anglers reel in 19 calico bass and 27 barracuda.

On Saturday, Tom Deleon caught a 24-pound halibut aboard the Speed Twin at Anacapa Island. Deleon's bait was live anchovie.

Chuck Brown of Capt. Hook's reports plenty of rockfish, sheephead and whitefish are being caught. Brown said he's waiting for the sand bass and calico bass to start biting.

Brown said he was on a trip last week when a number of barracuda were bagged.

Robert Cooper, skipper of Sky's the Limit, had six anglers on his Sunday charter trip. Chris Crawford of Camarillo caught a 25-pound white seabass at Anacapa Island on live squid. Cooper said his anglers caught a 400-pound black seabass, which was released but was attacked and eventually eaten by a huge mako shark.

FRESHWATER REPORT

Lake Casitas: Bass is the buzzword.

Bob Copple of Rancho Cucamonga caught a 13-pound bass at the dam with a leadhead jig. Copple's son, Rob, of Pomona caught a 10-pound bass. Jeff Stockland of Santa Maria brought in a 9-pound bass on a swimbait.

Ventura's Gabriel Wyatt caught an 8-pound bass on a Roboworm. Gary Morehead of Oxnard caught bass weighing 8 and 7 pounds using plastic worms.

Carpinteria's Diego Magana caught a 7-pound bass with a crawdad. It was the first big fish for the youngster, according to Randy King of the marina and boat rental office.

Ojai's Phil Long caught a limit (five) bass during the Ventura County Bass Tournament. Long had a pair of 7-pound bass.

Trout can be caught trolling with Needlefish lures and drifting in the dam area in 45 to 50 feet of water. Thousand Oaks' Dwight Evans caught a 3-pound trout.

King said some trout fisherman have lost their catches when bass have jumped and knocked their catches off the line.

Crappie fishing is slow, but can probably be caught by anglers heading to deeper water and fishing with shad.

Lake hours: 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Lake Piru: Simi Valley's Christopher Bowlds caught a crappie at the 20-foot level with red-and-white mini-jigs.

Crappie are being caught on the bluffs in the main lake at 15 feet on jigs. Bass are biting good on plastic worms off the points at 15 feet. Trout are being caught trolling with eight colors of lead-core line by the dam.

Santa Fe Springs' Thomas Novikoff caught 11 largemouth bass, the total weight at 10 pounds.

Lake hours: 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Lake Castaic: Camarillo's Bob Earheart caught a 10.9-pound striper using anchovies at the bay line. Donna Steele of Torrance caught a 12.2-pound striper with anchovies at the bay line.

Catfish are there for the hunting and when caught are in the double-digit-weight range. Bass can be found in the coves. Stripers are being seen along the west ramp, dam and all along the shorelines. Largemouth bass are biting in 60 feet of water for anglers using small plastics or lightweight lures.

Canyon Country's Scott Lizakowski caught 11 largemouth bass, totaling 11 pounds.

Lake hours: 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Cachuma Lake: Fishing has been quiet. Catfish, bass and crappie are being caught on nightcrawlers. A flyfisherman landed a 4-pound bass on a nightcrawler on the right side of the dam.

Lake hours: 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.

— Compiled by Rich Romine