For those of you that like to take rock scallops, let me suggest a trip out of Marina Del Rey south, or Redondo Beach Harbor north, to the waters off Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. There are a number of low lying hardpan rock areas in mid-range depths where you should be able to take easy limits. Your fathometer won’t read a rise but it should read a significant rock bottom echo when you cross any number of these flat rock strewn patches.
The best areas are in front of, or just north of, the Manhattan Pier in about 75 feet of water, but I’ve found similar rock patches as shallow as 60 feet and as deep as 90 feet. They probably continue out even deeper, but why burn the bottom time when it’s not necessary. I’ve posted a landmark map with a waypoint as a suggestion for where to start metering for these scattered patches of rock. You shouldn’t have trouble hooking up with an area to dive, because these small but productive rocky areas occur almost all the way to the Redondo sub-marine canyon.
There are some large scallops growing on top of some small rocks here, and it’s not uncommon to have to knock the scallops off with a heavy iron instead of prying them loose as you normally would on a ledge. There are often some nice halibut in the sand between some of these sand-lot-sized rock patches, so it wouldn’t hurt to carry a spear gun, too.
In the spring months these are also prolific spots to fish or dive for sculpin, and I included the coordinates in my book, The Santa Monica Bay Fishing and Diving Log, under spots to fish for sculpin. The GPS coordinates are 33.885379 N; 118.441896 W. If you want to dive and take sculpin I suggest you make yourself a short hand gaff with a small hook on the end. Note! It’s illegal to carry a devise of this type if you’re taking bugs, so leave it in the car if you want to look for some of the lobsters that do occur here in the heavier rock areas. In fact, someone sank a number of toilet bowls to attract lobsters in an area north of the coordinates I’ve given you. I came across several of these on a dive in that area, but there were no bugs to be flushed out. However, it was surprising to see the amount of marine growth that had collected on the hard ceramic bowls.
The area from 100 to 250 feet of water directly to sea outside of this spot is known as the “Short Bank” to some of us, and it’s a good spot to fish for rockfish, ling cod, and, of course, sculpin.
Remember, sculpin have semi-venomous spines and require special handling. They’re a tasty fish after they’ve been filleted, but you need to be careful with them. One way to transport them when you’re diving is to put a float on your game bag and tow it on a short leash so you don’t accidentally get nailed by bouncing your bag off your thigh. The best way to directly handle a sculpin is to put your thumb in its mouth and hold it by the lower jaw. Should you get careless and get stuck by a spine as I have on more than one occasion, use a hot water soak or compress to alleviate the pain. Unless you’re allergic, the ache won’t last long.
Happy holidays! I’m taking next week off from blogging, but will be back on line after the first of the year.