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Sports

VIDEO: Great White Shark off San Clemente

Coastal bass bite stays excellent.

Passengers on board the Dana Pride got quite a surprise Tuesday. Seeing a a blue whale mother and calf was certainly a thrill. But then, a great white shark appeared. 

Captain Todd Mansur told Pete Thomas Outdoors that at first he thought it was a swordfish or marlin. The sighting was made only a mile-and-a-half off San Clemente.

"As soon as I saw what it was I got on the P.A. and announced that we have a great white shark," Mansur said.

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Mansur said that in 25 years he has seen only eight white sharks in local waters. The shark at one point even surfed the bow wake just like a dolphin.

"It's very rare to see them, and even rarer to see one finning," he said. "They hardly ever put their fins up. This thing was coming right at us at [a position of] 12 o'clock. It was like a game of chicken,” Mansur told Pete Thomas Outdoors.

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San Diego Tuna

Very spotty with a few bluefin and yellowfin tuna but not much more. The albacore season has been a complete bust with no sign of the longfin tuna anywhere. The San Diego fleet is still working hard to find the fish.

Surf Fishing

Good surf fishing still being reported from the Mexican border to the Channel Islands for barred perch, corbina, a few halibut, along with some other species like leopard sharks and guitarfish.

“This has been an incredible year for surf fishing,” said Shawn Morgon from Bigfish Tackle in Seal Beach. “Anglers have been catching a variety of fish all year long."

Sand crabs have been excellent bait and using light line, like 6-pound test, has also given anglers an edge.

Laguna Niguel Lake

Still excellent fishing for catfish, along with some bass and lots of panfish. Good catfish bite in the early morning and late afternoon/evening. Five-fish limits for most fisherman taking advantage of night fishing on Friday and Saturday nights. Best baits have been mackerel, shrimp and night crawlers. Most productive areas have been in deep water by the dam, the big island and the launch ramp.

Local Bite Remains Strong

The calico and sand bass bite along the coast remains good. The kelp lines off , and Palos Verdes have been excellent for calico bass. There has also been the occasional white seabass, yellowtail and halibut.

Twilight fishing from 6 p.m. to midnight has been exceptional for sand bass. Boats from Redondo to Oceanside continue to do quite well on most nights with 10-fish limits not uncommon.

There has still been some fair barracuda fishing up and down the coast too.

Island Fishing

There has been the occasional hit for white seabass along with a few yellowtail and good calico bass fishing. San Clemente Island has been best for white seabass with Catalina Island still providing great ¾-day action for calico bass, barracuda along with some yellowtail.

If the surface fish do not cooperate, the rockfish bite has been very consistent.  

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