Catch Monster Calico Bass
By Jim Hendricks / SaltWater Sportsman
Home Turf: Boiler rocks in shallow water often hold the biggest calico bass. Erik Landesfiend
With the morning sun peeking over the coastal mountains, a strong tide off the rocky shoreline of California’s Palos Verdes peninsula bent the thick kelp forest sideways. Right after idling into position, Capt. Ben Florentino cast a light metal jig known locally as “surface iron.” During the retrieve, the jig swam enticingly over the submerged amber fronds, but not for long. A big, aggressive calico bass rocketed from under the swaying canopy, inhaling the lure and bullying its way back down into the kelp.
Florentino reared back and wound fast, winning the battle that ended with the release of the chunky checkerboard-sided bass, a genuine kelp crusher estimated at 8½ pounds.
The calico bass, also known as kelp bass, is one of the few species afforded game-fish status in the Golden State. Commercial fishing for calicos and its related species — barred sand bass and spotted sand bass — is prohibited. Over the past decade, the popularity of calico bass surged, thanks to tournaments sanctioned by the Saltwater Bass Series (SBS) and Salt Water Bass Association (SWBA) reminiscent of the freshwater bass tournament phenomenon.
Close Up: Calicos resemble freshwater bass, and they fall for similar artificial baits and tactics. Jim Hendricks
It makes sense. Calicos, after all, share traits with largemouth and smallmouth bass, including an affinity for heavy cover. They even strike the same types of lures, allowing Southern California calico pros to use similar techniques.
Just like their freshwater counterparts, calico tournament anglers have advanced successful techniques for targeting the largest specimens, those fish that propel anglers high in the standings. Two top pros shared key secrets to fool calicos of over 6 pounds.
Calico Bass Regulations: The current minimum size limit for calico bass is 14 inches. The daily bag limit is five fish per licensed angler, but a growing catch-and-release ethic has many anglers releasing any fish of 5 pounds or more to maintain healthy populations. Calico bass of over 6 pounds are considered trophies. Nic Dragomire
Creatures of the Kelp
Florentino, a former freshwater pro who now fishes saltwater almost exclusively, finds lures most effective for big bass. “We don’t always catch a lot of fish with lures, like with live bait,” he says. “But the fish we catch are quality calicos.”
A 10-pounder is the Holy Grail of calico bass angling. Long Beach-based Florentino has two such trophies — a 10-pound, 2-ounce fish and another weighing 10 pounds, 4 ounces — plus four bass of more than 9 pounds on his record. According to Florentino, moving water is essential when targeting big calicos. Strong current pushes the kelp below the surface and moves bait over the top of the canopy, and that’s when the big calicos come out to feed. But it’s critical to position the boat to make long casts parallel to the current and swim your lure over the kelp.
“It doesn’t really matter if the tide is flooding or ebbing, as long as there is current,” says Florentino.
No Quarter: Tighten down the drag to keep calicos out of the kelp or away from rocks. Pro Tackle Box: Rods: 7½- to 9-foot medium to heavy action with lots of backbone. Reels: Matching high-ratio bait-casters, such as Shimano Tranx or Okuma Komodo. Line: 65- to 80-pound-test braid with 4 feet of 50- or 60-pound fluoro lead. Nic Dragomire
His go-to lure, a 6½-inch Kicker 45 surface iron in amber with a bit of black near the rear, carries a heavy-duty treble hook. For tackle, he favors a 9-foot Shimano Teramar 90H rod paired with a Tranx supersize bait-casting reel loaded with 80-pound braid and short trace of 50- to 60-pound fluorocarbon.
The long rod and the heft of the surface iron, almost 3½ ounces, allows him to rip off long casts over the kelp and cover lots of water. If he doesn’t get bit right away, he moves the boat along the edge of the kelp to work fresh territory. Another good lure for this technique is the Shimano Waxwing, which swims with a tantalizing erratic side-to-side action.
Drags should be kept tight. Calico bass don’t jump, but they bolt for cover once hooked. “You can’t allow the fish to pull drag,” warns Florentino. “Otherwise, he’ll get locked up in the kelp, and you’ll have a tough time getting him out.”
Calico bass fishing File Photo
Weedless Wonders
Tournament pro Matt Moyer and his partner, Nic Dragomire, from San Diego-based Team Ballast Point, have three SBS tournament victories between them, and they owe much of their success to weedless lures, especially when the current isn’t strong enough to submerge the kelp. “A weedless lure lets us cast right into the thick of it,” Moyer explains. “We pull the lure over the floating kelp, and fish swim through open spots in between to grab it.”
Big calicos often bust through the floating kelp to attack a lure. Other times, they pounce on it as it crosses an open patch of water.
Moyer likes a 7½- to 8-foot rod, with a light tip for casting swimbaits, but plenty of backbone to horse a big calico out of the kelp, which is decidedly more difficult when the fronds are on the surface.
He spools up an Okuma Komodo 364 bait-casting reel with 65-pound braid and a 60-pound fluoro leader. “We recommend buttoning down the drag because these fish like to get you in the rocks or the kelp quick,” he says.
JACKALLl AMMONITE SHAD: rigged with a weighted weed- less hook. SWS Staff Calico pros increasingly turn to weedless paddle-tail swimbaits on special hooks, such as the Lazer Trokar Weighted Magnum Swimbait hook or Owner Weighted Beast TwistLock hook. These hooks feature a corkscrew device that secures the head of the soft-plastic bait, with 1⁄8- to 3⁄8-ounce of lead molded around the shank. The hook point, inserted through the belly, nestles either in the molded groove in the back of the lure or inside the plastic, just under the skin. Florentino fishes the Jackall Ammonite Shad rigged weedless with a 7/0 hook, while Moyer prefers the 7½-inch Big Pancho Game Changer swimbait in brown-amber on an Owner 10/0 Weighted Beast hook. SWS Staff (Ammonite Shad is out of production).
Flippin' Good
During slack tide, Florentino targets fish that, while not actively feeding, still strike out of instinct. “I like to flip swimbaits into holes in the kelp,” he explains. “Then I let the lure fall straight down, parallel to the kelp stalks. A lot of times, a big bass just can’t help himself. He sees the bait fluttering down from the canopy and can’t pass up the easy meal.”
Florentino also flips lures next to isolated kelp stalks to reach single large calicos that hover near the base during slack tide. With this technique, the strike is subtle, sometimes barely a tap as the lure stops short of the bottom. This is your cue to put the reel in gear and set the hook.
Although he experiments with swimbaits for flipping, the Long Beach pro has found that smaller 4-inch paddle-tail baits rigged with a 2-ounce leadhead often work best. He also uses a smaller bait-casting reel, such as the Shimano Curado 200 I, paired with a Shimano Teramar 711M rod.
CALI CALICO TACKLE BOX: Kicker 45 or Tady 45 in brown or amber (Kicker 25 Shown) File Photo
Boiler Rock Recipe
Big calico bass love structure, and many pros believe that so-called “boiler rock,” boulders close to shore, where waves sweep and break, are the best spots for big bass. “I like boiler rocks and reefs with a lot of surge,” says Moyer. “For some reason, bigger fish like to stay shallow.”
Florentino agrees, but he prefers to target the rocky habitat in less than 20 feet of water early in the morning, before the sun lights up the shallows. Calico bass grow large by being cautious, and they are more easily fooled in low light. Casting and retrieving surface irons works well for fishing boiler rocks, but if there’s kelp in the area, Florentino opts for swimbaits such as a 9-inch Sledge Hammer with a 1- to 1½-ounce weedless leadhead. Bigger baits seem to attract bigger fish, especially in the turbulent surge around shore rocks. Florentino’s biggest calico came from a boiler rock in 5 feet of water.
CALI CALICO TACKLE BOX: 5¾-inch Shimano Waxwing SWS Staff
The Place to Be
While you find calico bass anywhere you find kelp or rocks along Southern California’s coast or offshore islands, both Florentino and Moyer agree the top spot for trophies is Catalina Island.
“I fish all the islands off Southern California, but my favorite is Catalina,” says Florentino. “Thanks to a growing catch-and-release ethic, the population of big bass at the island is strong and stable. “If you want a big calico off Southern California, I would go to Catalina,” Moyer advises. “There are giants there.”
CALI CALICO TACKLE BOX: 9-inch Sledge Hammer with 1- to 1½-inch weedless leadhead. SWS Staff
Catalina Island has produced a number of double-digit calico bass in the past two years, and most of them are still there, thanks to catch-and-release efforts. Calicos don’t migrate far — all the more reason to remember a trophy with photos, not fillets. That way, the kelp crushers are sure to be around for years to come.