Joes Face Pros in Fish-Off

Ronnie Kovach’s Pros and Joes fishing tournament took place Sunday aboard the Freelance out of Davey’s Locker at Newport Harbor.

The idea of the tournament is to take regular “Joes” out with local fishing legends to see who catches the biggest fish.

Captain Don Brockman took the Freelance and a limited load of anglers on an extended 3/4-day trip to fish the backside of Santa Catalina Island.

The anglers caught 98 rockfish, 72 bocaccio, 37 red snapper and 8 white fish. Pro Sergio Fainsztein pulled in the jackpot fish.

Looking Ahead

The spring schedule for Davey’s Locker and Newport Landing begins in April with extra trips during the week and weekends.

Newport Landing will begin running half-day trips, departing at 7 a.m. and returning at noon. The afternoon run leaves at 12:30 p.m. and returns at 5 p.m.

Newport Landing will continue its  3/4-day trips from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Amigo will begin offering overnight trips  to Catalina.

At Davey’s Locker, the Western Pride will begin half-day morning and afternoon trips from 7 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 5 p.m.

The Freelance will be running daily 3/4-day trips to Catalina, with additional twilight runs on the weekends to fish the Huntington Flats from 7 p.m. until midnight.

April is the beginning of the lingcod fishing season. The Thunderbird out of Davey's Locker will start targeting lingcod around San Nicholas and Santa Barbara islands, as well as regular runs to Catalina and San Clemente islands.

Fish Counts

Monday: The Amigo took 23 anglers on a local trip and caught 135 sculpin. The Freelance, with 43 anglers aboard, bagged 172 sculpin.

Tuesday: Twenty-seven anglers aboard the Agressor hauled in 135 sculpin, two rockfish, two sheephead, two sand dabs one Treefish, and one sand bass. The Freelance, with 19 anglers aboard, caught 95 sculpin.

For more information on trips, check out Davey's Locker and Newport Landing. And for another great fishing resource, check out the Angler Chronicles.