Quote:
Originally Posted by
foodguy 
actually, there is a huge sardine fishery out of central and southern california. with squid, it's probably the last of our great commercial fisheries. and they end up selling most of it for a few dollars a ton. it then gets frozen and shipped to Indonesia for processing.
Thanks for the info guys. Sardines are rather plentiful as well as anchovies. They are everywhere. Smelt and mackerel are also all over the damn place here. As for squid...I think we are getting hit with a humboldt squid run right now. I've gone out on boats and caught these 20-50 lb guys (hell I've even caught them off of Balboa Pier in Newport). They taste pretty good and put up a great fight when catching them. Unfortunately, they have an appetite for destruction and eat every damn thing in their way so I don't care for seeing them much. Although, the funniest thing ever is watching someone who knows nothing about them catch one and hold it right up to their face...and the squid squirts a large blast of water or ink in their face.
As for the little guys, we get squid runs every so often and they are by far the best bait out there. Fish go crazy for live squid.