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Tag: Seal Beach Fishing

  • October 19th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1949, Seal Beach residents woke to discover that during the night frigid fifty miles per hour winds and rough waves had torn the Super Express fishing boat from its moorings at Seal Beach pier and smashed the boat upon the Seal Beach Naval Ammunition Depot breakwater, leaving a gaping hole in the hull.

    As dramatic as this event was to the normally sedate Seal Beach, it was just one of many similar incidents spread across Southern California. Flights at LAX airport had been grounded. Boats had been beached at Santa Monica and Redondo Beach. The Monstad Pier in Redondo Beach had a section torn apart by waves. Several inches of sand had blown on to Pacific Coast Highway, stranding automobiles and buses. Trees were toppled, and some communities went without electricity for a few hours. Daylight brought calmer weather, and repairs and clean-up efforts began.

    In Seal Beach, the Super Express was beached, and the hole was repaired with a temporary canvas patch to make the vessel seaworthy enough to be towed to the San Pedro Boat Works. The canvas patch prove too temporary for the entire trip and peeled, and the boat sank in what must have been shallow water. It was re-floated, re-patched, and towed to safely to San Pedro for more substantial repairs.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 10th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1944, a car crash fatality at Main Street and Bolsa Avenue in Seal Beach occurred, according to the Long Beach Independent. An unnamed reporter wrote the next day that “Claud Roland, 23, of the San Diego naval base, was killed at 7:27 last night.”

    12-17-1936 aerial shot of Main Street as it turns into Bolsa Avenue right after crossing PCH

    Roland had been turning on to Bolsa Avenue from Main Street when his tire blew. The car flipped over and skidded almost 30 feet, throwing passengers USMC Sergeant James Johnson of the Corona Navy Hospital and Mrs. June Blackman of Fullerton from the car. Blackman and Johnson suffered some bruises and lacerations, and pedestrians Edward Booker and Joe Jackman, both of the Naval Weapons Depot, couldn’t avoid being hit by the car, but were only slightly injured. The injured were taken to the Long Beach Naval Hospital, according to Seal Beach Police Sergeant Charles Irvine.

    Police Chief Lee Howard, Captain James Morousek, and Sergeant Jack Whittington rushed to the accident scene and struggled to remove Roland from the overturned car wreckage, only to discover his head had been crushed and young Claud Roland was dead.

    A 5/23/1931 aerial shot showing how Bolsa Avenue curved into Main Street at PCH and how Main Street continue up into the farmland on Landing Hill.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 8th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1969, the following ad ran in the Long Beach Independent.

    August_8_1969_Sport_Fishing_barge_ad-3

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • July 18th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1948, the Long Beach Independent shared that good news that any lady with a paid escort and the following ad could enjoy fishing on either the Super Express boat or Fishing Express boat every Friday — for free! The Horseshoe or Hunting Flats fishing spots were only 15 or 40 minutes away! Lady anglers rejoice!

    July_18_1948_Fishing_Boats-Ad– Michael Dobkins

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  • June 22nd in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1916, fishermen on the Seal Beach pier had a close encounter with a large California gray whale. Not only were the fishermen surprised by the whale spouting a large spray of water over them, but the whale also forced the anglers to take cover by rocking one of the pier pilings while attempting to scrape barnacles from his (or her) back.

    After an hour, the friendly aquatic mammal swam out to sea, leaving the fishermen to their normal activities and with a large sea mammal of a tale to share.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • May 16th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1969, this Long Beach Independent ad offered sport fishing from the G.W., the Valencia, and an offshore barge from the Seal Beach pier.

    The ad also featured a crude rendition of Solly the Seal (he may have been known as Salty originally), a Walt Disney designed mascot that had been adopted by Seal Beach in 1944 and used on city stationery and other promotional materials.

     – Michael Dobkins

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  • April 26th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1940, the Long Beach Independent ran the following ad. The Seal Beach pier and the bait boats and the barge were all run by Captain Jack Stubbs. “Homer” had been newly launched on April 15th to replace “Pastime,” a live bait barge that sank in a 1939 storm.

    April_20__1940_New_Pier_Ad– Michael Dobkins

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  • April 3rd in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1918, the Evening Kansan-Republican of Newton, Kansas carried a short report on the latest wacky fishing craze on the Pacific Coast — kite fishing! 

    Citing a story in the September 1917 Popular Science Monthly, the report tells of a “fine corbina hole” tantalizingly just out of range of even the best casters off the Seal Beach pier. The pier fishermen, preferring not to use boats, use kites to carry their fishing lines out to the fishing spot. Popular Science Monthly made no mention of earlier kite fishing and treated the concept as fresh and cutting edge.

    Kite fishing was not a new innovation in fishing technology. In fact, there are newspaper stories about kite fishing dating back to the mid nineteenth century. For some reason, an August 20, 1917 Washington Post summary of the Popular Science Monthly story caught the imagination of editors across the nation and was reprinted (and sometimes edited for length) in at least sixty-four separate newspapers over the next year. The Evening Kansan-Republican was just one of many in the long news cycle for this story.

    Two interesting details were included in both the Popular Science Monthly and the Washington Post that didn’t always make it into the reprints. First, the “new” method of fishing was credited as being the brainchild of Thomas McD. Potter of the Los Angeles Motorcycle Club. Also, the kite used was five feet high, which allowed enough lift for any fish caught on the hook.

    A corbina, probably regretting some of its more recent life choices.
    A corbina, probably regretting some of its more recent life choices.

    According to the internet (which never lies), there are still plenty of corbinas to be caught off the Seal Beach pier.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • January 5th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1966, The San Bernadino County Sun’s Ocean Fish Report listed the following:

    Seal Beach: 18 anglers:  177 barracuda, 24 bontio, 2 calico bass, 5 halibut.

    The fifty-three year old “bontio” typo has been preserved in the service of historical accuracy.

    – Michael Dobkins

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