The first weeks of Cedros Outdoor Adventures 2019 fishing season opened with a grand showing by the island’s legendary population of giant calico bass. The sea was reportedly blanketed by hordes of red tuna crabs, which often will impair the bass bite after many of the fish become glutted with them. But not this time.

SoCal fishing buddies, Jim Petrella from Palm Desert, and Fred Knilans of Orange County were throwing some of Knilans ’ hand-poured plastic jigs and hard baits to hook and release nearly 150 calico bass on Wednesday that ranged upward to a whopping 7.5 pounds. Saltwater fly fisherman, Jordan Cavanaugh, from Fountain Valley, was on trip number 7 to Cedros Island and ended up catching and releasing enough calico bass up to 5 pounds to wear his arms out by the time he got back in each day he was there.