Bonito

The continued rise in water temperature has helped bring bonito and barracuda to the surface in the past week. The fish have been caught off Palos Verdes, Rocky Point and Catalina Island. Anglers have been able to catch their limits on most trips. After all but disappearing last year, bonito are returning to all kelp areas with some of the legal-sized boneheads reaching eight pounds.

Bonito flakes and konbu seaweed dashi Total time: 40 minutes Servings: Makes about 7½ cups Note: The primary dashi is called ichiban dashi, which is used for clear soups and seasoning food. It's enjoyed for its fragrance and clean flavor. The secondary dashi made with used konbu seaweed and bonito flakes from the primary dashi is called nibanashi. This is also a multi-purpose dashi that is used for miso soups and seasoning foods, but the flavor is blander than the first one. The used konbu can be sliced and eaten straight, in soups or seasoned with soy sauce.

Soba-tsuyu (dipping sauce for cold soba noodles) Total time: 25 minutes, plus cooling time Servings: This makes about 6 1/2 cups of dipping sauce. Note: Adapted from Akila Inouye. Mirin (look for mirin made with just rice, rice spirit and malt) and dried bonito flakes are available at Asian markets. Hongaeshi (dipping sauce base) 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons mirin 2 cups plus a scant 2 tablespoons soy sauce Place the sugar and mirin into a pot over medium heat and dissolve the sugar completely.

At the heart of so much of Japanese cooking is the fragrant broth called dashi. And at the heart of dashi are the delicate pink petals of katsuobushi, shaved flakes of dried bonito fish. When steeped with the dried seaweed called konbu, katsuobushi gives dashi its irresistible aroma and deep umami flavor. Despite being made in minutes, the stock is the foundation of many Japanese dishes -- miso soup, salad dressings, sauces for noodles, even meat stews. " Dashi is like the key actor in a movie," says 83-year-old Chobei Yagi, whose 275-year-old store, Tokyo's Yagicho Honten, specializes in katsuobushi and other dried foods.

At the heart of so much of Japanese cooking is the fragrant broth called dashi. And at the heart of dashi are the delicate pink petals of katsuobushi, shaved flakes of dried bonito fish. When steeped with the dried seaweed called konbu, katsuobushi gives dashi its irresistible aroma and deep umami flavor. Despite being made in minutes, the stock is the foundation of many Japanese dishes -- miso soup, salad dressings, sauces for noodles, even meat stews. " Dashi is like the key actor in a movie," says 83-year-old Chobei Yagi, whose 275-year-old store, Tokyo's Yagicho Honten, specializes in katsuobushi and other dried foods.

San Diego's late-season albacore run continued Thursday, with five party boats catching fish of 30 to 35 pounds 50 to 60 miles out of San Diego. The fish were reported being caught within a 25-square-mile area. Carol Sandner of Point Loma Sportfishing reported each of its five boats had 30 to 50 albacore on board before noon Thursday. The same five boats, carrying 94 fishermen, accounted for 408 albacore Wednesday. The Times accepts and publishes the catch count as a public service.

Albacore fishermen aboard San Diego-based party boats were on their way to San Miguel Island Thursday afternoon, following reports of albacore being caught there by commercial fishermen in recent days. Elsewhere, the albacore scene was uneventful. Skippers generally reported albacore are widely scattered or off their feed. SAN SIMEON--60 anglers (2 boats): 1 ling cod, 63 rock cod, 337 red rock cod, 39 red snapper, 26 assorted bass, 1 halibut.

South Bay anglers found excellent fishing during the holiday weekend. Boats on two-day trips to Cortez Bank returned with catches of bluefin tuna and yellowtail. The L.A. Harbor boat Shogun returned Monday from Cortez with 48 bluefin, 42 yellowtail and limits of rock cod. Three Torrance fishermen caught bluefin that earned jackpot awards. Steve Tsujiuchi weighed in a 39 1/4-pounder, Chuck Beckharts caught a 37 3/4-pounder and Isao Hatashita a 35 1/2-pounder.

Captain Ahab had nothing on the guy who came aboard Val Rich's sportfishing boat a few years ago. As a veteran skipper, Rich figured he had seen everything until one of his customers hooked a 10-pound bonito at the Yellow Banks on the southeast end of Santa Cruz Island. "Those fish are very hard fighters," Rich said. "The guy was fighting it off the back of the boat when his pants fell down around his ankles. "It was an older gentleman. Completely white BVDs and white legs. You get the picture."

Since my father first took me fishing--in 1955 when I was 5 years old--rockfish have always been a sure thing in and around the Santa Monica Bay. The swifter and splashier bonito would pass by for only a few months in the summer and then--as the bay became more polluted--just stopped coming around at all. Likewise with the fierce and toothy barracudas. And significant "bites" by the mighty yellowtail became infrequent enough to fall into the category of near-legend. But throughout my youth and adolescence, just about any time of the year I could board the Betty O or the orange-painted Kiora or the diesel-belching Indiana sport fishing boats at a local pier and, after a short run out of the bay, find the lumpy, lumbering rockfish to be plentiful and hungry.

Soba-tsuyu (dipping sauce for cold soba noodles) Total time: 25 minutes, plus cooling time Servings: This makes about 6 1/2 cups of dipping sauce. Note: Adapted from Akila Inouye. Mirin (look for mirin made with just rice, rice spirit and malt) and dried bonito flakes are available at Asian markets. Hongaeshi (dipping sauce base) 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons mirin 2 cups plus a scant 2 tablespoons soy sauce Place the sugar and mirin into a pot over medium heat and dissolve the sugar completely.

Since my father first took me fishing--in 1955 when I was 5 years old--rockfish have always been a sure thing in and around the Santa Monica Bay. The swifter and splashier bonito would pass by for only a few months in the summer and then--as the bay became more polluted--just stopped coming around at all. Likewise with the fierce and toothy barracudas. And significant "bites" by the mighty yellowtail became infrequent enough to fall into the category of near-legend. But throughout my youth and adolescence, just about any time of the year I could board the Betty O or the orange-painted Kiora or the diesel-belching Indiana sport fishing boats at a local pier and, after a short run out of the bay, find the lumpy, lumbering rockfish to be plentiful and hungry.

The bonito weighs only a pound, but it has relied on timing to give its foes a fight they will not soon forget. The captain has foolishly positioned the small boat in the traffic lane at the entrance of the small harbor and has been nearly lulled into a state of hypnosis by the continuous casting of the angler. He snaps to when he realizes there is a flotilla of large sailboats bearing down fast, en route to the open sea, not giving the skiff a thought.

Captain Ahab had nothing on the guy who came aboard Val Rich's sportfishing boat a few years ago. As a veteran skipper, Rich figured he had seen everything until one of his customers hooked a 10-pound bonito at the Yellow Banks on the southeast end of Santa Cruz Island. "Those fish are very hard fighters," Rich said. "The guy was fighting it off the back of the boat when his pants fell down around his ankles. "It was an older gentleman. Completely white BVDs and white legs. You get the picture."

It was a valiant fight put up by the little bonito, but after several long runs it could fight no more and was brought up alongside the skiff. The angler, fishing solely for sport, carefully removed the hook, then reached down to help the tuckered fish on its way. That's when the torpedo struck. A massive sea lion came shooting out from beneath the boat, snatching the bonito from the angler's fingertips.

South Bay anglers found excellent fishing during the holiday weekend. Boats on two-day trips to Cortez Bank returned with catches of bluefin tuna and yellowtail. The L.A. Harbor boat Shogun returned Monday from Cortez with 48 bluefin, 42 yellowtail and limits of rock cod. Three Torrance fishermen caught bluefin that earned jackpot awards. Steve Tsujiuchi weighed in a 39 1/4-pounder, Chuck Beckharts caught a 37 3/4-pounder and Isao Hatashita a 35 1/2-pounder.

The bonito weighs only a pound, but it has relied on timing to give its foes a fight they will not soon forget. The captain has foolishly positioned the small boat in the traffic lane at the entrance of the small harbor and has been nearly lulled into a state of hypnosis by the continuous casting of the angler. He snaps to when he realizes there is a flotilla of large sailboats bearing down fast, en route to the open sea, not giving the skiff a thought.

The summer months are usually good for catching bonito that frequent local waters. But last summer there were few bonito for local anglers to catch. However, if early indications are correct, it could be a good winter. At Santa Catalina Island last weekend, anglers aboard L.A. Harbor Sportfishing's Top Gun caught 44 bonito. Evidently the fish were in pursuit of squid. At Redondo Sportfishing pier and the King Harbor breakwater rocks, anglers were catching bonito averaging more than two pounds.

It was another good week for local anglers, who caught plenty of bonito, yellowtail and calico bass. The run of bonito was perhaps the biggest news. Bonito have been difficult to catch this summer, but anglers reported good catches from local waters to the outer islands. Anglers using live squid and anchovies for bait caught plenty of yellowtail. The 22nd Street Landing boat Grande went to the Channel Islands and returned to San Pedro with a bait tank full of squid.

Bonito, calico bass and yellowtail were caught in abundance last week as anglers continue to benefit from the warm-water conditions. Several anglers caught limits of bonito and calico bass, and yellowtail were caught at Horseshoe Kelp and off San Clemente Island. A trip to Horseshoe Kelp proved bountiful for anglers aboard the Long Beach Sportfishing boat Victory. The anglers caught 10 yellowtail and limits of bonito. Several yellowtail were lost to seals.