“We finished off our trip today, wrote Red Rooster skipper Andy Cates June 10, “with another great day of fishing. We had a lot more action today on the smaller grade fish, from 60 to 80 pounds. That meant releasing fish throughout the day.

“We kept 22 tuna: 260, 250, 225 pounds, and the last fish of the day, caught by Mike Ashford (from Coarse Gold, CA), a 380-pounder. Like the big 324-pounder yesterday, this beast was tail-wrapped. Sure helps things out. What a great way to finish an epic trip. Most of the other fish were 120 to 180 pounds, very nice grade.

“The weather is still nice, lets hope it stays for another three days.”

That 380-pounder may be very close to the 381.1-pound tuna taken last November by Dennis Williams of Carlsbad aboard the Royal Star, with Randy Toussaint at the helm. One of the two will be the fish of the year. We’ll see when Cates hangs his monster on the certified scales.

The Red Rooster will dock at H&M Landing Sunday morning, June 24.



“Here It Comes!” Albacore Headed This Way

The best news this morning for local anglers is that albacore are moving in to a large area south of San Diego. They’ve been caught by at least three boats from 120 to 220 miles south of Point Loma. They’re the right size, too, at 10 to 18 pounds or so. Smaller fish at first are thought to be the best indicator for a productive season.

Brian Sims docked Royal Star after a good three-day trip that produced albacore, big halibut and lots of yellowtail. The trip was the first annual R. J. Allen, Inc. charter, with 25 anglers aboard, and Sims brought his happy anglers back to Fisherman’s Landing about 8:30 in the morning.

“We found the albacore at 120 miles,” he said. “The water’s warming, at 65 degrees and the fish is moving up. Here it comes!

“You can drive around and see fish and get a bite. We got 34 albacore for seven stops. There were bait fish and troll fish. We got one on the cedar plug and the other troll fish on standard feathers in two sizes.”

Steve White of Placentia won first place for a 36-pound halibut. Jeff Persi of Corona tied with Craig Jones of Temecula for second place. Persi had a 25.5-pound yellowtail, and Jones had a halibut of the same weight.

R.D. Martinez of Placentia was the chartermaster. Mike Pitts of Corona posed with a typical albacore.

By Bill Roecker

Early season albacore tend to behave in a manner much like the following description. They’re usually scattered over a wide area at first, and they may approach the boat quickly, but they usually don’t stay there eating sardines for very long. Anglers who are quick to get a hot bait into the water where the fish can see it are the anglers who get the most of these early longfin.

“We were running west in the morning,” wrote American Angler skipper Brian Kiyohara June 10, “with no known destination when we had a double jig strike on an up and down meter mark. After boxing the area we found that we were in close proximity to a half-degree edge. We found fish right in the transition and stayed busy most of the morning.

“We seldom went 20 minutes without seeing some sort of sonar or fathometer mark. We had one stop in particular where the albacore were right on the corner biting every bait for about a minute, as we hung the majority of the boat. It seemed like business as usual; the action was hot and heavy and the adrenaline and excitement pumped through everyone's veins.

“We ended up with 19 albacore and three bluefin out of that stop as the meter depicted the real deal. At around 11 in the morning the ocean changed right before our eyes in a matter of minutes as the edge melted and dissipated along with the fish. We ended up the day with 48 12 to 19-pound albacore and three 18 to 22-pound bluefin, and we were encouraged with the potential that we saw.

“What it comes down to is that the ocean is very big. It's one thing to look at a temp chart or a topographical chart and formulate a game plan, but it is totally different actually doing it. Without coverage (by many boats), it is a question of what ifs. Are the fish down or did they move? What is 10 miles to the north, south, east or west? It is next to impossible for one boat to figure it out. For Example, Mark on the Pacific Voyager had 23 fish scattered over a 22-mile area today. We both think that the offshore potential is here, already waiting to be exploited. His fish were all caught in premium day and a half range.

“One great note for our long range fleet is that today's sign at 210 miles from home is at the perfect spot for our multi day trips. The perfect distance from San Diego for a full first day's of fishing and an easy overnight run to our favorite island destinations. If we sound like a salesman you are right. First and foremost, we are fishermen because of our passion but because of the aforementioned reason of coverage, we need you to go fishing.

“John Grindley and Dave Zeman are pictured with the AA's first albacore of the year. Mike Nichols with the help of Cameron displays the year’s first bluefin.”



Shogun Anglers Bagging Surface Iron Yellows

“Today we excellent surface iron action on the yellowtail,” remarked Shogun skipper Bruce Smith June 10. “The yellowfin tuna made their showing early in the a.m. and then all but disappeared by lunch time, but the yellows continued to bite throughout the day.

“Our plan from here is to fish tonight and tomorrow morning then take off for the albacore grounds. The long range fleet is excited about where the fish are showing. We are seeing albacore and bluefin in the lower latitudes, which makes us think that we could be in for a decent year instead of a flash in the pan, that has been going on the past couple of seasons.”