On Friday May 26 the Pacific Queen reported an overnight catch of 33 bluefin for 34 anglers. New Lo-An posted 25 shortfin for 17 fishermen. Tribute had 29 bluefin for 29 anglers. On a two-day Pacific Voyager found seven yellowfin, 20 bonito and 14 bluefin along with a rockfish catch. The yellowfin are eagerly awaited. Seeing them close in May adds anticipation.

On Saturday all pelagics were off their feed. Some boats fished hard for a single tuna or a few yellows. Yellowtail bit for many on Sunday, but the tuna remained impervious to hook baits and finding.

Bovines In The Zone

Captain Justin Fleck called in at 6:22 AM May 26 with an update from the Excel out of Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego, CA:

“We are down here in the lower zone. We are having very good fishing for Tuna from 60 to 200-plus pounds. We are now up to nine or 10 cows in very good weather. We have a few more days left!”

Whopper Bluefin

We departed on our first trip of the season on the night of the 27th,” reported Intrepid skipper Bill Cavanaugh. “After putting on a good load of sardine, we boarded our customers and departed shortly after eight P.M. We located our first school of fish right at first light and we hooked a fish almost immediately after stopping. Karen Warner hooked up fishing a Shimano flatfall jig and after 30 minutes of the fight, it was clear that she hooked a bigger fish. Another hour and the fish was at gaff. On the deck it taped out at 180 pounds. Impressive.

"We located another school shortly after getting underway, no bites. This was a common theme through out the day. We did see a few spots of larger fish, some over 100 pounds, one spot of 60 to 80-pounders, none of which responded to our offerings. We managed two more fish for the day, both were bluefin tuna in the 30-pound class. Our weather today was just ok as we had 10 knots of wind all day. Not that it was rough, but this early season bluefin tuna is typically weather sensitive and we seem to have better success with less wind on the water.

“Happy Memorial Day,” he wrote May 29. “We just arrived back at port this morning. The fish we taped out at 180 pounds weighed in at the dock at 198 pounds. Congratulations to Karen Warner.”

Trophy Tuna At Guadalupe

“Yesterday we had 10 Yellowfin Tuna up to 100 pounds,” posted Shogun May 25, “and six quality Yellowtail. As of this morning, we have two 80-pound Yellowfin aboard and nine fish hooked. The weather is flat and calm. Wish us luck and more biting fish.”

The next day the report said, “Yesterday we ended up with 17 Tuna, 70 to 100 pounds, and eight Beautiful grade Yellowtail. The weather was calm and gorgeous. We are headed to Ensenada to check into customs this evening and will be back at the San Diego dock at 6 A.M.”

Las Arenas Runs Large

“Usually, this is the area where we get the most action and the most variety,” reported Jonathan Roldan for his Tailhunter International site, “but that just wasn’t the case this past week. This is where the bigger fish were hanging out! We must have lost four out’ve every five wahoo hooked up. Early in the week, I don’t think we landed a single wahoo and it wasn’t until later in the week when the guys started putting some ‘hoo into the pangas and not losing so many. In their defense, these are fast powerful fish with sharp teeth, but it would have been nice to land a few more!

“We also got some huge roosterfish. The average rooster ran about 60 pounds this week with a number of fish in the 80-pound class. These were beasts and you had to catch the big foot-long ladyfish to use for bait. There’s a reason we’re called the roosterfish capital of the world.

“We also hooked some striped marlin and rounded things out with bonito, triggerfish and some jack crevalle, reef fish and dorado. One of our guys had on a 50-pound tuna lost at color after about a 30-minute battle as well!

“This was the best fishing we’ve seen in the area all year. Nothing spectacular by our standards, but any improvement was welcome. It can only get better. We did have one day where the winds blew our folks all over the place but they still caught fish. But, mostly this is bigger fish we’re seeing. So, you either get big fish and hit home runs, or you don’t do so well. There’s not a lot of in-between action right now. If you chase roosterfish or wahoo or marlin, and you get one, you’re a hero. But you could also be one of the boats that gets goose-egged.

“The biggest issue is bait. For all intents and purposes, there’s no live bait to be had so we’re using dead bait. We are selling bags of fresh frozen mackerel in the mornings and some of the guys are bringing fresh dead squid as well.”

Seaforth’s San Diego, on a ¾ day trip May 17, found a couple of bluefin out there with the yellowtail (and the surprisingly good numbers of pelagic bonito this year.) The boat’s 29 anglers scored 101 yellowtail, 75 bonito and two bluefin. On May 18 the ¾ day Liberty trip found “62 Bonito, 36 Yellowtail, two Bluefin Tuna.” The San Diego had three, along with 82 yellows and 30 bonito, and the Tribute got one bluefin along with 53 yellows. It seemed the bluefin bite was starting up again after some foul weather.

Saturday May 20 didn’t show a big increase, though. Yellowtail continued to bite under offshore paddies, and the overnighter aboard Tribute bagged 165 of those along with four bluefin for 33 fishing persons, while New Lo-An found two shortfin and 60 of the paddy ‘tails.

“Underway in less than perfect seas. Photo taken from the fleet’s spotter plane,” said the posting for Excel May 15.

Another Excel post May 18 said, “We are back out on our HCI 16 day trip with 22 fantastic anglers.”

On May 21, the boat posted: “A pretty slow start so far as far as numbers go but we did manage to land this 210-pounder. We see good sign of tuna around and hope they are in a better mood tomorrow. Way to go Raj! We are definitely getting some chances at a trophy or two.”

Glimmer of Hope

Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom wrote May 17: “A few fish to show for our efforts today, and in general much better sign. Though the majority of fish that we located passed us without a second glance the number one component of fishing success – the fish being where we are, lends to feelings more positive about our current situation.

“Photo today features another long time Royal Star veteran and friend Mike Shannon and his dearly paid for 227. Nigh two days of roasting and riding out a marathon kite rotation produced this beauty. Not a bad return on investment in the end.

“The local denizens took their share but we got a few from the bargain too,” posted Ekstrom May 18. “Slow scratching: one here, two there, added up to something by the end of the day. And the quality was there. Although we have a few more missed opportunities for a variety of reasons to cry about, a few more chances were converted into success. One (chance) was earned by yet another long-time Royal Star friend and angler Dave Bookin. Though this beautiful 194 is far from Dave's largest it went a long way toward elevating many spirits. The old adage “a little goes a long way” definitely applied.

“Now facing the inevitable end, we plough into the final day still determined to make these bastards pay, and pay dearly. Admittedly they have the upper hand. Right now we’re are akin to a battered, punch drunk prizefighter in his corner awaiting the bell announcing the fifteenth round. When we rise to the timbre at best we engage our adversary and land a knockout blow. At worst if we fall, we fall respectably. Tomorrow we'll know.”

“The Clarion bell was telegraphing chow time as the crack of dawn peeked through the clouds,” Ekstrom wrote May 19. As the stark blackness was slowly replaced by battleship gray the fantastic haul that had taken up station around our platform simply faded into the enormous indigo abyss. We were left holding the bag, again.
“So passed the final chance. Redemption was not in our destiny this time. We again set to looking and were extremely fortunate to make a little something for the day out of relatively nothing: a handful and a half of 50 to 70-pound tuna and a few “skin”. A crazy change in conditions had us scratching our heads more than once during the final day. Giant rip lines, wildly varying water temperatures dropping to lows odd to say the least for this time of the year; suffice it to say that this zone is in the throes something extreme.

“So we head north satisfied with our effort but salty in spirit. We are actually fortunate with a very respectable quantity of beautiful, fresh yellowfin and wahoo in the RSW tanks considering what we had to work with; but we're far short of my personal goal that is based on a very high standard.”

Boiling

Shogun checked in May 17 with an intriguing report: “Bluefin Tuna boiling all around the boat, landed two so far, at 50 pounds and 80 pounds, with two still hanging. Great sign.”

The boat’s report from two days earlier, May 15, said, “Great Night Bite last night with 27 premium quality Yellowtail. As of 11:15 this morning, we have an additional 50 beautiful grade YT with several going. Calm, beautiful weather.”

On Thursday May 11, the New Lo-An, on a 1.5 day trip with 13 anglers, bagged 50 yellowtail, six bluefin. There were limits of yellows for 12 on a Malihini ¾ day trip the same day. A Tribute overnighter with 24 anglers scored 120 yellowtail, five bluefin; and the San Diego, on a ¾ day venture with 35 fishermen, scored 175 yellowtail.

Friday brought another good catch of yellowtail, but no bluefin, and none through the weekend. The old-timers used to say that a good wind caused bluefin to “put their noses in the mud.” I’m not sure. I’ve noticed over the years that bluefin often bite on the full moon—or not, and not much right after. This month’s full moon was Wednesday, and it appears the moon or the wind put the fish down, since only one bluefin was caught since Friday and Saturday. Who knows when these mysterious tuna will stage another bite? There seem to be so many this year it shouldn’t be long before they start chewing again.

Burly Bluefin

Excel Skipper Justin Fleck posted May 10: “We left early this morning on our Pelagic two day trip so we could be on the tuna grounds by lunch. I can honestly say that the bluefin population is extremely healthy in this area. Derek was lucky enough to take this 195.8 pounder on 60-pound test with an Okuma Andros 12lla and a custom Seeker rod. Great job Derek! This fish was caught only 46 miles from home!”

Premiums

“Shogun is having good fishing on premium Yellowtail,” said the report for May 12, “many over 40 pounds. Good schools of Tuna in the area, some boiling around the boat, but so far no bites on Tuna. Weather is calm, breeze from the NW at 5 to seven knots. We will update you again tomorrow. Wish us luck on good fishing and calm seas.”

Good Experience

Jackpot winner Katharina Ekert posted about her trip this week on the Tribute: “I had a fantastic time with old and new friends. Thank you Captain Mike Prichard and outstanding crew, see you on the water, tight lines.”

“We've seen a nice swing recently,” noted a posting from Excel April 29, “with 80 Wahoo and 30 yellowfin tuna since yesterday. The passengers are loving the action!

Excel’s report from southern waters May 2 said, “28 tuna up to 150 pounds yesterday. Al Petrovich had a tuna in the 100-pound class in the dark.”

“We finished off with a bang!” said the report from Excel May 3. “Excellent conditions and good biting fish made for some happy anglers. We are on our way home in flat calm seas."

Nice Finish

“Today we spent the day fishing for beautiful grade yellowtail,” wrote Independence skipper Jeff DeBuys May 2, “at one of the premier destinations we visit. Right after daylight we got busy with yellows and some very nice grouper. We picked all day until 1700 and called it quits. Everyone had a great time and now we are done fishing and will be home on Friday.”

Jeff noted an encounter with yellowfin tuna of the 25 to 35-pound class just 88 miles from port May 4. He posted the winners from his trip May 5:

1st place: Steve Pettibone, 204-pound yellowfin

2nd place: Don Klahs, 194-pound yellowfin

3rd place: Tim Moorhouse, 190-pound yellowfin

Honorable Mention: John Collins, 230-pound yellowfin

Silver Lining

“Well today was a frustrating day, as we lost most of the big fish we hooked,” said the report from Royal Polaris May 3. “Reason being for this; dropping down in line size and hook size. Well that’s ok, but when you hook the fish you came down here for, all you get is the fin. We lost multiple fish (all jumbos) today, due to our anglers fishing light line and dropping down in hook size.

“It’s true you can land these fish on lighter line, but when you have the taxman problem, fishing the edge, then it’s very difficult to land these giants. So today was a day of heartbreaks. The largest fish today was caught by Matthew Chang, at 176 pounds, on a sardine. We did have a better day on the Wahoo, with everyone on board getting a Wahoo to take home.

“Roy gave a talk at dinnertime about fishing light line. He said yes, most of the fish we’re catching are in the 70 to 90-pound range, but on any given bait you can hook a 300-pound fish, and your chance go way down using light line (80-pound or less). Tomorrow is our last morning, and we will depart for home, so hopefully things will get better on our hook to land ratio on cows. But all in all, today was still a good day.

“Weather continues to be good,” stated the report for May 5, “and our last day of fishing was very good. No giants, but a good steady bite on 60 to 90 pound fish, with a few over the 100-pound mark. We finished the trip off trolling for Wahoo, and they didn’t disappoint us. By far it was our best day of the trip, since we only fished the morning. We are headed for home.”

Working The Yellowfin

“Our good tuna angling and great weather continued today,” wrote Royal Star skipper Randy Toussaint April 29, “with the bulk of the fish being 80 to 110 pounds. We did have a few shots at bigger ones but only landed one at 197. Jan Burns with the 197 is today's shot.

“We finished the trip,” he continued May 1, “with a couple more good days of fishing on 60 to 100-pounders with a few bonus skin mixed in. No more shots at big fish, they just weren't in the cards this trip. Our beautiful weather continues as we travel up to the Cape.”

Shogun Tries Guadalupe

“Sorry for the lack of updates this trip,” recalled the May 3 report from Shogun, “but unfortunately the WiFi antenna went down. We had less than desirable conditions on the way to the island and the following day upon arrival, with the wind blowing 20 to 30-plus knots. We spent the first afternoon tucked away to stay out of weather. The next day it backed off enough to stretch our legs and look around. Unfortunately after searching all day we were unable to find any sign of tuna and only had a handful of yellowtail for our efforts.

“We opted to spend the remainder of the trip trying our hand at some Bluefin. The amount of fish we saw was pretty amazing. It took quite a bit of weeding through but eventually we found a few schools that reacted. And we did have a successful gray bite one of the mornings for most of the fish we put a tag on. We had Bluefin from 25 to 110 pounds. If you are on an upcoming trip bring 20 to 60-pound setups.”

Local Catches In the Breeze

Seaforth’s San Diego, fishing on May 3, reported a catch of 91 yellowtail and 56 bluefin, which may be a record of sorts for a ¾ day boat in recent years. The same day, the Oceanside 95, on a one and a ½ day trip, picked up a 160-pound opah a bluefin and eight yellowtail. On May 4, Pacific Queen nabbed 130 yellows and 13 bluefin on an overnighter while New Lo-An got 63 yellows and eight bluefin for 19. Tribute had 27 bluefin, 16 yellowtail and two yellowfin tuna, a species not much seen in these waters in early May. It looks like the only thing holding back another remarkable season is weather; since when do we see winter storms in San Diego in May?

Derby Winners

(Press Release, May 1, 2017) The Marina del Rey Halibut Derby took place this past weekend on April 29th and 30th at Burton Chace Park in Marina Del Rey. A total of 84 anglers participated in the two day event to help raise funds for the Marina del Rey Anglers’ Youth Fishing Program and White Sea Bass Grow Out Program. These two great programs allow the club to take over 500 at risk and disabled children fishing and release 10,000 juvenile White Sea Bass annually.

Participants powered through windy conditions in search for the winning fish. With the option to target halibut, white seabass, and yellowtail, placing within the top ranks was within everyone’s reach. According to Derby Co-Chairman Keith lambert “I’m very happy for Reggie our top winner. He had first place for his fish and even the top raffle prize!”

The top five individual winners took home some impressive prizes including a fishing trip to Alaska, La Paz, and a three-day offshore trip for the top three anglers. A special thank you goes out to Sitka Point Lodge, Tailhunter International, and Vagabond Sportfishing for generously providing the top three prizes. There was a separate team cash jackpot competition where the top three teams took home a hefty bounty.

The winners are as follows:

Individual Anglers: 1st – Reggie Beauvais – 27.8-pound California Halibut

2nd – Steve Legere – 8.2 pounds, for Bag of Live Calico Bass (3) **

3rd – Eddie Flores – 7.9-pound California Halibut Includes a 25% live Bonus
4th – Oleg Astanov – 7.5-pound California Halibut Includes a 25% live Bonus
5th – Miguel Zamora – 6.4-pound California Halibut Includes a 25% live Bonus
** Live Calico, (Kelp), Bass are released at the weigh-in dock.

Teams:

1st – Game Over – 27.8 pounds Combined Reggie Beauvis, Sean Candelaria, Danny Liming
2nd – Glass Cutter – 11.0 pounds Combined Miguel Zamora, Jack Kell, Mike Milstead

3rd – Bugs – 8.2 pounds Combined Steven Legere, Dylan Legere

Entrants and friends feasted on delicious BBQ beef sandwiches, coleslaw, and potato salad from Outback Catering. Participants, friends, and family received over $10,000 worth in prizes during the awards ceremony and raffle thanks to our generous sponsors. Most went home with a prize but everyone went home with a big smile on their face. A big thanks to 2017 Miss Halibut Krystyn Lambert for helping out at the weight-in, awards ceremony, and raffle. (Photo credit: Vicki Toler Photography)

Nearshore Fishing

“With the winds back up, it was easier to send folks here,” reported Jonathan Roldan from Las Arenas/Muertos Bay May 7, “where fishing was closer to shore; there was variety and action (especially with so many one-time fishermen this week), and there was more protection for the winds.

“So, we did get into some nice variety. There were some spots of smaller dorado. In the structures, we found some nice schools of amberjack, pargo and cabrilla. Closer to the beaches, pompano and jack crevalle offered some tough battles as well as sierra.

“Roosterfish in the 10 to 40-pound class were found off the shore breaks and in the rocky areas around Punta Perrico. Another indication that the waters are warming and the season is changing is that there’s marlin starting to show up. They’re not quite ready to bite yet, but we did get one hooked this week and others were seen."

Justin Fleck reported for the Excel Wednesday, April 26, at 12:22 PM:

“First day of fishing started out hot and heavy early in the morning, but fell flat during the afternoon. We ended up with 26 Yellowfin Tuna and two Wahoo for our efforts.”

Fishing on April 28, he noted:

“We've seen a nice swing recently with 80 Wahoo and 30 YFT since yesterday. The passengers are loving the action!”

“Getting Real Good”

“Good evening from the Independence,” wrote Independence skipper Jeff DeBuys April 30, “We saw the same conditions today and were greeted with biting fish all day long with some good flurries at times. Yesterday was good fishing, today was excellent fishing for that 80 to 125 lb. yellowfin with a handful of better ones 150 to 205 lbs. The weather is just as good as the fishing, making for a very nice time down here. With one more full day left we are hoping for another shot at em before heading up.”

On April 30 DeBuys wrote: “Checking in from the Indy; we had another great morning bite on that nice grade fish we have been working on. Good showing on 75 to 140-pound fish, and we had one Heavy one that broke off after a long tussle. Great weather continues and we opted to head up to the rocks and do sum yellowtail fishing.”

Smooth Sea

“Don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but things are about the same,” said the report from Royal Polaris April 30. “The weather continues to be excellent, with five knots of breeze, overcast, and warm. It was a job trying to keep the kite flying.

“Not much of a change in fishing, with most of the Yellowfin in the 70 to 90-pound range, and a few over the hundred pound mark. We did lose a few larger models today, mostly because of the tax man (Sharks). We also put a handful of Wahoo on the boat, but the Wahoo number is down. We will try to make some bait tonight, and see what tomorrow brings.”

On May first, the posting said: “Things just keep getting better each day. The average size increased, with most of the fish going over the 100 pound mark. Not giants by any means, but very good quality fish. But to our surprise, the Wahoo made a showing, putting smiles on everyone’s faces. The weather continues to be excellent, with warm days, and cool nights."

Men & Women At Work

“We pieced together another decent day,” wrote Royal Star skipper Randy Toussaint April 27, “for 20 yellowfin up to 175 pounds and a handful of skin. It was the same story; short flurries in variable conditions. It feels like it could get good if the current would cooperate. We are hanging tight in hopes that it does.”

The next day Toussaint posted, “Good fishing on 50 to 100-pound tuna with a 160 for Fred Uno and a 205-pounder for Chris Yamada being the standouts. Beautiful weather and steady conditions today, waiting for the big ones to move in.”
Toussaint wrote April 29: “Our good tuna angling and great weather continued today with the bulk of the fish being 80 to 110 pounds. We did have a few shots at bigger ones but only landed one at 197. Jan Burns with the 197 is today's shot.”

Queen’s Week

Drew Card posted April 24: “It's been a great week of fishing aboard the Pacific Queen. Although the Bluefin Tuna have not been the easiest to come by there has definitely been no shortage of fish. Today it seemed like the big ones wanted to bite a little bit, however our success rate was poor. The guys ended up with four Bluefin Tuna, two of which were over 100 pounds, and an Opah weighing 116 pounds. Call Fisherman’s Landing at 619-221-8500 or sign up online at www.pacific-queen.com.”

0’95 Bags Quartet

Windy weather hampered fishing somewhat over the past week, but a few good catches were made anyway. Helgren’s Sportfishing in Oceanside reported a day and a half Oceanside 95 trip with 22 anglers April 26 produced “Four Bluefin Tuna (over 100 pounds), 44 Yellowtail, one Bonito.” On April 29 the boat reported an overnight catch of two bluefin and 43 yellows for 37 aboard.