| Albacore, Bluefin and Yellowtail Highlight San Diego Fishing |
| By: Bob Vanian | 7/21/2010 4:58 PM |
| Last updated: 7/21/2010 4:58 PM |
The first few weeks of July have seen some periods of very good albacore fishing and have also seen stretches of scratchy albacore fishing. If recent catches are any indicator of what is ahead for anglers heading into August, we could be in for a real treat.
 | | | Photo by: fishingvideos.com | | Longfin and a Fork – Albacore tuna caught in the San Diego area have been in the 18- to 25-pound range, caught in water temperatures ranging from 63.5 to 64.5 degrees. | | |
For the most part, the albacore have been good sized fish in the 18- to 25-pound range. Reports from the past weekend were that the fish ranged in size between 10 and 35 pounds. The albacore were reported to be biting in water temperatures ranging from 63.50 to 64.5 degrees.
Skippers report getting a good number of jig stops and a very encouraging sign is that there have been some good numbers of bait fish biting. To complement the good albacore bite, there have also been a few bluefin tuna and yellowtail caught in the same area where boats are finding the albacore.
Some reports from the past couple of days of fishing start with private boater Captain Ron Bowers of Salt Fever who reported by satellite phone on the first day of a two-day trip and had 25 albacore aboard. Bowers found his best action while fishing below and outside of Punta Colnett down between 112 and 119 miles on a 160 degree heading from Point Loma.
Bowers reported catching albacore that were ranging in size between 12 and 33 pounds and said that most of the fish were up in the 20- to 25-pound range. They were getting bit on the small jet head trolling feathers as well as on size CD-14 Rapalas in the natural wood color and in black and purple. Bowers reported that 15 of their albacore were troll fish and 10 were bait fish.
Captain Chris Troupe of Bright and Morning Star with Morning Star Charters reported that the last day of the 2.5-day trip was the best for them and in that second day of fishing they caught 42 albacore, 10 yellowtail and 1 bluefin tuna. Troupe reported that the key to finding the fish was getting beyond a water color and temperature break that extended offshore outside of Punta Colnett.
The surface fishing at the Coronado islands has been good for a mixed bag of calico bass, barracuda, yellowtail and bluefin tuna. Recent days have seen some of the best Coronado islands bluefin action of the season. Most of the bluefin have been running in the 20-to 40-pound class and have been caught while fishing on the anchor at spots like the outer Middle Grounds, the Lighthouse at the South tip of South Island and the outside of the South Kelp below South Island.
There have also been bluefin caught from spots of breaking fish that are occasionally found on the surface crashing on spots of bait.
A lively anchovy or lively sardine has been the best way to go for the bluefin and some boats have been fishing their baits from kites. The use of a fluorocarbon leader and a relatively small dark hook has also been reported to be a big help in drawing a bite from a touchy bluefin.
The surface fishing along the San Diego area coast has been hindered by some recent cooling of the water, but there are still some good numbers of calico bass biting in the kelp beds.
In the Point Loma area, try for calicos at the kelp outside of the Lab, Five Tanks, the Green Tank and Point Loma College. In the La Jolla area, try the kelp at Southwest outside the lower end of La Jolla and at the kelp at the Half and at Northwest at the upper end of La Jolla. In North San Diego County, productive kelp bed areas have been at Del Mar, Solana Beach, Leucadia and Carlsbad.
With albacore biting offshore, bluefin tuna and yellowtail biting at the Coronados and calico bass biting along the coast there are plenty of options to choose from.
Bob Vanian is the voice, writer and researcher of the San Diego-based internet fish report service called 976-Bite, which can be found at 976bite.com. Vanian also provides anglers with a personal fish report service over the telephone at (619) 226-8218. Additionally, Vanian’s reports can be heard each week on Sunday mornings at 8:20 a.m. on the Let’s Talk Hookup radio show on 1090 AM. He always welcomes your fish reports at (619) 226-8218.
This article first appeared in the July 2010 issue of FishRap. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
